Way2slow

Ever since this newest update, I get this email everytime I log in. I've turned of notifications and still get it. How do I stop it.?

You might get a big surprise if you do. I've drilled a number of boats close to be very bottom of the transom and had water come out. I drill my boats ever year or two. (Actually, I just drill them once and put a 1/4" screw in them and take it out every year or so.) You never know when one of these holes on the outside for the motor mount or other things attached might start leaking and it's a whole lot better to catch it early than when it's totally gone. The only reason you need to seal the hole is just in case the boat gets flooded inside. As I mentioned before, being composite is not a reason to think you don't have to worry about water. Many have their own issues. One biggie is it's not that strong if it's not bonded between fiber glass on both side and moisture can make it loose it's bond.

There are two ways you can go about replacing it. It just depends on the value of the boat and if you have any plans on getting rid of it any time soon. The right and professional way is to take the cap off and go at from inside the boat so you can't tell it from OEM when done. This can run several thousand dollars. The other way is to take a chainsaw and start cutting straight down through the top to remove the bad material. Then you can start stuffing the void with resin coated fiberglass mat or fabric, or a piece of composite that fit's the void. This can run several hundred dollars but can ruin the resale value of the boat. The thing is, with older boats, if the transom is bad, there is usually other bad areas in the floor, so just replacing the transom is just a Band-Aid if you go at it with a chain saw.. One word of advise, if you take the cap off and the floor out, you had better know what you are doing or you will have a piece of junk. The hull has to be firmly supported or it will twist and open up like a clam shell, making it almost impossible to put the cap back on and create one ill handling boat.

I haven't kept up with this stuff for several years but the early composite were affected by water intrusion almost as bad as plywood. so being composite was not a guarantee you didn't have to worry about the transom being bad.

Comparing props is like comparing paints, they all can look similar but the performance of each is totally different. Unless you are totally familiar with prop blade designs, pitch, rake, cup, geometry, material etc, there is no way to can say whether a 3 blade or a 4 blade is better. A high performance SS four blade, designed to suit your hull and engine combination will out perform any aluminum prop, three or four blade, and most generic three blade SS props. Now, when you are comparing similar blade designs of the same material, a three blade might be one or two mph faster simply because of the extra friction the fourth blade has, but I have run custom tuned four blades that were just as fast as a tuned three blade.

I don't think I've ever owned a used fiberglass boat that didn't have stress cracks in the corners of the splash well and transom. My old 1989 285 Pro had actual cracks in the fiberglass in each corner, but I still ran a 325hp motor on it, and it was only rated for 175. You just need to make sure the wood is still strong. There are three things you do to verify a transom. The first thing I do is trim the motor all the way out, then stand on the mid section near the anti-cav plate and bounce up and down on it. The boat is going to be bouncing on the trailer, but the transom should have absolutely no movement. If you are a feather weight, take along a 200l b plus friend. The next thing I do is tighten the lower mounting bolts. If they start pulling the washers down into the transom, it's junk They should not be able to compress the transom. The next thing I do is drill a couple of 3/16" holes on the inside in a few locations to examine the wood that comes out. Should be light and dry. Be sure to squeeze a little silicon into each hole to reseal it. Also, be very careful not to drill all the way through, it's best to have a stop collier on the bit. Now, you might have to depend on the first two test if the owner won't let you drill holes but you also might want to walk away if he doesn't, it's not hurting anykkthing.

Not new, I still have one of these I bought when they first came out. Been so long don't remember with, sometime back in the 70's I think. Funny too, they want twice as much for that used one as I paid new. https://www.ebay.com/itm/274635413867 PWM is like a very fast switch turning the motor on and off. As you decrease the speed, the longer the off pulse and shorter the on pulse. By limiting the on time, the motor can still develop the power needed but requires much less power (basically wasted power) to do that. Similar to the new variable frequency AC motors in a lot of high efficiency refrigeration compressor in used now. That's also why you have to be very careful what kind of generator you use for backup power.

Just about anytime you change brands, you usually have to change control boxes and cables that match the brand you are going to. On some occasions, just going to a different motor in the same brand requires changing everything.. Sometimes you could get away with changing the cable ends that go on the motor and a cable adapter, but don't hold your breath while you are trying find something. Most have gone away from making that possible.

My 17' Grumman aluminum canoe was bought used in 1959 for $40, so not sure just how old it is figure it's from some time in the early 50s. Still have a 2hp Johnson bought used in 1960 to go on it.

