if you dont ask, you wont know.....

any suggestions for below water line sealant over existing 'patches' on a fibreglass hull. repairs seem fine, just added peace of mind until summer is over and winter refurb commences. ie fixed professionally. cheers

 north of river service and fibreglass repairers please. anyone to avoid or fully recommend would be very helpful

 Hi all i have a 1976 johnson 70 hp 2 stroke 3 cyl and was looking for some help. The motor will run like a dream once it is started sometimes can take up to around 30 turns and almost a flat battery to get it going?? it doesent seem to be pumping to much fuel as there is no slick on water when trying. also after ive head out and found some ground to fish (not to far) it will some times start with no issue but if i give it to much throttle it will just stall and i have to travel at 4-5 knots for about 5 mins and then very gently apply the throttle. do you think this is related? i have fitted new plugs, new water pump housing and impeller, also new main jets to carbs stripped them down and cleaned all new gaskets ect. the two needles seem to have been removed??? seats stll in place so i have no needles to adjust (i was very confussed) not sure if this is normal practice on these old motors?????? any advice or help would be much apreciated thanks Dan

gday everyone!first time here,who knows may even contribute something worthwhile....

 can anyone id the year of this 40hp? or direct me to a website that can? yes i have googled every combination possible of 'yamaha 40hp four stroke photos/pics/images /identification etc etc'.thinking (hoping) its 2006

Thanks in advance

I'm mounting a new transducer on my tinny transom. The holes for the new transducer don't line up with the old holes and I'm not too keen to fill the old ones and drill new ones, so thought i'd go with the chopping board mounting block solution that I have heard of others using i.e a square piece of thick nylon chopping board mounted onto the bottom of the transom using existing holes (and some sikaflex) and then new transducer (and any future ones) can just be mounted onto the block.

I had a piece of standard, thin nylon board lying around but it is only about 10mm thick and didn't inspire much confidence when I put a test stainless self-tapping screw in. 

Does anyone know where I can buy a nice thick (25mm plus I suppose) chopping board that I can use. 

Thanks for any help.

I was googling around for info on new 250 motors and came across this!

2000 horses made up of 8 x 250 yammies.

dunno if true or not, but would make for one helluva quick fishing trip!

Does anyone know of where to get descent cheap marine carpet?

BCF = $30 linear (1.8m wide i think)

cheers

Guys after 3 trips out in the new boat starting to get used to how it handles, but having difficulty with maintaining speeds. 5.5mtr Runabout with Johnson 130hp 2 stroke V4 motor.

I'm either just pushing through the water and possibly chewing juice no end, or if I attempt to throttle forward to pick up even a bit of speed, and start to get up onto even a bit of a plane, the boat virtually without me even touching the throttle any further, just increases both speed and revs and just begins to take off and get quicker and quicker, until I back the throttle off, but when I do that the boat virtually comes to a standstill, mind you this is trying to keep to river speeds. 

I went out with a mate in his boat on the river on Saturday and he said my bow was sitting up out the water a lot, but no matter how much I trim it I don't seem to be able to keep it down in front under power.

My mate suggested a Hydro foil  or Permatrim.

What are your thoughts and suggestions ? 

Engine Has 320 Hrs on it, was last serviced at 300. Now it seems to be leaking oil out of the leg some where. Has any one else has any issue with oil seals or what not on the suzuki? is it expected only after 320 hrs to be leaking oil? Any info would be greatly appreciated from anyone with some marine mechanical history.

brett

 Anyone recommend where I can get a CDI unit for a 70hp Yamaha 2st

Im expecting the cost to be outragous so looking around for cheapest options

cheers

were do you guys get your work done for biminis?

Hey Blokes... hunting a plate hull with a latish outboard max $15000 ...currently looking at a 18ft westy with serviced 90hp 06 optimax with 400hrs ...under budget ..I know its a bit like how longs a piece of string, but do you think 400hrs is a bit long in the tooth or not...and if anyone knows of a plate within my budget throw me a pm....cheers Chris...

 Gday everyone just trying to to get some info on these outboards as the boat im looking at buying has one of these,its done 300hrs full service history.reliable,fuel efficiant,any pros cons,worth buying.                                                                                                                                                                         thanks Nick                                                                                                                                                                      

Hi all I recently had a lowrance hds8 with a p79 airmar inhull tranny fitted to the new boat I haven't had the chance to try it out in the deeper water yet but after having a little play with it in the sound while crabbing I was very impressed even though I was only in 10-20mtrs it made it easy to pick out weed patches and at top speed 30+ knts the picture was still crystal clear. Just gotta wait for some decent weather to try it out in the 80s. I've done a bit of searching on here for manual tuneing tips and found a little info but not a great deal so I thought I'd start a post for people to put up there personal preference settings on the hds. It's interesting to hear the different ways people set there sounders up maybe we can teach the less wiser (like myself) how to get the best results out of there hds unit. A few things I'm most interested in is what background colour do most of u guys find the easiest to read hard bottOm and coral etc. Also just wondering do u use the same settings drifting as u would while traveling at speed or do u turn the gain up giving u a faster picture. Thanx guys in advance I'm sure there's alot of different preferences for settings at least if we all post what we know about the hds we all might find out something we didn't know and when it comes to finding fish u can never know to much :-)

I have a Perspex window on my boat that goes from the dash to the top of the cabin door that has cracked and needs replacing. Any one on here had anything perspex made up before?

