boat and outboard winterizing

[oakman]

I usually take my boat to the dealer to get it serviced and winterized. A little behind this year and they're booked solid. Any suggestions on where to take a yamaha outboard to get it winterized?

[TriIron]

Any reason why you wouldn't do it yourself? It's really not that big a deal with an outboard. I/O is more work but Outboards are fairly straight forward. I wouldn't recommend it but I've seen quite a few folks who just tilt them down and that's it. Yamaha recommends fogging but I've had Yamahas for years and never once fogged any of my outboards. I've always changed all the oil, filter and lower unit, done a good flush, tilt the motor up and then back down, and do all the normal checks (spark plugs, belt condition etc) and thats about it. Yamaha has a checklist for both 2 and 4 strokes that lists everything they recommend (along with the fluids that they sell/recommend )...

[excav8tr]

save yourself a bunch of money...the yami 4-stokes are pretty easy...check or change fluids & tilt motor down....I prefer to check my oil & change in spring, others prefer to change in fall

[Sobie2]

The reason to change your fluids in the fall is that you don't want that used acidic motor oil eating away at your motor all winter.

Sobie2

[TriIron]

The reason we change our fluids in the fall is that the used oil will have contaminates like salt, some water etc that you really don't want to have sitting there all winter long. IMHO it is much preferable to change it in the fall so as to avoid corrision occuring over the winter. Also nice to start the boating year with a rig that is ready to go. There are also differing opinions on whether to drain a fuel tank or to fill it. We have always gone with the fill option with fuel stabilizer.

[patrickL]

I've always done what everyone here is suggesting and particularly TriIron. Did it for multiple years on my Yamaha 150s and had zero problems. I'd strongly encourage you add fuel stabilizer and fill the tank. Then run the motors for 5-10 minutes each to get the stabilized gas in the lines. Change the oil and lower unit fluid and put her way with the motors down. They fired right up every spring and the whole process took maybe an hour. Sure cheaper than having the dealer do the same.

[TriIron]

Patrick-Saw that you had your boat for sale. Did you sell her? I'm waiting for my new PC to be built and shipped up..Going to be a long winter....

[MGH55]

Why winterize when you can fish all winter in Homer? Looks like a banner year for kings, and still catching Halibut.

[4merguide]

Why winterize when you can fish all winter in Homer? Looks like a banner year for kings, and still catching Halibut.

Well I just finished winterizing my boat and the whole time I thought about you saying this. I truly wish I had the gumption to go out and weather the cold and catch kings down there, but alas.....I don't.
When you get older, the winters seem colder.......lol

[patrickL]

Patrick-Saw that you had your boat for sale. Did you sell her? I'm waiting for my new PC to be built and shipped up..Going to be a long winter....

I did about 6 weeks ago. A guy from Kodiak bought it and hopefully is using it as we speak. Sad day seeing it leave the driveway but hopefully we'll have another before too long.

Enjoy the new boat and be sure to post pics when it arrives.

[TriIron]

I did about 6 weeks ago. A guy from Kodiak bought it and hopefully is using it as we speak. Sad day seeing it leave the driveway but hopefully we'll have another before too long.

Enjoy the new boat and be sure to post pics when it arrives.

This is the third time I've purchased a boat in the late fall. Good time to negotiate but not so good for getting the new rig out. With this one arriving sometime in early December we may have to wait until the Homer Derby to get her wet....