I guess you are asking why OMC because they owned Stratos at that time. I would have to guess, that was the easiest, cheapest way to ground it. Like you said, until you get to the front of the boat, just about everything is powered by a separate wire to the battery for most of the stuff in the back. Two of these make things much nicer . This one does not show the jumper straps so be sure to get the ones that do. That way you can make one side all commons and then connect the individual connects to the other side. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Utilitech-Quick-Wire-Connectors/999953938?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-elc-_-google-_-lia-_-106-_-electricalaccessories-_-999953938-_-0&placeholder=null&ds_rl=1286981&ds_a_cid=112741100&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8N6btuuN7gIVgaGGCh3-7Q0UEAQYAyABEgLLb_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds Something like this or single ones https://www.alliedelec.com/product/marathon-special-products/600rjs05/70254811/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&adpos=&scid=scplp70254811&sc_intid=70254811&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4dGB6O2N7gIV3QeICR38JQpQEAQYCCABEgKMHPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds Here's everything on ebay https://www.ebay.com/itm/Terminal-Block-Boat-Wire-8-Positions-Dual-Row-600V-15A-Electric-Barrier-Strip/333850764947?hash=item4dbb0e6693:g:--MAAOSwNTBf-CiS

Many years back I bought a tunnel hull jon with a jet drive and no jack plate. Hated that sucker. Trying to maneuver around off plane was horrible and in current, almost impossible. I finally swapped out the jet drive for a prop drive and installed hydraulic jack plate. On plane, I saw almost no difference in what I could run over and there was only a couple inches difference off plane, but could easily maneuver around. I've been in tunnel hulls with and without the hydraulic jack plate and the ones with it are so much nicer. I don't have a hydraulic jack plate on my 20' flats boat (it's a tunnel hull) and thought many times on adding one, but since it hasn't been in the water in seven years, and I don't have a bunch of extra money the throw away after retiring, that's never happened and probably never will.

Worth their weight in gold when running shallow or getting on plane in a hurry. Catt, Seveal post up you posted on the topic of motor motor height. I replied to a post about having the skeg above the bottom of the boat. Was not referring to the anti-cav plate. Not sure how this old topic came up but just happened to read that.

One thing I should have mentioned. A lot of quality (smart) chargers will not charge a battery if the voltage is not within a certain range. This is to prevent trying to charge the wrong voltage battery with them. This is not the case with the hot box type chargers, they can even be used for a power supply. So, your battery could be junk and and not be turning your on board charger on, where the cheap hot box could care less. Most parts stores will test your battery for free.

It's been several years since I've messed with these but if there are two control cables one is going to the remote key switch. The other is probably all the sensors for oil injection, temp etc and goes to the alarm buzzer mounted somewhere near the control box, but the ground in that cable should not be used as the ground for the boats wiring, if it is, I would see about removing that connection and running me a 12 ga wire for the boat wiring. The wire is not large enough to handle much current. You have to remember, if you are pulling 10 amps on the positive wire, the ground wire has almost that same load. Some is lost through the load so it's claimed the ground can be one size smaller, but I keep them the same. Your motor does not have the systems check, that's built into the tach, When I wire a boat, I I use two six lug terminal strips mounted somewhere in the battery compartment. One for the positive and one for the negative. I run a 10 or 12ga wire from the battery to those and then all other electricals are run to those. That way, you only have the motors battery cables and that one wire and the onboard charger connected to the battery. I've seen some have a half dozen or more wires connected to the batteries.

A couple if things you can do. If you have a volt meter, with the charger plugged in and charging, take a voltage reading across each battery after several minutes. If it's in the charge mode, you should see a voltage of over 14 VDC. but not more than 14.6 VDC. If the battery is fully charged and the charger has gone into the maintenance, the voltage is going to be below 13.6 vDC, based in the type maintenance mode it has. Some chargers use a trickle charge which should be between 13.2 and 13.6 VDC. Some use a mode that cuts off and turns back on when the battery has self discharged to a set level so you could see anything between 13.8 and a little over 12 VDC. After taking the readings across each battery, unplug the charger and swapped the charger leads going to the batteries, so each battery has the opposite bank charging it and redo the voltage test. Give the charger several minutes to have time to cycle before taking the readings. If you get similar readings after swapping the charger leads, you most likely have a bad battery. If the reading changes between the batteries, depending on what you did read, you may have a bad bank in the charger. Post what your findings were and I might be able to give you a better diagnoses.

