I keep my boat inside the garage too. I fish well into Dec and sometimes in Jan and Feb if it gets over 50 deg.
The only problem I have with storing the boat inside my garage is that I can't put my truck in there anymore. I am going to buy a new boat cover soon and put the boat back outside and clear the garage for the truck.
Just make sure that you winterize the boat in either case. Drain the live-well and spray fogging oil inside the spark plug holes to keep the pistons and cylinder walls from rusting over the winter months.
Keep the batteries disconnected and charge them up before putting the boat away. Optima batteries will stay charged all winter long. They will stay fully charged up for over a year.
Put new grease in the wheel bearings. Any water in there can rust the wheel bearings.
I even thought about jacking up the trailer to take pressure off the tires. Might not be a bad idea.
Anything that you want to keep from freezing should be taken inside. I take my depth finder and other electronic inside for the winter.
Put some Stabil or sea foam in the gas tank to keep it from going bad over the winter months. I use them both in my gas tank.
You might also take the rods inside and put new line on them before the beginning of the next fishing season. Line that's been out and exposed to the sun will go bad. Why take a chance on losing a lunker of a life time to a broken fishing line or a old knot?
I also drain all the grease from the lower unit and install new grease before winter storage. Sometimes the lower unit can get water inside and you want to avoid that if possible. Changing the lower unit gear grease will ensure that it does not have water in it that can freeze and expand and break things.
Originally Posted by idbefishing
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