G'day everyone,

Recently my lowrance gps reciever has packed it in so i went up the shop to get a replacement but at $400 i went home empty handed.

So does anyone know of a cheaper alternative to buying a new lowrance reciever? Or know where i can get one cheaper? Im currently using a lgc-3000, but i was told they no longer make them so the $400 replacement was a lgc-4000.

Cheers Paul 

Got this of a Humminbird page but helps get the idea of side scan.

  (These are of my Lowrance)

1.       Is the righthand view of a rockbar coming in of the bank there are some fish there in the water column.

The raised section is under the boat.

2.       Is the lefthand view raised is under the boat fish signal a bit stronger, so fish slightly left of trawl run.

3.       You can see rockbar tapers of in to deeper water to the left.

 The others are a wreck but same princiaple, things in the vetical section are sticking up under the boat others wit shadows are out to the side.

Hope this helps side scan users.

Cheers POC 

Hi guys,

Just got my first boat and have a problem with the fuel. ali underfloor tank.

I have filled it up three times over the last week and a half and everytime i have parked it on my paving straight after.

The next day once i have come home from work there is fuel all over the paving and down the back side of the boat where the "breather" is. I think thats what its called. My understanding was the "breather" was to allow excess fuel to spill out the back if the tank if it is over filled at the bowser. This does happen and usually a little bit on the way home, totally understandable. However once the boat is parked on the paving none comes out. The next day i think the fuel heats up and pours out the back. is this normal??? surely not?? i have tried leaving the fuel cap off to allow it to breathe a little more, and no fuel comes out at the cap.  I am only filling it until the bowser cuts off.

It has stained the shit out of my new $3000 paving and i need ideas of how to get this off as well.

Please dont offer me advice like fill it up just before you go out, because you will sound like my misses and thats not a solution and not always practical. Surely this doesnt happen to everyone??

any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry guys I've got a million questions, at the same time trying not to drive you fellas mad.

I've only just bought my first boat in the last month, after growing up around boats with my grand father.

With help from you guys, from my threads and the threads i'm reading, I feel i am starting to tick all the right boxes in getting a safe up to date maintenance regime. 

As soon as I bought the boat, I sent it straight away for a full service on the motor, which was completed, and the motor came back with a full bill of health.

The motor is a 1999 Johnson 130hp 2 stroke V4.

I've taken the boat out in the river twice for a couple of get to know it type trips, and have noticed that the Tell tale, peehole, place where the water squirts out the side of the motor, whatver you want to call it, the water stream is not a direct squirt, it doesn't stop and start water is allways coming out of it, although it is not a straight stream with a lot of pressure. Now when I flush it on the ear muffs, I have noticed down on the lower gear box leg that either side of the leg also has a tell tale squirt which is strong and constant, along with another one at around the same level down low squirting towards the transom.

Yesterday I dropped back into where I had it serviced (I wont name them because I don't think thats fair) spoke to the mechanic in regards to the top tell tale pressure, and he told me that the tell tale pipe connects onto a fitting which is connected to the motor body by a backing nut, this same fitting also has a breather type tube coming off it as well which just sits in the bottom of the motor body which the mechanic says serves no real purpose, the mechanic said if it was his motor he would take off the breather altogether, remove the fitting and backing nut, put a grommet in the motor body hole and pass the tell tale through the grommet and then I would get a decent squirt out. He told me to go home take the motor cover off, just pull the tell tale pipe off the fitting hold it out to the side, put the motor on flush start it and I would see a decent squirt, which I did and he was 100 % correct.

Has anyone come across this previously, and would it be good advice to remove this fitting, and use the grommet advice ?

Cheers. 

 Hey guys

iv got a 1980 70HP Johnson and looking for a Stainless Tilt Tube..

Just wondering if anyone knows where i can aquire one? where do you all get your motor parts from?

Thanks

Aaron

Gday everyone.  looking into a Car Topper at the moment, looking for something to go on roof so I can tow Camper Trailer as well.  Maiden trip will be Gnaraloo.  Has anyone got any advise on makes and models.  Vehicle will be a Patrol Wagon.  These sound pretty good www.dinghyworld.com.au/Details.asp The Mako Craft Topper Tracker, I like the idea of 100mm higher gunnels.  Looking at about a 15hp donk.  Does anyone know of any car toppers for sale?

Cheers for any help

Does anyone know who can supply a small piece of cabon fibre woven matt for a small job id like to do on a dash? I only need 300mm x 120 piece.

Im SOR

I have a manky looking steering wheel I would like to replace.

Its some kind of black poly type material I cant see a brand.

I can get the centre nut off thats fine but my problem is I cant seem to remove the steering wheel or anything any further than this. Below the wheel is like a raised cowling if that helps, I could take a photo.

Does it pull or knock off or does it screw thread off, if so which way would it thread off as I cant seem to budge it either way. ?

