|
|
Posts: 12
| I'm planning this year to fish as late into the season as possible, hopefully if the weather cooperates, the ice in Indiana where I'm going to fish will be a rare occurance at best. Guessing water temps will be down to the high 30s, and I'm wondering what I should/need to be doing to my boat and motors (150hp Merc Opti and a 9.9 4 stroke) to keep from causing any damage from freezing and the such.
Thanks!
The Chocodile Craves the Cold. | |
| | |
Posts: 2323
Location: Stevens Point, WI | The best two things you could do is put fuel stabilizer in your gas tank and run both motors so that the motors do not get plugged up. The fuel stabilizer will also help with any moisture getting in your fuel tank.
Then also, keeping your batteries at full charge will also help with battery life. If they sit for any great period of time in the cold, doesn't hurt to throw the charger and make sure they are at full charge. Other than that there isn't much else that I can think of. Make sure all water is drained from the boat of course and as the season gets later, I always lower the motor all the way down to let any water in the lower unit drain out, but most people know that. | |
| | |
Posts: 1080
| • Continue to run Stabil in with your gas as you use it throughout the cold months. That way...if you should find that the water on the lakes does freeze up and you're not able to fish, you've at least run the Stabil through your motor's system to help protect it.
• Always top off your fuel tank and keep it full to prevent condensation forming during storage (again, with Stabil added)
• When out on the water, take the time to warm the motor(s) up throughly before ripping them wide open right off the bat.
• At the end of each use, when pulling the boat, while you're still a the launch (IF NO ONE IS WAITING TO PUT IN OR PULL OUT) take the time while your boat is on the trailer at the launch on the incline, trim your motor all the way down to allow the water to run out of the coolant passages fully. Even taking the time to crank the motor over for a brief few seconds to help blow out remaining water so as to not allow that water to freeze in the lines while not in use.
You should be good to go until you decide if you'd do a full winterizing process beyond these simple tips. | |
| | |
| any tips for inboard or even outboard Jet motor usage during these times.
i was told when the air gets below freezing, unless the jet boat is kept in the water, it needs to be winterized between uses due to the intake and such.
not really sure. we usually get ours winterized around october after we pull the boat just to be safe. | |
| | |
Posts: 1168
| On trimming the motor down to drain the water out...
Don't just do trim it down once and then up into transport position. Trim it all the way up, then way back down. You'll be amazed at how much water "hides" in those things.
Also, take the time to get things organized now. We all like to keep a somewhat organized boat but I see it as more important in the fall. The less amount of stuff you have cluttered helps to avoid breaking things. Stuff gets brittle in the cold, just eliminate any tangles by keeping everything organized.
I'll pack my boat away at the last possible moment. Basically when everything is frozen up or snowed in. So in the meantime when we get those really cold nights or any night that freezes after I've been using it I will run RV antifreeze through the bilge. Alot of guys do this only when they store it, but out of my own paranoia I'll do it when it consistently gets cold and stays cold...
Same for livewells. I rarely use suckers if at all. Those things get the antifreeze treatment and plugged off and used as extra storage. If I would use suckers I'll toss them in a cooler or bucket. This also eliminates the nasty suprise when you happen to forget you have a couple in a livewell and you notice that every raccoon in the county is now camping around your boat. | |
| |
|
Late Fall Boat Maintenance/Preperation?