No divider, I usually have plugs in mine so it stays dry and use it for storage. Even on the rare times I do use it for fish, I see no need in a divider, and mine has a large livewell..

Jigfishn10 Careful what you wish for. I built me a nice 36" ID, wood fired oven a couple of years ago. Made mine using castable refractory in four sections (copied FornoBravo) to prevent cracking, 5" of 8 pound insulating mat and stuccoed dome on a 6' square, stuccoed box with wood storage under it. This was all sitting on a 6" thick, 6' square reinforced concrete slab in the corner of the back yard next to the garage. When I got it done, thought I was through. WRONG!!! We had to have a slab for a table to eat. so I poured a 12'x12' slab from the wall out, having the oven in one corner. Thought that was going to do it. WRONG!! We had to have a place chairs and all to sit around and BS. So, I poured another 12'x12' slab onto that one, making a 12x24 slab. Thought OK, that should do. WRONG!! We had to have more seating area and potted plants around, poured another 10'x12' slab so now you walk off the back porch onto the patio slab. Finally, I'm done, WRONG!! Now we need a 12'x16' pergola over the patio. OK, get that done and she will finally be happy. WRONG!! Before I even get it finished, she wants a 10'x12' addition onto it. Got all that done and think, finally, I'm done. WRONG!! After screwing down almost 200 2x2's every four inches apart for shade, that's not enough shade, Now we've got to have a nice metal roofing on all of it. So, my idea to build me a wood fired oven to bake breads and pizza's in, has bit me in the butt big time. SO BE AWARE, you could get more than you really thought. Then you have the enclosure I had to build for a refrigerator we had to put out there. A 10' concrete counter top with a sink in it and the slide out cutting board under it. The flower beds all the way around, and walkways. Then fenced in area on side of the house to evict the dogs out of the back yard.

Same thing I usually get every year, an empty checking account, paying for all the stuff my wife got everybody else. Same story every year. We're not going to do as much for Christmas this year, but then, when you have grand kids and great grand kids, it's always we've got to get this for one, that leads to, we can't get this one something without getting something for another one, that's when the snowball starts rolling down hill. Come Christmas eve, you can't get within 6' of the tree for gifts piled around it. Then there's is always that fall back when it comes to me, "How do you buy somebody something when they've already got everything".

We have too much old fashion southern country upbringing so we still do the traditional feast for thanksgiving and Christmas for the kids, grandkids and great grandkids. Baked ham, and turkey on thanksgiving and pot roast, turkey, and fried chicken for Christmas, Wife makes a killer mac and cheese casserole , biscuit and cornbread dressings with giblet gravy. several different vegetables, peas, butter beans, fresh creamed corn, Cornbread, and homemade rolls for bread. Fresh coconut cake, pecan pie, sweet potato pie, and her special chocolate pie for desert. There is always enough each family will have plenty to take home.

In the boat site, I posted I'm a firm believer in karma and a couple have reacted to that post. Some examples of why I'm a firm believer. A few months back, I posted how I was trying to help the neighbor's daughter and rebuild her 90hp Mercury on her pontoon boat, and all it was going to cost her was what the parts cost. Ended up the block was destroyed and she didn't have the money to repair the motor. A marina she first took it to told her they would only give her $1,200 for it, jokingly I said I would give $1,500. A moth later, she tells me she will take the $1,500. The boat is easily worth $5,000 as it sat. At the first of the month a friend of mine that does a lot of work on Mercs and so some others called me about an OMC that was kicking his butt. Rather than try trouble shooting it over the phone, I just drove the 60 miles to his shop and helped him with his problem. I mentioned to him I was still looking for an I3, 90 block. Just happened a friend of his had just tried to give him one to get it out of his shed. We went to his friends and I came home with a good block for that motor and a rod I needed and only cost me the time and gas I used to go help him. So, now for less than $500 I will have a $3,000 motor to go back on that pontoon boat. I see this same boat in no better shape than this one, which is in good shape, listing for $9,000-$13,000. Last spring a widowed friend of my wife home air conditioner went out. Where we live, they were going to charge her $300 just to come look at it. Naturally my wife tells her, Keith can check it for you. Ends up being the main control board. I was able to get it wholesale for $131 versus almost $500 off the enet. About a month later, she asked if could look at her Gravely Zero Turn mower her husband had just bought new before he died and it had been sitting for three years. I told her it could run a couple hundred dollars for a new battery and parts fix it. She said I could just have it for $500 if I had a need for it, she was just getting it so she could sell it. I told her it was worth way more than that, but she said she had rather me have it. If that ain't good karma, I don't know what is. One point of bad karma. Many years ago, when my son was about 16, we went to a junkyard to get a part I needed. Driving back out, I saw a door mirror laying on the ground that looked very much like one I needed. I stopped and just pitched it over in the back of truck, and didn't mention it as I paid and left. A moth later, I get a call my son has just been arrested for shop lifting an amp. To add fuel to the fire, he was in the BX on base and it was a $500 amp, That made it a felony and a federal court case. I thanked the judge for not going for the felony, putting him on probation and sealing his record as long as there were no other problems with him. That one has haunted me ever since.

