Quick answer - Winterization: tiered by engine type. We quote per boat, not flat-rate. Live rates on our winter storage page. - Shrinkwrap only: $20/ft if done in our shop, $25/ft if done outdoors at the lot. - Outdoor winter storage: includes shrinkwrap, a spring check ($99...
Quick answer
- Winterization: tiered by engine type. We quote per boat, not flat-rate. Live rates on our winter storage page.
- Shrinkwrap only: $20/ft if done in our shop, $25/ft if done outdoors at the lot.
- Outdoor winter storage: includes shrinkwrap, a spring check ($99 value), summer trailer parking ($150 value), and wrap recycling ($35 value). $284 of stuff most marinas charge extra for is bundled in.
- Indoor storage: not offered. HBW is outdoor + shrinkwrap. If you need heated indoor, we'll point you somewhere else honestly.
- Size limit: boats up to 30 feet.
If you just want a quote: request service. The rest of this page explains the why.
Why we don't quote a flat winterization rate
When you see "$549 winterization" on a competitor's site, that's a marketing simplification. Here's what's actually in scope on a real Mercury winterization, and why the price varies:
A 9.9 HP 4-stroke tiller is a 90-minute job: flush, fuel stabilizer, fog the cylinder, drain the cooling system, change the lower-unit oil. One spark plug, two if you're being thorough.
A 250 HP V8 Verado is a 3-hour job with four spark plugs, more oil capacity, a bigger lower unit, an electronic fuel system that needs proper SmartCraft attention, and an alternator/voltage regulator that lives in water. Same procedure list, different amount of work.
A sterndrive (4-cylinder, V6, V8, Bravo) is a different job again. You're draining the block, the manifolds, the raw-water lines. Adding marine-grade antifreeze in the right places. Checking the gimbal bearing. The lower unit alone is a half-hour of work most outboards don't have.
A 2-stroke is its own beast — older fuel/oil mix concerns, premix carb cleaning, different fogging approach.
Most marinas roll all of that into a flat "winterization" rate. You're either paying for work that didn't happen on your motor, or skipping work that should have happened. We'd rather quote you the real job.
What HBW winterization includes (the procedure, regardless of price tier)
Every Mercury we winterize gets the same procedure list. The time, parts, and tier change with the engine. The steps don't:
- Engine flush — 10 to 15 minutes on muffs with fresh water to clear lake water, silt, and debris
- Fuel stabilizer — Mercury Quickstor added to fuel, engine run 10 minutes to circulate it through the entire fuel system
- Fogging — cylinders fogged with Mercury Storage Seal until the engine smokes and stalls (this is the critical step, partial fogging means partial protection)
- Spark plugs — removed, cylinders fogged individually, new plugs installed
- Oil change — full crankcase oil + filter, drained while warm for full evacuation
- Lower-unit gear oil change — drained, inspected for water intrusion (milky oil = a seal failure you need to know about), refilled with Mercury High Performance gear oil
- Cooling system drain — all water out of the block, water passages, tell-tale
- Battery prep — removed from boat, terminals cleaned, stored on a smart charger in a heated building (cold kills batteries; never leave one in a cold boat)
Skip any of these and you're rolling the dice on a cracked block, a corroded fuel system, or a dead battery you didn't know about until the spring launch ramp. Hard freezes in Ontario do real damage. We've replaced enough cracked powerheads from skipped-step winterizations to know the math doesn't favour shortcuts.
For the full step-by-step, our DIY Mercury winterization guide walks through every step in detail. Most customers read it and then book us anyway. Worth knowing what's happening either way.
Shrinkwrap pricing (separate from winterization)
Shrinkwrap and winterization are two different jobs. This is the single most expensive confusion in marine storage.
- Shrinkwrap is the tight plastic cover. It keeps snow, ice, and squirrels out. It does not protect the engine.
- Winterization is what protects the engine. Without it, the wrap is just keeping snow off a boat that's freezing from the inside.
Customers who handle their own winterization (DIY-ers, repower customers who want to do it themselves, boats stored in someone's barn over winter) sometimes just want the wrap. Here's what that costs at HBW:
| Where shrinkwrap is done |
Price |
Why |
| In our shop |
$20/ft |
Climate-controlled, no wind, faster work, tighter seams |
| Outdoors at the lot |
$25/ft |
Wind makes the heat-shrink harder, takes longer, more material loss |
So a 20 ft pontoon getting shrinkwrapped in our shop is $400. The same boat wrapped outside at the lot is $500. You can drop it off, get the wrap done, and tow it home to store on your own property if that's the plan. We do this all the time for cottage owners who store at the cottage.
Outdoor winter storage pricing
If you're going to keep the boat with us through winter, three things get bundled in that most marinas charge extra for:
| Service |
Standalone Value |
At HBW |
| Spring check (battery, fuel system, lower unit oil, hoses, basic systems) |
$99 |
Included |
| Summer trailer parking (drop it after launch, pick it up in fall) |
$150 |
Included |
| Shrinkwrap recycling (instead of landfilling the plastic in spring) |
$35 |
Included |
| Total bundled value |
$284 |
Included |
That $284 in real services bundled into storage matters when you're comparing quotes. A storage rate that looks $200 lower somewhere else often isn't, once you add back what they charge for the spring check and the trailer parking and the wrap disposal.
Live storage rates (per-foot) are on our winter storage page. They adjust each fall. We'd rather you see the live number than memorize one we update once and forget.
What HBW doesn't offer
Indoor heated storage. We're outdoor only, on a fenced and monitored lot. If you have a high-end fibreglass cruiser with custom paint that you want kept indoors, we'll honestly point you to other shops. For most Rice Lake and Kawartha boats (aluminum fishing boats, pontoons, runabouts), outdoor with proper shrinkwrap is the practical answer at about half the cost of indoor.
Boats over 30 feet. We're not taking them right now. We'd rather tell you that up front than waste your fall.
Extras that come up at the counter
Beyond core winterization, shrinkwrap, and storage:
- Bio-wash hull cleaning: $10/ft. Chemical hull clean before wrap. Worth it if the boat picked up zebra mussels, scum line, or stained gel coat over the season.
- Pontoon enclosures removal and install: $5/ft. If you've got a full enclosure that needs to come off before wrap and back on in spring.
- Winterization + oil & filter change bundle. Pre-storage prep done by us. Saves a service appointment in spring.
How to book
- Go to hbw.wiki/service and submit a service request.
- Tell us your motor make/model/HP, boat length, and which services you want (winterization, shrinkwrap, storage, or any combination).
- We'll come back with a real quote based on your specific boat.
- Book a drop-off slot. August and September are ideal. October works. The last week before freeze-up is when everyone calls at once.
If you want a phone call first: (905) 342-2153. Or text (647) 952-2153.