Thinking About a Boat

Ted DuPuis said:
Suspension is the real issue I find with the 1/2 tons. They're just too soft to do well with the extra weight back there.
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Something interesting I just learned before buying my current truck. The 04-08 Dodge Ram 1500 with the Mega-cab has 3/4 ton axles, brakes, springs, shocks under it. I did my due diligence and studied up on it before buying. Only the chassis with the Mega-cab has the 3/4 ton stuff under there. Before I bought, I got it up on the rack, measured the hubs, brakes and looked at the springs. Yup - all big stuff. I was pleasantly surprised. I also got 4x4 and have rear LSD and one of the few without electronic shift on the fly.

I guess they figured that the biggest cab with the 6 foot bed was too big to get the 5 bolt hubs and lesser suspension under it, so they just built a 3/4 ton truck and labeled it '1500'. Go figure. My tow rating is lower than the 3/4 unit of the same year, same axle, same brakes, same engine. The Dodge guy said they did that just to not mess up the sales of the bigger trucks. Another go figure.
 
We have a few of those around the place for odd jobs. Put farm plates on it, doesn't cost much. Also look into insuring your "fleet" as a farm policy. Join kansas farm bureau.
 
JHW said:
We have a few of those around the place for odd jobs. Put farm plates on it, doesn't cost much. Also look into insuring your "fleet" as a farm policy. Join kansas farm bureau.
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Good idea, I should look into that. With 11 acres, easy enough I'd figure.

We'll have to get together once you're back stateside. How far is your farm from KC?
 
Henning said:
Dry stacking is what most people with small boats do around here as well.
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We dry stack our 21' bowrider year round. Easy peasy, call when I leave the house and the boat is tied to the dock when I get there. Tie up / cover up when I get back, and they put it back away. Love it!
 
Bill Jennings said:
We dry stack our 21' bowrider year round. Easy peasy, call when I leave the house and the boat is tied to the dock when I get there. Tie up / cover up when I get back, and they put it back away. Love it!
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Hey! That's the same thing we do with your 21' bowrider! Works GREAT! :D
 
gkainz said:
Hey! That's the same thing we do with your 21' bowrider! Works GREAT! :D
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A buddy of mine kept his boat dry racked at another marina and always left the key in the boat. He kept wondering why he'd come back and the boat was a mess and the gas was gone. He doesn't leave the key anymore.
 
Bill Jennings said:
A buddy of mine kept his boat dry racked at another marina and always left the key in the boat. He kept wondering why he'd come back and the boat was a mess and the gas was gone. He doesn't leave the key anymore.
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I've never taken the key out of our boat, other than the one time. We got to the lake and realized no key. I hotwired it (being a proper New Yorker), but we decided to leave the key in the boat. Too easy to hotwire if someone wanted to steal/borrow it anyway.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I've never taken the key out of our boat, other than the one time. We got to the lake and realized no key. I hotwired it (being a proper New Yorker), but we decided to leave the key in the boat. Too easy to hotwire if someone wanted to steal/borrow it anyway.
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BTDT - I no longer take the key out of the boat either. Quite frankly it'd be hilarious if someone stole my boat. Since, well, it won't be hard to find them on a Nebraska lake.
 
jesse said:
BTDT - I no longer take the key out of the boat either. Quite frankly it'd be hilarious if someone stole my boat. Since, well, it won't be hard to find them on a Nebraska lake.
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And your engine running issues would leave them stranded. :)
 
Ted DuPuis said:
And your engine running issues would leave them stranded. :)
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correct best case scenario they'd be running away at 3 mph to nowhere. most likely they wouldn't know the trick to getting it to even do that and would end up rowing their way back to the dock where I'll be waiting with a beer to give them for their efforts.
 
Since we're done for the season with the boat, I'm deciding what to do on it over the winter (if anything). I'm leaning towards just winterize it since we have a lot of projects otherwise, but I'm open to ideas.
 
