Way2slow

For your application, tunnel hulls with a hydraulic jack plate is almost a must if you will be running a propped motor. With a tunnel hull, once up on plane, you raise the motor up a lot so it's actually running in the water column out of the tunnel. There may only be a couple of inches for the skeg lower than the bottom of the boat. When at low speed and off plane, you drop it back down and it greatly improves maneuverability, something you probably won't have with a jet. However, as mentioned, even used, I would think a boat that is really going to function well may be out of your price range. A used boat purpose built for that situation, that's going to work really well, probably won't be cheap unless it's rather small.

Actually, what most people don't realize is jet drives are not for shallow water. The intake on the bottom of the hull is nothing but a huge vacuum cleaner and in shallow water it's sucking everything up for a foot or more below the intake and can either block the screen or if it small enough to go through, it eats the crap out of the screw and housing.

First you will need to see what the tournament rules require. Some get pretty specific about what's required. They want to make sure the fish has every chance to survive being hauled around several hours and released. You can either plumb one in or get one of those that work in a cooler and adapt it to it. It's main function is to recirculate the water that's in the live well by sucking it up and spray it through the air back onto the surface, increasing the waters surface contact area with the air so it can pick up more oxygen. Chemicals are sometimes added to the water to help calm the fish, make it re-slime itself and the water hold more oxygen. Built in system will usually also have the ability to do water changes by pulling in lake water and letting the excess overflow back into the lake. This feature you probably won't have unless you want to drill holes in the hull and install a permanent, full blown system. If you are adding chemicals, you also don't want to use this because you flush them out fairly quickly.

My son has a 20' tunnel hull flats boats we use in south Texas. On plane running 30-40 mph he can run in 3 1/2" of water but if not on full plane, he can only run in about 6" of water, He can float clear of the bottom in about 7" but really needs about 9" to get on plane without dragging the motor and prop on the bottom. I have no experience with on of those swamp motors but have seen them plenty of times on Swamp People and the look bad as h**l and go trough some rough places, but don't know about rocks, I've never seen them in that situation.

One thing you will learn real quick, you say you don't need to run 30 mph, well, you're gonna learn, skinny water and running slow are about like trying to mix water with oil, it don't work. Also, jet drives or tunnels with hydraulic jack plates are come into their element. Personally, I prefer propped motor on hydraulic jack plate in about 95% of the situations because jet drives don't maneuver that great in current at slow speeds. However, if running a lot of rocks, they can play havoc on propped motors lower units and props, because they can get center in the tunnel and be up high enough to wipe it out.

If properly prepared, they can sit for a long time. I've got motors I may not run for several years that I have no problems dragging out, throwing on a boat and run them. For instance, my 4hp Merc has not been run in six years, but I have faith in it running when I want to use it. My 25hp Merc hasn't been run it three years because I mainly use my 9.9 on my 14ft jon but it's never failed to go when needed. Naturally I throw them in the tank and check them out before I go to river/lake with them, but it's rare I have a problem. Now, my 225 Ficht, I run it every couple of months for about 15 minutes in the tank but I don't winterize it and it's stored outdoors under a boat cover. The reason for this is, the injectors in the early ficht's are very problematic and don't deal with aged gas very well at all. They will melt a piston it a heartbeat with stale gas. So, if my boat is going to sit more than a few weeks, I pump all the gas out of the tank and use a gallon jug at the primer bulb with fresh gas and a double dose of SeaFoam to run it every couple of months to keep my injectors happy. Been doing that for nine years and have never had a problem with it. So, if you can completely drain a purge your fuel system, they do fine not being run. If you can't completely purge your fuel system, make sure it's stored with one ounce of SeaFoam per gallon and it's been run with that so it's in the fuel system and not just the tank and it should do fine for at least six months. SeaFoam and the military claim a year, but I've never like doing that to my outboards. Now, the draining a purging the fuel system is a double edge sword, especially with older motors that have not had the fuel system redone, carbs, fuel pump, fuel lines, gaskets etc, with materials compatible with this junk we have for methanol gasoline now. Cork floats fall apart, rubber gaskets and hoses dry, become brittle and crack/break etc. A lot of materials in older motors, even metal parts don't deal with alcohol very well so if you let them dry out, bad things happen.

Since I know nothing about those rivers, I will base mine on the rivers I fish, where there are tons of obstacles, blowdowns, sandbars, and limbs/trees all through it. My question would be, is the motor bolted on or do you take it on and off? If bolted on, does it have power tilt and trim? A great addition to power tilt and trim is a hydraulic jack plate. Now, if the waters you fish don't have all these land mines and sand bars in it I have to deal with, then there's probably not a big need for the hydraulic jack plate. If you are by yourself much, Anchor Mates are a great addition, especially in the front. If you tie up and fish for cats, bream etc, cleats on all four corners to tie to are also a must. A couple 5/16 or 3/8" ropes with hooks on one end, 5' - 10' long for tying off and at least one long 25'+ rope. I always keep at least one method of starting a fire, the flint with magnesium and usually a butane lighter. I keep the flints/magnesium in everything I have, boats, vehicles, tackle box etc and usually a butane lighter, the flint don't leak out or get wet so it's always my backup. After getting stranded/wet, you learn to appreciate having a fire starter handy.

