Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

  • 0

Winterizing, Summerizing, etc.


Scott M

Question

Hey Valv, Surface Tension, et al.,

Please post (and maybe pin at the top) some good tips for winterizing boats, and "summerizing" ice augers, as examples. That would be great for those who don't know, good reminders for those who do, and you never know what new trick you'll learn from someone. I thought of this as I start thinking about putting away the old ice auger. We've had some good times and cut some good holes. I hope I can run her a few more times this winter/spring.

For the auger: My plan is to run her dry, wipe down the whole unit, and add fuel stabilizer to whatever is left in my gas can. (Although I've heard that StaBil is only good for 90 days?)

Any other tips?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Recommended Posts

  • 0
  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

Putting the auger away for summer is easy.

You can go about it a few ways. Either way you should add a fuel stabilizer to non-oxygenated gas, then run the auger till that mixture gets into the carb.

Even is you plan on draining the gas out of the tank and running the engine till all that gas is gone there always some gas left so its better to have that little bit of gas treated with a stabilizer.

If you plan on leaving the gas in your tank then pull the air filter cover off the carb. While the auger is running a give it some throttle and spray a engine fogger into the carb. Do it in short bursts till the engine bogs a little. Then continue to spray till the engine quits. 2 strokes get there lubrication from the oil mixed in the gas. When that gas enters the carb it goes through the crank case first then through ports it pulled into the cylinder. That fogging you just did put a layer of protection in the crank bearing and cylinder walls. Your good go. If you'd like you can pull the spark plug and shoot a fogging agent into that, replace spark plug.

Another way is to store the auger with no gas. As stated earlier you should still have run non-oxygenated gas with a stabilizer through the system. Next drain the gas tank and start the auger, let run till it runs out of gas. After it quits choke the auger and run it again to try and get that last little bit of gas out. Remember that the fogging agent hasn't been run through the crank. You'll have to remove the air filter cover and spark plug. Spray the fogging agent into the carb(open the throttle) and slow pull the starter rope, do this a few times to try and get that into the crank, next spray through the spark plug hole while pulling the starter rope. Replace the spark plug. Your done. While you have that spark plug out look at the numbers on it and get yourself a new plug for next season. After you burn that fogging agent out, replace the spark plug.

4 strokes get the lube from the oil in the crank case.

Do the same gas treatment and run the auger. Fogging the crank isn't necessary so pull the spark plug and spray the fogging agent into the hole. Replace plug and drain and replace the oil while the engine is still warm.

If you like you can spray the auger blades down with WD-40 to prevent runst.

Another way to summerize your auger is to put it in the corner of the garage and hope for the best next winter. grin.gif Actually if you treat the gas and run the auger a few times during the summer then that isn't so bad. Starting the auger gets new lube into the crank and cylinder walls.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

I have always liked to put it away with some stabilizer and start it every month or so. This has always worked very well with every auger I have owned.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Adding stabilizer to old gas (older than 30 days) does no good. Add stabilizer to fresh gas when you buy it and it should be good for roughly a year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Quote:

Another way to summerize your auger is to put it in the corner of the garage and hope for the best next winter


Frank, I had no idea you were in my garage last July. grin.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Now that we are using Amsoil Sabre Pro in some of our 2-strokes, I think we need a little clarification on Stabil use with Sabre. I seem to remember reading here that the Oilman stated that the additives in Sabre are enough of a preservative for mixed gas. I also think he said that Stabil is both not required and not recommended if you are currently using Sabre. Please correct me if I am wrong.

As far as keeping the gas in the tank, I'd rather dump any mixed gas into a nearly full vehicle gas tank and pay for fresh gas in the fall instead of adding Stabil to keep old gas around. Or empty the tank into your mixed-gas gas can and use it for the chainsaw/weed whip/etc. in summer. We're talking a matter of less than a dollar of gas in the auger tank that we are trying to save (except for the mid-summer starters grin.gif).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Who has been reading my mind? I have just been preparing a "Lube Tip" for "Off Season Protection (2-stroke and 4-stroke engines)" that will be e-mailed to those who have communicated direct with me, but since it has been brought up, I will also post it here.

The additional question in this thread is concerning the use of Stabil. I do not know the storage capabilities of this product. AMSOIL does have Gasoline Stabilizer which gives up to 18 months protection (see below). However, most people find it is unnecessary when using Saber Professional in their 2-stroke machines. I have had reports from many people about engines being set aside with no preparation other than they had been using Saber Professional and they can start the next season just by cranking the engine - and easily. For best insurance use the stabilizer too.

If you would like to be added to my list to receive my "Lube-tips" direct (a couple of e-mails a month) drop me a note via my e-mail direct link at the bottom of this post requesting them.

--------------------------------------------

Lube Tip: Equipment Storage . (Both 2-stroke and 4-stroke)

Removed from this post by Don Dawson, click the link to go to my site to read it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Quote:

You use just 1 ounce to 2.5 gallons of gasoline


Well thats great, If my tank is full I need 35 oz of stabilizer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

87.5 Gallon tank?

I just go with the leave the auger in corner and start it with some of the gas from the leaf blower a few times through out the winter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

I go through all the steps to help my motors get through the off season. It doesnt cost much at all and for what these toys cost why not give them all the protection you can.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

how about a list for snowmobiles,used only one weekend this year,two not used at all...how should i summerize em......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0
  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

There is a thread in the sleding forum that goes into details about summarizing.

