As we zoom on into the fall season there are some important things we need to do to prepare our boats for the coming winter season.

During the coming weeks I will be making several posts about winter boat storage and the proper preparation that we need to walk through to make sure our boats get winterized and stored properly.

Before we actually get into the winter season, though, we need to start with one very important maintenance step well before Winter gets here and well before we actually store our boats away.

Here’s the deal. Most of us have gas outboards on our boats. It doesn’t matter if we have a 2 stroke outboard or a 4 stroke outboard. This crucial step needs to be performed, regardless of what size, brand or style of outboard motor we own.

And here’s that step.

When we store our boats away for the winter season we need to make sure that the remaining gas in our tanks doesn’t go bad and gum up our fuel lines, carburetors and fuel injectors. Fuel that’s allowed to sit and go bad leaves behind a gummy substance that can wreak havoc with our outboards. Damage caused by stale fuel and the sticky residue it leaves behind can be pretty expensive to fix. This can easily be prevented with one very simple procedure that takes all of about 30 seconds.

Fuel stabilizer needs to be added to our fuel tanks well before we stop running our outboards. When we actually put the fuel stabilizer into our tanks depends on how early or how late we quit fishing or boating for the season. Typically, we should be adding the fuel stabilizer at least a month before we store our boats and outboards for the winter.

Fuel stabilizer can be purchased at any local store that sells fuel additives. There are a few different brands, but the most common is Stabil.

Stabil gets added to your tank directly and stops your fuel from becoming stale, thus preventing that gummy residue from building up.

The best practice is to add the fuel stabilizer in the month or so leading up to when you’ll actually stop running your outboard. The outboard will still get run after the stabilizer has been added, allowing the fuel stabilizer to circulate through your boat’s fuel system and be sure that it is well-mixed into your fuel.

Be sure to perform this step a few weeks before you actually put your boat away for the winter. This one step will save you hundreds of dollars in repair costs, if you remember to do it!

Check back here during the coming days and weeks for more boat storage tips 🙂

Now, go bag a hawg!

Curt <><