When to freeze protect?

[fluxcore]

When do people usually freeze protect there boats? I'm in Red Deer and the best fishing is usually from now to mid/late October. Its a tough call I don't want to miss out on late season action however I just bought a new boat this year and don't want to risk a cracked block. And experience on here

[npauls]

If you have an outboard you should be alright as long as you let the water drain out for awhile parked on the ramp or a down slope. I have fished late into november with my boat and usually there is no one else around. So I just pull the boat and trailer up the launch so that I have enough room to walk around and get it all geared up for the highway. Make sure to pull the boat plug first thing and lower your motor all the way down until you have everything packed up and ready for the road. Then just give it a quick fire to spit any bit of water out of the motor. Don't run the motor just turn the key quick a couple times. I have been doing this for a couple years now and haven't had a problem. Then when it comes time that the lakes are freezing over too much to launch you can get it winterized and drag out the ice gear.

Late season fishing can be really good and most of the time I am the only one on the lake.

[fluxcore]

Originally Posted by npauls

If you have an outboard you should be alright as long as you let the water drain out for awhile parked on the ramp or a down slope. I have fished late into november with my boat and usually there is no one else around. So I just pull the boat and trailer up the launch so that I have enough room to walk around and get it all geared up for the highway. Make sure to pull the boat plug first thing and lower your motor all the way down until you have everything packed up and ready for the road. Then just give it a quick fire to spit any bit of water out of the motor. Don't run the motor just turn the key quick a couple times. I have been doing this for a couple years now and haven't had a problem. Then when it comes time that the lakes are freezing over too much to launch you can get it winterized and drag out the ice gear.

Late season fishing can be really good and most of the time I am the only one on the lake.

Great news, thanks allot

[dodger]

Everyone should get there boats off the lakes now

Dodger.

[mooseknuckle]

Npauls has it right!! You don't want to miss out on the late season, I find it the best fishing of the year. I used to just use a large funnel on the muffs and fire it up and run a gallon of antifreeze into it. Rather then take it to someone, bit if you have a newer boat i can see the justification for bringing it to the pros. Or do what I did and build a second 1200sq ft garage with infloor heating then you can sit in the boat with a beer in the winter and tinker with it.... The boat that is.

[fluxcore]

Originally Posted by mooseknuckle

Npauls has it right!! You don't want to miss out on the late season, I find it the best fishing of the year. I used to just use a large funnel on the muffs and fire it up and run a gallon of antifreeze into it. Rather then take it to someone, bit if you have a newer boat i can see the justification for bringing it to the pros. Or do what I did and build a second 1200sq ft garage with infloor heating then you can sit in the boat with a beer in the winter and tinker with it.... The boat that is.

Any extra room...say 17ft I'm going to tackle freeze protecting myself, figure it cant be that hard to change gear case oil, engine oil, fog carb and cycle some antifreeze, Ill even pull the plugs and shoot a little fog in there I just want to put if off for as long as possible and get in as much fishing as i can before I'm making payments through the winter while it just sits

[Crossfire]

Originally Posted by dodger

Everyone should get there boats off the lakes now

Dodger.

I agree

[Overdrawn]

Never turn your motor over out of water. Your impeller in the bottom of the leg needs waters. 1 for lubrication and second of all for a bit a back pressure. You will damage it really quick. Just like spinning your tires on pavement. And turning it over will do absolute dick all but spin the impeller. It not like it has any other moving part in the cooling system but the impeller. Just simply put your motor vertical. There made to drain.

Npauls had been doing it for years with out a problem that's why he been asking everyone on the board to go fishing because his boats pooched.

[mooseknuckle]

Originally Posted by fluxcore

Any extra room...say 17ft I'm going to tackle freeze protecting myself, figure it cant be that hard to change gear case oil, engine oil, fog carb and cycle some antifreeze, Ill even pull the plugs and shoot a little fog in there I just want to put if off for as long as possible and get in as much fishing as i can before I'm making payments through the winter while it just sits

Thank you I forgo tto add the fogging spray stuff, I do that aswell. And yes a good idea swapping the gear oil once a year. There are lots of good videos on youtube for "winterizing".

[Kokanee9]

Flux - When you get the boat home, lower the motor to make it vertical. The water will drain out by itself.

Put a saw-horse or something similar under the front of the trailer by the hitch. Pull the plug at the back of the boat to drain any water under the floor. Take off that circular cover right in front of the motor and get any remaining water under the floor by hand and sponge. Leave the plug out until it hits the water again.

Make sure there are no weeds in the bilge or livewell pumps that will stop the water from draining out of those. They are only plastic and will crack if any water remains.

If storing outside, get a cover that is waterproof. this also means that you will have to brush off the snow every time it snows. If you don't when a chinook comes, it will partially melt and you will have a 100 lb block of ice in the middle of the boat weighing down on the cover, making it prone to ripping on any sharp edge.

