7 Steps to Protect Your Boat During the Off-Season (Winterization)

Summary

In this video, Brian from Wired2Fish walks through the process of winterizing a boat for off-season storage, emphasizing the importance of preventive maintenance. Key steps include treating the fuel system with a stabilizer like Seafoam to prevent breakdown, changing engine oil and gear lube to avoid freezing, inspecting the prop shaft for fishing line damage, and greasing fittings. Brian also shares tips on battery maintenance, such as using precision chargers or storing batteries in a heated area. Finally, he advises cleaning the boat thoroughly to prevent rodent damage and mold during storage.

Takeaways

• 🌡️ The video is set in late fall, signaling the end of the fishing season as colder weather approaches.
• ⛽ Fuel system maintenance should start about two weeks before storage, using a treatment like Seafoam Marine Pro to clean and stabilize fuel.
• 🛠️ Running treated fuel through both the tank and engine is essential to prevent fuel degradation and damage, especially if ethanol is present.
• 🔧 Routine engine maintenance, including changing oil and gear lube, helps prevent water damage and freezing during storage.
• ⚙️ Inspecting the prop shaft for fishing line or debris is crucial to avoid damage to seals and the gear case.
• 🧴 Regular greasing of zerk fittings and inspecting the power trim and tilt reservoir helps prevent water buildup and other issues.
• 🔋 Battery care is essential; storing batteries in a heated or controlled environment and keeping them charged extends their life.
• 🧹 Cleaning and drying the boat before storage reduces the risk of rodent damage, mold, mildew, and water freezing damage.
• 🛡️ Properly storing the outboard in a down position ensures any residual water drains out, preventing freezing and damage.
• 🌀 Using fans to dry out the boat's interior, including storage compartments, helps prevent moisture damage during the off-season.

Q & A

What is one of the first steps in preparing a boat for off-season storage?

One of the first steps is treating the fuel system. This includes adding a fuel treatment product to the fuel tank, lines, and engine to stabilize the fuel and prevent degradation over time.

Why is it important to treat fuel before storing a boat?

Fuel degrades over time, losing ignition vapor and forming varnish, which can damage the engine. Treating fuel helps stabilize it and prevents the breakdown that can occur due to ethanol and other factors.

What benefits does Seafoam Marine Pro offer for engine maintenance?

Seafoam Marine Pro helps clean the engine, burn off carbon deposits, clean injectors, add lubricity, and stabilize the fuel, ensuring better performance and extending the engine's lifespan.

When should you start preparing your boat for storage?

Preparation for storage should start about two weeks before the end of the fishing season, which includes treating the fuel system and conducting maintenance tasks like changing oil and inspecting parts.

What risks are associated with leaving untreated fuel in the engine?

Untreated fuel can degrade over time, leading to potential damage in the engine's critical connections, especially if ethanol is present. This can cause fuel to break down and negatively impact engine performance.

Why is it important to check the prop shaft and seals before storing the boat?

Fishing line or debris wrapped around the prop shaft can damage seals, allowing water to enter the gear case and potentially damaging the gears. Regular inspections prevent this damage.

What is the significance of changing the engine oil and gear lube before storage?

Changing the engine oil and gear lube removes any water that may have accumulated in the engine or gear case, which could freeze during the off-season and cause costly damage.

How can you maintain your boat’s batteries during the off-season?

You can maintain batteries by using a precision charger, topping them off with distilled water, and either leaving them in the boat with a charger connected or removing them for storage in a warmer location.

What is the role of zerk fittings in boat maintenance?

Zerk fittings allow for the injection of fresh grease into various engine parts, pushing out old grease that may contain water. This helps prevent corrosion and maintains smooth operation of engine components.

Why is it necessary to dry out the boat before storage?

Drying the boat prevents damage caused by freezing water, mold, and rodents. It also ensures that electrical components, storage compartments, and the bilge pump are free from moisture, which can lead to corrosion.

Outlines

00:00

❄️ Preparing a Boat for Winter Storage: Fuel System Maintenance

In this paragraph, Brian from Wired2Fish talks about preparing a boat for winter storage by focusing on fuel system maintenance. He mentions that about two weeks before the end of the fishing season, he starts treating the fuel system. He uses a product like SeaFoam Marine Pro to clean the engine, burn off carbon deposits, and stabilize the fuel, especially ethanol-based fuels that can damage hoses and connections. Brian advises using the product regularly to ensure longevity and engine performance, even if the boat is already in storage, as treated fuel must be present within the engine for proper preservation.

