Winterizing big block powered cabin cruiser & small block powered ski boat! Which is better?!

[@anthonypeck3588]

Put the Stabil in the tank when you go out on the lake for the last time. If you just put it in the tank without running the engine it won't get up into the fuel lines and into the fuel injectors...

[@AcmeRacing]

I concur. I do the same with my motorcycle ... one last ride after the fuel treatment, then close the petcock and let it run the carb dry before pushing it to the back of the garage.

[@888johnmac]

yeah .. or at least turn on the ignition & let the pump circulate the fuel/stabil mix

[@derikdrinkle2084]

That was my thought also.

[@larrycapecci4850]

Agreed stabil goes in the tank before last run.

[@flyingsparksgarage]

We should have!!!

[@Fast351]

In case you wonder how I winterize in Minnesota, where it gets REALLY cold (sorry no cruiser experience, just a ski boat). Get the engine warmed up, which makes sure the thermostat is open. I change the oil at the same time since its easier to get the oil out when its warm. Next I empty the strainer bowl, disconnect the raw water hose before the transmission cooler, and pull all the drain plugs and remove the water. Put the plugs back in with fresh teflon tape, then I have a 5 gallon bucket with a bottom hose that I plug into the trans cooler instead of the lake pickup. Put in 4 gallons of pink antifreeze, start the boat at idle, and dump in the last gallon when the level drops. Turn off the engine when the bucket is empty. Pull the battery and bring it in a warm place. Been doing it this way for years, and that boat is my baby. It has survived many -30 winters.

[@Cotton088]

Lower the foot (outdrive) to drain the water in that. You could also convert it to a closed system with antifreeze and you won’t have to worry about draining the block. We did that so that we could have heat in our boat.

[@BillB23]

Sunrises and sunsets never get old.

[@robertmyers4155]

I used something similar to this on my Baja inboard! Style: Winterizing Kit Winterizing Kit $40.77$40.77 In Stock.

[@patrickmcnew3105]

I always change the foot oil in the out drive to make sure there is no water in it with the oil. I had one freeze and break when I did not do that.

[@kentbrowning4689]

if you don't need to change the gear lube, you can crack the bottom plug just enough to let some come out. if there is water in the outdrive, it will come out first before you see gear lube. Have to do this after it has not ran for several hours.

[@adriansenestraro4554]

I just winterized my 99 454 Mercruiser a few weeks ago. The steps I took were 1. Run to operating temperature-change oil and filter 2. Run again, spray fogging oil into intake until it shuts off and dies 3. Pull each plug and spray a small amount of fogging oil 4. Pull 5 blue plugs and replace them with new (2 under manifolds, 2 on the side of the block 1 underneath the right side under a copper pipe-this one is quite the pain 5. Pulled off any lower hoses that could have water trapped, and reattach (Impellar, cooler lines) 6. Pull top two large hoses off top of and fill to the top with RV antifreeze until it comes out the other side of the thermostat (As others have said I’ve read that leaving it dry can cause rust and potentially not get pockets of water in there) 7. Drain and replace drive oil

[@kentbrowning4689]

with MPI, you can mix 2 stroke oil in the fuel filter and start the engine for a few seconds to fog the cylinders. Mercruiser doesn't recommend fogging oil with fuel injection engines.

[@adriansenestraro4554]

@@kentbrowning4689 that’s great to know and makes total sense. Thank you

[@kentbrowning4689]

Look into Marine Stabil, 1 oz treats 10 gal, and treats ethanol, water, and cleans. I run it on every fill up. I'd also recommend running engine to treat injectors. You also need to pull the hoses on the back of the water pump to drain, and you should have blue drains on the cool fuel on the port side of the engine, as well as one below the engine water pump. You also probably saw you have drain plugs on the exhaust manifolds where you pulled the hoses. Need to rinse the star brite hull cleaner, its acid and will thin the gel coat if left on there.

[@grumpycat4584]

Such a wonderful couple. Please take care of each other, as the years pass by so quickly.

