Keep your vehicles in top shape

With all the recent discussion of pending gun control legislation and legislative appropriations for salmon fisheries work in the Northern District, a couple of things have escaped me. First is the fifth annual Brianna Gregory Memorial SuperShoot tomorrow at the Grouse Ridge Shooting Facility. This competition is a fundraiser for the Brianna Gregory Foundation, which is dedicated to improving quality of life for children with life-threatening illnesses.

According to the foundation website, this event is a 100-bird sporting clays walkthrough held annually as a fundraiser for Children’s Hospital at Providence Alaska and cystic fibrosis. All of the proceeds stay in Alaska to benefit our children. The foundation’s chosen project is a much-needed teen lounge at Children’s Hospital. To date, $35,000 has been raised with an end goal of $50,000.

This teen lounge will have five workstations with computers, a printer/fax, real-time interactive access to classrooms and a home theater system, including theater seating in a young adult, contemporary decor. Some of these teens spend three weeks or more as inpatients. This lounge will be a place they can study, visit with friends or get away from their hospital room environment for a while.

Shooting starts at 10 a.m., so get there early if you have not already registered. Registration is $100. The shoot is NSCA registered. If you’re not interested in shooting, this would be an interesting spectator event as well. For more information, visit briannashope.org or call Neil’s Lock & Safe at 373-0961.

The second item is something I haven’t mentioned in a number of years — big boy toy maintenance. It’s time to perform end-of-season maintenance on your snowmachine and beginning-of-season maintenance on your boat or ATV. With today’s newer machines, a lot of the tedious work is gone. For snowmachines with four-stroke engines, change the engine oil and put some fuel stabilizer in the gas tank. Run the engine for a couple of minutes to make sure the stabilizer circulates into the engine.

I like to wash down the unit, grease any fittings and repair any problems with the suspension or track. I also periodically charge the battery, if so equipped, during the storage season. My machine is older and I try to raise the rear end off the ground and place it on a stand to relieve pressure on the track suspension.

I follow a similar routine for my ATV to get it ready for the summer and fall seasons, especially if I neglected to do a decent job of cleaning the machine and greasing the fittings the previous fall. I check tire pressures and inflate them, if necessary, to the factory-recommended pressure. I have a “meat trailer” I use with the ATV and I usually check tire pressures and make sure the wheel hubs are properly lubricated before beginning the summer season.

I confirm that all lights are working properly and on my ATV, that the brakes are functional. My ATV is older and it likes to “soften up” on braking after sitting for several months. Usually, a couple of four- to five-squeeze sessions on the brake lever firms up the hydraulic brakes and I’m good to go.

My riverboat has an inboard, four-stroke engine. I don’t normally have to do much to get it ready for summer. Once the local lakes open up, I’ll take the boat over and back it into the water, leaving it sitting on the trailer. After checking oil levels and batteries and greasing the main bearing, I’ll pump the throttle lever a few times and the engine generally fires right up. I’ll run the engine for a half-hour or so at varying RPM’s, listening to how it sounds. If I neglected to change oil the fall before, I’ll change it while still warm for the initial half-hour run.

I’ll check for proper light and blower function and make sure the rest of the on-board electronics work properly. I’ll check trailer tire pressures, grease the wheel hubs and replace any faulty light bulbs on the trailer lighting. This spring, I’m installing some new equipment on the riverboat, so that will add to my pre-season work a little bit.

If you don’t enjoy working on your own equipment or, like me, you’re limited in your mechanical abilities, there are several shops around the Valley that will be happy to do your service work for you. If I run into any problems beyond the basics I’ve outlined above, I take the machine to a shop with the expertise to fix the situation.

Howard Delo is a retired fisheries biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. You can leave him a message by emailing sports@frontiersman.com.