Bought my first boat to cut, gut and rebuild from bow to stern, including engine. Killed my back and suffered the wrath of the fiberglass demons

briangcc

briangcc

Commander
Joined
Jul 10, 2012
Messages
2,264
One is fine for main motor and accessories as noted above. You'll want a 2nd if you add: (1) Big Thumpin Stereo w/amps OR (2) Trolling Motor.

My current boat has (2) - one main, one for the trolling motor. Both are on a onboard charger so I can top the batteries off as needed. Charger has a maint mode on it so I generally leave it plugged in to AC power unless I'm using it.
 
TripleJGraffis

TripleJGraffis

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jan 18, 2024
Messages
397
Alright, alright...I'll fess up......So I did a thing.....probably against anyone's liking. I know I mentioned a while back that I was talking to a guy who had a 30+ year old Mercury motor that he would sell to me as in after he got it into working order for 1350 with power trim. Don't worry... that's not he motor that I got, but I have been looking for an older running motor with power trim and matching controls, that I can get at a good deal. And by "good deal"... I mean I wanted a price that was not too much of a gamble for me if it turned out to be a piece of crap.

I wanted a decent used motor that I can afford and use now (or asap) .....So I can enjoy the boat now while I save up more down the line for a better motor if and when I need one. I found a 1993 Suzuki 85hp 2 stroke with oil injection, power trim, and controls for 450.00. I inquired about it and the guy said he just took it off his pontoon in running condition to put a larger engine on. He said it was already winterized and he was looking to part it out and sell the pieces separately at higher prices if he couldn't get rid of it whole. I asked about compression, corrosion, etc. He said that if he needs to run a compression test to prove that it is in good working order, then he was going to hike the asking price up past 1400.00. He basically said " I have a well working motor that is worth more than what I am selling it for, but I just need the garage space and want this one gone. This is my deal for it, but if you need proof that it is good condition, then I am upping the price. I knew what a gamble I was looking at, but I had the spare money sitting around, so I figured, "What the hell....I'll bite". I have a bad gambling problem like that😂 Sometimes, it works in my favor, sometimes not. I am hoping that this will work in my favor. I drove a couple hours to pick it up with my buddy. He had it lying on the ground, however, it did not look like it had been sitting on the ground for a long time. It definitely isn't pretty on the outside, but it was not all scratched up either. Faded decals and a chipped cowl. Gives me something to work on cosmetically to make it look a little prettier if I get it running. It looks pretty damn clean on the inside. No corrosion.....No oil leaking. I was hoping to get it mounted on the stand and running this weekend before I made the announcement to you guys. In other news, I may have found someone to buy my Force (dismantled) and controls for 150.00 this weekend. Will know more at later time.

I know....Ya'll probably think I'm not right in the head.
 
TripleJGraffis

TripleJGraffis

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jan 18, 2024
Messages
397
briangcc said:
One is fine for main motor and accessories as noted above. You'll want a 2nd if you add: (1) Big Thumpin Stereo w/amps OR (2) Trolling Motor.

My current boat has (2) - one main, one for the trolling motor. Both are on a onboard charger so I can top the batteries off as needed. Charger has a maint mode on it so I generally leave it plugged in to AC power unless I'm using it.
Click to expand...
Do I need a trolling motor?
 
T

todhunter

Canoeist
Joined
Sep 15, 2020
Messages
1,299
TripleJGraffis said:
why?
Click to expand...
It's beneficial to have a "start" battery and a "house" battery in a boat. The start battery's sole purpose is to power the starter. The house battery powers pretty much everything else - blower, horn, bilge pump, lights, stereo, etc. This way if you take your boat out for a nice day on the lake to drop anchor and listen to tunes, you are only pulling power off the house battery. Your start battery remains untouched and will give you the best chance to get the engine started when you're ready to go back to the dock. There's nothing worse than enjoying the day on the lake, then have a battery too weak to start the engine back up.

If you do a 2-battery system, I also recommend a dual battery switch and an Automatic Charging Relay (ACR). This setup allows your engine's single alternator to charge up the start battery first, then when its full, automatically switch over to topping off the house battery.
 
TripleJGraffis

TripleJGraffis

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jan 18, 2024
Messages
397
todhunter said:
It's beneficial to have a "start" battery and a "house" battery in a boat. The start battery's sole purpose is to power the starter. The house battery powers pretty much everything else - blower, horn, bilge pump, lights, stereo, etc. This way if you take your boat out for a nice day on the lake to drop anchor and listen to tunes, you are only pulling power off the house battery. Your start battery remains untouched and will give you the best chance to get the engine started when you're ready to go back to the dock. There's nothing worse than enjoying the day on the lake, then have a battery too weak to start the engine back up.

If you do a 2-battery system, I also recommend a dual battery switch and an Automatic Charging Relay (ACR). This setup allows your engine's single alternator to charge up the start battery first, then when its full, automatically switch over to topping off the house battery.
Click to expand...
Got any suggestions on how to do that?
 
kcassells

kcassells

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Oct 16, 2012
Messages
8,707
Trolling motor is anutter whole conversation depending on your wants and needs.
 
stresspoint

stresspoint

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Sep 19, 2022
Messages
1,034
85 Suzuki is a good motor, i found one cheap for my brothers little fishing boat ,
it was a bit shaky but ran Ok , timing is a bit tricky to do as i found out but got there in the end , still shook but made good power once it got past the shaking shyt , figured it might have been just engine mounts warn out shook from day dot so he just lived with it...

he had it on there a few years with no issues.
 
TripleJGraffis

TripleJGraffis

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jan 18, 2024
Messages
397
stresspoint said:
85 Suzuki is a good motor, i found one cheap for my brothers little fishing boat ,
it was a bit shaky but ran Ok , timing is a bit tricky to do as i found out but got there in the end , still shook but made good power once it got past the shaking shyt , figured it might have been just engine mounts warn out shook from day dot so he just lived with it...

he had it on there a few years with no issues.
Click to expand...
Appreciate the insight into the brand?
 
stresspoint

stresspoint

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Sep 19, 2022
Messages
1,034
TripleJGraffis said:
Appreciate the insight into the brand?
Click to expand...
no problem , it really was a good motor , very strong on the 16 foot very deep v open hull.
as i said the shaking was a nascence as it was progressed from idle to around 2k rpm.
i tried to tune it out but that was never going to happen.

hope the motor is as expected and runs good , it was cheap enough any way .so even if you get a season or 2 from it you will be in front.
 
kcassells

kcassells

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Oct 16, 2012
Messages
8,707
yea they make kits that allow steering from the primary outboard to the trolling motor. I'm going to start looking into this also at some point.
 
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