First, understand how your systems works. There is no choke, when you press the key in, you are energizing the solenoid on the fuel enrichment valve. This valve is what puts gas in the cylinders to prime them for cold starts. For this to valve to work, the fuel has to be under pressure, it does not pump fuel into the cylinders. There are only two ways to develop fuel pressure, the fuel pump or the primer bulb. For the fuel pump to pump fuel, the motor has to be cranking/running. Each time the pistons come down in a two stroke motor, from top dead center, they create pressure in the crankcase. A hose goes from one cylinder to the fuel pump so that pressure will press the diaphragm in the fuel pump to pulse it each stroke. So, if the pistons are not going up and down, the fuel pump is making no fuel pressure. What this means is, when you press the key in you are only going to be giving it a very small shot of gas for what little bit of pressure the systems happens to be holding, and that ain't much. When you pump it up with the primer bulb, the only fuel it's going to release into the engine is just what it takes for the pressure to drop to zero, and again, that ain't much. Plus if you are not pumping it up until it's firm, It's probably closer to none at all. Here's a couple of suggestions to try. If you have someone with you, pump the primer bulb until firm, then turn the key switch to the on position, not cranking it, then press and hold the key in. While holding the key in, squeeze the primer bulb four or five more times. Wait about 10 seconds for that fuel to form vapors, Then try starting the motor. If it doesn't start quickly, repeat the holding the key and squeezing the primer bulb. Since you would have to be the Stretch or have arms about 6' long, the only way you could do the primer bulb thing is to take the cover off and flip the red arm on the primer solenoid up to manual prime. With a bad back, that's not much of an option. So, if by yourself, pump the primer up until firm. Now, when you are cranking it, hold the key in and don't let release for at least 5-8 seconds. Then if it didn't start, stop cranking, turn the key off, wait 10 seconds, for the fuel in the motor to develop plenty of fumes. The try cranking it without holding the key in. If it doesn't start, repeat and hold key in about four-five seconds. That motor has a big crankcase and after it sits several weeks and all the fuel has evaporated, it takes an extra lot to get it going again. Now, I have had power packs that would do this same thing. Let them sit for several days and they would not fire until they had totally frustrated you trying to get it started.

Wait now, I'm not your secretary, I think you can do that just as good as I can. Besides, I called their parts department, I didn't buy it on line and I'm talking about some eight years ago, not recent.. Any of the boat manufactures that offer parts support may sell it, I just happen to try Stratos because of that I saw in the 201 and the fact I was on the phone ordering a windshield and happen to ask.

No, not necessarily. It just happened when I was shopping around, Stratos gave me the best deal. The first boat I bought carpet for from them for was a Stratos 176. It was missing the windshield so I called Stratos to see I they had one. It happens I had just been looking at a new 201 at a dealership (not to buy, just admiring) and really liked the carpet it had, so while on the phone, I asked the guy if they sold that carpet. He said sure and gave me a price with shipping way better than anyone else I had tried, so I ordered it, and the windshield. A few years later I was restoring a 285 Pro. I had tried several places looking pricing carpet for it. I though what the heck, I called Stratos again, and they were a couple hundred dollars less, so I ordered it. Like an idiot, I put Dark Blue carpet in the boat to match the dark blue accent color. Well, it only took a couple of trips in July here in GA for me to rip that stuff out. I replaced it with light blue and again, Stratos beat the socks off everyone else. Then on top of that, they screwed up the order and sent over twice as much as they were supposed to, so, I wound up with some very nice 6ft wide, 20oz light blue carpet for about $5 per linear yard. Now, this was not because I had a Stratos boat, and they may be twice as high as everyone else now, if they will even sell it. This was at least eight years ago, and they have changed hands a couple of times since then. I just figured it was since the boat manufactures bought in such large quantities, they get it a whole lot cheaper than most carpet retailers could and Stratos didn't gouge you selling it.

Is the hinge detachable, so you can take the bottom off. If so, it's a pretty easy fix What I've done several times is strip it down and use a piece of 7 ply 3/4" plywood with exterior glue and make a new bottom and back. You won't break it then.