[@gordondoran9958]

On the port side of the engine , there is the oil cooler that has water running through it. The plug is near impossible to get at, so if you can disconnect the hose that goes to it and hold it down below the pump to drain the water out would be a good idea, Freeze and crack the intercooler and you'll hate the trouble it is to replace it.. Much like the water pump was!!! Also, when you pull the plugs on the block , take a small screw driver and stick it in the hole and clean out the sand and grit. With the water system, just run the water out and put the antifreeze in the water tank run the taps till it runs pink.

[@mitchharris97]

Easy way for the engine is a sump pump in a bucket full of rv antifreeze run the engine as normal while pumping in antifreeze as coolant till it comes out the outlet

[@stevenostrowski9406]

When I had a cruiser, it had no fresh water pump. Followed the bucket and portable pump approach, connecting to the fresh water inlet. Then ran the sink, toilet and shower(s) until pink came out. Dump more antifreeze in the toilet bowl. Do the same for the sink if it has a trap, assuming it dumps overboard. My Rv has a fresh water pump onboard so similar (but different, must empty and bypass the water heater).

[@mebordernoneya8484]

Take a gallon of pink stuff and pour it down the water intake hose to push all the water out of the stern drive. You will be surprised how much water is in the stern drive. Probably not needed, but I do the same with the engine block. Take off all the hoses and pour some pink stuff down all the hose fittings until you see some pink stuff come out the block and manifolds. Also, add the stabilizer to the fuel before your last run. This way the stabilizer gets into the fuel rails and injectors (or carburetor) and keeps that fuel from going bad over winter. Everything else looked pretty solid.

[@rogerkennedy8849]

Good time to repack wheel bearing so they are ready for the next year i see alot of trailers on the side of the road because people forget about that

[@jeromeyking162]

I dont know if it was right or wrong but I always drain my out drive unit oil and refill in the spring and I also always pull my impeller in spring and Vaseline it up. I live in oregon and it gets really cold here. It's something I like to do and a good way to make sure your out drive is in good condition.

[@ennengb2010]

also , drains that appear to have "already drained" take a piece of stiff wire and poke it into the hole and wiggle it around. these drains are at the low part of the water jacket and rust collects there blocking the drain hole

[@Cotton088]

Good point. I had forgotten about that.

[@robertwolfe8680]

Put the antifreeze in your fresh water tank and run water until pink comes out of all your fixtures. We do this for our camper as well.

[@lazyhoundracing9621]

Great video. An ounce of prevention...... Thank you for your time.

[@markburley4901]

Learned a trick for pulling pink antifreeze through the rv system. We always bypassed the water heater and never put it in the water tank. We built a little contraption that screws onto the water pump in place of the feed line from the tank. You then put the line from the screw on contaption into the antifreeze jug. Turn your taps on and it pulls the antifreeze through the lines to your sink(s). Once they are all done, remove your homemade contraption, reattach the line from the water tank (tank is empty) and turn the taps on again. It pulls the bulk of the antifreeze out of the lines and only leaves it in the low spots. We had a grey water tank on our 370 Searay and the antifreeze would drain through the pump into the tank winterizing those lines. Our Thompson prior to the Searay drained out the side of the boat and we put a bucket there. Then we used that to flush down the toilet into the black water tank. Don't know if there's anything you can get from that but I'm sure you two can create an attachment to the pump into the antifreeze as easily as anybody! PS...it can get pretty cold here in southern British Columbia and we never had any issues and less pink stuff coming out of the taps in the spring.

[@aymansalib]

Hi. I have just started following your channel ans it is a pleasure honestly to do it. I love your harmony and how you respect the family traditions as well as showing every step you do take and asking for help as well. God bless you both and your little dogy.

[@WATTYATHINK]

Like #79 ..nicer to see the sun and folks in short sleeves ... -5 degrees celsius here in Canada this morning ...

