Way2slow

Where's is the priority? Are you mostly wanting a family fun boat you can do some occasional fishing out of, or are you wanting a bass boat you can do some occasional cruising and skiing out of and how much do you expect the wife to be in the boat. Most women hate single console bass boats. The don't want the wind blowing them and they will complain every time you get over 30mph, so if that's the case, you might want to look at a dual console bass boat if fishing is the main priority. Most bass fishermen hate dual console bass boats. That extra console shortens the rod locker and tends to be in the way. However, the passenger loves having that extra console there. Then with the F&S, you add that extra section of windshield and loose a lot of the front deck on most. Most bass boats are intended for two people, until you get up into the 20' class. However when bass fishing, one other person is all I care to have in the boat, even if it's the Queen Mary.

I'm not familiar with either as for the tractors go. I have had tons of experience with Kubota engines and have a ZD28 diesel powered mower and have formed a bit of an opinion about those. Bobcat ran Kubota diesel engines and I worked as a road service tech for a Bobcat dealer for 12 years, and saw more than my fair share of engine problems. Which I will also say, many of those were caused by people using starting fluid. If there was one thing I did learn, was that if you sprayed starting fluid in one, there was a very good chance you were going to break a piston at the rings groves. Couldn't count how many engines I rebuilt over the years with that problem. My ZD28 currently has a cracked head, and seeing the massive number of heads for that engine listed online, that must be a fairly common problem with them. With only 1,200 hours, I've had to replace the whole drive system where one of the hydrostat broke. My main JD experience, outside of their skid steers and big tractors has been with my neighbors. He has a smaller one with the backhoe and front bucket. It looks like it has been through several wars and that plastic hood has been gone, but the only real problems he has had with it has been hydraulic. Over the 15 years he has had it, I think I've resealed every cylinder on it at least twice and replaced the main hydraulic pump once. In defense of that, I will also say he's not going to pay $45 for bucket of good hydraulic fluid when he can buy some off brand for $20 and has probably never replaced a filter or changed the oil on anything he owns, and not sure he even knows what a grease gun is.

Well, there is no "list" per say. It's formed by you doing the research and making your own notes. Since you only have the one motor, you just do the web searching for that motor and see what kind of history it has. Then you have to weed out those 100 people that read about someone having a problem versus the one that actually did have a problem. One person can have an actual failure and post it on a site. A large number of the people on the site reads about that one problem, and the next time there is a question about that motor, they all post about the problem, making it sound like half the people on the site had problems with that motor, when it was only one person that actually had the problem. A motor might have a 5% failure rate for a certain problem, but when the internet gets through with it, it sounds like it's a 95% failure rate.

Personally, I like oil injection. A large percentage of the failures blamed on oil injection are just a person seeing it on the motor and saying that's what caused the problem. Now there are motors that have defects that make them more subject to failure, like some Mercs bust a plastic gear, the older OMC.s, prior to the late 90's early 2000's with the four wire pump, but unless your motor is one that's on the list of being prone to failure, disconnecting it is totally what ever makes "you" feel better. Do a little research on your motor and decide for yourself.

My favorite was a 1989 Stratos 285 Pro. I gave that one to my son when I got my Javelin Renegade 20DC and still think it was a better fishing boat than the 20' Javelin. It had more storage space, and rode great. It's a fairly heavy hull and not one of the fastest boats, but when I put a 300+hp motor (it's only rated for 175 and needs everyone of them) on it, that took care of the being a little slow. However, as with any boat through that era, you have to be careful and avoid any boat that's left stored outside. They have open cell flotation foam and can get water logged and it does not evaporate out.

Hammer 4, if you happen to be a veteran, The VA is using top of the line hearing aids (believe it or not). I don't normally go anywhere near a VA, but my ENT told me about the VA's hearing aids, and you couldn't buy any better. So, now I'm waiting on mine to come in. Like with anything to do with the VA, you will have a long wait, but I figured this time, it's would be worth it. I have a 75 DB loss above 4,500hz and starting to loose some on the lower frequencies so figured it was time to try them.