Take out the battery and any removable electronics like your sonar. Store them in the basement. Put the battery on a piece of 2x6 laying sideways and not directly on the floor. Charge fully before storing and again in about feb - march. Put the sonar beside the tv, so you can be reminded that fishing season will come again eventually when you are watching hockey. You can also bring in or leave the transducer on. I bring mine in. Not sure if it's required or not, but I play it safe.

Leave the motor straight up and down all winter because this will also keep your hydraulic tubes from being exposed and getting minor surface rust.

At some point in time, maybe at the end of next season, why not grease the wheel bearings on the trailer also. You have a new rig so you shouldn't have to take them apart and clean them, just a couple shots of grease should be fine. After every second season you should take them apart and clean and re-grease them. Everyone has seen the boat trailer sitting at the side of the road in may or june with a wheel bearing that has basically dis-integrated. That's what happens when you don't take them apart and clean them.

At the end of your season, you can fog the motor the last time you have the boat out. Do it preferably with the motor down as far as you can in the water, with the winch hook attached to the front of the boat. Remove the cover and air filter if you have one and spray into the air intake only until the motor stops running. Don't take out the spark plugs and spray more when you get home. Once you have fogged the motor, don't turn it over until you get it on the water next season. More is not better in this case. As long as there is a very thin film on the inside of the cylinders, the purpose has been achieved. Putting more on would be like putting 8 layers of saran wrap on a plate of food. As long as the first is covering the food, the extra layers only make it harder to uncover the plate and eat it. Think of the spark plugs getting gummed up with that stuff. It will make it harder to start in the spring.

Bottom end oil. This is a good one for you to do because your boat is new. When the motor is new, as it wears in, little dust sized pieces of metal will be suspended in the oil. Drain the oil at the end of the season after you take the boat out for the last time when you pull it out of the water. If you wait, then the dust particles will settle to the bottom and some will remain when you do drain it. When you use it, all these particles get stirred up and will be suspended in the oil. That is why you should do it right at the dock after using it. You wont need a large container to catch the old oil, because there will be at most 1 liter inside there. You can put in new oil when you get home. Get the good stuff from the dealer.

Spark plugs - I wouldn't bother taking them out because your boat is new. I would be very surprised if there was any carbon or anything on them. If there was any problems like that, you would have been stranded in the middle of the lake sometime this season. I think somewhere around the 100 hr mark you can pull them to have a look. I pulled mine at 65 hours and they still looked brand new.

I cant think of anything else right now, but if I remember anything, I can always come back and add it in another post.

[Kokanee9]

Originally Posted by Overdrawn

Never turn your motor over out of water. Your impeller in the bottom of the leg needs waters. 1 for lubrication and second of all for a bit a back pressure. You will damage it really quick. Just like spinning your tires on pavement. And turning it over will do absolute dick all but spin the impeller. It not like it has any other moving part in the cooling system but the impeller. Just simply put your motor vertical. There made to drain.

I would agree. The impeller is made of rubber and it will just be rubbing against metal and will get damaged quickly.

[npauls]

Originally Posted by Overdrawn

Never turn your motor over out of water. Your impeller in the bottom of the leg needs waters. 1 for lubrication and second of all for a bit a back pressure. You will damage it really quick. Just like spinning your tires on pavement. And turning it over will do absolute dick all but spin the impeller. It not like it has any other moving part in the cooling system but the impeller. Just simply put your motor vertical. There made to drain.

Npauls had been doing it for years with out a problem that's why he been asking everyone on the board to go fishing because his boats pooched.

Gotta start some more **** hey you goof.

My boat isn't pooched.

The magnets let go from the bottom of the fly wheel causing me to need a new flywheel. Has nothing to do with an impeller.

A quick turn over of the motor won't harm it at all. The only thing it does is fire out any water that may be sitting in there after you drain it.

But if you want to put your boat away now that is fine with me. Just keeps you out of my way while I am still hammering fish well into November.

[mooseknuckle]

I'd have to agree Ive never suffered engine damage due to a quick turn of the key out of water. A 1-2 second turn of the key in no way can create any sort of heat which will cause damage and as far as impellers go they are cheap and I always change mine every second season regardless. The impeller for my boat is $17 so for me it just makes as much sense as changing the oil, preventative maintenance.

[Overdrawn]

Who said I was putting my boat away. It drains after each use. Who ya finding to mooch boat ride from this time? Or ya fishing from shore. Wii has good fishing game for ya NPaul's!!

[npauls]

Originally Posted by Overdrawn

Who said I was putting my boat away. It drains after each use. Who ya finding to mooch boat ride from this time? Or ya fishing from shore. Wii has good fishing game for ya NPaul's!!

