How do you store your fuel over the winter?

[Fun Times]

How do you do it? Do you???

1. Store the boats with a full tank of gas with stabilizer

2. Store the boats fuel tank as close to empty as you can safely get it with stabilizer.

3. Store the boats with a full tank of gas without fuel stabilizer.

4. Store the boats fuel tank as close to empty as you can safely get it without stabilizer.

 

[thedukeryan]

Re: How do you store your fuel over the winter?

I have always been told a full tank a fuel stabilizer but thats just me...

 

[nlain]

Re: How do you store your fuel over the winter?

I keep my tank full all the time and keep stabilizer in it also, never know how long it will sit without being run.

 

[alidsalbern]

Re: How do you store your fuel over the winter?

I prefer to store the boats fuel tank as close to empty as I can safely get it with stabilizer.

 

[wellsc1]

Re: How do you store your fuel over the winter?

I fish throughout the winter, but always fill tank after each fishing trip and add stabilizer. It prevents tank from condensation too much, plus I never know when the next fishing trip will be.

 

[dingbat]

Re: How do you store your fuel over the winter?

For me none of the above.

I fish until the fish leave the area so I never know when my last trip of the year will be. Most years I end up with around a 1/2 a tank of fuel (60-70 gallons). I dose the remaining fuel with Sta-bil Marine and I'm done. Top off the tank in the Spring with fresh fuel and I'm good to go.

 

[indy440]

Re: How do you store your fuel over the winter?

I store it as close to empty with stabilizer, but I also pull the fuel hose off the pump and let it run until the carb is dry...

 

[Tacklewasher]

Re: How do you store your fuel over the winter?

I fish throughout the winter, but always fill tank after each fishing trip and add stabilizer. It prevents tank from condensation too much, plus I never know when the next fishing trip will be.

This is my plan as well.

Put up the shower curtain, turn on the propane heater and go for those big Lake Okanagan Rainbows.

 

[Knightgang]

Re: How do you store your fuel over the winter?

Fill up with stabilizer. Put I also boat in winter months. so, my fuel never sits very long...

 

[thedukeryan]

Re: How do you store your fuel over the winter?

Fill up with stabilizer. Put I also boat in winter months. so, my fuel never sits very long...

Wow!!! You actually fill up with stabilizer? Least you wont have to worry about bad gas Just teasing you of course. Couldn't resist.

 

[grego]

Re: How do you store your fuel over the winter?

I like the idea of low fuel and sta-bil, in the spring you add alot of fresh fuel and reduse the chances of fouled plugs, fogging the engine, is also a good idea.

 

[windsors03cobra]

Re: How do you store your fuel over the winter?

I just put it away, no stabil for me.
Same for the Mustang, we do take the batteries out.

 

[oreo1]

Re: How do you store your fuel over the winter?

I have owned boats for the past 24 years and a lot of how you store a boat relates to where you live and how long your boating season actually lasts.

I happen to live in Florida and at seasons end I run my tank as close dry as I can, and then add a small amount of stabilizer to what is left. The boat sits idle for almost 4 months. We have low humidity and little or now rain during the down time. Then I add two gallons of gas and run it completely dry (bringing 5 gallons with, so I'm not DIW, Dead In the Water).

I add a bit more stabilizer and then fill'er up and KEEP it as full as possible during the boating season, which is our wet and humid part of the year. That keeps the water from forming in the tank. I'm good to go for another year.

An old Salty Dog taught me this method and it has never failed me for 24 years and 6 boats!!

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: How do you store your fuel over the winter?

looking for a "dump some stabilizer in whatever fuel happens to be in the boat" option

 

[Fun Times]

Re: How do you store your fuel over the winter?

looking for a "dump some stabilizer in whatever fuel happens to be in the boat" option

Well when I wrote it out I guess I was thinking to my self It seems like a lot of boaters know when their last trip out is going to be, And they might hold off on adding more fuel to finish off a day and just turn in early Which would turn into [whatever fuel happens to be in the boat] Or IMO line number 2

2. Store the boats fuel tank as close to empty as you can safely get it with stabilizer.

 

[Freddred]

Re: How do you store your fuel over the winter?

Hey Grego,
I'm brand spankie new here, but I thought I'd share something I learened about Stab-bil. " It only works for up to 6 months. If you get sidelined for more than 6 months, yer fuel is trash. I paid 30 bucks to get my tank pumped, after I got over rotater cuff surgery. I use Pri-G now. It works for up to 2 years, and 1 oz. is good for 16 gallons. You cannot over treat the fuel either. Time to find , or post the trolling motor problem I started out doing. Good Luck !

 

[Snowfish]

Re: How do you store your fuel over the winter?

As Close to Empty as possible. No StaBil, but SeaFoam the daylights out of what's in the tanks. Run them 15-20 minutes while flushing & fogging to get the SeaFoam/Gas mix into the carbs. Syphon out the tanks and put it into the snowmobiles, snowblower, or bobcat. Double benifit. Both boats & sleds carbs are always squeezie clean. Spring time same drill. Gas/SeaFoam mix goes into the boats from the snowmobiles. Not a fan of StaBil, but that's another discussion.

 

[jdlough]

Re: How do you store your fuel over the winter?

The gas that HASN'T been mixed with oil, I just pour it into the cars' gas tanks.

The gas that HAS been mixed with oil (and Stabil), I don't worry about. It seems to work just fine the next season in whatever boat or weedeater. In the spring I DO give an extra dose of last years Stabil or SeaFoam to it, just to use up the extra. It doesn't seem to matter.

 

[scutly]

Re: How do you store your fuel over the winter?

i just read an article in the Q&A section of Powerboat Magazine about this. the author claims that the full tank theory of the past doesn't work well with today's gasoline. its the ethanol content (10% in my area). it degrades the gas quicker, attracts moisture and the gas only has a shelf life of a couple months nowadays. he recomended empty tanks with an ethanol type stabilizer for winter storage. sta-bil website has tons of imfo on this. http://www.goldeagle.com/brands/stabil/default.aspx
im going to run tank almost empty and add MARINE sta-bil.

 

[Gregk]

Re: How do you store your fuel over the winter?

Store the boats with a full tank of gas with stabilizer. I've been using seafoam.