Boat Battery Winterizing Question

Factual Questions
1

I purchased a 20 foot long pontoon boat with a 90 HP Mercury outboard over the summer and it’s now time to winterize it (I live in Montana). I know about running the gas out of the engine, but what should I do about the battery?

Do I…

  1. Leave it hooked up in the boat until Spring?

  2. Disconnect it (remove the positive and negative batter cables) and leave it in the boat until Spring?

  3. Disconnect it as above, remove the battery from the boat and put it on a trickle charger until Spring?

  4. None of the above

I’m storing the boat in my garage and the temperature may get down close to freezing if that makes any difference.

2

No need to remove it from the boat. But keeping a lead-acid battery fully charged is likely to prolong its life.

3

So it doesn’t hurt to have the battery on a trickle charge for 6 months?

4

A “maintenance” charger is supposed to reduce the charge rate to a level that is safe to maintain indefinitely. It’s worth checking that the charger you plan to use will do this.

5

A Battery Tender like this is what I use for my motorcycle over the winter. The charger/maintainer is waterproof as a bonus, makes it more flexible should the need arise to park your boat outside.

6

Here are a some from HF for $10:

Float Charger 1
Float Charger 2Float Charger 3

7

Ordered. Thanks.