I haven't mooched a ride in a boat yet this year. I have been running my 12 foot tinner that I have and catching a ton of fish.

All you are is a troll that is looking to stir the pot and start arguments. You know nothing about me or anything I do.

I hope Karma bites you in the ass this fall.

[Overdrawn]

Originally Posted by npauls

I haven't mooched a ride in a boat yet this year. I have been running my 12 foot tinner that I have and catching a ton of fish.

All you are is a troll that is looking to stir the pot and start arguments. You know nothing about me or anything I do.

I hope Karma bites you in the ass this fall.

You as well. Your advice just proves your inexperience, biased opinions, frail closed mind and your unwillingness to listen to other people wisdom and learn. If you new anything on the topics you have spoken on you wouldn't be so quick to the punch to defend your practices that will harm equipment or opinions on equipment used. Hence the reason your boat motor failed. It's called maintenance.

[HunterDave]

I took my Bayliner with a 150hp Merc out on Friday and I'll be winterizing it this Saturday. My tinny with the 9.9 Mariner will get winterized in October. Outboard motors are easy to winterize properly (half an hour) but inboard/outboard motors are a bit different as they hold water to cool the engine and have to be drained. If the motor freezes you'll pop the frost plugs just like in a car. It was pretty darned cold up here in November last year....lol.

The way the weather can change so fast in Alberta I'd sooner winterize in nice weather and not chance it. GL.

[Duramaximos]

I have a question regarding winterizing I/O motors.
Is it as simple as applying ear muffs and running a hose into a 5 gallon pail of anti-freeze and letting her run until the pink fluid starts coming out the back?

Also, is it wise to drain the manifolds and block before doing this? I imagine the anti-freeze will push out all the water but perhaps I'm mistaken...?

Thanks!

sorry for the sight de-rail!

[horsetrader]

My last trip will be in November no need to winterize before then

[npauls]

Originally Posted by Overdrawn

You as well. Your advice just proves your inexperience, biased opinions, frail closed mind and your unwillingness to listen to other people wisdom and learn. If you new anything on the topics you have spoken on you wouldn't be so quick to the punch to defend your practices that will harm equipment or opinions on equipment used. Hence the reason your boat motor failed. It's called maintenance.

Explain to me how you do maintenance on a broken loose flywheel magnet?

The only reason my boat isn't in the water is because I am off of work waiting for back surgery and don't have the finances to fix it at this moment.

I am very open minded and have learned a ton from people on here as well as the walleye trail.

Ask around and see how many people turn over their motors really quick after a day on the water in the late fall. I bet you will be surprised that quite a few more people then you think do this.

Basic maintenance includes an impeller every year or 2 so I shouldn't have to worry about an impeller problem to begin with.

Like I said before. All you do is troll around looking to start **** and have done so on more then a few occasions. Just because you don't do something or use a certain product doesn't mean it is wrong completely.

[liar]

hate to stir up sh** , but i personally know two people who wrecked thier water pumps when they just " started thier engines for a second " out of water . just sayin !!!

i usually run my engine up and down a few times and have never had a problem , the water seems to all drain out . ( by up and down i mean travel position down to straight up and down )

[Overdrawn]

First of all you telling someone with a brand new boat and motor to do something that will directly VIOD his warranty. And if you new anything about the mechanices of an outboard you would know there made to drain. You never under any circumstance fire or turn your motor over out of water. You take the chance of gernading your impeller. Only to find it's gone on the next outing. Remember this is in writing and if I followed your advice and cooked my motor or caused the impeller to fail YOU would be directly liable for it.

As for your boat motor, magnets just don't break off the flywheel and jar or hit weather trailering or on the lake could be the cause or an other underlieing problem could cause it. Overheating for example. Flywheel expand magnets fall out.

I think carma already nailed you in the back and the boat.

Yet your back is fine enough to sit an 12' foot tin rocket. Go figure another one milking the system?

[HunterDave]

Why don't you girls keep your pizzing contest to pm's? There's no entertainment value to anyone else.

[npauls]

Originally Posted by Overdrawn

First of all you telling someone with a brand new boat and motor to do something that will directly VIOD his warranty. And if you new anything about the mechanices of an outboard you would know there made to drain. You never under any circumstance fire or turn your motor over out of water. You take the chance of gernading your impeller. Only to find it's gone on the next outing. Remember this is in writing and if I followed your advice and cooked my motor or caused the impeller to fail YOU would be directly liable for it.

As for your boat motor, magnets just don't break off the flywheel and jar or hit weather trailering or on the lake could be the cause or an other underlieing problem could cause it. Overheating for example. Flywheel expand magnets fall out.

I think carma already nailed you in the back and the boat.

Yet your back is fine enough to sit an 12' foot tin rocket. Go figure another one milking the system?

