Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Sorry for all the posts lately. Just trying to get a handle on this new setup.

How do you all do basic motor maintenance when your boat is on a lift? Mine will be a drive on, so I'm wondering if I can use my bow mount trolling motor to back the boat on the lift so I can lift the boat and have the motor right by the dock for oil changes and such. If I can't back the boat on the lift temporarily, how do you change the oil if the motor is hanging over the water?

Good question.

Mine is not on a lift but in a slip. I did the 20 hour maintenance last year when it was pretty much brand new and still in the water.

To change the oil I used a syphon pump. It has a long reach hose that goes right down the dipstick tube. The tank/pump remains on the boat. It took about 15 minutes to suction the oil out of the engine but did a fine job. I think I bought it at an O'Reilly's auto parts store but you can find them in most boat parts supply catalogs.

The oil filter was a little more difficult being I shove as many rags below the filter to soak up the excess oil that dripped as I removed the filter. This was the messiest part of the project. Since then I bought a trough that fits beneath the filter and the oil drains out the trough and into a hand held can. I found this at Sims Yamaha on-line.

It can be done but you have to surefooted so you don't fall into the drink. Take it slow and you should be fine.

To me, the lower unit grease change is a very important part of annual maintenance. And the boat's got to be out of the water to change it.

On my old Yamaha 2 stroke engine, I ignored changing the lower unit grease every year. And I paid the price--toasting the gears after a seal failure. I had to buy a new boat--which I needed anyway. 28 years is sufficient time to run the same boat anyway.

Few people on our lake own trailers. But chances are you can find one to borrow in the neighborhood for an hour or two. Our boat dealerships also have loaner trailers. And the on water marine shops can get the boat out of the water for maintenance too.

I have found that boats purchased with a trailer will be better maintained and kept cleaner than a boat left in the water all the time. I won't be without a trailer again.

So true Bamaman.

At the time I did the 20 hour on mine I didn't have a trailer but I was going to pull it out for the season in a couple of weeks from then anyway.

I did buy a trailer until just before the end of the season. The dealer made a deal with me that he would pull the boat and do the maintenance but I just like having my own trailer. That way I didn't have to reply on someone elses timetable.

This season, I am preparing now by buying oil, oil and fuel filters, gear lube, etc. Sad time of year up north.

Canoe?

I say jokingly, but I guess it would work if you were in a lift. Load up your tools and everything you need into your kayak/canoe and tie off behind the lift and get her done... Would take a fair amount of balance though.

Ha! I like that canoe idea.

I have a trailer but am thinking of moving it out to my parents house which is about an hour away from the lake. My marina mentioned that they can pull the boat with one of their trailers to do the LU oil change and impeller change. It sure would be nice if I could do my own motor oil change without getting that stupid trailer. Will a lift be stable enough to do that if I back the boat on to it even though it isn't designed to be backed on? It is one of those hydrohoist lifts...

While the boat is on the lift, I was able to borrow the neighborhood's "mini-barge" with electric trolling motor and tie up to the back of the dock. This worked great and I didn't drop anything, not even one drop of oil in the canal while doing the 20 hour service.

I added a service platform to the back of my lift............it's pretty easy to suck out the oil and change the lower unit oil when you can have access to the back of the boat and motor!