Hello again, everyone. I’m back from my worldly travels and trade shows, and I wanted to cover a topic that is frequently overlooked by those of us here in the South: pump winterization. I say it’s overlooked in the South because whenever I broach this topic with applicators north of the Mason-Dixon, they look at me in a humoring fashion and say, “Bailey, we winterized our systems at the end of September.” For them, proper winterization is old hat. For us, it’s hardly ever thought about.

The reason I am bringing this up now is most of the spraying is done. We’re moving into fall. Cooler temperatures, shorter days, and eventually holidays (can you believe Christmas is less than two months away?). I know plenty of folks whose minds are on deer stands and duck blinds, not pumps. But what you do now can save you some money come 2027. It never fails that we end up selling pumps and valves to people who had a unit freeze and crack. In several instances, some of those pumps were only a few months old at the time of their premature demise.

Pump winterization is simple. It’s quick. It can save you money and add years of life to your system. Before I get into the steps you need to take, I’ll explain why you need to winterize. Winterization is recommended for two primary reasons: preventing freezing and preventing corrosion. The first part is simple enough: you want to drain your equipment so it doesn’t freeze and crack. The second part requires a bit more information.

Corrosion happens primarily due to oxidation. Rust is what happens when iron oxidizes. Since high school chemistry was 24 years ago for me, I won’t get into the technical side and probably would do a poor job if I tried. Instead, suffice it to say fertilizer is an oxidizer meaning that it is corrosive in the presence of oxygen. But it needs oxygen for it to begin the corrosive process. So, how do we prevent oxygen when it’s so readily available in our atmosphere? Keep the air out!

Keeping the air out sounds more complicated than it is. Down here, when people winterize, they drain and rinse the pump and let it sit. That’s half the battle. By draining and rinsing, you’ve (hopefully) prevented the pump from freezing and cracking. But what the folks up North do that we Southerners neglect is they put their drain plugs back in and flood the pump. What they fill it with depends on the user, but I’ve heard users say they’ll run anything from used motor oil to diesel to jet fuel to antifreeze. The trick to preventing corrosion is to keep as much of that cast iron covered by the liquid of your choice. Any bit of the cast iron exposed to air is subject to rusting.

Now that we’ve covered the “why” of winterization, we’ll cover the “how.” Below is a step-by-step guide for properly winterizing your equipment:

1. Shut off your supply valve.
2. Remove your drain plug, located at the bottom of the pump.
3. Remove the suction flange. If you’ve got your discharge setup with a camlock, leave the flange on and disconnect your discharge cam.
4. Allow the pump to drain.
5. Thoroughly rinse the pump with clean water. Rinse it again. And again. And again. You cannot rinse too much.
6. Reinstall the drain plug, taking care to not overtighten. Some users take this opportunity to install a small ball valve to make future drains easier.
7. Fill the pump completely full with a non-freezing liquid. Cover as much of the cast iron as possible, including the flanges. As mentioned, some folks use diesel fuel or old motor oil. We typically recommend users use either RV or marine antifreeze as these are usually non-toxic. Whatever liquid you use, follow the directions. Most RV and marine antifreeze don’t need to be diluted. As an FYI, RV and marine antifreeze will still turn slushy around 0 degrees Fahrenheit, but they won’t freeze solid until about -50F (called burst protection).
8. Give ‘er a slap and say “that’s not going anywhere.”

If you’re using a plastic pump, corrosion is not a concern. Still, filling the pump with the appropriate liquid will help prevent freezing, as well as keeping the elastomer in the seal lubricated. This will help prevent the rubber from tearing at pump startup next season.

One other point to consider is your ball valves. On mixing systems, we routinely hear from customers who flushed their system and then closed a valve. The problem is the ball in the valve usually has rinse water sitting in it, and then the first cold night causes it to freeze and crack. We sell dozens of valves each January because of this. When you’ve rinsed your system, open your valves! On systems like the Handler, they’re designed for all plumbing to drain to the lowest point. You can always disconnect the lowest hose or fitting to ensure all the water is removed.

I hope this was helpful to you. Now’s the time to get out there and make it happen. Too many times, I’ve forgotten to properly care for something early on, and then must deal with it last minute. No one wants to run the water hose when it’s 35 degrees out and dropping.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us. Our number is 662-890-9095. You can also reach us by email at orders@epickett.com.

Happy Fall, y’all!