denny-o

Notice that the Pentagon bans fuel and oil additives for US Military engines... If one of those proprietary additives could give a tank or a hummer even a few % increase in service life, the Pentagon would absolutely require its use.. They ban additives instead... Draw your own conclusions... denny-o

How far you go for a given customer depends on how likely he is to make a purchase (a gut call)... It also depends on the size and margins on the sale... A 15' fishing boat with a 700 dollar margin will not get as much invested in the prospective customer as a 3 million dollar mega yacht... denny-o

OK, there is a tip.. Make the trailer fenders the same width as the beam and the po po won't even blink as you go by...

Yup, there are no breaks from my wench... Gets my knuckles whacked every time they get in the wrong place without careful preparation... denny-o

Additives are snake oil... If there was an actual advantage to a given additive that you named, then at least one major brand of gas would be licensing the stuff and adding it to their fuel and trumpeting the advantage to the high heavens.. The major brands do have proprietary additive packages (think TECHRON, etc.) of detergents and the like... So, for what it is worth if you are worried about your engine falling into a heap of rubble because you forgot to add that miracle stuff to your last fill up, then buy the major brands with their proprietary package and consider it good... With a few exceptions, all stations in a local area get their gas from a local fuel depot who has huge tanks of base stock gasoline - I get gas for my plane from the local fuel depot and it is an impressive fuel farm... The tankers pull in and tell the computer to load 5 or 10 thousand gallons for a given station brand... The computer adds the appropriate additive package and ethanol, to match what that brand calls for... The base stocks for regular versus premium are different- premium is not just some stuff tossed into the base stock for 'regular', but is a different mix of gasolines and chemicals to start with... Anyway, I digress... When I was a boy in the 50's we did not buy additives (no money) ... To get the carbon out we would run the engine about half speed and carefully pour a thin stream of water into the carb, and the exhaust would be black at first with carbon deposits and then gradually clear to just steam... The engine would buck and rattle and snort, and really carry on, but seemed to idle and run better after the treatment... The majority of additives contribute lubricity to the fuel in the form of a long hydrocarbon chain solvent and (usually) a bit of sulfur, phosphorus, or other antiscuff agent... I did just use some Ringfree on an OB motor that had not been run in 18 years... I did the shock treatment to 5 gallons of gas and ran it through to - supposedly - decarbon the rings... Did it do any good over just running the engine, beats me? (shrug)... Since I could not see the difference, I won't be doing it again... From what i have seen in 50 years of playing with motors - auto / plane / boat / tractor / semi -, you can add a pint of diesel fuel to 20 gallons of gas and get the lubricity advantage at a much better price... denny-o

A few inches will go unnoticed... Most of the guys find that up to 9' the boat is ignored... Once you reach 10' the extra is enough to draw looks from the officer cruising past... Of course, nothing will get past the officer with a week left on this month's quota of citations and way behind... denny-o

I have been watching for a follow up on this.. Curious what the OP found... denny-o

Just two comments from a guy who has been in business most of his life... First, that you are buying a different make of trailer that you feel is better was not part of your interaction with dealer #1... If you bring up as aside like that, then maybe you should also tell him your wife bought new throw pillows for the couch... Second, that you now want to vent on dealer #1 accomplishes nothing... Just say you found a better price at dealer #2 and leave it at that.. Don't burn bridges... You never know when dealer #1 may have a better deal on the next boat, whatever... denny-o

Letting the carbs run dry means air in there which will dry wet surfaces turning them to varnish... I don't do it.. The hours on the carbs is meaningless... It is whether or not you have varnish narrowing the jet... A carb sitting after having been soaked can have the gaskets dry up and get hard and start leaking air... Most likely in your case is the carb... Next is fuel pump getting air bubbles... Next is intermittent spark... Last is vanes... denny-o

The first thing is to go through the wiring - and especially the ground wires -... This sounds suspiciously like a bad ground wire very close to the batteries... +DC wires tend to branch off as they are run for ward from the engine/batteries and not go directly daisy chain fashion... Ground/return tends to be a single buss for much of the equipment... One bad connection near the battery can kill the circuits for the entire boat... Look first near the battery and the heavy gauge cables coming off them to the console.. Then look inside the console... 90% odds you will find the open circuit in one of the two spots... denny-o

