How To Winterize Your Fishing Boat
Failing to winterize your fishing boat correctly can result in costly repairs and huge headaches come spring. Follow this how to guide to keep your boat from dying silently during its winter slumber!
Fuel Stabilizer
Treating your boats fuel with a quality stabilizer is one of the most important steps you can take toward properly winterizing your fishing boat! After adding a stabilizer to your boats fuel you should run its engine for about 15 minuets. This step will ensure that the stabilizer has circulated through the entire engine.
The cost of stabilizing your boats fuel is about $6 and 15 minuets of your time! If you dont stabilize your fuel you could find yourself shelling out a few hundred to over one thousand dollars in repairs.
Fogging Engine Cylinders
Fogging your boats engine is another very important step to winterizing your boat. Fogging will coat the inner components of your boats engine, protecting them until your ready to fire your boat back up during the spring. The result of not fogging your engine can be very costly. The inner components of your boats motor can become corroded, rendering your boats motor absolutely useless and requiring either a complete engine rebuilt or a new engine. Each engine manufacturer recommends a specific brand of aerosol fogging solution for their engines. Find out which is recommended for your boats motor and use it!
Draining Your Boats Engine
Remove the pump hose from your boats water pump and allow it to drain. Make sure the water has drained completely from your boats engine! Any water not drained can freeze during the cold winter months, expand and possible crack your boats block, or manifold leading to very expensive and avoidable repairs!
Depending on what type of fishing boat you own the draining process will be different, some boats have handy draining systems, while older boats may not. Whatever your case may be, just make sure you take this very important step winterizing your fishing boat!
Fresh Oil
At the end of the season make sure you give your boat a fresh oil change before storing it away for the winter. Changing your boats oil will remove any moisture that may have collected in your boats oil system. This will prevent corrosion that will over time kill your boats engine. By taking this step you will prolong the life of your boats motor. This step will also help to maintain optimum fuel economy.
Follow these steps and you will ensure your boat will wake up happy after its winter slumber and be ready to fish yet another season!