Or am I missing something ?

Cheers again.

Gday fellas

Need advice on a jockey wheel for my dual axel easy tow trailer. At the moment the trailer seems too heavey for the standard jockey wheel and is deteriorating the rubber on the wheel and I was wondering if any other boaties have had this problem and how they went about rectifying it. I have moved the boat back on the trailer 50mm or so but that only made a small difference to the problem. Cheers

Ok guys what about flushing out the motor with fresh water after use ?

My outboard is a 1999 Johnson 130hp V4 (2 stroke, 4 cyl) and I flush it with ear muffs.

I have been told to run/flush it when I get home for at least 10 to 15 minutes, so as to give the thermostat time to open.

Now this next point I have been told 3 different opinions by 3 different people.

1) I was also originally told, instead of switching it off at the key at the end of flushing, to actually switch off or disconnect the fuel, so as to run the motor out of petrol, so no petrol is left in the carbys, every time I flush it out. Like I said I was originally advised this a month ago by a very old boatie (maybe things have changed)

2) I have also been told it is not adviseable to run it out of fuel after flushing, because it can and will damage the power head.

3) I have been advised to only run it out of fuel when and if you are virtually winterising your boat for the wet season.  

Which advise is correct ? Is there some truth to all the advice ? Are they all right or all wrong ?

Cheers.

While I'm on a roll picking up info I thought I'd keep going.

What's the go with re charging your boat battery, I don't have a dual battery system "yet" so I want to keep what I've got on deck.

I was following another thread here, and it mentioned that somebody forgot to put the battery on charge after the last trip.

Is that normal practice for boaties and fishos to do ? Should I be re charging after every trip out, or should it be done once every three odd months or something ?

And if so can you charge with your normal car battery type charger, like I would charge a car battery ? 

I have a Delkor marine battery, and I have noticed it does not have the caps to unscrew while it is charging, like a car battery, what's the go there ?

Cheers.

Guys , i recently bought a Fraser ( see attached ) it is a great buy, but i need to upgrade the covers as the zippers have given way and the canvas is just about shot.

I was thinking about putting front clears on it and maybe changing the profile.

Anyone have advice on replacing the canvas ect ?

thanks in advance.

Cheers

Gardie

Hello All,

My family has a house booked and i want to take our small boat (4.5 metre Savage) over for the stay.

Does anyone know where i can advertise for someone to tow it there for me as i am not too keen to drive it there!  not yet anyway...

Hi all,

Wondering if any of you have taken a VRO unit off a Johnson outboard? I have seen the youtube segments, is it as easy as disconnecting the two wiring and plugging the oil hose intake? Obviously, you would have to run 2 stroke fuel from the tank before hand. Anything else I need to know?

Hi all,

I recently bought a used Quintrex Dory 420 with a Honda 25hp 4st on the back (standard open hull with no decks etc, just fuel, batt, two seats and safety gear). Overall, i'm pretty happy with the rig, but I was somewhat disappointed by some aspects of it's performance and just wanted to get some opinions from people with similar setups and perhaps some technical advice on improving performance.

The engine appears to be pretty sweet. I changed the plugs, oils & filters when I bought the engine. It starts easily and runs well. Top speed with two big guys (110kg+) on board and gear is about 35kph (20knts), which I am quite happy with. However, getting on to the plane can be quite difficult with two on board, especially into chop or headwind (and pretty much impossible with a third person). I normally have to feather the throttle, as if i try to open it up in one go the engine seems to bog down. It doesn't seem to me like it is an engine fault, but rather a torque issue - almost as if it is overloading the engine perhaps due to being 'over propped'. (Prop is a stock Honda 9.9x12).

Also, I've had a look at the engine mounting height today and it seems to be mounted much too low - cav plate about 50mm+ below the bottom of the hull. I know that the rule of thumb is that cav plate should be level or max 25mm below hull, and I have noticed that there is quite a bit of vertical spray coming up the transom when on the plane which I assume is a symptom of motor being too low. I can change mounting bolts to the bottom mounting holes which will raise the OB by another 25mm, however it will still be 25mm+ below hull and I can't go any higher without building up the transom height somehow.

Anyway, I realise this is a bit of a wide question, but like I said just looking for some opinions from people with same or similar rig or people with good techincal knowledge. To sum up:-

1. Would you say that this rig was underperforming based on the above?

2. Does the 'bogging down' engine whilst opening throttle sound like an engine fault, or just overloading the engine as I suspect?

3. Is cav plate 25-30mm below hull okay? If not, how can I get an extra inch on the transom height? It is the type with an angled cut out in the middle, so assume that I could just get someone to weld on a section (25x25mm square tube perhaps) onto the top of the exising transom.

4. Should I change to a lower pitch prop, considering I will normally be fishing with a bit of a load? What size should I go to - 9.9X11?

5. I was looking at fitting an SE Sport 200 hydrofoil to cav plate to try help getting on plane, however since the outboard seems to be a bit low already, I am worried the plate would sit under the water (rather than on top as it is supposed to) and just make matters worse by creating more drag?

Any help or advice appreciated.....