Stand it upside down, so if any water got into the motor section, it can drain back out through the shaft. If you leave it sitting on the skeg, and it got water in the motor, it can cause rust and corrosion if left there. Other than that, you should be fine. I had one that leaked in the motor section and still used it for several years. I just stored it upside down so it could drain when I was through using it.

One card is not bad, and pretty easy to remedy. What until you have a full blown Identity theft. That happened to my wife in 1989. This happened just days before we were moving to Italy for a year and then to Germany for three more. It was just pure luck we caught it before we left the country and if it had not been for Montgomery Wards calling to verify my wife opening a second account with a different address, we probably would not have known in time. A girl in OK was using my wife's ID and when the confronted her about it, she convinced them my wife was using her ID and my wife was the fraudulent party. We managed to get the bulk of it straightened out but they told her it could be a few years before she could use her SSN again. We told them we were leaving the country for at least four years in a week and they said that would be perfect. When we got back, it still took about two years for her to get her credit reestablished. That was all to the tune of over $17,000 after they finally got sorted out what was my wife's (which was only a few hundred) and what was through the imposter. Charges were brought against the person using my wife's identity, but never heard what came of that. A cashier at the Garden Ridge Pottery in Williamsburg VA, was found to be the one that stole and sold her identity info, from a check and credit card. She was using a hand scanner and reading the credit card, then say it wouldn't go through so they would have to write a check and then get the DL and SSN to validate the check. That gave her everything she needed. They said she was getting as many as 10 a day had a regular business going selling ID's until they caught her.

Wow, sounds like someone is very thin skinned. If I got my drawers in a bunch every time someone did not agree or disagreed with me, I would have been out of here almost as soon as I joined. I seem to have an inherent way of p*****g people off on a lot of subjects, but hey that's why these are open discussion topics. I guess you've been married a lot of times. Every time a wife's does not agree with something, you leave and find another.

As long as it's with AmEx, you have nothing to worry about. I've had their card since 1980 and have had it compromised four times in different ways and they've always made it good. I have mine setup so I get a text and an email alert when it's used and have caught the last two within minutes. One was a guy in Mexico tried to order $1,200 worth of parts in CA, The only one that caused any heartburn was one someone sent themselves $800 through paypal. It was initially caught and stopped but paypal lied to AmEx and told them I had approved it, so they let it go through. That one took almost a month but AmEx finally caught paypal in a lie about the transaction and charged it back to them, leaving paypal out the $800. Because of the way AmEx will take care of you, until this week, it's the only card I would use online or mail order. Actually, their green card is the only credit card I have. Because there are places that don't take AmEx, I got a prepaid Visa Debit card through my bank to use on line. That one, I can keep a very minimum balance on so if it gets compromised, they are only going to get a few dollars. I just go to my online banking and transfer the money I need for a purchase I might need to use it for.

Your last comment gave me cold chills. 7" and not variable speed makes it sound like you are using a 7" side grinder as a buffer. If that's the case, DON'T DO THAT. The rpm they turn will destroy that new clear coat you just put all that work into. You need a buffer, one that's variable speed and will go down to 1,300 or so rpm. The foam pads work great for compounds and polishes, then use on of the big wool pads to buff it for the final shine. Now, you might think, what's that going to hurt, the little 3" is turning a couple thousand. The difference is the diameter. The outer edge of that 7" is traveling a whole lot faster than the outer edge of that little three inch.

I'm just curios so gotta ask. For the cylinder that blew, did it clean up pretty good and you are sure a .030" over bore is going to fix it? You said you have already gotten the pistons and taking it to the machine shop so I guess it looked pretty good. I know it's a little late in the ball game, but you did inspect the crankcase and make sure there was no damage there I hope. If you are having a really bad day, there is very little clearance between the crank/rods and the crankcase so if a piston comes apart, pieces can get into spaces they don't fit and that spinning crankshaft makes room for them, sometimes to the point of putting big holes in the crankcase. It can make you feel real good when you pull the cowling off and see the rods and crank looking at you from outside the engine. One other thing, Loctite 518 gel seal is good for putting the case halves back together. A lot of these manufactures make it sound like you have to have their brand, when it's probably 518 anyway. I also put a drop of 242/243 on the rod bolts.

