Is it good idea to take away lower unit of stern drive for winterization?

[seilings]

Since my boat and trailer is parking in the drive way and the drive leg is almost touching the ground. During the heavy snow days, it may be buried by snow.
So this year I am thinking pull off the lower unit and stored it with battery inside the house, but that opens the drive unit,
is this a good idea?

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Is it good idea to take away lower unit of stern drive for winterization?

I would leave it on the boat. The water it sits in all year is much worse than a bit of snow. Make sure she is all the way down, so no water will remain in the exhaust passage. Also, change the gear oil before layup. I do not recommend any kind of plastic or cloth wrap. That would be worse.

If you remove it, you expose the gymbal bearing to the weather.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Is it good idea to take away lower unit of stern drive for winterization?

I will answer in this way. Go to any outdoor storage yard and look to see how many missing lower units you see

 

[ricohman]

Re: Is it good idea to take away lower unit of stern drive for winterization?

The only missing units I've seen were those out for repair. I also thought about this but I am leaving it where it is. I can't see the snow being any worse than -45.

 

[airshot]

Re: Is it good idea to take away lower unit of stern drive for winterization?

I always remove my outdrive and store inside for the winter. It gives me the opportunity to inspect, replace impellor, grease all fittings and ant other maintainence that is needed. Just plug the hole in the back of your boat for the winter. It is recommended that the outdrive be removed and gimbal bearing, bellows, etc be inspected each year. So...is it necessary....no, you want peace of mind and know you are properly maintaining the system then yes. I am very picky on keeping things properly serviced and I do not seem to have nearly as many problems as what I read on here.

 

[boatpoker]

Re: Is it good idea to take away lower unit of stern drive for winterization?

A few years ago a marina in Toronto lost 16 outdrives in one night. The dock talk was you could get a great deal on a drive from a local biker group.

 

[04fxdwgi]

Re: Is it good idea to take away lower unit of stern drive for winterization?

My Bravo1 comes off every fall and sits on the stand in the garage for the winter. Boat trailer sits quite low and can't properly tilt bow up for winter without drive hitting ground when in full down position. Takes 15 minutes to take off and set on the rolling stand with zero lifting.



Make a rolling stand from a 20 buck (from a big box home improvement store) furniture dolly. Also, fabricate a blank off cover for the bellhousing to keep critters / snow out during the layup. Made mine from a piece of scrap plywood.

Advantages:
1. Security for the drive unit.
2. Allows inspection / maintenance of u-joints and other bits during layup months in warmth of garage.
3. To do annual check of alignment / bellows / bearing in the spring, drive needs to come off anyway.

 

[Mule Laker]

Re: Is it good idea to take away lower unit of stern drive for winterization?

full down position.

Why should it be all of the way down? I can't really do that with mine. I deliver it to the storage property and can't have the owner moving the boat around with the motor down.

 

[ricohman]

Re: Is it good idea to take away lower unit of stern drive for winterization?

Why should it be all of the way down? I can't really do that with mine. I deliver it to the storage property and can't have the owner moving the boat around with the motor down.

I can't lower my drive all the way either. But its down pretty far and I guess that will have to do. Its not like the bellows are at max stretch.
I remove my battery after lowering but that makes it impossible to move the boat.

 

[Jonnybbad]

Re: Is it good idea to take away lower unit of stern drive for winterization?

You lower it all the way so ice doesn't form inside the exhaust passage and crack the thing all up, to keep the bellows from becoming deformed, and to get the nose up good if you're storing outdoors.

Yes, I take the outdrive off and store it in my basement for the winter... and what airshot said.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Is it good idea to take away lower unit of stern drive for winterization?

Alpha I Gen I outdrives need to be pulled each year to grease the U-joints. And, I am able to tilt the OD down all the way to avoid the buildup of snow/rain in the exhaust passage. Of course, if you cannot put the OD all the way down, you may as well leave it off.