[@methere27]

Didn't feel to read all the comments, but I would suggest using a full sized compressor to blow out all the lines. do some pipefitting to adapt a fiiler hose connection to an airline quick connect and hook up about 20 psi to the line making sure you have one faucet open and then cycle thru all the other faucets and toilet, opening one at a time leaving the previous one open so as not to pressurize the lines with air pressure .after all the lines are cleared pour a little plumber anti freeze in the tank and run the pump for a few seconds. this will save you repairing lines every year which is how I learned

[@duanecullen5600]

I've found that it's a good idea to cover all open ports to keep out mice and insects. Screen or steel wool. I had a war with stink bugs and mice before. Many hours of suffering.

[@ennengb2010]

spray engine down with wd-40 or crc 6-56. coat as much of the engine as you can. I do the trim pump, steering actuator at the stern and any electrical parts in the eng. compartment

[@danagovang2520]

Over the winter I put a couple Dry-Z-Air moisture absorbers inside our boat. They use calcium chloride crystals to absorb any excess humidity.

[@MM_in_Havasu]

Looks like lake water is warmer than the air temp at the lake, plus high dewpoint contributes to some ground fog on the water. My home lake(Lake Havasu)is usable year round, but water temps drop drastically to about 45 degrees by end of December. No issues with freezing temps either in the AZ desert! I run some fuel stabilizer in my boat when parking for winter weeks(both weeks, LOL), but the gas ends up getting siphoned out of both tanks for my thirsty Suburban(10 mpg, 5 mpg in town w/big block Chevy engine), so it doesn't go to waste. I top my tanks up in spring with fresh premium fuel & Stabil, & run the boat for about 30 min. in the driveway and then service as needed. Drop all oils out in the fall and refill with fresh oils of your choice, then grease all fittings, then it is ready to go in spring. Battery tender is always plugged in if boat is in the garage, so no worries there, batteries get replaced every 3 years in the desert. Glad to see you guys had a nice last trip for the season! Thanks for another cool video!

[@cranefly23]

I’m already looking forward to some more of your boating adventures next year. Stay safe.

[@dennistaras9417]

When winterizing a bravo it is important to drain the seawater pump and powersteering cooler as well I don't know if you did but hopefully you did.

[@nickh1131]

On the cabin cruiser you should pour some ain’t freeze down and the bilge and run it a big to keep that pump from freezing!!

[@chappy5538]

Finley is so cute and I love his shop dog collar stay safe.

[@Brandon-ol7uj]

I agree. End of boat season is the worst time of year

[@craiggoodwin9704]

Good video with some all around tips for any kind of recreational vehicle. We put small pieces (1" x 1" approx.) of the original Irish Spring soap in all our drawers and scattered around on the floor to keep the mice out. That worked great for us. Also left about three tubs of air dryer in our camper. Looking forward to seeing you on the water next year. Thanks for Sharing!

[@Customsouthernarms]

Good job. My boat has 2 batteries. I hard mounted the 2 bank battery tender from Deltran in my boat. Now I just run an extension cord to the boat, open the flap and plug it in. I ran the tender to an external RV plug.

[@tishbrett]

So glad i live in the tropics and can use the boat all year and dont have this hassle

[@sjd7188]

Just remove the blue plugs on the bottom of the exhaust manifolds vs pulling the hoses, thats what they are there for.

[@brianlisboa7887]

make sure you guys always stay united as a couple. fame sometimes comes in the way and causes irreparable damages to a family. you guys look great together, keep it that way.

[@stevenarmburger2334]

I always drain the gear grease out of the lower drive unit just in case it has any water in it and refill it with fresh gear oil. You don't want any water in there, if there was enough water in there and it got cold enough it could crack the case and thats some big $$$$ to replace.

[@bigmikeyc83]

This girl is awesome. There just a great pair all together.

[@Bugf1]

I suggest setting up bypass on cabin water heater guessing you have one because of the 2 knobs on the faucet then use the pump to get RV antifreeze into the entire system heater drained and bypassed only takes 1-2,, gallons even filling the drains. Cheaper then replacing stuff. Love the content you guys are fun to watch.

[@vrm86gt]

with the drought here in CA I've only had our boat twice this year! both times on the Sacramento River, we normally like to boat at Folsom Lake but it has been too low this year!

[@terryrutherford2114]

We live in Napa. We have had our boat on Folsom once years ago. It was low then. We only went on the Napa River this year. The lakes were just too low for me.

