Hey guys,

Getting quotes to repower my boat and saw references for suzuki to a guy named Brett Ward who was apparently well priced and competent... (i know right, a unicorn!)

Anyways last post i found was from 2017 and have found his name at "west coast suzuki"/ leisurecat in henderson and "bravo marine bayswater".

Any idea if its the same guy at both businesses or is one an old premises??

Im replacing 2 x 90hp 2 stroke mercs and would dearly love to swap for 2 x 90hp 4 strokes but $$$ will be a tad high so looking at single 150hp.

Also interested to hear about any other recent well priced good repowering experiences in perth.

Cheers

 Hi,

I recently got hold a of a cheap old (early to mid 80's I'd guess) Guardian 5.65 hull. It definatly requires alot of work to bring back to life, but when costing the project realized I've never even been in one and know nothing abut them. Does anyone have an opinion on them. I want to restore it but dont want to pour a heap of money into a hull that never was and never will be any good. If its a crap hull I may as well forget about it and try to source another hull to use as a project...

Thanks in advance! 

Has anyone installed the Eva boat flooring in their boat? There are a few different DIY brands online just not sure if it is worth it or just get new carpet

 Hey guys,

Can anyone recommend a quality business/ person that knows about and can custom install a drum anchor winch on a 5.6 metre fg cuddy cab?

My boat only has an anchor well inside the front hatch so it will need to be mounted on the nose with serious reinforcing.

Ive read about Micks winches in South oz and it seems thats what im looking for, someone who knows his stuff, unfortunately Im in perth.

Im not looking for something dipped in gold, its not that sort of boat but it does have to be functional and as neat as possible.

I do have one guy i know can do it but hes not cheap as a rule but just want to see if theres any alternative options.

Any suggestions much appreciated

 Hi all,
 

I'm trying to replace the carpet in my runabout, but am having trouble removing the marine screws that hold the mounting brackets for my removable seats. 

These are marine grade Phillips screws (say 25 years old) that are screwed the the seat bracket and into marine ply.

No issue with rust, but from the screws I have removed, there seems to be a build up of crap or maybe even glue within the top 1cm of the thread.

I managed to remove one of the seat brackets, but the screws in the other one won't budge. Or I've ran out of strength :)

Only thing I've tried so far is put screw driver in the head and then hitting with hammer. It helped loosen some a little bit.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

Shane
 

 Guys thought it mite be a good idea to change my boat trailers wheel bearings. Single axle, mechanical braked 1500kgs. Has been 5 years and about 20000kms done since l last changed them. In that time there's been no repacks or added grease. Usually l do them every year and replace good grease and bearings but lve been slack and just left them.

This post is mainly a info post for people who question whether bearing buddies and fresh grease pumped in regularly are needed over just caps.

I will admit l worked in the trailer service industry for a few years so lve changed more bearings than most. I have seen many failed bearing due to water ingestation from bad servicing and or use of B/Buddies. 

What do l use , caps or B/Buddies. All l use is caps with a bead of sealant around to water proof. Also l make sure where the rear seal sits is smooth and clean. Using fine emery paper fixes any issues in this area. If there's rust here water will seep in.

One thing l also have which l take on any trip longer than a local run is a dedicated tool kit with everything to change wheel bearing on the side of the road. l used this kit last Exmouth trip when l can across a guy an hr out of Carnarvon on a Sunday with a collapsed bearing.

So here's a few pics. 1 of my tool kit,  also my hubs and bearings. You will see the grease still has a good blue colour with no sign of water or heat. Really they could of been used again. 

So for me it's caps over B/Buddies, JMO.

My hub discs are 7 years old and pitting with rust which  to clean up l used a flap disc on a grinder,  thus is the down side to long maintenance.

What's in the tool kit.

Pliers, side cutters , 5/8 or 16mm spanner, shifter, multi grips, hammer, screw driver, cable ties, spare bearings, caps ,castle nuts ,split pins, grease gun, bearing grease packer, spring hanger ubolts, wheel nuts, 16mm mild steel rod, race fitting tool, emery paper, wheel nut socket, brake pads

Hi all,

Bit of background.  

I recently upgraded my twin 2010 Yamaha 150hp 4 stroke engines to 2020 models.

With the old engines I had 4 rectangular guages that gave me everthing I needed.....fuel, trim, voltage, engine hours, trip hours, fuel burn rate, NM/litre, total fuel used, speed, engine temperature.  All there staring at me.

With the new engines, I opted for the Command Link 6YC LCD screen.....it seemed like it was the better option.

Frankly, I am underwhelmed.  Whilst the screen is able to show everything I need, only a small subset is viewable at any one time.  For example, to see trip hours or total fuel used, I need to navigate to the menu section.  Its many button presses.  Normally I want to just see it, then go back.  Similarly, there is 3 other "panels" that show various bits of info, but you need to navigate between them.