If you can tilt it all the way down, rain and snow are nothing compard to the saltwater the OD is left in. Also where I live there are too many ODs to steal, so no one does.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Is it good idea to take away lower unit of stern drive for winterization?

So this year I am thinking pull off the lower unit and stored it with battery inside the house

that's what i've been doing for years now. for the same reasons that've been stated above. prevenitive maint., security, etc.

but that opens the drive unit,

it don't have to.
make yourself a bell housing cover.

that's a home made bell housing cover. i used the gasket as a template and jigsawed up a piece of plexiglass i had laying around. the vitamin c bottle is epoxied to the plexiglass to compensate for the shift slide. i've been using this now for several years and imho has worked real well. most time when i've removed the drive, the gasket stays with the bell housing. so when ya use cover it even makes a seal to keep the elements and critters from entering.

 

[Lou C]

Re: Is it good idea to take away lower unit of stern drive for winterization?

I pull my Cobra off each season and store it in the garage. Main reason is doing the preventive maintenance. It really makes a big difference in the lifespan of the gimble, u-joints driveshaft splines and coupler. Plus just about every sterndrive manufacturer lists that in their maintenance schedule. It is the nature of sterndrives, they are high maintenance. Also beneficial is if you are removing it each year it will not corrode in place. Little problems will get fixed while they are little.....

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Is it good idea to take away lower unit of stern drive for winterization?

By saying "lower unit" your are implying splitting the drive which is a very bad idea unless you have to do a repair. If you really mean removing the drive, that is also unnecessary if the drive is stored in the full down position.

 

[seilings]

Re: Is it good idea to take away lower unit of stern drive for winterization?

wow.
Thanks a lot for all the information.
Love this forum.

So I can see the benefits of removing the drive is for proactive inspection/maintenance.
For me, I don't have security concern (Safe neighborhood), and my only concern is the snow/melting water, origin plan was to remove lower half of the drive, now looks like better leave it and do nothing. :sleeping:

Will remove the drive for inspection next end of season.

 

[seilings]

Re: Is it good idea to take away lower unit of stern drive for winterization?

that's what i've been doing for years now. for the same reasons that've been stated above. prevenitive maint., security, etc.
it don't have to.
make yourself a bell housing cover.

that's a home made bell housing cover. i used the gasket as a template and jigsawed up a piece of plexiglass i had laying around. the vitamin c bottle is epoxied to the plexiglass to compensate for the shift slide. i've been using this now for several years and imho has worked real well. most time when i've removed the drive, the gasket stays with the bell housing. so when ya use cover it even makes a seal to keep the elements and critters from entering.

That looks really good!
I can see how you baby your boat.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Is it good idea to take away lower unit of stern drive for winterization?

You should be removing the drive at the END of EVERY season to check alignment and check for water in the bellows.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Is it good idea to take away lower unit of stern drive for winterization?

That looks really good!

thanks. it wasn't that hard to make, nor particularly time consuming either. and as far as i'm concered, it does work. and my boat does sees medium to major snows, and snow drifts every winter season.

I can see how you baby your boat.

imho, it's not really babying my boat. it's doing scheduled preventative maint. per the oem service manual. i run the alignment bar, i lub the coupler splines, i grease my u joints, i inspect bellows and make sure i've not got any water intrusion into the bellows area. in the past, i've done a impeller replacement every year. this last season i didn't. so i'm going on two years with this impeller. it'll be changed this winter layup. needless to say gear lub will be changed too. plus inspected for metal fragments and water intrusion.
imho, this is just plain necessary pm for a mc-1 thru alpha1 mercruiser drive. on a yearly basis.

 

[Mule Laker]

Re: Is it good idea to take away lower unit of stern drive for winterization?

Great thread! I think we'll start looking for an outboard!

 

[Moose truck]

Re: Is it good idea to take away lower unit of stern drive for winterization?

Great thread! I think we'll start looking for an outboard!

Still need to check / change lower unit lube, & lube prop shaft every year. Also, service water pump every two years. Moose