Way2slow

I'm not sure what kind of prop shop said use a file. Most don't want you putting a file anywhere near a SS prop. The file can leave teeth imbedded in the edge and when they have to tig weld it, those pieces of teeth create problems welding it. Normally a stone is used The mill B A S T A R D file is the type file.

A good A/B or A/C 5 or 7 ply, plywood with exterior glue will work. Seven ply is much better if you can find it. The only difference between that and marine plywood is the marine plywood does not have voids in the inner layers that can hold water. The stuff sign shops use is great also but you are probably looking at well over $100 a sheet for that. You probably will not find the plywood you need at Home Depot. Do not use pressure treated plywood, it's cheap junk and the chemicals will keep anything from staying on it. As for sealing it, I use the same epoxy resin I use in my fiberglass. That's the best stuff I've come across for sealing it. Please note, you want exterior glue, not exterior plywood. Exterior plywood is going to a wood like Red wood, cedar or other types of wood that don't rot.

I've never towed with the boat cover on either, but the critical thing is going to be having it tight. You don't want any pockets that can catch air and no part of it being able to flap. It will destroy itself in no time if there is any loose areas that flap.

I think a battery disconnect switch needs to be larger than 50 amps. You have to remember, even when a smaller motor is cranking over, it's pulling over 100 amps and larger motors can be pulling 200-300 amps. Too small of a disconnect switch can cause the starter to spin slower, and you really want it spinning as fast as possible. Plus it's dropping the voltages going to the ignition, something else you don't want.

Well, when I first started working on two strokes, they were still running 30W ND motor oil in the gas. There was no such thing as two stroke oil. I modified my first one in the early 60's, a couple McCullough go cart engines on my racing go cart.

If it's not grimy, I just use a mild solution of dish soap. If too dirty for that, I use Spray Nine. For years it was Knights Spray Nine, now it's just spray nine. Been using that since 1971 for almost everything. Home Depot now carries it so it's a lot easier to find than it used to be. After almost 50 years, I still haven't found a cleaner that will beat it and it won't dry out the vinyl.

I left Langley AFB in VA, in 1990. I made dam sure I didn't leave anything there that would give me a reason or need to go back there again. You haul that sucker to Jeffersonville GA, and I will be glad to get it running for you, but I'm not hauling my butt to VA. Matter of fact, I happen to have that whole motor in spare parts. I've got one I bought years ago that needs a block and crank and never did find either at a price I was willing to pay.

I would not connect the batteries together. If the old battery has a shorted cell, it can pull the new battery down very quickly. Also, connected in parallel, the voltage is always going to read the same on both batteries, so it does no good to switch a voltmeter between the two. The best way to test a battery at home is to connect a head lamp to it. That's 55/65 watts (approx. 5 amps) and then time how long it takes to drain the battery to 11.8VDC. Do the math and that will give you the RC value of the battery.

I quit using the rubber T bolts a long time ago. After a few years the start coming apart, the motor gets loose and you can't tighten it. I would make me an access port if at all possible and bolt it down with SS bolts and self locking nuts with rubber washer between the motor and boat.

Fishing Rhino is right on. If the motor has been sitting for a year or more, my first step would be to check and purge/clean fuel system. Check all hoses for cracks, dry brittle conditions and replace if necessary. Remove the carbs and clean them. A gummy, dirty carb can lean the engine and melt a piston. Check all mechanical linkages to make sure they are moving freely. At the top of the engine you will see a rod that goes from the top of the throttle linkage to back under the flywheel. This is the mechanical timing and connects to the timer base. If a motor has sat for a long period, it's common for the grease to dry around the timer base and make it hard to move and sticks. Make sure it moves fairly freely. On top of the engine there is a cam for the throttle linkage. There is a roller that runs on that cam. It should be about 3/8" in diameter and have a clear looking sleeve on a black piece. If it's only about 1/4" diameter and black, the sleeve is gone and you need to replace that roller. This is a very common problem for them to crack off. it's held on by a small oring on top of the pin. The water pump impeller will have developed at set and gotten pretty hard so it will need to be replaced, something that should be done every few years but people seem to rarely replace them until they fry their motor. The water pump and changing the LU lube (I check it but don't change it until satisfied with rest of motor) is usually my last step because I want to get the motor running and checked out everywhere else before spending the money and work on the pump. It's kind of wasted if the motor checks out bad from leak down/compression test which the motor should be run about several minutes to warm up before doing. If the VRO is still connected and has never been replaced, you may want to consider disconnection it and premix your gas. The first gas I put back in to test run it would be premixed 50:1 just as a precaution. It's a lot better to make a little extra smoke than ruin and engine if it happens to not be working and you want to leave it connected.