Bill Jennings said:
A buddy of mine kept his boat dry racked at another marina and always left the key in the boat. He kept wondering why he'd come back and the boat was a mess and the gas was gone. He doesn't leave the key anymore.
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If a marine mechanic wanted to take your boat for a joyride, the ignition lock would stop him for how long ? 30 seconds ? 45 seconds ?

The security in a dry-stack rests with the staff. The boat is secure because it can only be moved with the forklift. If you can't trust the staff, there is no security.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Since we're done for the season with the boat, I'm deciding what to do on it over the winter (if anything). I'm leaning towards just winterize it since we have a lot of projects otherwise, but I'm open to ideas.
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Are you in Kansas now?

Best idea, move to the gulf coast, NC, SC, FL < GA and keep boating :cheers:

If you aren't sure if its really winter yet, put a source of heat in the engine compartment instead of going through the winterizing motions. A bare bulb switched on for cold nights will keep you safe to at least 20F. Once it gets real cold then do the antifreeze and hibernate until spring.
 
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I don't want a boat until I have a place to keep it inside and I can buy a new boat or a darn good used one. Every boat I've ever seen that lived outside was messed up.

Keeping up with a boat that lives outside is a lot of work if you do it right. That's why so many fall into disrepair.
 
txflyer said:
I don't want a boat until I have a place to keep it inside and I can buy a new boat or a darn good used one. Every boat I've ever seen that lived outside was messed up.

Keeping up with a boat that lives outside is a lot of work if you do it right. That's why so many fall into disrepair.
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It is crazy how freaking cheap people are. Like my 2 neighbors bought new boats and they just sit out to rot. I am renting a 40' boat stall in Somerville that is brand new. 40' is $75 per month or you can get a 35' for $60. That has a nice roll up door and includes a light and plug. If someone is to damn cheap to pay $60 a month they shouldn't own a boat.
 
dell30rb said:
Are you in Kansas now?

Best idea, move to the gulf coast, NC, SC, FL < GA and keep boating :cheers:

If you aren't sure if its really winter yet, put a source of heat in the engine compartment instead of going through the winterizing motions. A bare bulb switched on for cold nights will keep you safe to at least 20F. Once it gets real cold then do the antifreeze and hibernate until spring.
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I did a check on the Google and it said that the average lows here bottom out at 18 during January, with average highs of 38. So I think I sill need to winterize given temperature excursions that are likely. Plus, there's no power out where I'll be keeping the boat.

When we were talking about moving before this job came up, the gulf coast was an area that we considered for that exact reason. However, we're really enjoying Kansas and I'm really liking the new job.
 
txflyer said:
I don't want a boat until I have a place to keep it inside and I can buy a new boat or a darn good used one. Every boat I've ever seen that lived outside was messed up.

Keeping up with a boat that lives outside is a lot of work if you do it right. That's why so many fall into disrepair.
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All depends on your priorities. We'd have missed out on a lot of fun with our boat if we had those same priorities, and we like ours just fine. No, it's not perfect. Yes, it will deteriorate faster if it's outside so I do want to keep it covered if possible. But if not, it didn't cost that much.

Besides, Jesse's buying it when we sell it, and he's good at fixing stuff.
 
jesse said:
What do I need to know about removing and reinstalling the flywheel? I imagine orientation influences timing?
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Your engine has CD ignition. There should be a "power pack" on there somewhere and there will be 3 different coils under the flywheel IIRC. One (actually it's probably more than one) is for battery charging, one is the ignition "charge coil" which provides the energy for the spark, and one is the trigger coil which generates the timing signal. If you follow the wires from the ignition coils they will go to the power pack which is likely your problem assuming you've eliminated the coil by swapping the coil to a different cylinder. Timing is set by rotating the plate under the flywheel that the coils mount on and you won't affect that by removing the flywheel (but I doubt your problem is the charge or signal coil). BTW it's possible to check those coils with an ohmmeter and you can check their output with a peak reading voltmeter while spinning the engine (plugs out) with the starter.

