What temp. will freeze a 496HO not winterized?
 

Tonight it is supposed to get in the high 20's and my boat is not winterized. I pumped the system out with the hand pump but understand that water is probably still in the motor. I also plan on lowering it in the water tonight. Is this over cautious or necessary? Thanks for any comments, I am holding out for a couple more weekends of boating.

Put a metal clamp on spot light in the bilge.One 100 watt bulb will keep the bilge about 15 to 20 degrees warmer then the outside air temp.I do this every year and It has worked out great for late season boating.I leave the plug tail of the light hanging outside the cover so when I leave in the morning I just unplug for the day.

Nordic95

Take a cup with about an inch of water in it and set it on your swim platform if it doesn't freeze you're fine. The lake water is still in the upper 60's so that moderates the temp w/in close proximity a bit as well.

Last spring I put in easter weekend and it got down to 22 degrees that saturday morning. I put one lamp in the bilge and it stayed toasty. I also did the cup on the swim platform and it didn't freeze at all. However I did a cup on my deck and it froze solid. To really be concerned it needs to be below 25 degrees for several hours.

I am coming down either tomorrow or Saturday to fetch my boat and take her home for winter. The season sure went quick!!

Weather channel says its only going to get down to 35* tonight. If you're worried though, shoot me an email and I can run give you a hand draining it. I live in sunrise Beach also.
[email protected]
Brandon

It needs to be in low to mid 20's for the entire night for anything to freeze. Don't even worry about it. It would take 24+ hours in the high 20's to freeze.

Plus if he is lowering it into the water like he said, it will take alot longer than that with the warm water temps.

Thanks for the input, I'm just very cautious with this boat since it's my first year with two motors to maintain. I couldn't be happier with the 496HO motors. See ya on the lake next year.

32... fully winterize it....youve got two to worry about

any one have thru hull pickups? Im curious how to fully winterize and add antifreeze with thru hull pick ups. My boat has both the drive pick up and then thru hulls.

After you close the hatch how do you know if the light is on????

I put a light under my oil pan as well. It helps for 20 degrees warmer in the motor compartment. I also have a remote temperature sensor that I can read in the house. If it goes below 40F I get excited and buy the antifreeze.

http://www.boatsafeheaters.com/prodBSAT.htm

I have used these for years to extend boating season.

You always crack me up!!!

I heard somewhere that 24* for 24hrs was the rule of thumb..but I dunno!

Correct, for a good rule of thumb. I've had a boat sit in the water when it got down to 19* before. I was nervous, but there were 50+ other boats right there with mine. All was fine.

Most of the people I know at the lake with 496 engines don't do much more than pump out the motors with the blue pump and leave them on the lift as far as the engines go. I do the fresh water tanks and suck the water out of the bilige, but when we want to head out I just pull the pins and take the boat out next time we are down and it's nice out. It's been working great for us for two years.

Two months later I'll give my input.

For those of you who don't know, the 496's are closed cooled. The hand pump will eliminate the residual water left in the raw water system. If you really want to extra-protect your raw water system, then run a 50/50 mix of antifreeze (environmentally friendly of course) through the raw water system via a flush attachment, a pump and a bucket.

Also, if you're storing the boat outside, tape or wrap the prop and propshaft housing to prevent water from entering the gearcase housing. I have seen the water freeze and crack the gearcase if left therin.

Of course never store your boat with the drives in the up position.

Thats what we use in WI to keep our outside frigerators warm in the winter :D

Why not? I've heard this before, but can't quite see the logic in it. (I'm just curious, not trying to start anything.)

Snow and rain can get past the prop that can't drain out and sit in the lower unit waiting for that freezing spell. You see alot of boats shrinkwrapped with a piece covering the prop hub to keep water out.

Ahhh.. That makes sense. So it's for cold weather/frozen climates pretty much? I've heard people recommend it (in any weather) because of the hydraulics or something and it never really made sense to me. Thanks for the clarification.

John

ya i was wondering why it made a difference if i left the stern drive up or down also. it sits in a barn for the winter so i dont have to worry about water.

Other reason to keep the drives down is to keep the 2 bellows from devolping a hooked set. With the drive up, the bellows are curved. Just a little more harder on them to be stored in that position for extended periods of time then possibly failing once the drive is lowered. Or so they say. ;) Not sure about the hyds, but with the drives down, no load on the cyl (granted not much there anyway) and the piston rods are not exposed to atmoshere. Retracted they are in submerged in trim oil. Plus the rods won't get a scale buildup if they were extended, then ruining the seal once retracted. Only reason I could come up with, but you see them stored up all the time.

US1 - You brought up a couple more reasons that I hadn't contemplated. The hydraulics being the reason never sat well with me, considering there is so much more pressure on them when running the boat. However, the bellows and exposure of the shafts to elements do make a bit of sense.

Thanks,

John