First thing you need to check is making sure the battery is being fully charged by the charger. If the charger has a float mode, the charger's float voltage should be approx. 13.4 VDC and should be approx. 14.4-14.6VDC while in charging mode. Since this is the cranking battery, you also need make sure the outboard's charging system is working properly. At 2,000 rpm, you should be reading at least 13.8 volts across the battery with the motor running. If you are only reading in the 12 volt range, the motors charging system is not working. Once you have verified the batteries are being charged. Then you have to start working from the battery out and see if you are loosing the voltage through a bad connection. All this is very basic trouble shooting and if you understand the electronics part, then it should be no problem.

Cash in hand is much more effective when buying used from individuals. Some dealers can actually make more on a financed deal than a cash deal so many times it's meaningless. With a dealer, it's just how bad he wants to make a sell and your ability to negotiate the best deal. Time of year definitely makes a difference. The biggest thing is making the dealer assured you will buy if he comes to agreeable terms and you are not just thinking about it.

Check the wiring in the boat. You will probably find four wires going from the TM back to the battery, hopefully #6 gauge but could be #8 or even as small as #10 (bigger the number, the smaller the wire). If it's #6, you have something you can work with, if smaller you will need to replace it with at least #6 or better with #4 to run the larger TM's you plan to use. You will also need to replace the circuit breaker/breakers on the battery. The one you have may be as small as 30 amp, you need to get the Buss/MinnKota 60 amp breaker (cost about $30), so you are looking at about $100 worth of upgrades to wiring. You may as well get you two Anderson SB-50 or SB-75 connectors also if you plan to install the new TM with quick disconnects. Make sure to get the ones to fit the gauge wires you are connecting them to. Now, you can save a little if your boat has #6 gauge wire by just connecting each pair in parallel, that will give you the equivalent of the next size larger wire. DO NOT use them as they are installed for 24 volt use. That's approx. 100 feet of wire length the current will be going through and cause you a large amount off loss. No need going to that bigger motor if you are going to throw half of it away in cable loss.

Not many TM's are going to make 3.5hp. A tank of gas on a 3.5 gas motor will out last a whole boat load of batteries and go a whole lot faster. However, when you get to the spot you want to fish, trying to use a gas motor for a TM to ease around with is going to totally suck. That's when you wind up sitting on the very front of the boat and use a paddle in one hand and rod in the other half the time. With electric, you learn to pick a spot and launch close to that spot because a couple of hours running on the faster speed settings are about all you get, unless you have a boat load of batteries. Remember, that's about 65 pounds every time you add an extra.

if those are items you can return for a refund, I would get my money back or save it for your next project you plan on keeping and using. A new TM becomes a used TM once you buy it and is not worth what you paid to someone else. If you mount it, it depreciates even more. Fact of life, why would I pay you the same thing I can buy from a store and can take it back if it fails the first time I use it. If you want to sell it, minimize what you spend on it. Nothing you do is usually going to make the boat appreciate in value by the amount you spend on new stuff. If you get a steal of a deal on used items, maybe, but no way you can put new on it and come out.

You have all ready spent way more than that boat would ever be worth. A lot of what you have done actually takes away from the value because a lot of people wouldn't want all that added weight in that small of a boat and a casting deck will most likely be way too unstable to use on it. Personally, I think you would be hard pressed to get $1,500 for everything.

Welcome to boat ownership and not being able to work on them. That's less that $100 repair for me. Probably are reasonable quote to the cost of materials and labor involved.

Could be too much prop, but haven't looked at what should work. Do a little research and see what other setups like yours run and if they are running similar pitch then start checking the engine. Not knowlng what kind condition the prop is in, might want to try and find someone with a similar pitch prop that you could try. I've seen numbers of props with rolled blades that looked just fine just looking at them. Also, I don't see this being a possible spun hub. Spun hub usually pulls good to a certain point and the motor acts like it goes out of gear, the rpm's skyrocket but the boat does nothing. With yours not making good rpm, that's more in line with a bad, or too much prop, or a bad motor. My thoughts are the motor probably has a problem. What you are describing is a classic symptom of a motor down on one cylinder. Understand, 4/6 cylinder two strokes, can have a mix fire on one cylinder and make you think they are running fine. My first test would be a leak down/compression test. Next I would do a plug dump. Get it on plane and run WOT for about five minutes. Switch it off while holding full throttle, don't let it idle. Pull the plugs and they should be paper bag brown. If one is black, that's a bad cylinder that's not firing or the gas mixture is way off. If all are black, the motor is running way too rich. Also, don't forget to look down the throat of the carbs and make sure the plates are going fully open.

