More Time Than Money

[Jeff-n-Gail]

No Title

Well today the boat with the sick motor got towed to the local boat landing. I had gotten tired of excuses and waiting for people to return calls so I pulled some strings and ended up with 3 choices. New motor. (2018) for $5000 more. A 4 year newer 50hp for added $1500, or they take the boat and motor and go completely thru it and check the compression and adjust and clean and rebuild the carburetor, check and adjust the oil injection and clean or replace any and all everything that needs attention or tell me it's topless and I will go with option "2" the 2003. 50hp. I have no problem with the dollar total I have Invested in this "labor of love and money" but I certainly hope this complete motor go thru ,which comes at no additional cost to me, gives me what I worked toward all winter. Ill be very lucky and honored if I get this back next week but that's my goal. At that time I should be able to post some new and happy pictures. Fingers Crossed.

 

[Jeff-n-Gail]

Ok, here it comes I thought, I can finally take my wife for a ride. It was forecasted to be warm and sunny. Gotta admit, I was excited to be taking that long awaited maiden cruise with my ever so patient wife. The kid driving the boat said it ran great, the guy driving the delivery truck said the motor looks a bit heavy for that boat. I ain't gonna worry bout little details I thought, we're going for a ride. We ,first went and got our fishing licenses, dug worms, loaded up a cooler of "ice water", then we were ready. IT never occurred to me after three failed launching attempts that it wasn't to be!!! I started the motor, backed off the lift and idled in a large circle till my wife was finally ready to go. She walked down the dock with a big smile of anticipation, stepped into the boat, then it stalled... Deja vu, no way!! Long story short, no way! That was last weekend. Got in touch with the salesman, this is getting old. Today, they called and said they were picking the boat up, they are clueless but will give it some more effort. Everything has been gone thru!! ......(this is the bad part)... my sales person and my buddy ( who gave me the fuel tank) were talking and my buddy half way turned white when he remembered why he quit using that tank. It would be fine for 20 to 30 minutes then it would lock up and no fuel could go thru the defective valve. He had an Evinrude and I was going to run a Merc. He figured I was changing the valve anyway so that would solve the problem, no problem..I will hopefully be posting some positive updates soon

 

[Watermann]

Oh man that's just some crazy bad luck right there :blue:​

 

[Jeff-n-Gail]

I guess it all depends on how you look at it. I now know the compression in all three cylinders is 115 each,(120 is new I believe). Carbs are rebuilt, choke cleaned and adjusted, and all of the ignition system has been thoroughly checked and tested. Fuel lines are now replaced along with any filters. The starter solenoid was replaced right after I got the motor. I'd say the price for not having a boat for the first half of the season seems fair.

 

[Slager]

Once you get the bugs worked out, it should be good to go for a long time. Hopefully they get it worked out soon.

 

[Jeff-n-Gail]

Pretty sure I'll get It back this weekend, cause it's gonna be cold and rainy. If its not too windy and cold, I bet a rainy boat ride would be fun.

 

[Jeff-n-Gail]

I was correct in the part about the rain. It did and so my opportunity to test the boat that weekend had to wait. I decided after watching the boat on its return trip that I was going to research the Whale Fin I had heard about. You can sure learn a lot on line. A Whale Fin turns out to be a hydra-foil. I ordered one from iboats and had it rush shipped. All of the reviews I read convinced me this was going to help a lot. It was almost to easy to install and I was ready once again to take my wife on the much waited for maiden voyage by the next weekend. It just happened to be our 29th anniversary last weekend so this was hopefully going to be a pleasant surprise for her. We got aboard, lowered the lift, started the engine, and decided to give it a couple minutes to warm up. I cautiously shifted into reverse, backed out and away from the safety of the lift and being able to walk in shallow water. Shifted into forward and not only did it respond properly, but it was up on plane within maybe 100 to150 feet even at the relatively slow pace I was going. After our summer of launch failures I decided to stick close to the house for a while. It wasn't long at all and I started to feel I could actually trust this thing. The new gas tank was the problem solver and the engine purred like a big kitten. I need to putz with the Speedo a bit to get a read on my speed but I do know that the motor has a lot of get up and go. Very quick at getting to whatever its top speed is going to end up being. With the hydra-foil working as great as it is, I am able to sit on my butt on the seat where kneeling was the prefered position previously. With a big smile on my face, I brought out the polish and she shines like a new boat again.

 

[Watermann]

Great to hear you finally had a good time that ended well.

 

[Jeff-n-Gail]

No Title

The weekend did end well and i'm hoping for a lot more. The pics wouldn't download last nite so here they are. I have a video, if I can get it from my phone to this tablet I will post it also.

 

[Jeff-n-Gail]

We have probably reached the final days of our Wisconsin summer, and as always, timing is everything. We were granted one very beautiful, warm, and relatively calm day to cap off the summer. After the better part of the summer being spent on 1 launch failure after another, I was curious as to how long it would be before I could actually fully trust my ride. I took this opportunity to load the boat complete with both rear seats filled up with full grown adults and their beverages of choice. I have to say that I now, truely, believe I have completed this educationally challenging undertaking. We will still have a few good days of boating weather left and even more days that will grant us some good fishing opportunities. I have thoroughly enjoyed this journey and must admit I never would have had a clue as to what's next if it hadn't been for this site and the many fellow boat people who are always ready to help with suggestions and answers to questions I didn't know I had. Your members and their posts were way more beneficial to me than I ever expected. Many thanks to all of you. I have enjoyed this enough to be considering a 1968 Thompson 28' wooden project that was offered to me. I am starting an ice shanty this week but will be back with either an aluminum cuddy or that Thompson.

 

[Watermann]

Hey thank you for the ride along on your journey!

 

[Jeff-n-Gail]

It occurred to me that I still have to pack a care package and take my wife on an early evening cruise to watch one of our beautiful sunsets from the middle of the lake. All of the minor and major setbacks that have popped up have distracted me from that goal I set when I started this Wisconsin cold weather distraction. The forecast for this weekend looks like I may get that opportunity quite soon. I tried to post pics with that last post but wasn't successful so I hope to post a brief start to finish pic journey soon.

 

[budski]

That is an awesome rebuild Jeff, boat looks great.

 

[Jeff-n-Gail]

Thank you.