If you're serious about doing any maintenance on your engine beyond changing spark plugs I strongly recommend you purchase the appropriate Clymer manual. They cost $15-30 and contain all sorts of useful info.
 
pigpenracing said:
It is crazy how freaking cheap people are. Like my 2 neighbors bought new boats and they just sit out to rot. I am renting a 40' boat stall in Somerville that is brand new. 40' is $75 per month or you can get a 35' for $60. That has a nice roll up door and includes a light and plug. If someone is to damn cheap to pay $60 a month they shouldn't own a boat.
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I have seen a thing called a 'toy condo'. Basically a giant mini-storage with individual units with electric roll-up doors and a central RV dump-station and boat washing pad. You bought your unit for a fairly reasonable price.
 
jesse said:
I was on the boat when I wrote this, then I had a hell of a time getting back to the dock since in the ignition system was really starting to act up.

Finally got back to the dock, walked up to the trailer, and saw this:

tVqsytL.jpg


I was pretty well convinced neither the boat nor the trailer were leaving the lake today. Ted and Henning gave me some inspiration on Facebook. I loaded up a bunch of tools, ran to Autozone to discover they only had ONE bearing size in stock, and I had no idea what sized I needed... Luckily it was the right size.

The spindle was pretty well shot and was most certainly not round anymore. I couldn't even close to getting the new bearings on. It took me a hour or two with my steel chisel and 5 lb sledge hammer to beat it to roughly a round-ish shape. Enough to where I could get the bearings on. Got it all put back together, drove it the 10 or 15 miles home, checked the temperature of the hub and it all seems fine. I'll replace the axle in the spring.
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When you get that axle fixed you should install "Bearing Buddies". They not only feed grease into the bearings over time, they also provide static pressure inside the hub which keeps the water out.

Wish I had a DVA adapter for the multimeter to better troubleshoot the CDI system, but I don't, so I'll just swap the no 1 and no 2 coils and see if the problem moves. Hopefully it does.
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You can make an adapter with nothing but a capacitor and a diode. The component values are probably available on the internet.[/QUOTE]

You can get a pretty good idea of the coil's condition with an ohmmeter. See the Clymer manual for the correct readings. Typically there's only one charge coil and one timing sensor coil for all three cylinders. Only the magnets in the flywheel are duplicated. It's possible but unlikely that you have a weak magnet unless someone dropped the flywheel.

One thing that can cause a spark problem is when bearing for the plate that mounts the coils gets loose it can allow the gap between the coils and the flywheel to vary.
 
gismo said:
When you get that axle fixed you should install "Bearing Buddies". They not only feed grease into the bearings over time, they also provide static pressure inside the hub which keeps the water out.


You can make an adapter with nothing but a capacitor and a diode. The component values are probably available on the internet.
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You can get a pretty good idea of the coil's condition with an ohmmeter. See the Clymer manual for the correct readings. Typically there's only one charge coil and one timing sensor coil for all three cylinders. Only the magnets in the flywheel are duplicated. It's possible but unlikely that you have a weak magnet unless someone dropped the flywheel.

One thing that can cause a spark problem is when bearing for the plate that mounts the coils gets loose it can allow the gap between the coils and the flywheel to vary.[/QUOTE]

Assuming that the problem does not follow moving the coil, the plug is good, and the plug wire is good, is there a problem with what's under the flywheel that would cause intermittent spark on ONE cylinder only? Or does that basically have to be the powerpack?
 
gismo said:
Your engine has CD ignition. There should be a "power pack" on there somewhere and there will be 3 different coils under the flywheel IIRC. One (actually it's probably more than one) is for battery charging, one is the ignition "charge coil" which provides the energy for the spark, and one is the trigger coil which generates the timing signal. If you follow the wires from the ignition coils they will go to the power pack which is likely your problem assuming you've eliminated the coil by swapping the coil to a different cylinder. Timing is set by rotating the plate under the flywheel that the coils mount on and you won't affect that by removing the flywheel (but I doubt your problem is the charge or signal coil). BTW it's possible to check those coils with an ohmmeter and you can check their output with a peak reading voltmeter while spinning the engine (plugs out) with the starter.