05:02

🔧 Engine Maintenance: Oil and Gear Lube Changes

Brian discusses the importance of oil and gear lube changes, following the recommended 100-hour maintenance schedule. Even if 100 hours of use isn't reached, changing these fluids annually is crucial to prevent water from entering the engine crankcase or gear case, which could freeze and cause costly damage during the off-season. Brian stresses the importance of this preventive maintenance step, as it helps avoid significant repair costs later. He also gives tips on how to check and replace these fluids.

⚙️ Checking the Prop Shaft and Seals for Damage

Brian highlights the importance of checking the prop shaft at the end of the season, especially for fishing line that may have wrapped around it. He explains how this can damage the rubber prop shaft seal, allowing water to enter the gear case and damage the gearing. Brian removes the prop to inspect and clean the shaft, applying marine lubricant before reinstallation. He emphasizes that this check is a crucial part of engine maintenance to ensure seals remain intact and prevent water damage.

🔩 Greasing Zerk Fittings for Yearly Maintenance

In this part of the script, Brian explains the importance of greasing the Zerk fittings as part of the yearly maintenance routine. Greasing forces fresh grease into the fittings and removes any old grease that may have accumulated water. This process ensures that the engine and steering mechanism remain lubricated and protected from moisture-related damage. He emphasizes that regular maintenance like this helps prevent wear and tear on critical components.

🔋 Battery Maintenance for Longevity

Brian shifts focus to battery maintenance during the off-season, particularly the care of AGM and lead-acid batteries. His boat has five batteries in total, including trolling motor batteries. He explains two ways to maintain batteries: keeping them connected to a precision charger to keep them topped off, or removing them from the boat, topping them off with distilled water, and charging them individually. Brian also highlights the dangers of freezing temperatures and phantom power drains from accessories, stressing the importance of proper battery care to extend their lifespan.

🧼 Cleaning and Storing the Boat to Prevent Damage

In this final section, Brian discusses the steps to clean and store the boat to minimize damage from rodents and freezing water. He recommends thoroughly cleaning both the exterior and interior, including vacuuming and hand-washing storage compartments. He advises using dryer sheets to keep rodents away and emphasizes the importance of drying the boat thoroughly using fans. The engine should also be stored in a down position to drain any residual water from the cooling system, preventing freezing damage. This ensures the boat remains in good condition during storage.

Keywords

💡Fuel Treatment

Fuel treatment refers to the process of adding chemicals or additives to fuel to stabilize it and improve its quality. In the video, the presenter emphasizes using fuel treatment to prevent varnish formation and mitigate the harmful effects of ethanol in fuel, which can damage engine components. This step is essential for maintaining the boat's engine performance, especially before storing it for the off-season.

💡Seafoam Marine Pro

Seafoam Marine Pro is a specific fuel treatment product mentioned in the video. It is petroleum-derived and is used to clean engine components, remove carbon deposits, and stabilize fuel. The video highlights its importance in maintaining the longevity of an engine by preventing fuel degradation, especially during extended storage periods.

💡Ethanol

Ethanol is a type of alcohol often blended with gasoline. While it helps reduce emissions, it can cause damage to certain engine parts, especially fuel lines and connections. In the video, the presenter warns about the dangers of ethanol in fuel, which can cause degradation over time and harm the boat's engine if not properly treated.

💡Gear Lube Change

A gear lube change involves draining and replacing the lubricant in a boat’s gear case to prevent water contamination and potential freezing during storage. In the video, the presenter recommends changing both the engine oil and gear lube, especially if water is present, as freezing water can cause significant engine damage.

💡Prop Shaft Maintenance

Prop shaft maintenance refers to the process of checking and cleaning the boat's propeller shaft to ensure it is free from debris, such as fishing line, which can damage seals. In the video, the presenter discovers fishing line wrapped around the prop shaft, highlighting the importance of this maintenance step in preventing gear case damage.

💡Zerk Fittings

Zerk fittings are small fittings that allow grease to be injected into mechanical parts to keep them lubricated. In the video, the presenter demonstrates greasing the zerk fittings on the boat’s engine and steering mechanism to ensure the old grease, which may contain water, is replaced with fresh grease as part of routine maintenance.

💡Power Trim and Tilt

Power trim and tilt refer to the mechanism that allows the boat operator to adjust the angle of the engine. In the video, the presenter advises inspecting the power trim and tilt reservoir for fluid levels and condition before storage. Ensuring the fluid is not contaminated with water helps avoid potential damage.

💡Battery Maintenance

Battery maintenance involves properly caring for the boat’s batteries to extend their lifespan. The presenter discusses several ways to maintain batteries during the off-season, such as keeping them charged with a precision charger, topping them off with distilled water, and storing them in heated areas to prevent freezing and damage.

