New MFG boat owner here

[youngbuck007]

I've had a 16ft aluminum skiff the last few years that I would use to crab with but wanted something a bit more stable. I sold it and began my search, and eventually found this MFG boat on MD's eastern shore. It was a father/daughter project but as they finished the boat itself the young daughter "grew up" and was no longer interested in finishing. These are pics of the boat from the CL listing. The boat had already been stripped and had a new bow, washboards and collar boards put on, new deck and new transom. They had also installed the side console and Todd chair. I loved the hull design and side console for running a trot line!

[youngbuck007]

I know its not keeping with the original "glassic" design like a lot of you guys strive for, but I really like it! The title just says it is a 1972 MFG and 16ft. In looking around I am guessing it is a Westfield?? At any rate, now I only had a boat... literally. I needed to get a trailer, motor, cables, etc. I found another ad on CL where a guy was selling an old 15ft Sea King with an old trailer under it. I got this for $125 and took whatever useable parts I could off of the Sea King (wheel, Safe-T helm and steering cable, anchors, lines, etc.) and then went to work on the trailer. This is what I started with.

[youngbuck007]

I took the trailer COMPLETELY apart... it is a 1973. I used a wire brush and angle grinder to get all the rust off and a lot of the black paint. I primed and painted everything and then used all new hardware when I reassembled. I put new wheel bearings in, all new submersible LED lights and wiring, replaced most of the rollers and greased them all up. I highly recommend the LED lights even for side markers as they are nice and bright! After it was assembled I slid the trailer under the boat and was then ready to start hunting for an engine. At this point I was still operating on money from selling my aluminum skiff so wife hasn't been giving me a hard time.

[sphelps]

Welcome aboard Youngbuck !!
For some reason I can't pull up the attachment's I think the boat is way older than a 72 maybe a 62 but I may be wrong. It looks like you will have a fine fishing boat when you get her all together. BTW a free photo bucket account works great for pics!!
See ya S.P.

[youngbuck007]

Thanks SP! I tried using the forum picture upload but went ahead and added photobucket links like you suggested. The title for the boat that the guy gave me says it is a 72, but I know things could easily be "changed" or misread in the title office years ago... Tomorrow I'll post pics showing the rest of what I have done. Thanks again! Brad

[sphelps]

http://www.fiberglassics.com/wiki/im...-Mfgb72010.jpg
It may be one of these.
http://www.fiberglassics.com/library/File:Mfgb72010.jpg
Sorry my computer skills aren't the best in the world..

[sphelps]

Click the img box on your photo bucket and your pics look like this..

Right click then paste on to your post.

[youngbuck007]

Thanks again for the help! Trying this to see if I can get it to post the pic like you did...





This is the boat as it sits now. I picked up a used 1991 Johnson 28spl (30hp) motor with controls that runs GREAT! I installed new teleflex control cables, and new teleflex helm and steering cable, got a new battery. I had it out most of last weekend and had a good time, although I think it is a bit underpowered. For running a trotline I want to go slow and it can certainly do that, but with me and a friend, the dog and some gear it gets loaded down. Runs around 15 knots I would guess at WOT but burns lots of gas. I think if I had a 50hp it would be about perfect and probably burn less fuel as it would be more capable of handling the load.

[youngbuck007]

Next things I would like to do to it are install a small fuse block or breaker panel and add Navigation lights, Radio, GPS, depth finder and bilge pump. I will also likely add a few more rod holders in the gunwales. SP - I saw the ad's that you posted and it makes me think more that it is in fact a Westfield. I guess the actual year could still be up in the air. The beam measures around 76" +/- and the boat measures 15'-6" from bow to stern. Perhaps the PO lost a couple inches when they installed a new transom??

[sphelps]

Looks like she's fishin ready ! The po did a good job on it . Sure saved you a bunch of work!
I thought itmay be a little under powered But like you said a 50 or 60 hrs would probably be just what the doctor ordered ..
Have fun with it ! S.P.