[@alaningram515]

To winterize, I fill the engine block with the pink anti-freeze, then remove the plugs. I have 4 plugs. 2 on the exhaust, and 2 on the engine block. I remove those, and let drain. That way, the pink anti-freeze is in whatever engine or exhaust cavity where water couldn't get out. I also put down the stern drive, that way, the bellows won't stretch or tear for the out drive while the boat is sitting in storage. I remove the battery, and completely cover the boat to keep rodents out. I remove EVERYTHING and store contents in a storage tote in my garage. I have a 17' open bow boat with a Mercruiser 3.0 and Alpha 1 stern drive. When I bought the boat , the 4 drain plugs were already on the engine and exhaust. You may also have drain plugs on the engine block and exhaust. Putting the stern drive down is something I learned, having to replace all 3 bellows after only 12 hours of operation the prior year.

[@txslxs]

So good to see people using common sense and spending a few minutes to clean and winterize their boats. You hear people complain about spending $$ on their bait every year and how it spoils the experience. But if everyone did what you guys are doing. In this video 95% of the complaints would go away. Nice to see smart sensible young couple living their lives with gusto and using their brains.

[@gageshultz9523]

For the plumbing system-- It is recommended to put water through the lines by either sucking it through the water pump or putting gallons in the fresh tank. For my RV I do the water pump, and fresh tank. For the boat, I do the water pump. It ensures the lines will not crack.

[@jansmit4628]

You did a good job on winterising the boats. You could also put the trailers on stands so the tires are less stressed during the winter period.

[@joejuska5390]

On my 26’ hard top shamrock I just rig a hose, tee and a valve off of raw water inlet. Select the hose. Put the hose in a pale which holds 2 gallon of the pink low temp antifreeze. Turn on the engine. Watch for the pink to come out of the exhaust. Turn off the engine. Select the valve to seawater. And I am done. 12 years in coastal NJ. Never had a problem with engine ice. Never drained the corroded drain ports on the risers and heat exchangers. Now rain in the bilge freezing was a bother.

[@ccchhh4690]

Just winterized my Sea Ray 268. It's definitely a process to do it right but better safe than sorry!

[@winger-eo1qf]

make a air adapter for your water fill and hook up your air hose with 15 psi on it and then open your facetts to clear out all water lines. after you clear your water lines then fill your drains.

[@garyworokevich2524]

Enjoyed this. Decades ago a fella I knew had a Trojan with twin 454's. Never rode on it, just liked hearing all the maintenance done on it, and dodging fool a holes he avoided on open water. I had way less stress paddling my cheap canoe.

[@Trophy9869]

We used to use syringes and hoses to push the antifreeze into faucets until it flushed all the way to the lower faucets to keep the plumbing from freezing in houses of the nearby beach town that was pretty much a ghost town during the winter here in NC.

[@EmpoweringDIYFamily]

I may have missed it but you need to put the out drives down. This lets an water left in them run out as well.

[@pidjones]

I use a wet/dry vacuum cleaner to suck through manifolds and the engine and dry it out.

[@timfrodge3631]

7.4 MPI there is 5 water plugs 2 manifold plugs 2 in the block and one in the fuel cooler its on the bottom off the main inlet hose of the sea water pump. Mine is on the left side of the engine.

[@1wogdog]

a bit late to comment..the exhaust manifolds are expensive..i live on kodiak alaska...i use my boat in salt water but i have a closed cooling system,a better system if you run in salt water..actually just a better system..no sand circulating through the engine...getting to the point.salt(raw) water still goes through the exhaust manifolds..i flush all the salt out then drain ...then i plug everything up (exhaust manifolds)and fill with a mixture of cheap anti freeze..the anti freeze has corrosion inhibiters,helps keep the inside of the exhaust manifolds in better condition.they rust from the inside out..in your case,since theres no anti freeze inside your engine,that to will be rusting from the inside out..i,ve been getting 10+ years out of a set of manifolds doing it this way..nice boat..thanks for the vids

[@493913507]

that looks so relaxing, and peaceful....have fun

[@melissabreedlove8211]