💡Phantom Drains

Phantom drains refer to the unintended draining of a boat’s battery power due to electronics or accessories that remain connected even when the boat is not in use. In the video, the presenter highlights the importance of cutting off power to these components to prevent battery drain during storage, using a power switch to shut down unnecessary systems.

💡Preventative Maintenance

Preventative maintenance involves regular, proactive steps to keep the boat and engine in optimal condition to avoid costly repairs. The video emphasizes various preventative measures such as fuel treatment, prop shaft cleaning, and battery maintenance, which collectively help ensure the boat remains in good working order during the off-season and for future use.

Highlights

The process of preparing a boat for storage starts while still on the water, about two weeks before the end of the season.

Using a good fuel treatment, such as Seafoam Marine Pro, is important for stabilizing the fuel and preventing breakdown over time.

Seafoam Marine Pro is 100% petroleum-derived, so there's no risk of using too much, making it versatile for use at different concentrations.

Preventative maintenance is key to engine longevity, with some motors lasting over 20 years if properly maintained.

Treating fuel in the engine is critical, as just stabilizing the fuel in the tank doesn't mean the engine fuel is treated.

Changing both engine oil and gear lube is essential, even if you haven't reached 100 hours of use, to avoid water damage during off-season freezing.

Checking the prop shaft for fishing line or other debris is a simple yet important task to prevent damage to seals and water intrusion into the gear case.

Regular greasing of Zerk fittings ensures old grease with water buildup is flushed out, further protecting the engine from damage.

Inspecting the power trim and tilt reservoir for fluid level and leaks helps prevent more significant damage during storage.

Taking care of boat batteries during the off-season, either by removing them or using a precision charger, prolongs their lifespan.

Using a battery charger with sensing technology allows batteries to stay topped off, ensuring longer life, especially in heated storage.

Prevent phantom power drains by using a battery cutoff switch to avoid accessory power draining the batteries during storage.

Thoroughly cleaning and drying the boat, inside and out, reduces risks of damage from rodents or freezing water during storage.

Removing all contents from the boat and drying compartments helps prevent mold, mildew, and rodent infestation.

Using high-power fans to dry out storage compartments and the bilge pump ensures that no residual moisture remains, protecting electrical components.

Transcripts

hey guys brian here from wired2fish

and if you look around right now you can

see it looks like it's getting cold

we've lost a lot of our leaves we're

late fall

and where i live that means we're not

too far out from ice so

this boat's going to be going in storage

for an extended period of time and no

matter where you live in the country

there's a period where a lot of folks

don't go out on the water

and the process of preparing this for

storage really starts while you're still

on the water on a regular basis so

roughly about two weeks out from the end

of my fishing season i'm going to start

treating my

fuel system first and foremost both the

fuel that exists in my tank

the fuel lines and then in the engine so

you want to use a good

fuel treatment program here i have cefo

marine pro and this is designed to both

clean the engine burn off carbon

deposits

clean injectors add lubricity up there

as well as stabilize the fuel

as fuel sits over time it loses ignition

vapor

and starts to form varnish the other

thing is too if you have ethanol in your

fuel

that's a bad thing for hoses and

different connections within an engine

so

a good treatment is going to stabilize

that fuel to prevent that breakdown

of the fuel the nice thing about the

seafoam product is it's 100

petroleum derived so there is no

using too much of it you don't have to

get crazy with ratio so i got a quarter

tank of fuel right now i'm going to dump

a full can in you can use one ken you

can use two cans you can use five cans

but generally speaking those last couple

outings i'll put in a can or two

and i'm gonna run it at a higher

concentration in my

fuel tank and engine and get better

performance preventative maintenance

really starts when an engine is new

if you can start a program like this at

the end of each use

season you know you can get decades of

good run time on an engine like this

walker smith the colleague of mine down

in georgia has a 20 year old motor

two-stroke and it's still running really

well it's about kind of preserving your

max horsepower keeping that engine clean

well lubricated and running smooth and

if your boat is already in storage but

you missed the fuel treatment step

it's easy to accomplish anywhere you

have a hose and water make sure you've

added fuel treatment to the fuel

slide a motor flush over the water

intake turn the water on

then start the engine

oftentimes people think that if you just

stabilize the fuel in the tank you're

good to go

but that doesn't mean that the fuel

within the actual engine is treated

this is where a lot of your most

important connections are and if you

happen to have some ethanol

within there or you got regular premium

fuel you're going to have some

degradation of that fuel over time so

you want treated fuel

in the actual engine itself

most outboard motor maintenance

schedules specify an oil

and gear lube change as part of the 100

hour maintenance interval

whether you reach 100 hours in a season

or not it's best practice to change both

the engine oil and gear lube

the primary reason for this is water in

the engine crank case or gear case can

happen

if this water freezes during the off

season you're at risk for some costly

repairs

draining then refilling both the engine

oil and gear case with fresh lubricant

helps to eliminate the water risk in

these critical engine areas

if it's a do-it-yourself job just be

sure to follow the engine maintenance

manual

[Music]