[Mark_VTfisherman]

...used 1991 Johnson 28spl (30hp) motor with controls that runs GREAT! I installed new teleflex control cables, and new teleflex helm and steering cable, got a new battery. I had it out most of last weekend and had a good time, although I think it is a bit underpowered. For running a trotline I want to go slow and it can certainly do that, but with me and a friend, the dog and some gear it gets loaded down. Runs around 15 knots I would guess at WOT but burns lots of gas. I think if I had a 50hp it would be about perfect and probably burn less fuel as it would be more capable of handling the load.

Nice find! Funny thing is FWIW I believe that the Sea King boats were molded by MFG...

I think the hull you have was rated 45hp- but that's the old-old style rating. My 14' Niagara has achieved 34.x mph GPS wth two people on board with a 1985 Suzuki 40hp.

[yanks21]

That is a really cool looking take on the MFG. unique!

[youngbuck007]

Nice find! Funny thing is FWIW I believe that the Sea King boats were molded by MFG...

I think the hull you have was rated 45hp- but that's the old-old style rating. My 14' Niagara has achieved 34.x mph GPS wth two people on board with a 1985 Suzuki 40hp.

Yeah I felt soooo terrible about the Sea King. It was actually a fun looking little boat in itself... but I only needed the trailer. No chance the wife would let me have another "project" if you know what I mean. The Sea King and trailer had been sitting in this guys back yard for 7 or 8 years he said. I emptied all the leaves and muck out of it and the floor was spongy throughout, but the hull, transom and front glass were all in decent shape just dirty from sitting. I put it up on CL for a couple weeks for free, even offered to tow it a reasonable distance for cost of gas while it was on the trailer. I had a few people interested but nobody came to get it. Sadly I ended up taking it to the dump, pushing it off and driving away... felt bad as I was leaving and the dozer was heading for it.

As for my speed one other thing I guess I could mess with is see if a different prop might help... but admittedly I don't know much about props and what size/pitch would be good for different boats/motors. If anything I'll enjoy it this year and save money to one day get something a bit bigger. Almost a shame though because this motor runs really nice.

[yanks21]

youngbuck007,
No need for a new motor. Go to the thread search at the top of the page, type in "propeller pitch" and you will get a WEALTH of discussion on how to move that boat! Whole lot cheaper than a new motor, and a LOT less trouble than buying someone else's issues...
If it ain't broke...
I push my 13' Carefree with a 69 johnson 55HP and it does great. But the hull was rated at 35hp. The big motor came from the dealer who sold it new on Oneonta, NY. It was set up to pull skiers, so power was what was needed, not speed. It all depends on what you want to do with her.
JJP

[youngbuck007]

I had the boat out over the holiday to do some fishing/crabbing. Lot of fun but very HOT and HUMID in Maryland lately (temps around 100 every day!). Motor ran great but still seems to be lacking some power. I was looking at it more when I was giving it a freshwater flush back at the house and think I might have seen an issue. This motor is supposed to be a long shaft which is what I need (20" transom
). However the cavitation plate is a few inches lower than the bottom of my hull. Measuring shaft length (underside of mounting plate to cavitation plate) reveals the shaft is actually 23" long! I have a 20" transom so looks like I need to raise the motor up a few inches which may help reduce some drag and increase top end.

[vwfoolwhy]

You don't need to raise the motor. You have an extension housing in between the motor and lower end to make it a long shaft. Remove that and it will be perfect. I really look the look of your boat. I've been playing with the idea of making mine a C.C. for the past few years

[sphelps]

I would have never thought about the foot extension .. LOL Then again I can barely keep my lawn mower running..
Good eye vw !

[youngbuck007]

I may be wrong because I am certainly no expert, but I don't think it is as easy as removing the extension from the lower unit. The driveshaft goes from the powerhead down to the gearcase behind the prop, so it will need to be shortened. Often times you can just swap a short shaft lower unit and call it a day, but the 28SPL's used the old style foot from the 70's. Notice that the water intake is those small 3 holes above the cavitation plate, not the slits you see on all other "modern" outboards so I can't find a different short shaft to swap this out with. I would have to custom modify the drive shaft and that is not something I trust myself doing. For 60 bucks I could buy a mini-jacker and raise the motor a few inches. I just want to temporarily raise it up somehow and do a test run to see if it helps my speed issue before I go and buy a jack plate and drill holes in the transom.