Open the hood and look to see if mice chewed up or nested in the foam rubber between the air box and hood.

Sleds that haven't been used for two years, IMO then need to be run. I'd drain all the gas and put it in my truck. Fill with fresh gas, treat it and then run the sled. Let it idle for 5 minutes. Watch the temps if you have liquid cooled. Running the engine gets oil back on the cylinder wall and bearings. Now pull the plugs and fog the cylinders while tuning the engine over. Replace the plugs. I put tape over exhaust to keep the mice out. I spray the muffler down with WD-40. Armor-all the seat and let it soak into the stitching then wipe down.

Grease all the zerks if you haven't done that. Remove the belt and lift the track off the ground.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Has anyone ever heard of fogging an outboard motor by running gas mixed with the fogging agent through the motor for 10 to 15 minutes? What type of fogging agent is used to do this? Does this do as good of a job as the traditional way of fogging the motor? Thanks.

Never Enough.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

i winterized my boat myself this year for the first time. i recently moved up from florida so not much to worry about freezing down there. everything went fine, until i moved the oil in my drain container and noticed some water that seperated from the oil. it wasn't an alarming amount but noticeable. is this normal?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0
  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

NETF, never heard of doing it by mixing the fogging agent into the gas. Going through the carb till the point that engine stalls ensures a heavy coat in the crank and its components.

geo, was the oil drained from the lower unit or 4 stroke motor oil. If you noticed it in the lower unit then is must have sat a long time, long enough to separate. At some time you'll want to have the seals replaced or pressure test the lower unit to see which seal is leaking and replace that one. I usually just replace all of them and since your in there replace the impeller too. If you continue to use the outboard with a slight leak then you should check it often.

Water in the crank, 4 stroke outboards run at low temps and are known to have some moister/condensation build up.

If heard that it can actually build up to the point where the oil level becomes high. That seems extreme to me and I'd never let it get to that point.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

it was from my two stroke lower unit. i also noticed the amount i put back in was more than i took out. engine runs great. no over smoking. i will take it in after winter and get that stuff checked out though. i used the boat about a week and a half before this so it didn;t sit that long.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Quite a few years back, I believe OMC has some concoction combining 2+4 and fogging oil in the gas. It was intended for dealers, using a separate gas tank so you didn't store your gas with fogging oil. Not completely sure though. But I would still recommend to anyone to fog through the carbs and treat gas the conventional way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Those are great winterizing tips for motors and summerizing tips for augers. How about tips for bringing your boat out of storage? I'm planning to grease up the bearing buddies, vacuum again, refill with fresh gas, top off the oil, and run the garden hose with ear muffs pretty soon. Anything else?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Good idea da_chise on reviving this thread. Besides what you said. I go over the trailer with a wrench and make sure all bolts are fastened securely.....I had an incident happen last spring on the way to the lake for the first time...one of the bolts loosened up enough to break in half under pressure from exiting the Super America parking lot. Luckily it was only a right rear bolt leaving the prop and lower unit just 2 inches from certain disaster. 2 hours and 3 car jacks later we replaced the bolt, made it to the lake and caught our limit. Anyone else care to chime in on preventative maintenence for the upcoming season?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

How about a 200 Merc opti with direct fuel and oil injection? What steps should I take to winterize it correctly? Also do I really need to treat the gas in the tank (30 gal.) and fill and treat the rest (another 30 gal.)?

Later HTB

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Check out this thread:

Winterizing

With respect to treat the gas in the tank - if you don't fill the tank you run the risk of condensation forming in the tank from not being full. If you have water / fuel seperator it's not an issue. If you don't, well, then you might have to see how it goes in spring.

marine_man

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

2-stroke or 4-stoke I recommend using the New Sta-bill Blue in the mix all season, and for storage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

In Ricks winterizing tip #17."Open all hatches. Place an open bag or two of charcoal in the bilge and in any other enclosed areas. It won't hurt the opened area's either."

Why would one do this?

Just regular charcoal like Kingsford or whatever?

Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

3 questions, about how long should I run the motor to make sure things were treated(I am done for the year and will just back it into the water to run it awhile) and what about removing any line from the prop area. And should I put in new plugs every year??

Thanks,

BHS

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

A spark plug question. Do you use a little anti-sieze on the spark plug threads when you replace them (aluminum heads)?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

2-stroke or 4-stoke I recommend using the New Sta-bill Blue in the mix all season, and for storage.

I didn't know they had the blue marine variety. I used the red in mine, will I be alright with that?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Both the Red/Blue StaBil formulas are good products.

The new Blue is a lot better in many ways with the new rust protection and carb cleaners in it. I would recommend you try it, it has made a dramatic difference in how well my ice augers run and my boat...so I'm now completely sold on the Marine Blue formula StaBil.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Answer this question...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • leech~~
      Nope not me.  May want to go nextdoor and ask around?  
    • smurfy
      Looks to me like Leech brought his chair home!!😅😆
    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.