TOPIC:

I have a question on how much fuel should be in the tank when you store the boat for winter.  Old school thought was to fill the tank and treat it with a gas stabilizer.  With today's gas having ethanol should you treat it with a gas stabilizer and keep a minimum amount in the tank.  I have heard opinions on both options.  Just wondering... 

I've always filled the tank before I put it away for the winter. If it's not full the tank can and will sweat and you can get condensation in your take.

Just my two cents and what I've always done. I've never used stabilizer for over the winter and never had a problem.

What I do goes against most recommendations.  I used to go with the full tank + Stabil recommendations but I have a 70 gal. tank and even with the Stabil, the engine seemed to run rough in the spring and since most spring trips are short and no long runs are involved it took four or five trips before I'd used enough of the old gas to make adding new gas to dilute the old possible and get good performance from the motor. So now, I run the tank down to about a quarter full, add Stabil, winterize. Then in the spring, I add a couple bottles of Heet (fuel tank deicer) and fill the tank with new gas. Runs perfectly.  A couple things to consider - one, I have a plastic fuel tank which probably doesn't frost up and condense moisture as bad as a metallic tank would. Second, I store the boat in an unheated pole barn which "tempers" the daily temperature swings which is what makes the gas tank "breathe" as the air and fuel expands and contracts with temperature. Also, since my battery is a Royal Pain to access and remove, I leave it in the boat with a float charger connected to keep it fully charged. Best would be to remove to a warm environment, then put on a float charger. Second best is do what I do. Third is remove to warm, then top off the charge every couple weeks. Fourth is remove and then forget it and recharge it in the spring. Fifth is remove and put it back in the boat in the spring without recharging. Sixth is just leaving it hooked up and in the boat, then recharge in the spring. Seventh is leave it hooked up and don't recharge. Fourth through seventh is likely to lead to A) dead battery when you hit the water in the spring or a weakened battery with a shorter battery life.  (All this battery stuff is for lead/acid batteries - don't know about lithiums).