08-20-2015, 10:51 PM
Title is for those of you old enough to remember that great show 'Hee Haw'..
"If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all..."
Anyway, I used to have a great boat. Ugly and old, but great. It was an 1969 18 1/2' Starcraft Aluminum V-Hull with a Mercury 1500 outboard and an electric trolling motor on the front. It had personality and a few annoyances, so I decided to upgrade.
I purchased a 1983 18 1/2' GlassMaster Fiberglass Tri-Hull with a Mercury 150 outboard and a 7.5 HP Honda 4 Stroke outboard trolling motor on the back
I took the 'new' boat out for her maiden voyage and after 20 minutes of trying to get it to get on plane, I noticed and smelled black smoke, then the motor turned off. Well, that day I got my first lesson about the importance of checking the tell-tale before embarking on a trip around the lake. I also learned that impellers dry up or get brittle if the boat hasn't been driven for a couple years.
Long story short, I got towed into the marina by a jet skier, took the boat home, removed a cylinder head and discovered a nasty HOLE in it.. Replaced the head and noticed 2 cylinders had only 45 and 75 lbs pressure when running. Estimates are around $1500 - $2500 plus parts to fix the thing...
So, wanting a better motor, I found a boat with a 2010 Mercury Optimax 150hp motor on it. Book value on the motor alone is $6200. I got the motor with a boat and trailer for $3500. So, the boat sucks and is really hammered, but my other boat is VERY nice, just has a blown up motor on it.
Made the crazy decision to swap motors.. I mean HOW HARD CAN IT REALLY BE ?? Well, REALLY HARD !!!!
Yesterday, I successfully removed the old motor off the 1983 sweet boat. Now, all I've got to do is pull the 2010 Motor off the crappy boat and put it on the sweet boat without breaking anything on the new motor...
I've scoured the manual and the process looks pretty easy, compared to the old motor..
Wish me luck.. If all goes well, I will be out on Strawberry this Saturday.. So if you see s white tri-hull 18 1/2 foot boat with a 2010 Mercury Optimax breaking the sound barrier on Strawberry, that would be me :-)
Here's hoping !!!
I'll send you all a report on Strawberry after I finish fishing :0)
PS: BOAT: Break Out Another Thousand or a hole in the water into which you throw money.
[signature]
"If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all..."
Anyway, I used to have a great boat. Ugly and old, but great. It was an 1969 18 1/2' Starcraft Aluminum V-Hull with a Mercury 1500 outboard and an electric trolling motor on the front. It had personality and a few annoyances, so I decided to upgrade.
I purchased a 1983 18 1/2' GlassMaster Fiberglass Tri-Hull with a Mercury 150 outboard and a 7.5 HP Honda 4 Stroke outboard trolling motor on the back
I took the 'new' boat out for her maiden voyage and after 20 minutes of trying to get it to get on plane, I noticed and smelled black smoke, then the motor turned off. Well, that day I got my first lesson about the importance of checking the tell-tale before embarking on a trip around the lake. I also learned that impellers dry up or get brittle if the boat hasn't been driven for a couple years.
Long story short, I got towed into the marina by a jet skier, took the boat home, removed a cylinder head and discovered a nasty HOLE in it.. Replaced the head and noticed 2 cylinders had only 45 and 75 lbs pressure when running. Estimates are around $1500 - $2500 plus parts to fix the thing...
So, wanting a better motor, I found a boat with a 2010 Mercury Optimax 150hp motor on it. Book value on the motor alone is $6200. I got the motor with a boat and trailer for $3500. So, the boat sucks and is really hammered, but my other boat is VERY nice, just has a blown up motor on it.
Made the crazy decision to swap motors.. I mean HOW HARD CAN IT REALLY BE ?? Well, REALLY HARD !!!!
Yesterday, I successfully removed the old motor off the 1983 sweet boat. Now, all I've got to do is pull the 2010 Motor off the crappy boat and put it on the sweet boat without breaking anything on the new motor...
I've scoured the manual and the process looks pretty easy, compared to the old motor..
Wish me luck.. If all goes well, I will be out on Strawberry this Saturday.. So if you see s white tri-hull 18 1/2 foot boat with a 2010 Mercury Optimax breaking the sound barrier on Strawberry, that would be me :-)
Here's hoping !!!
I'll send you all a report on Strawberry after I finish fishing :0)
PS: BOAT: Break Out Another Thousand or a hole in the water into which you throw money.
[signature]