Protecting boat/motor from super cold temps?

Do you do anything special to protect your motor, batteries, etc.?

Trim motor all the way down to allow powerhead to drain completely. If there is any water that has gotten into the lower unit due to a bad O-ring around the prop shaft you will know because it will crack the gearcase. Hopefully this is not the case. If there is any water in the livewell hoses they could swell and burst as well.

Batteries will be fine. If you are fishing during really cold weather you may notice they don't last as long as normal.

I have a 6' piece of carpet that I wrap around the lower unit, then I lower it down.

Why? It doesn’t do anything. Wind chill is only for living things. And insulation is only for warm blooded animals. Now if it keeps from banging your shin on the prop, that’s a bonus.

Agree with Steve. The most important thing is getting ALL of the water out of the lower unit and keeping it out. Trim down until it tucks under, and leave it there to drain. DO NOT trim it back up where the back of the prop is "looking upward" because precipitation could enter and make its way to the low point of the lower unit water channels where it could freeze and crack the brittle lower unit casting.

One of my buddies posted a pic on FB where he put a light in the battery compartment of his!

Then he said that might not be a good idea!

Well I did not trim down. Hope it’s alright

It is a good idea to make sure your batteries are fully charged...they can freeze, especially if they are not fully charge "One of the most common mistakes during winter months is storing flooded lead-acid batteries in a discharged state. A discharged battery in extremely cold temperatures will allow the electrolyte to freeze, causing it to expand. Electrolyte expansion can crack the battery case, causing a leak or complete battery failure. A fully charged battery has a freezing point around -80 °F while a discharged battery has a freezing point around 20 °F. By keeping the battery fully charged during the winter months, the electrolyte is less likely to freeze and cause unexpected failures."

Yep. Mine stay plugged in 24/7 when off the water, not an issue here. Now the boat cover is frozen stiff and has a solid layer on it now. Hopefully it doesn’t get damaged.

Why do we insulate pipes, houses then? I can understand insulating home to keep the heat or cool air in or out but I’m not sure I agree on saying wrapping something doesn’t help at all. Now saying that, I don’t wrap my lower unit either (that just doesn’t sound right )

Because the pipes in your house have water running through them that comes out at ground temp. Your lower unit oil is going to be whatever the temp is outside. luckily it doesn't hurt oil to get cold.

A little late now, but run RV Antifreeze thru all of your pumps.

I can visualize you out there tomorrow morning trying to get that stiff cover off and go fishing. You’re still too mad at those fish!

Nah. I stocked up on Frittsides and a bunch of other stuff. Gonna take the next couple days off from work and respool reels, clean out tackle boxes, and clean some stuff.

I trimmed down my motor all the way down. Batteries are charging 24/7, and put a trouble lite in the battery/bilge area. Just hoping everything was drained good enough...

If you use RV antifreeze, do you have to do something special before putting any fish in the livewell? I was worried it would kill the fish.

Snow chains on the trailer?

They were absolutely CHOMPING today on Welsh until the sun came out. Sun came out late day and the bite shut down

I thought that was you over there, Frank....

NICE ONE FRANK!

HOA approved. Small space heater inside set on a christmas light timer to run in 30-minute intervals.

not entirely correct. if you wrap the carpet (or whatever) around the lower unit and allow it to drape the ground it will use some of the ground warmth just like wrapping your plants except they are already at ground level. You have to do it before it snows or ices, though.

main thing, as other have mentioned, it to make sure as much water as possible drains from it. the cold is not that does the damage, rather the expansion of the water molecules that causes the cracks

It would have to be air tight. If it’s air tight, you MIGHT be able to get that non-biological lower unit to stay around 1/2 a degree warmer than air temp.

Covering plants, because they are a living thing, works because they have the ability to transfer heat from the soil to their branches and leaves. Your lower unit, hopefully, ain’t buried in the cement.

Keep mine in the garage - problem solved

if the unit is fully lowered as most here have suggested it should be low enough to the ground to wrap it in carpet. the radiant heat from the earth will help keep the lower unit warm. but what do i know? it's only what i do for a living.

I wrapped the carpet around it mostly to block the wind. The wind DOES affect things. It's not perfect but oh well.

The wind only effects living things. 20 degrees in 0 wind is the exact same as 20 degrees in 40 mph winds. Exactly the same. Not even 19 degrees. Still 20. It “feels” colder to living things with feelings. Haha. Your boats lower unit is not alive. Trust me here.

Dont be this motor....