Winter boat use

[BassGizmo]

Hi guys, its been a while. I recently got another boat. this one is a 14 ft sea nymph jon boat with a 6 horse Yamaha. I mainly got this boat for fishing and duck hunting on the susquehanna river. Since the fishing is still good on the susky i plan on going out till early december and doing some duck hunting even later then that. Is there anything i need to do to the motor when running during this cold time of year. Ex. getting all the water out of the motor when the trip is over. I don't want a cracked block. so guys give me all you winter boat tips..


By the way i had a great trip yesterday. boated 16 bass and missed and lost a ton more. 14 were LM and 2 smallies. that is really unusual to catch that many largemouth on the river. they were all 14 1/2 -16 inch fish too. most were caught from one brush pile with spinnerbaits and senkos. they were really stacked up at that spot.. It woun't last long though because tonite is is going to be in the mid 30s. :'( winter is comming too fast

[Rob Mak]

most newer moters are self draining just make sure once ya get home to let your moter all the way down.also i like to pull the lower unit plug and give it a shot of lower unit oil-just to make sure-as you are know that yamaha's will not cold start if tilted any, more so during winter as yamaha's are known as cold blooded give them a goodly amount of time to warm up. i have a 50 on my stratos and a 25 on my duck boat.either one has failed to start ever-unless the battery is dead-i have run them in air temps around 19 above with water temps at 32. they are cold blooded but once warmed up -took 20 mins. 1/4 throttle-they run like it was 91 in stead of 19.



zooker

[macgyver]

[quote author=zooker link=board=Boats;num=1099525310;start=0#1 date=11/03/04 at 19:33:21]most newer moters are self draining just make sure once ya get home to let your moter all the way down.

zooker [/quote]

I wouldn't wait until I got home if it's freezing or close to it. Your motor will drain once you pull it out of the water, let it ALL drain before tilting it up. Or if you tilted it up to load it, then put it all the way down once out of the water so it can drain before heading home.

Lizards

[catfishtonyd]

I doubt you'll have to trim up a 6 hp period. Just pull the boat out and and the water will drain. I know I trailer with my 20 hp Mercury in the down position.

I don't know if you can do it with a Yamaha or not, but I alway disconnect my gas line and run the gas out. (let it run until the engine cuts off) But I only do that if I think I might not use it for a while.

That's about it. Change the lower unit lube is a good idea. Add some fuel stabilizer to the gas. Heck. With a 6 hp, take it in the house with you where it's warm.

[BassGizmo]

thanks for the info guys. I always let my motor down when its on the trailer so it should be fine. I just wanted to make sure since i never had a yamaha before. I just got materal to make my duck blind today so its soon time to switch from bass to ducks. Luckly we have a power plant that has a warm water discharge so i can fish the susky year round if i can stand the cold.
good fishin'

[Rob Mak]

the only reason i said to lower it once ya get home is my moter will drag if i don't.

if ya have a live well in your boat make sure it is dry or drying when you leave it in your storage area-i wipe mine out every time water left in here even a small amount can bust your live well liner.

and here is one i just heard about make sure your bearings are full of grease on the trailer as water can get in your bearing areas and force the grease and or bearings them selfs out when it freezes.

zooker