We drain the oil from our lower unit every winter also… just in case some water somehow got in there it don’t freeze.. then just fill it bck up in the spring

[@terryrutherford2114]

Picking up my 1992 Malibu 11/22/21 from winterization. Manifolds drained, fogged power plant, new oil and filter, new thermostat, and the best...new steering cable and helm. No stabilizer this year, my fuel is filled to the brim, oops, oh well it will be fine. It's going to steer so well next season. Next is a new galvanized trailer. It's pricey but worth it since we are in salt water so often and our 29 year old trailer is falling apart with rust. We are using a battery tender for the first time. Batteries are expensive. Glad you all got to take it out one more time. Shoot, it's 79 degrees here in Napa, CA today, 11/20/21, we could have gone out if it wasn't at the shop. Haha. Thanks for the video! Have a great Thanksgiving!

[@mikalehtinen315]

Jippii and wow. Great job. Awesome video again. More such videos, I do look at them all. Greetings from Finland.

[@Musabe009]

They make really nice multi battery tenders that you can hard Mount in the boat and have a permanent designated plug outlet. All you have to do is plug it in with a extension cord.

[@bobflinn7529]

i take the hose between the water tank and the pump off at the tank. Stick that end into a gallon of RV antifreeze and run the pump, opening at each faucet until pink is visible, then shut it off. If you have a water heater, it needs to be drained and if plumbed with a by-pass, that should be set to by-pass before pumping the antifreeze through the water system.

Ya'll blessed to have that kind of weather. Here in Stockholm we got the season's first snow and it's 6 degrees below freezing.

[@torqueranch4396]

On your Malibu there should be a garden hose connection between the exhaust manifolds. If not I installed them in all my hoses on my hoses in my sunsetter. Makes it quick.

[@davidburchard3178]

My family really enjoys seeing how you take your projects in stride and work together to make the dream happen. We sold our little Alumacraft so we could upgrade to a cabin cruiser. Now we are refitting our new to us 1992 LUND 2250 Sport Cabin. I grew up vacationing at Brady Mountain campground and boating all over that beautiful lake. The best memories of my childhood. We plan to haul our new boat down from Alpine, Wyoming for the spring/ summer 2022 for a week of island camping. Your invited to join us! And if your ever wanting to explore the Wyoming/ Yellowstone region I suggest coming up this summer for 4th of July or our car show in August! Here is a link to our before restore sea trial!

[@david_lbz1286]

I Drain the fresh water tank and add two gallons of anti-freeze. Then turn on sinks and fresh was rinse so whole system is full of anti-freeze. Also make sure shower box has some. Add anti freeze to empty black water tank and discharge some so that system also has anti-freeze. Also water intake strainers to systems. Good luck Cheers 🤘🏻

[@davidlang576]

Jiffypop! omg! I live in PA and have a seasonal camp. Winterize it every year, and the anti-freeze is much cheaper, and less problem that a broken line!!! Buy more, waste more, if needed, sleep better!! Know what I am getting at?

[@joebarone2042]

Hello I believe there is a additive that you add to fuel and directly into the carburetor.

[@scottseaman6247]

That sunrise looked great!

[@VirgisBarsciauskas]

Hi, I am from Lithuania. I like your video about the ship, but I have another question about how you fixed the Lights onboard the Malibu ship,

[@johnmcgee8332]

For your fresh water system in the cabin cruiser items need, fresh water tank cleaner, Fresh water anti freeze, water tablets (get all from a boat supply) step one clean the fresh water tank. Put the fresh water tank cleaner put in tank with recommend number of gallons of water open the inspection hatch and take a sponge and clean the inside of the tank. then pump the it out of the boat using the fresh water pump and thru the facets in the kitchen and bath. also if you have hot water heater make sure to send the cleaner thru pipe also. step 2 fresh water tank anti freeze. this is no toxic anti freeze for drink water system. pour the into the fresh water tanks then pump thru the lines when it come out of the taps stop. also make sure to do the hot water system. you are now done for winter. in the spring. step one pump out all the anti freeze. then fill water tank 50% and pump out again. do not forget to do the hot water lines to step two fill water tank all the way up then add water tables so the fresh water stay good for longer and less clean of the tank next year

[@tomdixon1213]

Insulate and heat storage locker.