Since you are probably not experienced enough with a die grinder that's all I would recommend doing. If you get the ports out of shape, it can make the rings beat against the locator pins and make them loosen and back out in a rather short time. I know a lot of the Mercury guys just hone with the grape ball hones and say that chamfers them good enough. I've never done that, so not sure what it would do to the cross hatch the machine shop is charging you to put in them. I get very technical with mine and do a .050 chamfer and then hand massage them with 220 grit but I'm usually running a pretty wide exhaust ports so want to be sure that rings does not pop out far enough to hang the edge.

If I remember your job has to do with spraying paint, but I'm gonna throw this in anyway. When start color sanding and buffing it out BE CAREFUL. Most of these custom shops put as many as six or more coats of clear on to allow for color sanding. It's also extremely easy to burn the clear, most will put tape over the sharper edges to help protect from sanding through and burning them with the buffer. I think Harbor Freight sells a cheap 3" size pneumatic buffer. One that size is worth it's weight in gold when it comes to doing those smaller surfaces on the top of the cap that a 6" buffer gets hard to control in.

Very reasonable price, some of the auto shops around me that will bore one want over $100 a hole, so if I had to do more than one hole, it's cheaper to ship it out to be done. Be sure to see if they chamfer the ports or if they expect you to do that. It sounds like you know what you are doing but be sure to scrub the those sleeves good to make sure all the honing grit is out. Also, on two stroke motors you have to be sure the flush the ports good, especially the exhaust port, the honing grit in the port passages and can be pulled back into the cylinder. Not many places run the block back through the washer after boring/honing.

It all boils down to the same thing I've said many times. It's his boat and he can do what he please. I know no one is going to tell me what I can and can't do with something of mine, (within legal limits) and I'm not about to try and tell someone else what they can and can't do with something of theirs. I can suggest things I might do or would not do but in the end, it's his decision on what he ends up doing. Who knows, the way they have change automotive style finishes in the past few years because of EPA, he may have one that will actually stay on.

I too am on Medicare, but also have Tricare through the Air Force and can go to the VA if totally desperate. I have not been to a rheumatologist since I retired and was getting in serious need to start back to seeing one. We did some research and asking around and found one that was considered on the tops in the field in our area. I called and they said she only saw referrals from another doctor, so I got my primary care doctor to send a referral. Two weeks later I call the rheumatologist office to check on the referral and they said they were getting all my insurance info. Four weeks later I call again, an was told they would call me when they had my appointment date. Six weeks later, I go to her office to find out what the hold up was. The hold was she was they were not doing Medicare appointments. They had over 300 referrals waiting that were Medicare patients and waiting for appointments, that they were not going to get. It wasn't until I explained I also had Tricare as a secondary insurance to pay the cost that Medicare didn't pay was I able to get the appointment. My wife is going to have the same hand surgery I had at the end of this month. Her doctor said we would have to drive the 120 miles to their surgery facility in Alabama because none of the hospitals in our area would schedule it any time within reason, because with Medicare, they would loose too much money with what Medicare would pay. He said Medicare and Tricare are great for the patient, but medical facilities are loosing large sums of money because they are only paying about a dime on the dollar for what it cost. So, it's getting harder and harder to get quality heath care if you only have Medicare.

That's like when I was in the Air Force. Back in the 80's Motorola had the contract to build 93 Special HF radios to go throughout Europe. There was a location in Germany the technicians could not get it to work with the Germans equipment. I was the project manager so the AF sent me there to see what the problem was. It boiled down to it was going to take a special interface box to work. I designed and built and interface box from parts I could get off the economy and in AF inventory. Took me about two days and probably less than $100 worth of parts. There were four other locations that had the same German equipment and was going to need that same interface box. I sent pictures and schematics I had drawn up for the one I built to Motorola so they could build four more to be included with the equipment going to those other four locations. When we got the revised version for those other four sites, it used the same identical copy of the schematic I sent, the same pictures I sent and an exact copy of the same interface box I made for the first sight. They charged the Air Force $230,000 to make those four boxes. $200,000 was for engineering and development. I asked their project manager how much of that was I gonna get since I did all the engineering and development.