I know for a fact it wasn't anything I have done. I have talked to plenty of merc. dealers since this has happened and they have all said that it is a problem with these flywheels. The epoxy they used gets old and just lets go.

As for my back I have no say in whether I can go back to work or not. If I could go back right now I would. Why would I want to milk the system to lose $1400-$1600 a month worth of pay?

I have put a high back seat in my tinner because of my back problem and it is more comfortable then most desk chairs, couches, or kitchen chairs I have sat in.

As for the information I have given I would not be directly responsible for any problems caused. He came on a public forum and asked what people think. There is plenty of others that agree with me and have done the same thing. I have heard of plenty of people that have drained their motors and still had them freeze up and crack things in their leg. I personally would rather have a $12-$20 part go out because I was being preventative then have something cracked in the leg of my motor that will cost hundreds

Grow a brain and think before you type.

As mentioned before you know nothing about me and my life yet keep trying to bring things up about me.

[Kokanee9]

Originally Posted by HunterDave

I took my Bayliner with a 150hp Merc out on Friday and I'll be winterizing it this Saturday. My tinny with the 9.9 Mariner will get winterized in October. Outboard motors are easy to winterize properly (half an hour) but inboard/outboard motors are a bit different as they hold water to cool the engine and have to be drained. If the motor freezes you'll pop the frost plugs just like in a car. It was pretty darned cold up here in November last year....lol.

The way the weather can change so fast in Alberta I'd sooner winterize in nice weather and not chance it. GL.

Just curious what you have to do to winterize I\O. I imagine there is a drain plug on each side of the block. What about in the hoses and stuff? Are they higher than the drain holes and drain by gravity? Also is there an actual water pump or impeller on there? What else is different from an outboard for winterizing?

[Kokanee9]

Originally Posted by horsetrader

My last trip will be in November no need to winterize before then

Hell yeah. I'll be the other boat on the lake with ya.

[mooseknuckle]

come on guys this "could" be a great thread. Lets try and keep it on topic and say one's methods may differ from another. Okay someone knows 2 people that broke their motors from doing this and there are 2 on the other side that haven;'t my motor is a 1976 so it's been turned over out of water for 35 years and with compression being 145 on all 3 holes I don't think it's about to hurt it anytime soon, that being said I'm not going to rag on anyone who says or thinks its harmful. If you have a new motor under warranty your best bet would be to get it serviced/winterized at the dealer, but in know way can they void your warranty trying to prove you turned the key out of water. IMO.

I'm not too sure about the winterizing of an I/O i've never had one but I know there are a million videos on youtube that go through the process step by step. worth checking out.

My boat will be on the water until I have concerns about thick ice damaging the hull!! Always have always will.

[EZM]

And .......... put a squirt of that fuel stabalizer in your last tank as your driving up to the boat launch to pull out your boat - it keeps the water from forming in your tank over the winter. Run it 5 minutes and you are golden.

Water in the fuel lines makes spring start up tougher than it needs to be.

[HunterDave]

Originally Posted by Kokanee9

Just curious what you have to do to winterize I\O. I imagine there is a drain plug on each side of the block. What about in the hoses and stuff? Are they higher than the drain holes and drain by gravity? Also is there an actual water pump or impeller on there? What else is different from an outboard for winterizing?

Mine's an outboard so I'm not real keen on winterizing an I/O. Someone out at the lake will likely be doing theirs this weekend so maybe I'll give them a hand just for the learning experience. I do know that there are drain plugs and the whole system needs to be drained and refilled with anti-freeze. I'm thinking that the drain plugs locations may vary slightly from one motor to the other. If I had an I/O motor I'd be learning how to winterize it because one fella paid +$500 to have it done in the shop where it probably only cost $50 for materials.

[HunterDave]

Originally Posted by mooseknuckle

Okay someone knows 2 people that broke their motors from doing this and there are 2 on the other side that haven;'t my motor is a 1976 so it's been turned over out of water for 35 years and with compression being 145 on all 3 holes I don't think it's about to hurt it anytime soon, that being said I'm not going to rag on anyone who says or thinks its harmful.

It doesn't have anything to do with your compression. Turning the key on for a second to turn your motor over likely won't hurt your motor. If you start your motor out of the water with no muffs on you risk damaging your impeller by running it dry. The impeller is just a round piece of rubber with fin like pieces that circulates the water through your engine. It is very fragile if you run the engine if it is dry and 30 seconds could be enough to wreck it. I'm pretty sure that numerous 10 second starts won't do it any good either.

I wouldn't do it to get water out of my motor. When I winterize I pull the plugs and fog the cylinders. Then I wrap the pull cord around the flywheel and give it a couple of pulls to lube the cylinders and get rid of any residual water in the engine. Simple, safe and less wear on the impeller.