My question is this.  Is anyone else like me and would rather see everything at a glance?  Have you coupled other guages with the 6YC LCD?

I have lots of room on my dash, so putting other guages there is no issue.  

Interested in others views.

Cheers

Belly

 Does anyone on here have a Bill Plug/Oceanic 8 meter or thereabouts, especially twin?
Chasing a bit of info on axle placement for my trailer build?

 G'day all,

I need to do some repairs to my transom and replace wash well washers as they leak and to do this I need to remove ,my outboard motor. It is a Mercury Saltwater 125 and I'd image very heavy, so just wondering how I'd go about taking it off and storing it on the same thing that can lift it while I make the repair. Is there something I can build or hire to do such a job? 

Thanks 

Geoff

On my last trip out, my Yamaha Trim Tilt display was showing that it's all the way down, stuck on digital gauge only.

Even though I was able to move it up and down via button on Control stick, ie even if I lifted the prop all the way out of the water it stayed like image below.

Switching off everything and on didn't reset.

Does anyone know why?

This didn't effect what the Trim tilt function did on motor, it worked fine - i just didn't know how high or low the prop was in the water without physically looking.

Then after motoring on the water for a couple of hours (runtime), all of sudden my port QL Tim tab went all the way down and locked all the way down!???

I couldn't undo that. (Have a 7.2 Razerline Hardtop)

Question: is the Trim Tilt function of the Yamaha, somehow connected to the electronic smarts of the QL Trim technology?

Any ideas?

Co-incidence?

Cheers Guys.

Hi all.

I do recall in the past some have asked about aluminium roller doors for cabin security, but the search function on this forum is broken it seems.

Google has also been pretty useless.

I'm looking to retrofit a cabin door on my boat and am comsidering the roller option given the config of my boat.  Does anyone here have some leads on where i could get one made up, or at the very least buy some interlocking slats and tracks.

Cheers.

Tom.

Time to replace all the Bilge Pumps in Killa.

Keen on thoughts, experiences or comments on the best performing pumps on the market.

 Hey all.  Looking at buying an older, locally built boat.  It's a Seeker  20' Reef Raider, re-engined with a carby 5 litre Mercruiser and an AlphaOne leg. Motor has tested okay for compression and has a service history.  Recommended by mechanic to replace exhaust manifolds/risers in the next 18 months (Cost around $2800)

Hull has had new stringers and floor in the last twelve months. Good overall condition and asking ~$14k.

Just seeing what people's experience is with a 45 year old Fibreglass Hull?  And yes, I'm a little scared of an older mercruiser v8 5.0 LX, albeit in good nick.  Boat will be used in geographe bay and west coast

With eyes wide open of course

 Hi guys

I have a 5.5 mtr Searider that currently has a Johnson 115hp 2 stroke

I am looking into repowering with a 4 stroke, either 135 or 150 hp if I can get away with it

The hull does not have an ABP and I am just talking to a marine builder about getting it specced for one.

What 5.5 mtr hull do you guys have,  what size 4 stroke and are you happy with the power

Cheers 

After a recent overnighter to rotto - and with the kids getting old enough to enjoy days on the boat (2 and 4 years old) - I'm looking at putting some shade on my 5mtr swiftcraft.

First thing I did was started to draw up some plans for a targa top sort of thing, to be made of stainless steel complete with rocket launcher, a basket on top to hold things and all the fruit. Haven't sought quotes yet but I cant imagine it I would get any change from $2k. 

Then during my research I came across this: Oceansouth Targa Top

So naturally I did more research...this was really the only thing I could find available "off the shelf" BUT it does fit the basic requirements (and would fit the boat without modification) for what seems to be a good price.

But $500 is still $500 ! So I wanted to check some other people's thoughts on purchasing something cheap (and potentially nasty?) like this compared to spending more for a custom job ?

Also, would a targa top like this put too much pressure on the fibreglass ? Even with the custom design I've drawing up I plan to use plates on the inside and outside of the fibreglass to distribute the load - but I do worry about how strong the old swift's fibreglass gunnel might be.

Interested to hear any thoughts for/against.

Thanks !

 Hey all,

Currently looking at purchasing a boat which has a larger motor than the ABP suggests. What's the process of getting the vessel re-evaluated to be approved for the larger donk? I've seen a few online companies, anyone used them before? Alternatively, is there someone local in WA who could provide this service / anyone recommends?

I know it's not illegal to run the larger outboard, but insurance could be a pain in the ass if you ever needed to claim for an on water incident.

Cheers,

J.

 Noticed some oil under my motor a few days ago. Had a look and its coming from the drain port on the gearbox, the plug was a little loose so nipped it up and it still seems to be leaking. Do these motors run an oring or a gasket? are the prone to failing? Alwas seem to happen when you want to take the boat out and its holidays !!

