Scott Martin has spent 25 years on the water chasing bass across the country. In that time, he’s seen just about every mechanical failure imaginable: loose connections, sticky jack plates, snapped bolts, and frayed cables. However, all of them have one thing in common: they were preventable. In this Backyard Life video, he puts down the rod to walk through the boat maintenance habits that have kept him on the water. And while he’s at it, he rolls out his Exmark mower for a few quick checks that’ll keep the yard in shape between tournaments. As Martin puts it, a good eye test on your equipment, whether it’s a bass boat or a lawnmower, will save you a world of trouble down the road.
Why Maintenance Matters More Than Most Anglers Think
It’s easy to push maintenance to the back burner when the fish are biting. But Martin is quick to point out that the small stuff adds up fast. A loose battery terminal that goes unchecked can shut down your trolling motor, flood your electronics with interference, or leave you stranded in the middle of a tournament. The good news? Most of these issues take five minutes to prevent. Here’s where Martin starts:
Tip 1: Check Your Battery Connections First
Martin’s first stop on any maintenance session is the battery compartment. He runs Dakota Lithium batteries—a 12-volt 320-amp cranking battery and two 36-volt 60-amp batteries wired in parallel. And before anything else, he puts his eyes on every terminal.
What he’s looking for is straightforward: no corrosion, no green buildup, no rust, and most importantly, no movement. As the boat hammers across the lake, connections work themselves loose over time. A loose terminal under load, especially on a trolling motor running through heavy grass, will cause the motor to cut out entirely. The same goes for your electronics. Interference and screen glitches are often traced straight back to a bad connection, not a bad unit.
Martin’s fix is simple. Grab a socket wrench and give each terminal a check. If you find corrosion, a wire brush and a product like Star Brite’s corrosion blocker will clean it right up. For saltwater anglers, Star Brite’s Salt Away is equally effective. Finish it off with a light coat of grease over the terminals, and you’re good to go.
Tip 2: Grease Your Jack Plate Regularly
For this one, you’ll need a standard grease gun loaded with marine grease. Martin runs Bob’s Hydraulic Jack Plates and makes it a point to grease the fittings roughly every month. It’s a job that takes a few minutes and pays off every single time out.
The goal is a plate that moves up and down completely smooth, without any drag or sticking. As water hits, the grease wears away, and what starts as a slight sticky feeling can turn into a plate that won’t respond under load. That’s a problem when you’re trying to get on plane fast or dial in your trim at speed.
Martin pumps marine grease into each fitting, typically three to four pumps per side, until he sees it start to squeeze out from the top of the plate. That’s the visual confirmation the fitting is fully seated. He’ll also work a bit of grease onto the arm by hand to make sure the whole assembly stays smooth. Beyond feel and performance, a well-greased plate puts less strain on your battery and fuses. Run it dry long enough, and you’re looking at blown fuses, amp draw issues, or an engine that overheats because the plate won’t drop.
Tip 3: Walk the Whole Boat and Tighten What You Find
Martin’s third tip isn’t about any single component; it’s about building the habit of doing a full walk-around before and after every trip. What he’s discovered is that the issues that ruin tournament days usually aren’t surprises. They’re things that were visible beforehand and just went unchecked.
- Power Pole Brackets: Martin grabs each pole and shakes it. Any movement at the bracket is a problem. Left loose, the hardware will chafe the fiberglass. And, if a bolt snaps in rough water and the pole goes overboard, it can pull your hydraulic hoses with it. He uses a 3/4-inch wrench and an impact driver to snug them down.
- Main Engine and Transom Bolts: While you’re at the back of the boat, check the four main engine bolts and the bracket bolts that run through the transom behind the jack plate. These are safety-critical fasteners, so Martin always keeps the right sockets on the boat.
- Trolling Motor Mount and Cable: Give the trolling motor a firm shake to confirm all six bolts are properly torqued. While you’re there, run your eye down the cable. Martin points out that on his wife’s boat, the cable is already showing early wear—not something that’s critical yet, but worth monitoring. A snapped cable on the water is a bad day.
A Quick Detour: Maintenance On His Exmark Mower
Martin takes a brief pause from the boat to run through maintenance on his Exmark Lazer Z E-Series zero-turn mower. He keeps a full engine maintenance kit on hand and walks through what’s inside and when each item gets swapped out.
- Air Filter: Change it approximately every 20 hours of use, or more often if you’re mowing in dusty or dry conditions. When reinstalling, make sure the filter seats properly against its collar. A filter that isn’t fully sealed will pull unfiltered air straight into the engine. The inner filter follows the same service interval.
- Oil and Oil Filter: Martin recommends Exmark’s own SAE 10W-30 for the Kawasaki engine. On a new mower, the first oil filter change comes around 20 to 30 hours. After that, every 100 hours or once a year is the standard interval. To drain, he turns the knob at the base of the engine and lets the oil run out through the hose. Then, he swaps the filter, plugs everything back up, and refills with fresh oil.
- Fuel Filter: Two clips hold it in place. Turn the shutoff, pop the clips, slide the old filter off, and install the new one. Easy to do and easy to overlook.
- Spark Plugs: These aren’t an every-season job—Martin marks them for every 100 hours or once a year. But they’re in the kit and worth having on hand.
Beyond the kit, Martin runs through a few quick checks that apply to any mower. Check battery terminals for corrosion, especially if the machine is stored outside or under a barn where moisture is a factor. Check tire pressure on both sides—uneven pressure creates an uneven cut. And do a visual sweep of the bolts, chains, and hardware. If you see paint chipping around a fastener, that’s usually a sign something is vibrating loose underneath.
What to Keep in Your Boat at All Times
Martin wraps up with a reminder that’s as practical as anything else in the video: carry a toolbox. He keeps a basic toolbox in the boat and replaces it when it gets too corroded to be worth keeping. Inside it he’s stocked electrical tape, a bag of spare fuses for his jack plate and electronics, and a handful of zip ties. That combination has gotten him out of more than a few tight spots on tournament day, when being a little MacGyver-ish is the difference between finishing the day and trailering early.
The same mentality applies to the mower, the truck, or anything else you run hard. A quick eye test before it becomes a problem is almost always faster (and cheaper) than fixing it after the fact.
Frequently Asked Questions About Boat Maintenance
Martin recommends inspecting your battery terminals before every trip. Look for corrosion, green buildup, rust, and any movement at the connection point. Tighten loose terminals with a socket wrench and treat corrosion with a wire brush and a marine-grade corrosion blocker like Star Brite.
Martin greases his Bob’s Hydraulic Jack Plates about once a month. Pump marine grease into each fitting on both sides until you see it squeeze out from the top of the plate—that’s how you know the fitting is fully seated. A sticky or slow-moving plate puts unnecessary strain on your battery and fuses and can prevent your engine from getting on plane properly.
At minimum, carry a socket set with the sizes that fit your engine bolts and jack plate fittings, electrical tape, a zip-loc bag of spare fuses (sized for your electronics and jack plate), and a handful of zip ties. A basic toolbox from any hardware store works fine. Replace it when it corrodes out.
A loose or corroded battery connection is one of the most common culprits. When the motor is under heavy load—like pushing through thick grass— a weak connection can’t carry the current demand and the motor cuts out. Tightening terminals and keeping them clean will prevent most of these shutdowns.
