Way2slow

I think I commented that yes you can but I wouldn't. It's your motor, and yes it will burn anything on the market that meets TC-W3 specs, That stuff you can buy for $3 a gallon to $50 a gallon. You'll hear about using nothing but Amzoil, or nothing but Klotz or nothing but the cheapest stuff on the shelf and their motors work great. Now go to any dealer of any brand motor and talk to their techs. If they've been building motors very long, there's not a one of them out there gonna recommend an off brand oil. Not because they want to sell theirs, because they see what the inside of motors look like when they've run that cheap oil. All oils are not created equal, just because they meet TC-W3 specs don't mean crap as to how well it burns inside your motor and how well it prevents carbon, gumming, and wear. That $20 and $30 a gallon is not all markup over the cheaper oils (yea some because Merc, Yamaha, BRP are going to make their markup) but with that manufactors oil, you know your getting the additivies they recommend for that motor to live a long happy life with the proper maintenance along the way. And as I also stated, DFI motors are very sinsitive to oils because the oil is not mixed with the gas in the same way non DFI motors are. Two totally different concepts are used between DFI and other motors. I'm not one to try and tell anyone how they should treat their equipment, only how I would treat mine and I've been inside a bunch of outboard motors.

I don't agree bigger is always better. A 65 - 70 lb thrust motor will move your boat very nicely under most conditions. Now, if you fish the Great Lakes or other large bodies of water where you can get into some serious winds, then you might want to look at something in the 80's. My boat is a 20' bass boat and pretty darn heavy loaded, I run a 68 lb thrust, fish a rather large lake and have never been in a wind that I couldn't still control the boat. This boat with this TM was also usded on the Citgo BASS Tournament trail for 1 1/2 years and never ran into a problem either Another thing to consider, if you get much larger than 60 - 70 lbs of thrust in a 24 volt motor, you might need to consider upgrading your cables, unless you have #4 battery/marine cable already. #6 is the standard, but that standard was before these monster 24 volt motors came along. That or go to a 36 volt that will reduce the current draw.

You can but I wouldn't. Warrenty claims can always come back and bite you. DFI motors are very sensitive to oil viscosity and even though they are all TC-W3 there can be slight variations in viscosity, especially at different temps. I run Penzoil Synthetic in everything I have except my Evinrude DFI, I run the recommended Evinrude Ficht oil in it.

I think there were a couple of post that had already addressed the fact he couldn't plug his AC pump into a DC battery, that's how it got to recommending a DC unit from Wal-Mart. Also, just for gee-wiz info. A rectifier is used to block DC or convert AC to DC, not DC to AC so they would do nothing in his situation and a transformer will only isolate DC and change the amplitude of an AC source, again, doing nothing in his situation. An Inverter would be required, they use switching circuit to turn the DC on and off at the desired frequency, then feed it through a transformer or some other type of circuit to increase the voltage to the desired level. This is still not an AC signal but a Switched DC but appears as AC to most devices. That's why you have to be careful what with what type of device you plug into an inverter, they will burn up some electronic items.

For salt water, buy a glass boat. Aluminum and saltwater don't make a good combination. In a couple of years, you can fill it with water and use it for a sprinkler system in your hard.

Also, many of the welded jons will be made from a heavier guage aluminum. However, I was in a dealership the other day and saw a welded jon that was adversted as a " 1442 light" model with lighter guage aluminum than their standard welded version and was about $300 cheaper than the same boat in the heavy guage metal.

