Winterize while using the boat

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Reading the forum there is great advice on how to winterize a boat. I plan to use the boat regularly during the winter as we have winter temps from 15 to 80 degrees. What needs to be done in this scenario?

Anti freeze in the holding tank. Drain the water tank and lines and bring water on board each time out. Not sure what needs to be done, if anything on the outboard.

Does this sound about right or am I missing something?

Thanks

Mitch
 
Hi Mitch, Harvey here. Not a mechanic by any means but I'll take a shot at some help. If you are running regularly there is not much to do for winterization. For the OB, be sure it is flushed when you get out and then tilt it down so it drains, which it should when you have it tilted in the "running" (vertical) position. I would also treat the fuel, marine Stabil (blue) and then I use Startron fuel additive also -- recommended by my Yami mechanics.

If it is dry, ice won't form. I also use a low wattage heater fan, to keep the air moving and drying as it sits.

I would charge the battery(s) after it is parked, to be sure the battery is sitting at full charge. I think if the temp drops below freezing it is good to put a charger on and have it charging (trickle style) to keep it warm and from freezing.

Hope that helps some. Glad to hear you two are boating. See, I told you, it is catchy :lol: :thup

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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does a product like seafoam help with the fuel quality when you aren't able to get a hold of ethanol free stuff? I was planning on using the boat a lot this winter too but trips will probably go from once per week to once every 4-6 weeks.
 
Don't know if you have a water pump for your system, but if so, run pink anti-freeze through it.

Seafoam is more a solvent/cleaner for fuel systems, although they claim it is also a stabilizer. I've never used it. But others swear by it. I assume it would work. The website says
"As a fuel system additive, Sea Foam helps, clean carburetor jets, clean passageways, clean fuel injectors, clean deposits, stabilize fuel for up to 2 years, control moisture and adds lubricity to fuel."
Click to expand...

Also Sta-bil is now offering a stabilizer intended for E-10; it's brownish colored. Just another option in case the blue marine version is hard to find.

http://www.goldeagle.com/brands/stabil/
 
I've been using seafoam for a while during normal running conditions, just not in a 'sitting' application yet. I know people wear by that sta-bil though.
 
I am in a similar winter mode,have always used marine stabil,but am also hearing great things about yamalube ring free fuel additive(even though I have a honda)
As for the water tank ,I just run it most of the way down, then add the pink antifreeze and pump until it makes the color at the faucet. A gallon of cheap vodka does double duty as well ,taking the chill off :wink
 
Hi, I had to look up where you live in Tx. I when to high school in Arlington for a few years. Looking up where you are on google I started to look up where I lived near the south end of lake arlington. Man has it grown in 32 years. The very south end of the lake did not have any houses on it when we moved there. Used to run around in the woods just east of the lake and north of the highway. Now its all houses. Caught a lot of whipers and channel cats down there. It even looks like they built a few lakes south of there since I left. Joe pool was ranch land back then.

I don't have any thing to add to the above info. Water freezing is your biggest fear. Drain it all out or Blow it out of the lines with a air hose. On fuel; I don't treat my fuel because A) it never last more then two month and even with today's fuel its not going to go bad in that time. Pump it, use it and get more before you go next time. work for my 225 honda and my 90 honda ( one efi and one carbed) I think its more important to have a good fuel filter before the motor with a clear bottom and the ability to drain it in place. Now sea foam as a cleaner once in a while is a good idea but every tank is just a waste of money. I run my boat about twice a month in the winter and more in the summer and have never used a stabilizer or had gas issues. I do how ever burn thought a lot of gas and tend to run my tank very low when every I can. Use that fuel and it won't be a problem.
 
Thomas,

You wouldn't recognize Arlington anymore and the small one light towns now have several hundred thousand people. You must have left right after the infamous heat wave of 1980.

Harvey,

Yea, I am having a blast figuring everything out. It isn't anything like Cattle Pass, hope i remember that correctly, but I will be there one of these days.

Mitch
 
No that was the summer I worked at six flags. left in spring of 1983. Miss the people not the rain, twisters, hail, floods freeze and the aforementioned heat waves, and that's just July. :wink:
 
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