Boat winterizing

Bernie GAble

Bernie GAble

Active Member
Just looking for opinions on winterizing my boat....who does who doesnt. A good place to take it to have it winterized.
 
A number of good places you could take your boat to, some are site sponsors. Due to my location I get my boat winterized at Proctors in Simcoe. They have always done me right.
 
Do my own e.tec takes about 3 mins with 3 moves of the high idle throttle i second proctors they have done good by me
 
All I do with my outboards is run them up on the muffs, spray a bunch of fogging oil into the carbs (usually kills the engine) then spray a little in each cylinder. Change the bottom end oil and done. Bottom end oil is just in case any water has made its way in through the season.

I've never owned an inboard and understand there's more to it.

There are lots of people who don't winterize. You can see them shopping for new bottom ends or motors in the spring!
 
Not saying it's right. For years we would only change the lower end oil in our old 76' merc 650 thunderbolt. She ran like a top till I blew her a couple years back. Ben
 
The first couple seasons I did have someone in London do mine, but now do my own. Cost me a bit of money the first time, oil extractor with container to get most all oil out when changing and a container with fittings to attach to muffs to run 4 gallons of winterproof though, killing it with a fogging. Gear oil would be checked for contamination.
Now the yamaha kicker, oil would be changed, and gear oil drained and refilled fresh.
Personally I use stabil marine ethanol treatment with every top up, so I would not do anything to my gas.
Make sure my live wells were dry , and drain plug removed.
 
What does everyone do with the gaa tank in winter? Fill it up or leave as empty as possible before putting stabilizer in it?
 
fish hawk said:
What does everyone do with the gaa tank in winter? Fill it up or leave as empty as possible before putting stabilizer in it?
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For most of my seasonal equipment (lawnmower, snowblower etc.) I like to leave very little or none in the tank so that you start the next year with fresh fuel. If there's ethanol in the fuel, it can pull water from the air and then the ethanol and water separate out, causing issues.

For my boat, I never really know when will be the "last trip out" so it usually gets put away with whatever is in the tank at the time. I have an old 2-stroke so the tank is full of premixed fuel that doesn't really have another use if I wanted to pump it out. Personally, I've never had an issue.
 
anonymoose said:
For most of my seasonal equipment (lawnmower, snowblower etc.) I like to leave very little or none in the tank so that you start the next year with fresh fuel. If there's ethanol in the fuel, it can pull water from the air and then the ethanol and water separate out, causing issues
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Leaving the tank nearly empty is the worst thing to do as the air space within the tank allows condensation to form inside the tank. This is why it’s recommended to add stabilizer and fill the tank as it prevents the condensation issue. The stabilizer keeps the fuel “fresh”.

This is easily seen if you look inside the tank on a day when there’s a big temperature swing.
 
ch312 said:
Leaving the tank nearly empty is the worst thing to do as the air space within the tank allows condensation to form inside the tank. This is why it’s recommended to add stabilizer and fill the tank as it prevents the condensation issue. The stabilizer keeps the fuel “fresh”.

This is easily seen if you look inside the tank on a day when there’s a big temperature swing.
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Good to know!

Edit: Here's a link that backs up what @ch312 is saying: https://www.boatingmag.com/full-or-empty-winterizing-your-performance-boat/

Seems there's some difference in opinion, but the experts are saying FULL TANK. Maybe next time I'll do a google search before admitting to being completely uninformed!
 
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FIRSTLY,, this is how I do my Mercury inboard and outboard motors,, i's worked perfectly FOR ME and MY STUFF!!! I do my own every fall, it's actually very easy, I change my lower unit oil [mostly to make sure the oil is free of contaniments, engine oil and filter, I built a nifty little pump that hooks up to a 12v battery, small hose goes down the dip-stick and the other goes into a empty large clear Clamato jugs so I can see the used oil for water contamination,]that I bought from Kent Farm Supplies here in Blenheim, that place has EVERYTHING!!, clean my flame arrestor with crappy tire carb cleaner, give everything the once over, add marine Stabil to a FULL tank of gas, hook up the muffs and run her up to operating temperature then I winterize the engine using two big jugs of crappy tire RV pink antifreeze good to 50 below [won't use automotive as it's not bio-degradable and deadly to the surrounding critters] and a square 5 gallon detergent pail where I installed a plastic shut-off and a clear plastic hose with a male garden hose fitting that hooks up to my muffs [also bought all the parts from Kent Farm Supply] so once the engine is hot I shut it off and switch from water to the anti-freeze pail, fire up the engine with the wife at the pail to add the second jug of anti-freeze and when it's solid pink coming from the lower unit I fog the carb with crappy tire fogging oil until it boggs out, put the flame arrestor back together and Bob's yer' uncle!! The outboard kicker is just as easy, I take off the cover, run it up to temperature, fog the carb then remove the plugs, spray fogging oil into the cylinders, crank it over a few times, repeat, change out the lower unit oil then put it away! The whole thing takes a few hours and our local shop charges around $500+hst and it costs me around a $125 all in!

Again this is how I do my boat and you might want to check your boat's/motors manuals as your's might be different.
 
..always had the "At Last " professionally done at North Erie..(the last couple of years.).Marina Shores before that and Cogge's in Mitchell Bay before that..worth it to me to make sure that I hadn't missed something...then Greg at North Erie shrink wrapped her and put her out to pasture ...Sold her last week and hope the new owner takes good care of her..seems like the kind of guy that will..
 
I have always treated and filled my tank the last day in the water, that way the boat comes out of the water with the fuel system including engines done.

Lower units, fogging, live well done in the driveway.

This year is different as it sat in the water all season. I'm having the boat cleaned and motors serviced at the same time.

I'll make an informed decision when I get to see it after all is said and done.
 
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