If you're serious about doing any maintenance on your engine beyond changing spark plugs I strongly recommend you purchase the appropriate Clymer manual. They cost $15-30 and contain all sorts of useful info.
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IIRC... That motor takes the " Surface Gap" plugs and need ALOT of voltage to fire them properly...

A weakness anywhere in the ignition system will degrade performance.

http://www.formula1-dictionary.net/Images/spark_plug_surface_gap.jpg
 
Yup, we'll be out on the water with the runabout through October. We don't own wetsuits, so the skiing pretty much ends then here in Oklahoma. I've heard you can get through most of November if you're willing to don the neoprene (air temps are still reasonable). Pretty much nothing but fishermen on the lake from mid-September to May, so the water is always glass on the area lakes when the wind is low.
 
Bill Jennings said:
Bummer :(

88 tomorrow, 85 sunday, will be on the lake both afternoons!
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The past two weekends have had cold fronts which have made it too cold for lake days. Well, I'd be fine with it, but wife and kids less so. Besides, with all our house stuff going on, our days are pretty packed.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
The past two weekends have had cold fronts which have made it too cold for lake days. Well, I'd be fine with it, but wife and kids less so.
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Yeah, we have maybe a weekend or two before the temps drop out of the "wife and kids" zone. (basically, if it isn't at least 80 or above, they're not interested in going)
 
jesse said:
You can get a pretty good idea of the coil's condition with an ohmmeter. See the Clymer manual for the correct readings. Typically there's only one charge coil and one timing sensor coil for all three cylinders. Only the magnets in the flywheel are duplicated. It's possible but unlikely that you have a weak magnet unless someone dropped the flywheel.

One thing that can cause a spark problem is when bearing for the plate that mounts the coils gets loose it can allow the gap between the coils and the flywheel to vary.
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Assuming that the problem does not follow moving the coil, the plug is good, and the plug wire is good, is there a problem with what's under the flywheel that would cause intermittent spark on ONE cylinder only? Or does that basically have to be the powerpack?[/QUOTE]

The fixed magnet. There's one for each cylinder positioned under the flywheel to time the spark. If it's weak it wouldn't work very well. Why that would change with temperature or be intermittent at all I have no idea.

John
 
Winterized the boat this morning. Or rather, blew the water out. I did it differently than last year, and this seemed to work much better.

Last year, I unhooked all the coolant hoses, ran the engine a bit (I know, you're not supposed to do that), revved it a few times (I know, you're really not supposed to do that), and then used an air compressor blow gun with a rag to try to blow air through the rest of the engine. After that, I dumped a bit of antifreeze in for good measure. It worked, I didn't have a cracked block.

This year, I decided to still remove the coolant hoses, but instead I took one of my shop vacs and used the outlet side to blow through all the hoses. I'm confident I got the engine dried out given the gallon or so of water that came out of the engine when I blew on the big hose coming off of the water pump. I blew through all the hoses, of course, to get as much water out as possible. Given that I'm confident the engine is sans water at this point, I just buttoned her up and will leave her until spring. No antifreeze needed if there's no water in there.

The reality is I could've winterized the thing in August when we moved here, but it was just a low priority. Now with temps starting to drop into the teens and 20s overnight, it's getting to the point where soon there would be concerns of a cracked block.

Already looking forward to next year's boating season!
 
Even if there are small puddles of water, they won't break anything, that's why opening the petcocks to drain the block and exhaust, leaving them open are typically sufficient. One thing I like doing with raw water engines is give them an acid then soap flush at the end of the year to clean off any mineral and rust scale that formed in the engine over the year. You have no idea how many heating issues I have fixed that way. Hot engines running raw water (outboards can be particularly horrible) scale up incredibly quickly, especially in brown water.
 
