Winter is Early

Evinrude 250 HO G2

 Winter has definitely arrived here in Dayton, and around much of the upper Midwest.  Along with winter comes the mad scramble to get things done, or at least as much as one can.  As I grow older it is unclear as to if I am getting wiser or simply lazier!  Upon returning from our delayed Leech Lake Opener it was decided that October 13 would be a good day to get the boat winterized, seeing it was forecasted to get colder in the next week, and there was time, the water was still hooked up, yeah one could possibly go fishing one more time but......  I have mentioned this before regarding my Evinrude 250 HO G2 outboard, unfortunately BRP has decided to quit producing them.   Being a fishing forum geek, you'd swear anyone owning a recent G2 Evinrude is going straight to hell, yet my dealer, Frankie's does a good job with Joe being a certified mechanic, heck the engine may very well out last me so what's the issue?  Anyway this outboard has a great feature for winterizing it as it's been discussed before.  It is a oil injected 2 stroke, V6.  In the digital display control data center it has a function called "Winterize".  Sometimes I have done this at the boat landing as I load it up one last time, however lately it's done at the pole shed, simply hook up the water to the engine, start and let it warm up then hit the winterize button.  The engine goes into a high idle, I suspect until it hits a certain temperature then it starts to fog itself.  From a virtual no smoke in the exhaust to a heavy blue oil smoke it runs for about 15 more seconds before shutting itself off.  The last check is the lower unit grease which is a plastic reservoir under the hood, the big boy is all set for the winter.  The 9.8 hp kicker is a 4 stroke and when it was in to get the livewell valve fixed they changed the oil and the lower unit grease.  Dumping in some gas treatment as this engine is carbureted,  the kicker was started and run for about 15 minutes.  The last act of winterizing was to pull off the gas line and let the engine run out of gas.  With that out of the way she is ready for a long winter's sleep.  The boat needs to be cleaned as it is pretty dirty from the October Team Walleye Opener.  More on that later as there is another boat in the shed that needs some attention as well! 

7.8 inches of snow overnight

All of this was with amazing foresight as last week we had a record snowfall for this early in October.  Usually Tim Kuntz would help me blow my sprinkler system out before it snows and freezes.  Of course Tim passed away in April yet it was amazing the people who stepped up and offered their services.  Bruce has a big compressor and he offered to let me use it, my neighbor Rich had an extra compressor as backup and offered it.  As well Limo Joe Hanson has a big compressor to run his sand blasting equipment, he went and did Connie's (Tim's wife) system before coming over to my shed and hook up.  It was just in the nick of time as you can see by my truck, 7.8 inches fell last week.  Of course with the snow comes the cold and the big scramble to take care of the rest of things needed to be done.  The list is crazy because the leaves didn't get picked up, with a lot still on the trees as of today.  Potatoes are still in the ground, garden supports need to be removed.  Mover deck removed and the snow blower attachment and cab attached.  Oil changed on the 25 hp river boat.  In normal years one usually has till the first of November to get these things taken care of.  Oh well, it is what it is!  Not only that but the Salem needs some maintenance.  The last trip to Lake of the Woods, the wheel stayed up.  Luckily Ben had a propane torch and with some heat it went down.  Well of course waiting until the last minute, the right side came off with a little convincing needed however the left is being really stubborn.  Bruce has offered to help me and I will be taking him up on the offer soon, or at least before Thanksgiving.  It's really a 2 man job, figuring the best way to remove the wheel pivot assembly, not an easy job.  The weather forecast for the end of the week calls for more normal temperatures, say in the lower 50's, maybe some things will get done!!  Deer hunting is coming soon and with the snow on the ground basically through most of Minnesota, ice fishing is just around the corner!