What size cable to you have and how long are they? #8 fine strand cable can handle 35 - 40 amps, anything smaller than that and you should look at upgrading. Even if it's #10, it's not going to melt your cable but the voltage drop caused by the internal resistance of the wiring will reduce the performance of the trolling motor when on high speed. A cheap upgrade would be to go to Home Depot and get you some stranded #6 house wire. They have it in single conductor on the bulk roles. This only has eight - 10 strands of copper and while not as good as the fine strand battery/marine cable, it's a lot cheaper and will more than fit your needs. Electrons flow over the surface area of a conductor, so the smaller the conductors, the more conductors there are inside the same guage wire, and the more surface area it has, therefore a greater load carrying capacity for the same guage wire. Thats why you'll see #6 battery/marine cable rated for approx 55 amps and #6 stranded house wire rated at approx 45 amps even though both are #6 guage cable. Meant to mention, unless you have a large tank to run it in to load the motor and keep it cool, you can't test it at home. Motor is not going to draw anywhere near the amps out of the water as in the water, plus the motor depends on the water to keep it cool. I got to thinking about it and checked wire size ratings and need to make a couple of corrections here, #8 AWG is rated for a max of 55 amps, #6 AWG 75 amps, but these ratings are based on the absolute max ampacity before the insulation starts melting. My numbers are what it should handle without the internal resistance causing a reduction in performance or any heating of the cable when running on max.

OK, that fits a little better. I was thinking the inline 6, 1100 with 110 hp, my screwup, guess that's what I get for thinking when I'm not used to it. Still would work on getting it running first. No way would I pay that much to put a water pump on that motor. Being a 10 hp, it's actually worth more that the inline 6 but still not worth what he's wanting just to put the pump on it. You can find newer, good running 9.9s for that amount of money. Check the spark, if it has a good spark, clean the carb and fuel pump and purge the fuel system. Those motors are fairly easy to work on, if your a mechanic, you should have no problem. Get you one of those Clymer's manuals for that model and it will give you good enough info to do most of what you'll need. Not much to the carbs, if you can build a Q-jet, this one would be a breeze, just make sure all the orifices are clean. That would make you good motor to get your feet wet and learn something about two strokes. Just don't apply your fourstroke logic. The don't work anywhere near the same, actually just about totally opposite. For instance, intake valve on 4 stroke opens when piston starts down, two stroke intake reed valves are forced closed when piston starts down. The air in the crankcase is compressed as the piston comes down until the dome clears the intake port and then the charge is pushed in under pressure. Reeds valves don't open until piston starts back up gain, closing off intake ports and pulling a fresh charge into crankcase.

First off, do away with the fuses and install a 40 amp circuit breaker if that's a 12 volt motor Next pull the prop off and make sure it's not wrapped with line or something. Thirty amps is right on the hairy edge of what that motor will draw on high and you really need to go to 40 amps, and no way a 20 amp is going to make it.

Read the last comment on my other post. For good information on those old inline six merc go here http://forums.screamandfly.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=20 sign up and then make a post to Raceman with your question. He has a thing about those old mercs. There are several others there that will be more than willing to give you a helping hand when it comes to those things. He's also the one with the 134.6 mph STV

My first concern would be getting the motor running and not worry about the water pump right at the moment. You can pull the lower unit, get it running and then feed water from a hose to the tube connecting to the water pump output to run it long enough to check it out. Very good chance you will be throwing good money after bad though. If you're paying someone to work on the motor, you have already spent more than it's worth but to answer your question, replacing the water pump is a fairly easy job. Drop the lower unit and it's bolted right on top with the driveshaft going through the middle of it. Most like though, if the motor has been sitting a long time, rust has gotten to the inside and it's 100% junk. If you take it appart, it takes a special setup to put it back together because all six rods have to be bolted to the crank with pistons and rings attached, and then the whole rotating assy drop into the block as an assembly, meaning all six sets of rings have to be compressed at one time. Those old Thunderbolt distributor ignition system worked ok new but not so great now. Just remember the plug wires screw in. Personnaly, they would have had to give me the $100 to get rid of it for them. Sorry, they are just too old to mess with. Oh, if you do get it going, you will need to run high octane gas in it. Holy cow batman!!!! I just noticed you said a "12 foot" boat, and you're planning on putting that motor on the back. That motor weights over 300 pounds and is probably about five times the hp of what should ever be put on the back of a 12' boat.