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Ted DuPuis said:
Winterized the boat this morning. Or rather, blew the water out. I did it differently than last year, and this seemed to work much better.

Last year, I unhooked all the coolant hoses, ran the engine a bit (I know, you're not supposed to do that), revved it a few times (I know, you're really not supposed to do that), and then used an air compressor blow gun with a rag to try to blow air through the rest of the engine. After that, I dumped a bit of antifreeze in for good measure. It worked, I didn't have a cracked block.

This year, I decided to still remove the coolant hoses, but instead I took one of my shop vacs and used the outlet side to blow through all the hoses. I'm confident I got the engine dried out given the gallon or so of water that came out of the engine when I blew on the big hose coming off of the water pump. I blew through all the hoses, of course, to get as much water out as possible. Given that I'm confident the engine is sans water at this point, I just buttoned her up and will leave her until spring. No antifreeze needed if there's no water in there.

The reality is I could've winterized the thing in August when we moved here, but it was just a low priority. Now with temps starting to drop into the teens and 20s overnight, it's getting to the point where soon there would be concerns of a cracked block.

Already looking forward to next year's boating season!
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We are a bit ahead of ya..... Got to -13f last night... And it is headed your way...:D
 
N801BH said:
We are a bit ahead of ya..... Got to -13f last night... And it is headed your way...:D
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One thing I like about Kansas: we're far enough south to have less winter! :D
 
Henning said:
Even if there are small puddles of water, they won't break anything, that's why opening the petcocks to drain the block and exhaust, leaving them open are typically sufficient. One thing I like doing with raw water engines is give them an acid then soap flush at the end of the year to clean off any mineral and rust scale that formed in the engine over the year. You have no idea how many heating issues I have fixed that way. Hot engines running raw water (outboards can be particularly horrible) scale up incredibly quickly, especially in brown water.
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The water coming out was quite dirty, I probably should've done an acid wash kind of thing. I got the idea for the shop vac since that's howi cleared out my pool pipes for winterizing. Worked great.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
The water coming out was quite dirty, I probably should've done an acid wash kind of thing. I got the idea for the shop vac since that's howi cleared out my pool pipes for winterizing. Worked great.
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You can do it in the spring or anytime, no big deal. Lot's of people never do it, and I typically don't see people with issues until they have several years worth of scale. I just figure it's good PM on a raw water engine. The way I often do it is just lower the outboard or drive into a trash can with the flush mix in it and let it run for a while.

I like the shop vac idea, but as long as the petcocks are all found and opened, it's probably unnecessary, but doesn't hurt anything for sure.
 
I know the antifreeze (glycol) we use in our HVAC piping systems has inhibitors that protect and clean the metals in our piping systems. Not sure if the parts store variety has those properties or not.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
 
I haven't been good about looking for petcocks. This is easy - few seconds with a screwdriver on 6 hoses. Of course the potential exists for hose to break, but not really a big deal if it does - hoses are cheap.

No overheating issues yet (thankfully). For the boat, my general philosophy is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it. If it is broke, maybe fix it." Not taking this thing to Europe.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I haven't been good about looking for petcocks. This is easy - few seconds with a screwdriver on 6 hoses. Of course the potential exists for hose to break, but not really a big deal if it does - hoses are cheap.

No overheating issues yet (thankfully). For the boat, my general philosophy is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it. If it is broke, maybe fix it." Not taking this thing to Europe.
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I don't know if this applies to your engine but there may be passageways in the block that won't blow clear. If I were you I'd find the petcocks and open them. Chances are pretty good that dumping antifreeze in will protect the engine from residual water but why take the chance?

On the engine in my ski boat they replaced the block drains with knock sensors which are a PITA to remove but I still do it (and run a stiff wire into the hole to clear the scale buildup and let the water flow freely).
 
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