[@joelbush1329]

If you don't run the motor after adding stabilizer to fuel, it doesn't get the treated fuel into pump and injectors/carb.

[@txslxs]

I assume you are on Lake Ouachita what a beautiful area. I visit the area when I can and spent much of my youth on the River that feeds the lake. My grandfather was a Minister and we have pictures of him conducting baptism services at the low water bridge in Sims Ark just a few smiles from the main lake in 1920’s.

[@mnmvuk]

A quick tip for winterizing sink drains in boats and RVs is to first blow out the water in the P trap with an electric leaf blower. I just place the outlet of the blower pointing down onto the drain, then take a barely damp rag and rap it around for a better seal if needed and blow the water out for a few seconds. This way the trap is almost entirely full of RV winterizing solution instead of a mixture.

[@simonburrow1198]

Get a dehumidifier in the big boats cabin

[@18twilliams]

antifreeze down the drains and I blow all the water lines out with an adapter I made for the compressor, drain the water tank and water heater! then the fuel stabil and battery! don't forget a mousetrap or two!

[@young11984]

Never realized just how big the cabin boat was til it was parked beside the other one, that thing is huge.

[@mikekenyon3322]

Hello, I learned the hard way that storing my cast iron block engine dry, lead to the cylinder casting in the water jacket to rust through. I suggest always storing with a coolant in the block to prevent it.

[@hodillac]

And why not use coolant all year round (as we do here in Finland)? Helps rusting problem and there is no need to drain and fill that engine block twice a year. Just keep it filled up.

[@RustBucketRepair]

@@hodillac Because that boat has an open cooling system that take the water out of the lake to cool the motor.

[@hodillac]

@@RustBucketRepair ofcourse. Silly me! Thank you for answering

[@kentbrowning4689]

good point. always drain the block/lines/hoses first, replace blue plugs and pour the antifreeze into the thermostat housing. Helps prevent rust

[@Sharloboy]

Hi guys .. when are you going to post more videos about your boat?

[@tomdunn7147]

Great video, stunning shots with the the fog and sun. Thanks for sharing.

[@libertyvilleguy2903]

If there is ethanol in the gasoline, it is advisable to put in an additive like Stabil or Seafoam when winterizing.

[@almonjacob3496]

I am wondering if you could install a block heater and avoid all that draining? I'm not a boat guy so if I'm wrong just ignore.

[@thomaspaccione8237]

There should be 2 on the starboard side, and 3 on the port side on the 454.

[@beekerbeeker5779]

Hook up a bypass hose off the pump intake side put hose into gallon of antifreeze pump it threw the system just like doing an rv

[@cadmonkey928]

lower your drive unit all the way so lake water is not possibly sitting inside the intakes. drive nose's have been known to crack up here in metro detroit. for winterizing the engine i never trusted draining the block plugs as much as i liked to warm up the engine on the "earmuffs" and then let the engine suck in 5 gallons of pink stuff and watch it come out the exhaust system. that way i knew for sure the pink stuff made it into every possible crevice that lake water was in. i got good enough at that evey year that i got the process down to only 3 gallons of pink stuff. my 454 was old and oily and carbony inside so i never bothered with cylinder fogging but once. ;)

[@phillipgarrow2297]

I had to winterize my 2016 Z06 in late October if I'm lucky the snow will be gone at the end of April it rained hard last Easter and actually froze

[@ennengb2010]

if you dont run antifreeze thru the engine, there may be 2 of those blue plugs in your belt serpentine belt driven raw water pump. may also be one in the oil cooler which is in the water intake hose usually on the port side of the engine or behind the distributor.

[@tophand1918]

What about all the water you drained into the bottom off the boat?