If I'm reading this right, normally you go fishing on a lake, how long is your drop cord that's going to run that aquarium air pump. You're not going to be able to plug a 115 VAC pump into any DC battery and make it work. Well, I guess if you wanted a add an inverter also, you could make it work but they make a 12 VDC aerators you can use. Adding ice can cause the fish to go into shock which can cause the fish to die after being released at the end of the tournament.. In the wild fish make gradual temperature changes or move into warmer water to feed for a short time and then back into their adjusted temperature. Adding ice is going to have them in all kinds of different temps for an extended period. A sudden five degree change has a huge impact on the health of a fish. At the same time, not doing water changes will probably have them boilded alive by the end of the day in a hot climate Opps, I also just noticed I'm making too many post on here. Looks like too many of the recent post have my name under them. Sorry, didn't mean to make it look like I was trying to take over.

That water normally comes out from the powerhead before the thermostat so should be rather warm, easily in the 130 degree range. Might want to use the back side of a drill bit the same size as the hole in the visual indicator and make sure it's not partially plugged. Better still would be remove the hose from the back side of it and make sure there's nothing stopping the flow.

Bass boats don't make great ski boats and good ski boats don't make good bass boats. Fish&Ski's make a trade off between the two. Dual console bass boats and F&S's have limited rod storage compartments, long rods get their tips all jammed together up in the bow, F&S's much more so that DC bass boats. F&S's also have limited storage, especially if you're wanting four seats. As for having a gps on bow and console, I've never seen the need. The console mounted unit gets you to the area but you still have to use the sonar to pin point the spot and use the TM to hold that spot. Not too sure what a bow mounted gps would do for you. You've got to remember, gps's are not pin point accurate, 30 feet off from your spot is not uncommon. I know diddley about F&S's so maybe someone can give you some info in that area, that's about the only thing that's going to come close to what your looking for. A single console bass boat is going to offer you the best fishing platform with the most storage and room. You will need to look at for something in the neighborhood of 18' to get a boat rated for 150 hp.

Been there, done that, and at 83 mph with everything out of my boat bass but my partner (and TM on the front), I was only running mid pack. Other than a several Allison's and Bullets, most of the boats making that 50 mile river run are not bass boats. A friend of mine's STV has gps'd 134 mph, but you don't see a trolling motor on the front deck. Like cart7 said, speed is money. The more speed you want, the more money your gonna spend and unless your hull is designed for speed, it's wasted money because most hulls hit a wall. When you reach a certain point, bunches of horse power make very little gain in speed. I have a friend that spent over $2000 just to get his Bullet from 92 mph to 95 mph and had probably already spent twice that on his engine, props, jackplates and other setup items just getting it to 92 mph.

As you can tell, there is no one set trim angle, you learn the feel of your boat, the sound of your motor, and watch your tac. Seat time and paying attention to the tac, speedometer, and how the boat sounds and feels will tell you where you need to run the motor. On a lot of boats, the setup is so poor you can trim them all the way out and still not have the lift you need. You just cause the prop to cavitate and blow a big rooster tail. On a most properly setup bass boat built in recent times, that are not way underpowered, you should never see spray when running flat out, without having to turn your head a look back behind you. My hull weighs approx 1,700 lbs and I never start off with my motor fully tucked and I'm trimming out almost as soon as I'm on the gas. I Actually start off with my motor timmed almost half way out, trim guage just a little below center and trimmed out to a little past center when running over 70 mph. My boat has absolutely no problem coming out of the hole and tucking the motor all the way in just makes it take longer to get the bow lifted once it is on plane. Setup plays a major role with required trim angle. Two things that play a huge part in the amount of trim required is the rake and cup (these determine lift) on the prop and the amount of offset your running with your jackplate. Normally, the more offset and rake you run, the less trim you need. Idealy, a neutral trim angle would have the boat lifted at the perfect attitude and a very low rooster tail. This can be achieved on Allisons and Bullets fairly easily but on the heavier hulls, it takes more positive trim angle to get the bow right because the amount of setback it would take is not pratical and voids the warrenty on most hulls. As for water over the splash well, most but not all boats will do that. I think just about all the smaller boats will get backwash, some will have it all the way up to the drivers seat if you just chop the power on them. Many of the 20 foot and larger boats will not get backwash in them. I can kill mine and have the TM in the water by the time the boat is coming to a rest and never get a drop over the back. I never have to outrun the backwash but have had and been in many boats you did.