OK Big K, I didn't know you had any carb experience... Actually, along with what I posted, I would have ordered a fuel pump and a carb rebuild kit and gone though it (them)... You can get lots of suggestions for cleaning carbs but I use MEK in a 2 quart Mason jar/jug because I keep it on hand for the engine projects we always have underway - boat/car/bike/plane (many hardwares will have jugs and the MEK)... Let the carb and parts soak overnight... Blow it out with compressed air.. Reassemble with the new gaskets... The Ringfree is also for cleaning the fingers and the rings so do that treatment along with the carb rebuild... I am in the process of resurrecting three 1960's Chrysler 45 hp motors, so have heard lots of sneezing in the past few weeks and have been doing carb rebuilds like popcorn... GL denny-o

A good mechanic is a treasure... I had to raise my own and train them - for the very reasons you put forth... Of course the downside is when I grumble about something not being done right they just look at me and say, 'well,go look in the mirror!' and then snicker as they walk away... I will be watching for your findings on the water leak... denny-o

Umm, this is not good - and my condolences on getting screwed by some lowlife... If you cannot get the engine drained and the heads off within a day then flood the engine with antifreeze, just fill it up through every top opening, squirt it in the spark plug holes and role the crank over a couple of times by hand, etc. and then put the plugs back in and fill through the rocker covers until it runs over - or it will be a rust ball within 2 or 3 days... Next, given the circumstances you describe every part in that engine is suspect... My suspicion is you will find junk rods and pistons, etc. and your good parts went somewhere else - like in his engine... Ya know, we got civilized and gave up tar and feathers way too soon... denny-o

The only problem is we have a new owner of a really nice boat with zero boating experience... Moving up the steep part of the learning curve with that boat is going to be expensive... Give him as much help as you can... Maybe she can spring for a hired captain to go with him for the first ten trips - money well spent... I am not denigrating the guy, he just doesn't know what he doesn't know... Is the required safety equipment and a waste and black water written plan on board, etc... Does he know what one horn versus two means? Can he read the buoys? Does he understand the differences between intercoastal rules and ocean rules? Can he dock in a cross wind from one way and a 90 degree current from the other? and on, and on... I did not know all this either for the first boat, but luckily it was a 26 foot sailboat which made the groundings, etc. low speed and low dollar events... A fist full of dollars and decades of experience later my knowledge has improved (errr, at least I hope it has)... denny-o

Replace the primer bulb, and anything rubber that feels suspiciously soft... Put in a new set of NGK plugs - gap them... Bump up the idle screw a tad... Put a shock treatment of Ringfree through it with 5 gallons of gas and Penzoil Synthetic OB Oil, just go out and run it around at various speeds and burn up the 5... If the motor is still sneezing at idle after that, you need to see an OB mechanic to check the fuel pump, the electrical, etc... denny-o

The fungus infects the nail bed, i.e. gets imbedded throughout the tissue beneath the nail... Topical agents have to first diffuse through the nail, then into the nail bed tissue, and then affect the fungal mycelium before the body fluids percolating through the tissues can dilute or carry the drug off... Too many barriers for certainty of treatment and the fungus is too deep for topical agents to be effective in most persons... Oral drugs are the only effective treatment... They have drawbacks of course, possible liver damage and cost... Most have to be taken for 4 to 6 months without too many skipped doses, the one week a month until the infected nail has moved foward and been trimmed off... Then, when the nail is completely clear all shoes and socks have to be discarded and replaced with new - this includes waders, running shoes, etc... Most folks don't do this and after the antifungal has cleared from their body tissues (6 to 12 months later) get reinfected from exposure to the spores in these items... The other issue is infected persons in the house who are not concurrently treated will be leaving a cloud of spores everywhere they walk, like land mines in a war... Treating only one is always doomed to failure... denny-o