The price largely based on face weight per square ft. and the type backing it's on. Face weight is the amount of thread they used to make the pile. 16oz is about a light as I would go, and that used to be fairly standard back in the 90's. Then they went to the more plush 20oz. and 22oz, and I'm sure some are ever heavier than that now. Ranger used to be the leader of the pack in that, since they had to make theirs a little more plush than everybody else's and then the others would follow suit. One of the main things you run into when replacing carpet is going with heavier, more plush carpet than the old 16oz stuff the lids bind and don't close. Anytime time you upgrade, the lid spacing was for the OEM weight carpet and the heavier pile stuff don't fit in the space you have. So, you have to take hair clippers or something and give the sides of all the lids a shave so you don't have to stomp on them to get them close and use a pry bar to get them open. I haven't replaced carpet in a boat in almost 10 years, which mine is getting ready for it pretty soon, but the last two boats I've done, believe it or not, ordering it from Stratos boats was the cheapest I've found for a good quality carpet. I actually have a 6'x32' piece of light blue from Stratos that when I ordered 27 square yards, they sent me 27 linear yards of 6' wide 20oz carpet. (doubled the amount I ordered) I keep thinking I'm gong to put light blue in my burgundy and white boat instead of the light grey. I've always found the suppliers that deal specifically in boat carpet usually give you a much better selection, a better grade, at a better price than your local carpet shops. Also, if money is so tight, you are thinking about ordered the really cheap stuff, start saving and wait. That stuff it way to much of a pain to put in and use something that's only going to last a few years.

Does the boat have a water pressure gauge, I wouldn't put mine in the water without one? I throw the speedometer in the trash but would not run without a tach and water pressure gauge. I would just check that the next time, Dirt dobbers, those suckers love ready made holes, keep my pisser plugged up most of the time and I rarely check it. I go by my water pressure on the dash. Not sure about the four stroke but 16 pounds is usually about the minimum you want to see when running in the lake. Mine drops to about 10 at idle and is 20 - 25 running.

This is a picture of where it's at, but that's the adapter already screwed in. The pisser is in that location and held in by a 13/16" nut. You will not see a hole, until you take it out and look at it from the side. The proper name for it is the flushing port. If you have it in water up to or past the anticavitation plate your ok, or it you have a hose in the flushing port with water running in it. It does not have to be in water when a hose is supplying water through the flushing port. By the way, you don't need an adapter, a garden hose end screws directly into the port also. Also, it's black plastic and my be hard to tell it's a nut but it is. Just stick a 13/16 socket on it and start turning counter clockwise, it will come out after four or five turns. When putting it back in, have it aimed at about a 45 degree downward angle toward the drivers side. First, is this a two stroke or a four stroke. I'm referring to the two stroke, and have never seen a four stroke.

If its the one in the mid-section it's hard to see the hole, it comes out of the side of the nozzle. you have to take it out.

The one made for it should be stainless steel, not sure about the bike substitute. What usually happens to them is that bottom race gets loose, slides down a little and it looses it's balls.

Depends on the yea model. If yours exits out the back corner of the cowling, you have to take the cowling off to remove it. If it exits out the mid section just above the exhaust relief, use a 13/16" socket/wrench and unscrew that plastic nut to take it out. Just in case you didn't know, that is also where you connect a garden hose to run it, instead of using muffs. Also, be very careful and don't over tighten it putting it back or you will bust that plastic housing. That's another $50 and an hours work if you do, guess how I know.

Actually, I was thinking about having to replace a bent upper shaft when referring to the pop rivets, this is not the case. All you need to do is take the top off the head. Disconnect all the wires going down into the motor shaft. There should be some kind of a collar screwed on top of the motor shaft holding it in and the top bearing. Undo it and slide the motor shaft out to gain access to the lower bearing.

You have to take the head off. Depending on the model, those can be pop riveted on so you have to be careful removing them. One, if you use a drill too large it may bite and drill the hole too big. Second, you have to be careful not to let pieces drop down into the motor. Be sure to mark all wires because they will all have to come off. The bearings are held in place with allen screws once you finally get the shaft out.

If you have a set of wire bits (numbered 60-80), you can drill the hole in the spray tip out a little and it helps a whole lot when trying to get enough into them to stall the motor.

Brass or Stainless (preferable stainless) piano hinge, but they may be fit the cheap part of the equation.

A good five ply 1/2" works but not anything HD or Lowes sells.

Carpet is cheap, light, quit and works. There are a number of rubber products that actually work much better, but many are heavier and a whole lot more expansive.

I've never been able to stall one just using one can. It gets hard sometimes with two. If they have the straw thing in them, I don't use it, I've already fed one through an engine that came off while spraying, figured I didn't want to try for a second one. I take the air silencer completely off so I can get it up close and personal with the carbs.

On a V6, I always have a second can handy. I get about half the can in it, then using two cans at once in two carburetors, I start loading it up and quickly jumping between carbs until I can stall the motor with it. Then I let it sit over night. Neighbors might not be very happy but motor is. Then I start it up the next day, p***ing the neighbors off again. and spray the rest of the cleaner in. Then I take it to the lake and run it WOT for at least five minutes. I forgot to mention, I put an old set of plugs in before I start unless I'm planning on installing a new set. After that long WOT run, I put my good/new plugs back in and save the old set until next time. I have had problems with it fouling the plugs, that's why I don't use good plugs.