My LED trailer lights not functioning correctly and Found water ingress. Can anyone recommend a good waterproof set? I’ve a large boat which requires the trailer backed in the water quite deep. Cheers 

  G'day all. I've got two problems with my 30hp Yammy 4 stroke (electric start).

First, it's not charging. It does, however, run fine. A test meter on the outlet wires from under the flywheel show no current coming out; AC or DC.  Would this tend to indicate a buggered stator (in which case I thought it wouldn't run) or just a crook lighting coil?. I'm hoping the latter 'cause it's cheaper!

Second, it's begun to not start normally and I reckon it's the start in gear unit giving me grief as I can usually get it going by holding the key on "start" and wiggling the gear lever until it fires. It all looks ok, so are there any adjustments that can be made or is a new part required? Any help would be much appreciated.

Complements of the season to you and yours.........John

 Hey Legends...

I am trying to remove the fuel tank from my 2015 model trailcraft 560 sports cab. I have removed the rivets and broken the bead of silicone around the edges of the access hatch, but it is not budgeing, to the point were the ally is bending on the edges when I try to force it up.... The only thing I can think of is they have siliconed the stiffeners to the actually fuel tank in the middle of the hatch? Which if is the case will make it almost impossible to remove without damaging the hatch. Has anyone removed a fuel tank on a later model Trailcraft? 

Cheers!!

Hi,

It's about time I replaced my boat batteries.  I have two for my twin 150hp 4 stroke Yamahas.

I'm wondering if anyone has had experience with installing lithium cranking batteries.

The link below is for an iTechworld option.  Quite expensive, but they are light (8kg) and meant to last 3 times the discharge cycle. Also claims to charge from the standard alternator.

https://itechworld.com.au/collections/lithium-batteries/products/1420ca-12-volt-lithium-battery-itech1420-cranking

Thoughts?

Cheers

Hi All..... Just wondering if anyone has any Mercury Optimax oil (the synthetic oil for 2 stroke Optimax DFI engines) - seems to be problems with shipments with it due any day....but I'm getting low...and nervous :)... so just seeing if anyone out there has a spare litre or 3 they are willing to part with (happy to pay). Big thanks in advance - I'm NOR. cheers Steve

 Hi all

I have 5m trailcraft that i want to either strip the paint and put a clear coating on the ally or strip and respray. I have one qoute and the price was a bit exy and wanted to know if anyone can recommend anyone? I am SOR

Also is it that hard to remove the paint from ally yourself?

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks

Mick

Hi guys.

i have a 200hp 4stroke mercury.

i have noticed over the last week or so that when i park it up i trim it up about midway. a few times by the next morning the leg is sitting on the ground. still seems to trim p and down ok, but just doesnt seem to hold the position.

any ideas? cant get it into the shop until early jan, and really want tobe using over the next few weeks for the crays.

cheers!

Goat.

hi team
i have a garmin sounder module (6 pin) that i want my Koden 8 pin transducer plug to go into - does anyone know if this can be done? i have found 3pin to 8 pin adaptors online - but really want to know if it will be compatible as well

cheers

 Hi , wondering if anyone has put a kill tank in a Trailcraft. I have a 2006 5.7m Sportscab and wanting to get rid of having an esky on the deck. Not sure where fuel tank is and if putting a kill tank will cause issues. 
any info or ideas welcomed. cheers

 Hey Guys, headed up to Exmouth soon and taking my boat for the first time. Boat and trailer are 3 years old and fitted with bearing buddies. Should i be thinking about repacking wheel bearings before i head off ??

 cant believe how much the supply chain has been disrupted.

My ETC 115 has a fuel leak in the fuel/vapour seperator and obviously is unuseable.

Made me think of getting a 4S motor as Evinrude has gone toe-up. Cant get a 115 4S of the preferred brand until 2021!! So thats out if I want to be on the water for Xmas and crabbing in Mandurah.

Have been waiting for 9 weeks so far for the replacement Evinrude part and no news despite calls ++ to the Service centre. They cant even get an estimate about when.

Getting itchy feet as I have a brand new Humminbird to test and setup that havent even seen a drop of water.

Anyone else in this situation.

Neels

Looking for a new lightweight motor for running around the bays @ Rottnest and to maybe take on other trips. I have a 2.4m inflatable floor Quicksilver to use it with. I'm not looking for anything more than walking speed performance and light weight convenience.

Any recommendations?

I am leaning towards the Honda 2.3hp @ $1240 but i understand people have a love/hate/love to hate relationship with them! Simple, reliable, but noisy...

 Some will say the dark side.

My ETEC is getting old and I have been trying to figure out 

what 4 stroke is the go.

This is not a troll trying to start a war but is the opinion off others I respect.

Leaning to Suzy

 Ah 115hp