So lets talk about winter boat maintenance again for a little bit.

The thing I want to talk about today is not the boat itself, but the trailer that it sits on. Most people winterize their boat and fail to remember the trailer, and it ends up sitting there all Winter, with no winterization or maintenance done to it at all 🙁

So what about the trailer??

First of all, there are items on your trailer that need to be tended to before it sits unused for 3 – 5 months.

First on the list would be your trailer tires. Do you know that it does to a set of tires to site there in the same spot for months at a time? Sidewalls can crack, flat spots can develop and tire pressure can decrease.

There are a couple of things you can do to prevent this.

The best option is to put the trailer on jack stands and remove the tires and rims and store them inside for the Winter. The second best option is to put the trailer on jack stands to get the weight off the tires and to then put some kind of cover over the tires, after applying a good coat of armor all or tire shine, to help preserve the rubber and prevent cracks and dry rot.

Next on the list are the trailer bearings. Make sure they’re filled with fresh grease for the Winter. If the trailer isn’t fairly new (three years old or more) the bearings should be removed, cleaned, inspected and then repacked with fresh grease. If they look worn or the bearing race looks pitted, replace the bearings and races and pack with fresh grease, then re-assemble it all. When Spring comes around, you’re ready to roll with fresh grease and/or new bearings.

One other thing that some people like to do, and something that I recommend, is to oil your hitch’s latch mechanism. Lift the latch and squirt a small amount of light oil in around where the latch passes through the trailer tongue, then move the latch up and down several times to work the oil into the pivot points.

After doing this, take a plastic bag of some sort and place it over the hitch, securing it with some string or some type of wire, to keep it from falling or blowing off. This prevents rain, snow and ice from getting into the hitch mechanism and causing it to rust or bind up later on down the road.

Last, but not least, inspect all of the trailer’s lights and exposed wiring. Check to make sure the bulbs all work, then check the wires and look for nicks or kinks that could pose a problem, and fix anything you find that looks like it might be trouble.

That’s it for now. I’ll be back with more boat and trailer winterization tips later on.

Remember, taking the time to maintain things now will prevent them from failing unexpectedly later on down the road, when you need them to function.

Now, go bag a hawg!

Curt <><