Why do the drug companies charge so much. Because they can. Why do petroleum companies charge so much. Because they can. Then they hide behind the excuse they need those billions of dollars in profit each year to pay for future research and development. However, when a pharmaceutical company puts a new product out, like this Humira I'm taking and charge over $5,000 per month for it, they say "oh, we have to do that to pay for the research and development that went into it". I thought that's what those billions they had already gouged us for was supposed to be for.

I was not trying to get into who gets free health care and who goes broke trying to pay for it because they work for a living. However, it think this discussion has gone about as far as it can go without getting into forbidden territory and I can see Glenn getting ready to raise the red flag so I think it's probably best we just go ahead and drop it.

SS props are thinner and stronger than aluminum props so the blades do not fold back as much under a load and it's easier for the motor to turn them since they create less drag cutting through the water. Then you have a huge variety of blade designs with SS props that are not available with aluminum and different hulls responds differently. Again, do your home work and research on people that have installed ss props on similar rigs as yours. There's everything from high rake cleavers to general purpose low rake, big bladed SS props. That's why I strongly suggest you talk to a dealer and go with one that's lets you try one and will swap it for another if it's not right. Where you should see the most gain with the right SS prop is in the hole shot, it should be better and you will probably see a couple more miles per hour. Provided you don't go too high on the pitch. If you do, the whole shot will suffer and you can actually loose some speed, because it can drop the motor out of it's peak power band. It takes rpm to make speed. That's why the race boats spin the crap out of their props. Understand though, with a 35mph 60hp boat, the difference between a proper SS prop and an aluminum prop will be noticeable but it's not a magic wand that's going to make the boat leap out of the water and run 40+ mph. Oh, one word of caution. Sane through all suggestions. The natural nature of most people is to think they bought the best, when in reality, the may have gotten the worst. The prop is the one most critical item affecting a boats performance. It's the one item that transferring the motors power to the water and yet most people give little or no thought into the type and condition of it. ,

I don't try selecting props without tach readings. One pitch is only about a 300 rpm change, but can make a huge difference in performance. Using someone else's numbers is a good starting point but it's still just a guess for your particular boat. To answer your question, yes, 5,900 rpm is a good number.

Does it have a tach and do you know what rpm it was turning when the current prop was in good condition? Tach readings are critical for proper prop selection. I like my motors to be able to run at or near max rpm with my normal load. If your aluminum prop was doing that, then the same pitch and size should be fine in SS. I would suggest you go through a local dealer that will let you try before you buy, provided you don't scuff it testing it. A number of dealers will let you do this if you assure him you will be buying one, and not just using his to see which one you need to order off the net.

Batteries in parallel are all going to read as one battery and their voltage is going to be the same, so you don't have to be concerned with switching the meter between them. Just a button or switch to take your reading and disconnect from them when not needed.

One other thing, you mentioned the terminals had a good coat of grease and you wiped that off. Most likely what that was is dielectric grease and you should have been putting more on rather than wiping off. That stuff should be your best friend when dealing with electrical connections on boats and cars. It helps keep the moisture out and prevents corrosion and oxidation of terminals. Your local auto parts stores have it made by Permatex in large tubes, get some and put a shot of it in every electrical connecter you have, then plug and unplug the connectors a couple of times to get a good, clean mechanical connection. Do your spark plug wires also. The only place you have to be careful with it is if you take a rocker switch apart, since the contact just touch and don't slide, you can actually cause it to not make connection with the grease. Needless to say, with all the cars, boats and motors I have, it's like my AmEx card, I don't leave home without it.