one of the last things i'm going to do

is just take a look at my prop shaft

we've all had it happen to us where we

get fishing line wrapped up in here so

now it's just a good time at the end of

the season

you want to make sure that those seals

don't get compromised into the lower

unit

so i'm going to put my little stopper on

there grab my prop wrench

and start loosening up the hub assembly

and i actually carry both of these just

in my boat kit act throughout the open

water months should i ever need to do

this on the water

so i'm just going to remove the prop and

look at that

that's exactly why you do that i was

totally unaware of this

and it looks like it did not go up into

that assembly but nonetheless it was on

the prop shaft so that's exactly why you

take the time to do that

fishing line can damage the rubber prop

shaft seal and allow water to enter the

gear case which can damage the gearing

before i put it back on i'm just going

to put a little bit

of marine lubricant on there and just do

a reinstalling that hub

and that's just checking your prop shaft

and in that case i mean

that's legit i'm glad i did that

kinda as part of just good preventative

maintenance on

the engine mechanism is greasing your

zerk fittings we've done our 100 hour

maintenance here

but i'm just going to hit these zerks

too and what that does is it forces

fresh grease in

removes any old grease that could have a

little bit of water build up in it

just good preventative maintenance to do

once a year i'm happy with that i'll

follow up with the rag just to remove

that excess grease

and then i have one more right here on

the steering mechanism

you can see that old grease it's done

its job over the course of the year

all right good to go simple step

and to wrap up the engine give your

power trim and tilt reservoir an

inspection for fluid level

and condition top off with fresh lube if

it's low

also inspect for color pink or milky

fluid indicates water so there may be a

leak in the system

if you run into this have a dealer

inspect the trim pump

you know battery investments are pretty

significant on a lot of boats this

particular boat has

a 27 group size agm battery in here

and another 31 group size to power all

the electronics the bilge

the various pumps on this boat and then

a 36 volt

trolling motor battery system up front

so in total five batteries

it's a lot of money and if i take care

of the batteries during the off season

they'll give me more longevity couple

different ways you can approach

batteries

this boat is equipped with a precision

charger that has a sensing technology

that allows me to keep my charger

plugged in

and then always keep those batteries

topped off so

if you have the luxury heated storage

that's the ideal

conditions for the batteries and i just

literally keep them charged all year

i'll go up periodically and just look at

the light splashing

could be outside in a pool barn cold

storage plug it in you're good to go

another good way to handle batteries is

to actually remove them from your boat

top them off with distilled water and

then just use a little standalone

charger

and top off each individual battery and

then store them in your garage

if you live down south they're probably

plenty fine in your garage

where i live it gets really cold and

you'll freeze your batteries i've lost

enough batteries that way to learn the

hard way

i'll either put them you know in a

basement or

in my case with a heated garage i just

keep them out on the garage slab

or overhead storage but before i do that

before

i put them up i'm just going to top off

each battery make sure

if it's lead acid i got distilled water

in there hook up a little charger

this one's a convenient little precision

charger as well

and i usually do each for an overnight

period until i get a full

you know green indicator light you can

see here it's charging

you know take a look at your terminals

too if you see some corrosion up there

you want to clean those off with the

wire brush use a good dielectric grease

one other thing i failed to mention

earlier was phantom drains or

power drains from various accessories

hooked up to the boat like electronics

or networking hubs

i have a purple switch in this boat when

i turn it off

i cut power to pretty much everything

except the outboard engine

if your boat is wired properly your

on-board charger will still supply power

to these batteries

putting boats into storage clean and dry

reduces chances of damage due to rodents

or damage caused by freezing water

start by giving the exterior a thorough

cleaning it's always nice to start the

season with a clean boat

for the interior i remove all contents

and vacuum

and hand wash each storage compartment

with mild dish soap

again clean compartments and a few dryer

sheets keep rodents at bay

as well as mold and mildew drying is a

critical final step

place a high power fan over the aft

porthole and open up some bow storage to

allow

air to circulate and dry out the lower

hull this also dries out your bilge pump

and electrical components that may be in

contact with water

i then position fans topside to dry out

any remaining water or moisture and

storage compartments and decking

lastly store your outboard in the down

position to drain any residual water

that may be in the cooling system