I am in east Tennessee so the winters are not to bad so I will be leaving my 1973 oday 22 in the water at the slip to sail all winter. My question is do I leave me 6 hp outboard down or raise out of the water when not sailing when it gets below freezing? Got the ole boat last June and have not missed a weekend of sailing yet and look forward to winter sailing. Thanks folks. Great site.
Outboard and cold weather sailing
- Thread starter russlmiller
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My 23.5 has a Nissan 8HP and I tilted it out of the water every time I left, except for once where it sat moored in a brackish La. bayou in the down position. It was very difficult to clean. I have only made that mistake a couple of times. I wouldn't think you need to winterize it much in Tn, but I've been to Tn in the winter and from what I'm used to, it may as well have been Alaska.
Thanks for getting back with me. I do always pull the motor out of the water at the end of the day. I had read somewhere that it may be better to leave it in when the weather is below 32 as there may be a little water in the system when it is raised. I am more inclined to keep it out of the water as I believe that the water runs out of the motor.
Hmmmm… I had not heard of keeping the motor in the water to prevent any freezing of internal water… On the one hand, that sounds reasonable. But if you think about it, there could probably be bits of water stuck in channels whether the motor is in or out of the water. Leaving it in the water would certainly keep the lower unit inlet areas flush with water, but wouldn't do anything up the shaft and around the cylinder cooling jacket…
So far as I'm thinking'…
Brian
So far as I'm thinking'…
Brian
Here's an excerpt from a boats.com article: Read more: http://features.boats.com/boat-content/2009/10/outboard-expert-lay-up-goofs/#ixzz2k1AAfjHN
Don’t Store the Motor Tilted Up
When you park the boat for the winter keep the motor trimmed or tilted down, especially if it’s outdoors. This will allow all of the water to drain out of the motor’s cooling system. If it’s tilted up, some water may remain in the motor, where it can freeze and cause a cracked block or a ruined water pump housing. Even if you think the motor is fully drained, if you store it outdoors and tilted up, rain or snow could enter the exhaust passages through the prop hub, freeze there, and crack something
When you park the boat for the winter keep the motor trimmed or tilted down, especially if it’s outdoors. This will allow all of the water to drain out of the motor’s cooling system. If it’s tilted up, some water may remain in the motor, where it can freeze and cause a cracked block or a ruined water pump housing. Even if you think the motor is fully drained, if you store it outdoors and tilted up, rain or snow could enter the exhaust passages through the prop hub, freeze there, and crack something
Great! Thanks. Just the info I was looking for. I will be leaving my outboard down this winter. Now off for some cool weather sailing this weekend. Highs 58f. Lows around 39f. And will be dropping the hook for an overnight away from the slip. Love cold weather.
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