[@corydriver7634]

My winterizing process, move to Arizona for the season. 😎

[@michaelwtownsley]

When winterizing my Bayliner Ciera for Connecticut winters I would do basically everything you did then put it all back together. Next I would put a bucket in the bilge and fill it with automobile antifreeze, disconnect the raw water intake hose and stick it into the bottom bucket. Then I would start the engine and run it until the bucket was empty and shut down the engine and reconnect the raw water intake hose. I took this extra step to ensure if there were pockets of water remaining in the block that did not drain the antifreeze would fill those and dilute any remaining water in the block. Great to see you all enjoying lake Ouachita.

[@FredD63]

Better to add stabil to fuel then run the engine for a few minutes if you have a carbureted engine you should add a fuel shut off valve and shut the fuel off and let the carburetor run out of fuel.. also run the pink anti freeze thru your bilge pumps and dump some down your lower water pump hose… add some small bowls of mothballs in your boat to keep the mice away during the winter months

[@samalsid966]

Very possible we have done this wrong. But I have always filled a 5 gallon bucket with antifreeze. Hooked up the muffs to the lower unit and used a portable pump to run the anti freeze straight through the muffs like water. Once pink comes out the exhaust, shut it off and ur done. Takes us 15 mins and our boats have always started right up the next year.

[@craigbarnett3351]

Hook the ear muffs up to the stern drive and run engine up to 1200 rpm for 5-10 minutes. Shut engine off. Hook up flush kit to ear muffs. Pour pink safe antifreeze into flush kit bucket. Start engine and keep bucket resupplied with antifreeze until you see it discharge out stern drive ( water will turn pink). Shut off engine. Engine is now safe to -50°. Empty fresh water tank. Put 2 gallons of safe antifreeze into tank. Run water pump and allow all sinks to run until they run pink. Empty black tank. Dump 2 gallons down head to winterize sewage systems. Dump some in shower until you hear shower sump running. Run generator intake hose into a bucket and put a 1/2 gallon of pink stuff in bucket. Start generator and let all fluid get sucked out of bucket , then shut it off.

[@craigbarnett3351]

Also, do the same for hvac systems. Don’t forget about transom showers and raw water wash down spigots.

[@neverclevernorwitty7821]

When draining block and manifold, stick a small screwdriver or other utensil inside the hole and dislodge any debris, you even had some on your hand! If debris clogs the hole, the water drain will stop or slow and you'll think you drained all the water, but in fact you trapped water inside.

[@chrisockleton5072]

Nice work - great piece of mind when they’re all packed up nicely. I make fogging oil part of my winterising routine. Sprayed in the carb when the engine is running. Then into the bores after taking sparks out. Oh and also drain fuel from carburettor 🙂

[@vonheise]

Does your battery maintainer have a desulfator built into it? They extend the life of any battery which has been discharged to less than 50%, but especially deep cycle batteries. My camper battery life has gone from less than 3 years to over 6 years in my campers just by using a Battery Minder desulfator maintainer when not in use.... I also use only StaBil Marine fuel stabilizer for my cycle, lawn equipment, and on the boat when we had one. You guys are the experts, I am just an old man doing my best to avoid surprises and added expenses since I can't fix things like I once could...

[@marcusmaddenov2451]

Looks like you have done a fair job of winterizing!

[@tomjungmeyer352]

Did you remember to drain the water heater? Is Arkansas and Oklahoma going to bother us with a 10' boat width towing it? Thinking of trying out that lake, we're in Hutchinson, KS and never been bothered in Kansas or Colorado with our width. I'm sure your boat is simular size to our 2850 Contessa.

[@ennengb2010]

also a good idea to run the fuel stabilizer in your gas before you use the boat for the last time of the season

[@billyhill2488]

LOL that Malibu looks like a dinghy next to that big Bayliner. So glad that big cruiser is working out for y'all and pretty reliable. What size engine is in the Malibu? 350?

[@flyingsparksgarage]

Yes, 350!

[@barryhopesgthope686]

I was going to say just bring the boats to Elephant Butte but I guess driving clear across Texas and 2 hours in NMex might be a little long. Then again, you might try getting Hatch, NM chili's.

[@johnlloyd2390]

I like Finley's new collar. It suits him.

[@craigmaverick]

Finely needs his own channel 🐶😀