Actually, I've found the recommended sizes work quite well in most situations. NO, it's not going to give you the speed of an outboard most people seem to want from their TM's but for most all casting situations, it's fine. I ran a 50# on an older Stratos 285 PRO, fully loaded, with two people, (very heavy) for several years with no problems. There are only a few situations I see you really need more than recommended. Chasing schooling bass when you are watching for them to start breaking the water you have to move fast. Fishing points in a thunder storm or extremely hard winds. Fishing rivers with a fast current. Running TM only lakes and you want to go long distances in a hurry, and you have enough batteries to be able to support a large motor. Then the number one reason, most people think that's what the need and want to be able to move with the speed of an outboard.

Me being the anal perfectionist I am, and knowing the problems it can cause if the seal fails, I would have to pull it back off and mic the spindle and make sure what size seal it requires. A couple thousandths ain't bad, but 22 is more than I would be comfortable with if it is in fact that much too small after measuring it.. Here's my standard procedure for replacing seals. First, after cleaning everything, I mic the spindle/shaft, then look up the PN on the old seal and verify that number says the seal matches my spindle/shaft. Sometime, with od ball numbers I have to do a search by using the OD and ID of the spindle/shaft to come up with a number, common problem when dealing with metric seals. When I have the new seal, I do a test fit on the shaft before installing it. After umpteen years of doing hydraulic work, I have a lot of respect of what problems the wrong seal can cause.

Basically what you did was stretch the inner lip .022" to get it over the spindle. That's pretty tight. A couple areas of concern I would have is the that much extra friction could cause the seal to over heat and burn the lip off or split, leaving you with no sealing ability. Also, it could increase the wear on the spindle and cut deep grove that would make it difficult for the next seal to seal the axle and need a repair sleeve. The question is, was the one you took out the OEM sleeve or one that maybe one that was wrong. The sure way is to mic the spindle and see what it measures. Then you will know what size seal you need. And it could run just fine and not cause any problems. That will take a few trips to the lake and seeing if your wheel passes you going down the highway in a month or so when the bearing fail from the water in them.

No, both connectors are the same, one just flips over and the two plug together. The only things you have to pay attention to are the color, size and wire gauge size. Each color has it's own guide pin so different colors won't plug together, other than black. Black is a universal color that plugs into all of them. The number is the constant current rating and different numbers are different physical size. Larger than a 120 starts getting a little on the big side. Then the terminals come in different wire gauge sizes (to a degree) so you can order the ones for the size wire you plan to use within a certain size. For instance, if you a plugging a 10ga wire into a 6ga wire, you can order an one SB50 for #6 and one for #10 in the same color and they will connect together. They are designed to be crimped but you will need one of the crimper you hit with a hammer or a very large, rather expensive crimper for large lugs. I always crimp and solder them, just to make sure of the connection. They can just be soldered but you need to use a small pencil torch or Benzomatic and make sure you use rosin core solder. It's better to just solder than try using pliers or a vice to crimp, those do not make very good crimps and can flatten it to where it may not go in the housing.

The SMH is just a rebranded or copy of the Anderson. If they are in a Ranger, just call Ranger parts and order one if it has to be that same connector.

You could just leave it, maybe that will deter other mice from wanting to move in to take their place. As mentioned, the chlorine or vinegar might take it out, but those smell almost as bad as the dead mouse. A good cleaner like Spray Nine (Home Depot has it) might take it out without having to replace one stink for another.

First and foremost, understand there is a huge amount of truth in the old saying, the bigger the boat, the bigger the hole it makes in the water to throw money in. The cost of operating it and the cost of maintaining it all increasing significantly as the size of the boat or motor increases. Unless you happen to get one of the problem childs someone else is dumping, the cost of owning one is not that great. The biggest problem with that is it's not a gradual monthly expense, unless you happen to finance it. The problem is, with todays labor rates and parts cost, it's usually large chunks of money at one time unless you can do most of the maintenance yourself. There are routine things that should be done at least annually, at a minimum, and it's hard to take one to a shop for service for less than $500. Then if you have a breakdown, that can run from the $100's into the $1,000's of dollars. When you finance one is when it gets to be a burden to own. You are dumping money every month into it and it's sitting there most of the time doing nothing but decreasing in value about as much each month as you are paying for it. The cost of using one is what gets expensive. As the size of the boat increases, so does the size of the vehicle needed to tow it. When I got to my favorite lake, it's 95 miles one way. I generally make a two day trip and stay with in-laws but towing my 20' Javelin and gas in it and my 2500HD generally cost me around $100 for the trip. Then throw in the other expenses for food, drinks and tackle, that's can be another $50. So, $150 for a two day trip to catch a bunch of fish I'm going to throw back in as I catch them is average cost of each trip. However, I can take 14' jon with a small motor like the 9.9 or 25 and go to the river 10 miles from me, fish all day if I want, catch a mess of cat fish to eat and still not cost me $20.