Lets face it, if a person has a max budget of $150, there's not a lot they can do to legally and safely cast toward the banks instead of off them. An old beat up small jon, might show up from time to time, or something like a plastic boat/pontoon that someone just wants gone, but again, that's still being in the right place at the right time. If a person has the skills and tools, yea, they can make something out of thin plywood that would last a few years but by the time you had a usable floater, you might still be over budget. I am a firm believer in karma. You do something you know in your gut is not right, it's going to come back to bite you in a major way. You will pay, one way or the other. I should also add, do what's right and you are usually rewarded in some way.

You have to do a little per-planning before you just buy and bolt on. The length and pressure has to be pretty close to what's needed. Too short and they won't open far enough, too long and they won't close. Too high of pressure will make them hard to close or they open up on their own, to low of pressure and they won't hold the lid open. The pressure is going to be determined by the weight of the lid and where on the lid it is place. I usually figure out what I need and either go to one of the auto parts stores that carry them or order them on line. They are usually listed as gas springs.

OK, fill your truck up with gas, ride around until you see one sitting next to someone's pond, (tank if in Texas) load it up and go with it or find someone that has done that already. Sounds like what you are looking for. Is that what we a supposed to respond with.

Wal-Mart sells float rings, tire shops sell inner tubes. For $150, you might find and older 12' jon that's pretty beat up but still floats, HOWEVER!, it might not have any paper work to register it. This can create major problems because most states require it to have a registration if you put any kind of motor on it, even electric TM, and some require it to be registered just to put it on public waters even without a motor. This could make you have to lie and falsify legal documents to get a registration, and when you look at the penalties in the fine print, things like $10,000 and jail time, not real sure it's worth it. Sometimes you find some little boat that so unstable the owner is scared to use it and just wants to get rid of it. Even if someone gave you a boat, it's hard to get everything else you need for $150, but if you check craig's list and things that list items for sale, you can find something pop up from time to time.

80lb thrust is a big over kill, and unless you are in open water in a hurricane would never be needed. 80 is all I run on my 20' Javelin and my old 65 moves it very nicely. I will try to give you a little TM-101 to help you make your own decision. 1. A 24V motor is about 25% more efficient than the same thrust in a 12. Higher voltage uses less current for the same output, thus less heat loss from internal resistance. 2. The digital variable speed motors a much more efficient at lower speeds and significantly increase run time over the one that just have a number of set speeds. They also make it easier to regulate the speed if on a long bank and just letting the motor run. 3. Batteries have a finite amount of power so they can only deliver so many watts before being fully discharged. The bigger the motor, the more watts it takes to run on max, so the more battery you need. Usually, the little extra speed you get does not offset the watts it takes to move from one spot to the next at full thrust. It also damages a battery to discharge it below about 20-25%, so you don't want to go until it no longer will turn the prop. Max battery life is obtained if you never go below about 50% discharge. 4. The analog, set speed motors are a whole lot cheaper than the digital, variable speed motors, however most come with very crappy mounts to help make them cheaper and lighter. 5, Don't even think about going less than high quality, group 27, deep cycle batteries and plan going up from there if you get the larger you go on TM, group 29, 30 or 31. Look for the most reserve minutes you can get. If they have CCA or MCA ratings on them, they are not 100% true deep cycle batteries, they are dual purpose or cranking batteries. When you get though pricing batteries, then you can figure out how much you have left over for the TM. If you buy the TM first, make sure you have plenty of extra for batteries, what you really need is not going to be cheap.