[youngbuck007]

I really look the look of your boat. I've been playing with the idea of making mine a C.C. for the past few years

Thanks VW I really like this look as well, as simple as it may be! For what I want to do with it this style makes the most sense for me. I must also admit, when I was idling through the channel in the harbor last week I had a few other boats coming in that commented in passing how much they liked the boat and they were in some very modern (expensive) boats themselves! Makes you grin that much more!

[vwfoolwhy]

There is no need for shortening the shaft or anything. It's just a matter of unbolting the lower unit (5 Bolts) then undoing the same 5 bolts from the extension (the back bolt is done from inside the extension housing). Then using just the lower unit bolt it back into place. That should help gain a little more speed but more then enything you'll gain alot of power for pulling out of the hole.

[youngbuck007]

VW - Thanks for the encouragement but I really don't think its that simple. The extension is 6" long. The driveshaft, shift rod and water tube all run from the motor down through the extension and into the lower unit. If you remove the extension and try to reinstall the lower unit without it, all of those components will be too long. I imagine I could shop around and try to find an old junk motor that I could rob these parts off of and reassemble, but it seems like it would just be easier to buy a mini-jacker to raise the motor up.

[yanks21]

007,
I believe VW is right. The tubes and shafts are not one piece from tyhe powerhead to the lower unit. The extenion has short connectors that extend tyhe drive shaft anfd the water tube. So it would make the extention a seperate piece entirely. There shouold be a coupler for the shaft at both ends of the extender, and a flange or fitting at both ends for the water...think about it: Why would a manufacturer make a 6' extention that would require new shafts and plumbing??? No one would do it.
If you feel comfortable jacking it, go ahead, but i see VW's point.

[*EdC*]

If I remember correctly, Johnson and Evinrude are owned by Bombardier. When I had my Evinrude, I went to their web site and looked up my engine. They had exploded views of almost everything in it. You could also try some places like Russell's Marine or Crowley. At least you could see a picture of the internals.

[youngbuck007]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the thoughts. Again, I truly don't claim to be a mechanic... just a guy that isn't always afraid to pick up a wrench or two and figure things out. I usually do as much research online before to get as much insight as I can before I tackle a project. My search led me to Iboats (of course!) and I found this thread which seemed to detail my exact same dillemma with the same motor: http://forums.iboats.com/johnson-evinrude-outboards/28-spl-long-short-convert-297003.html
This thread actually explains at the end a guy that converted this same motor to a short shaft by removing the "extension" and getting an old donor short shaft motor for parts. Everyone on the thread seemed to think this was how it would have to be done, or to get a jackplate. I admit I have never done anything like that, and perhaps my specific motor you can't remove the extension but others are much easier. I really do appreciate everyone's help, it's great how we can all bounce ideas off each other since we have all had a bunch of different experiences on boats!

[Mark_VTfisherman]

You are correct about the driveshaft. It is not a two-piece driveshaft; there are different driveshaft lengths depending on the motor OEM leg. There were/are basically two length legs these days- sometimes has been three if it offers a "sailboat" model.

As far as 15'6" length- boats used to be measured along the stretch of the hull under gunwale. The way we do it "these days" is length overall. And hull length has never been "exact" but is a "class" - like a starcraft I have which is an "18" model but actually measure almost 19 feet.

As far as the boat itself- that will be an awesome inshore crab-about. But before you spend bucks on the motor I would consider getting rid of it. It probably is doing everything it can do and is running well. You oughta be able to get decent cash for it there on the coast.

Anyway, it may "go" fine and whatever, but it might not consistently plane the boat. The motor is probably fine but was probably originally on a sailboat for aux power. I would search out a decent 50+HP motor as there are times when you will want more than just to "go fine" from one place to another like if weather comes up. A bigger motor will likely last longer than the 28 as it will need less RMP on a consistent basis to do the same work, especially if you need to plane it.

Cool boat and I love it but it makes me sad that dad and daughter didn't finish it together. With one 21 year old and another 17 year old daughter I know what it's like to watch the daughters pass into adulthood.