Winterize question for mild winter

[Clearsky]

New to boating and coming into 1st winter. We have a 15' half cabin with an Evinrude 60HP 1990 model. As our winters here are not harsh (lowest min at would be 37f and average day around 60f) at night we get a bit of frost but even this is rare.<br /><br />Due to mild winters i was going to :<br /><br />a)leave the engine down<br />b)release the winch strap<br />c)lift the trailer so the tyres don't get a flat spot<br />d) remove the battery<br /><br />The boat is has a nylon boat cover to protect it from rain.<br /><br />My question is, is this enough to make life easiers come spring, and is it worth starting the engine up on muffs every few weeks or would this just carb up the cyclinders?<br /><br />Any advice would be appreciated.<br /><br />Thanks in advance.

 

[cobra 3.0]

Re: Winterize question for mild winter

You may wish to fog your engine with fogging oil to lube up the cylinders for longer storage. Some put in some fuel stabiliser in the gas to keep the fuel fresher,longer.<br /><br />Also, keep the plug out in the back and keep the nose of the boat higher to let the water out from the rains. The rest sounds fine.

 

[Cricket Too]

Re: Winterize question for mild winter

Yeah cold doesn't make much difference to a sitting engine, it's just a hunk of metal. <br /><br />The best reason to "winterize" is to keep your cylinders oiled and fuel fresh, as stated by cobra above. The only thing cold will have an effect on is if you have any water in your lower unit oil, so it's always a good idea to change the oil and the gaskets around the fill and drain plugs before winter. I would do that, dump some fuel stabilizer in the tank and run the engine for 10 minutes or so to get the stabilizer through the carbs and then fog it.<br /><br />Man if the coldest it got here in the winter was 60 degrees, I'd be using my boat year round, that's warmer that it is for me most of the time on my boat, Spring and Fall here are barely that mild.<br /><br />The rest of your plan sounds good though.

 

[Clearsky]

Re: Winterize question for mild winter

Thanks Cobra and Cricket Too,<br /><br />I'll do as you suggest, Nose up and fuel stabiliser etc.<br /><br />Due to mild winter we may start take it out in winter anyway, so this may be all theory for me. We are in winter now and some days you can still get a suntan and walk around in a t-shirt (it's tuff living down here).<br /><br />Thanks again for your advice.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Winterize question for mild winter

clearsky, i'm in North Florida, we get a couple of freezing night a year. most of us use our boats year round, on cold nights we just make sure the water is out of the lower unit.