I just read a rant by a boat dealer who says he is tired to death of all the tire kickers and bottom feeders... He had a brokerage boat listed at 27,995 and he got an offer of 23K... He ranted on how he can't feed his kids when he sells a boat for less than the owners price plus his brokerage fee, and that he now has to present the offer to the owner who will beat up on him... Some of you who have read my postings know that I tend to stick up for dealers and manufacturers... They have a tough road to travel... I have been in business most of my life and I know how hard it is to deal with the public and how hard it is to keep the ink black... But in this case, the dealer is wrong... A boat is only worth what someone will pay - and how much the seller has tied up in it is just not relevant... The boating industry, coming off decades of living off the fat of the land, is not seeing the new reality - though the makers and dealers going bankrupt are having their rose tinted glasses adjusted the hard way... 20% national unemployment is looming.. People do not feel flush and even if they have a stable job for now, they are very careful about taking on new debt... I have been following one boat that I may make an offer on, a 2008 model just 10 months old with something like 30 hours on the engine... The owner has roughly 160K in it and needs to free up his cash... He started out at 155K and is now down to 125K... The boat is a bargain at the price and is a sharp boat that is economical to operate... It hasn't sold so far, so he has not found the true value in TODAY'S market or it would have sold... And that is the key, TODAY'S market... It does not matter what you have into it, or what it was sold for, or what it would cost to replace, it is only worth what the market will pay for it... As the economy continues to tighten up, and based on what I am seeing with the owner's attempt to get his money out of the boat, I expect the factory will find the buyers for brand new at list price, drying up rapidly... denny-o

Saginaw, Michigan

My concern is not the quality of the engines from Yammy, Zuki, etc... It is where the money is going... Yes, I will buy an ETEC made here, but not one made in China... The fact that Evinrude is now farming out part of their production is a warning shot across the bow... I bought three new suits from a national known men's suit retailer 3 weeks ago... Stopped on Wednesday to have some previously agreed upon alterations done (buttons), the store is empty and a 'for sale sign' out front... We were in North Fort Meyer in March (chartered an American Tug)... Driving the main business street there, one third of the store fronts are vacant... Next to the marina is a high rise with ~80 balcony apartments... Talking with the locals there, I was told the high rise was a year and a half old and almost empty... That night, I counted 9 apartments with lights on out of ~80... As I commented on another thread here, a town of 50,000 just 13 miles from blue water with a river running through it, that is world class Walleye fishing, and we have exactly one boat dealer left... I gotta tell ya guys it is looking grim... denny-o

This is a chance to make a small fortune in the boat business - how can you not?

I was looking at new boats yesterday... One dealer (1) left for a city of 50,000 people - this is 13 miles from blue water He no longer deals in fiberglass boats, only aluminum... He will no longer offer credit on any sale that is not boat+engine+electronics... Says his profit margin is so thin that doing a loan for a $4k fishing skiff loses money for him... He is no longer taking trade-in's unless they are loaded, high quality, and less than 4 years old... Says he can't resell the sad sack, whipped out, glass boats that are being offered to him... He and his 90 year old dad have operated this dealership for 70 years in the same, small, building (low overhead = survival) A sign of the times...

I spent part of the morning looking at new boats... My biggest concern is buying USA (the boats are)... The Merc's I looked at are made partly or totally in Asia... The 50hp 4 stroke has the engine made in China... So, I said what do you have in Evinrude... Well he has one with a 90 hp that is USA made - and then he told me they are starting to move some production to China also, arghhh... So I am rethinking - while I agree that the new OB's are advanced machines and I was thinking about roughly 17 feet, it may become a bigger boat and have an inboard with a USA engine... Damned hard to support USA when the manufacturers do not... denny-o

Hmmm, don't see a method of placing pictures in this... So, what is the secret here? denny-o

Hi, yes I have pictures, they are home... Will try to remember to put a couple on the flash drive and bring em to the office... Found a bit more information... It is a 1966 Skipper Saf-T-Mate (spelling is correct) 14 foot... They were manufactured in Cadillac Michigan from 1965 to early 70, then Four WInns bought them out and produced the Skipper line under their name... It is decked as a runabout with a forward deck, windshield, and double back seating... Other than that the hulls could be twins... It has a white hull with a red deck that is bolted and glassed to the hull... The deck raises the sheer line a bit compared to yours, and has that 'oh so sexy' fins on it... Your skiff looking really smart with the platform and the paint scheme following the spray rails... denny-o

Wait till the Chinese decide to flex their muscle by knocking out a dozen sat birds and your fancy, schmancey, GPS just sits there and looks dumb... Bet you will want a jam proof Loran then... Same discussion has been had on the pilot/flying boards... The Gov't wants to shut down the ILS approaches to many airports because of the cost of maintenance of the transmitters... But with $200 worth of parts from DigiKey I can wipe out all the GPS approaches for a hundred miles in all directions - think of JFK and Laguardia and Newark airports all immobilized at the same time during rush hour - hoo whee baby... denny-o