Unless you're fishing very deep, I would go for the color over the 4K watts in a heartbeat. 2,400 watts should be enough power to see anything down there just as good as 4,000 down to 40 - 50 ft. Unless your fishing clear water or do a lot of striper fishing, most bass fishing is done in 30 feet or less. Color units do need a lot of power to give good color definition but 2,400 should still be plenty. 2,400 watts is still a pretty strong signal compared to most units on the market and will give a strong enough return signal to see some mighty small bait fish in some fairly deep water and good sepration of targets.

I would check and see what holes the motor is mounted in. A lot of dealers just throw the motor on and put it in the very top set of holes. I most cases it can be raised and many times all the way to the bottom set on a transome mounted motor. If you are dragging the hydrofoil your's is probably too low. It is recommended you have a water pressure guage before raising the motor very much though. Also, on a transome mounted motor, if you loosen the bolts holding the motor, make darn sure you put plenty of silicon back around the bolts before tighning. It don't take much a a water leak to totally ruin a wood transome is a few short years.

Most likely it can be repaired but not sure you want to try it yourself. Those blades have very exacting contours and seriously doubt you can get it right without the right tools.

Get the right type and they work great with proper motor setup. About the best of the cheaper ones is the SE Sport 300. They go a long way at reducing bow lift and getting a boat on plane easier and with the motor set at the proper height, they don't slow the boat down because they are out of the water when on plane. I don't like the wider ones, that look like whale tails, they can bite the water on turns and make the boat do funny things. If you don't mind how they look, you'll love it. Some people have a hard time dealing with the appearance part of them, they are not "cool" looking on the back of their shinney new bass boat. A jack plate is measured by the amount of setback it has. If moves the motor back six inches form the transome, it's a 6" jackplate Engine height (the distance the prop shaft is below/above the pad) is measured by parking the boat on a level surface, hold a level on the bottom of the pad and use the tongue jack to level the boat. Sit/hold the level on the anticav plate on the motor and trim the motor until it's level. Measure from the bottom of the pad to the surface and then from the the center on the prop shaft to the surface. Subtract the prop shaft measurement from the pad measurement and the difference is your engine height. Most average bass boats will run 2 1/2" - 4 1/2", depending on hull design, amount of offset and type prop being run.

Don't just chop the power. As the boat starts sinking in coming off plane add just a little gas to power ahead of the back wash so as to out run it slightly then pull it to neutral. Get the timing on it right and you don't get any backwash.

Ouch, Sorry, I didn't mean that in a negative way, being a new guy on the block, the last thing I want is to cause problems. I'm sure from the number of post you both have, you have a pretty good relation with each other. I was actually just jokeing around but guess it didn't come across that way.

Must be nice to be young. Wait until you get some age on them bones and aches in those musles and see how much fun it is carrying 50 - 75 pounds of battery, and then trying to lift it over into a canoe/small boat without you, the battery and everything else going for a swim, and without having to walk out into the water to set it in. I'm 6' and over 200 pounds and still don't like lfting the dang things. Make good friends with a one of dem cow-practer's, your going to need one regularly, also a good back brace. He already said he had tendon and ligament damage, are we wanting to finish him off.

Avid, If by some chance you have one the old round dash mounted 30 amp or larger meter like we all used to put in our cars, connect that inline with the positive cable to your TM. Most usually start at center show negative or positive current flow so it doesn't matter how you connect it. You can see how many amps the motor is drawing at different settings and use those amps to figure out exactly how long a good battery will last. A constant 25 amp draw will run you almost three hours on an 85 amp hour battery before the battery is too far down. A constant 10 amp draw will run about 7 hours.

NADA.com for boats. Just be sure you read all the notes and don't take their prices real serious. Sometimes they are priced with the motor and trailer, sometimes just the boat. A better source is to look at a Boat Trader for your area and get a feel for what they are asking, then figure on dealing down from there.