Winterizing a Mercury 4 stroke Outboard

[BearLakeFishGuy]

An outboard does not have to be "winterized". As others have pointed out, lower the motor each time you pull it from the water and let it drain. Then I hit the starter for about 1-2 seconds, which will spin the impeller and pump out any residual water. I ALWAYS run Startron (or StaBil) in ALL my boat gas, so it is always "preserved". You can change the lower unit oil (easy to do and there are dozen of YouTube videos on how to do it) if you really want to. I do it every year, but it is not part of any winterization. I use my outboards thoughout the winter if Bear Lake doesn't freeze over. If it does, then its only about 2 months of no fishing. Nothing else to do for winterization though. I've had dozens of outboards for my job as as fish biologist but also as a life-long fisherman and that is the beauty of outboards. Very little maintenance.

Every three years I will change out the impellers and I also replace spark plugs every 2-3 years depending on how many hours are on the motors. Finally, if they have have gas filter I like to change them every other year. On 4 strokes you change the oil and filter just like a car, but its a lot easier. Pay attention to the hours you run the boat or change the oil once/year. Again, dozens of YouTube videos show you how to do it with VERY minimal tools needed.