I know I'm fat but ...

[Genie]

Good Point!

[Lightningboy]

TimH- Your old motor probably just needs a little TLC.  If you haven't done it, you should change plugs every two years.  Swap the L/U lube every fall.  New water pump impeller every spring.

But most old motors have problems because of fuel delivery.  Varnish deposits in the carburetor especially are at prime fault.  First step in my book with an old motor is Seafoam.  I mix a "strong" amount of Seafoam in the fuel (according to the bottle instructions) first time I run an older motor.  Then a lighter mix for each tank after.  Does a great job of cleaning up two cycle fuel delivery systems.

Be aware that the Seafoam treatment may cause some fuel gaskets to leak.  Not the cause of the problem, but just uncovering a bad gasket that was sealed by the varnish deposits.

I fished out of a 14 foot Starcraft with an old white '66 Kiehaulfer Merc 6 horse for quite a few years.  Did the things I mentioned above, and she ran great.

I know I'm a gas burning dinosaur who's on Al Gore's top ten carbon footprint offender list, but I hope they never kill two cycles.  Almost indestructible motors when cared for regularly.  I still clean the snow every winter with my Dad's old '72 Ariens 7.5 horse 24 inch snow blower.

Nice to know some of the tin boat guys are fans of shiny glass.  Too many treat us like we're "pimp boats".   

[Mike S.]

TIM, you sound like my wife. She always tells me how there is somebody in the world who would love to have my truck, or my boat.

As far as making your 20 horse faster, drink more beer!  Everything is top fueler fast with the right amount of beer. Just kidding. Bore it and stroke it!  Just kidding there too. Wait till its time to upgrade boats and buy a really fast one.

[djkimmel]

Use my 'surfing tuna boat wakes' suggestion! I could get another 3 to 6 mph depending upon the strength of the wake and how well I caught the edge when I had my 14 foot boat with the old 20HP!!!

[Genie]

OK - I had my window of opportunity on Sunday and I went to Muskegon and did some testing (and a little fishing) 

Unfortunately, I couldn't get the exact pad measurements because of the roller on the trailer (red arrow in picture).  But I did get a measurement for the jack plate (two black arrows in picture).  I raised the jack plate before I got on the water because last time running, there was absolute no prop blow out so I knew it could go up.  Well, the jack plate distance measures 1.75 inches on both sides so I know it is level and I fired it up.

The water temp was 82 degrees, the boat have half full gas tanks (so 25 gallons), empty livewells, all my fishing gear, and just me.  I was only able to get one or two runs in because I got there a little late in the morning and it was a little rough.  Boat still popped out of the hole awesome - no blow out.  If I popped up and turned hard, there was a little blow up, but nothing major so I think the height is right.

Well, I hit 70.5 on run one and I think I was turning 5600 - a little rough so hard to see at that speed.  Second run was about 70.15 but it was a lot rougher and I was scared - yep said it ... don't like the boating jumping around like that in rougher water - still like the speed but calm speed.  I could definitely tell there was more of the boat out of the water - even kicked up my side imaging transducer.  Steering was still good too.

So, I think I might have it!  I will look for a calm day to really get some more precise readings and do a little further tweaking.  BTW, how do you measure the pad distance and such with that roller in the way?  Take the roller off?

[Mike S.]

Sweet!!  It's way more fun to go 70, isn't it?  The prop offer is still open if you want to give it a shot.

I was on Muskegon yesterday evening, and it was real rough on the west end. Didn't dare run 60. I must admit, I am a little timid now due to the mess I almost got into on White last Tuesday night. It's kinda scary when you get into some waves that you didn't see, and the next thing you know, the boat is straight up and down in mid air. My new lesson was slow down and look harder at the lake.

[djkimmel]

The fish will still be there even if you take an extra 60 seconds to get there. Of course, you have to get there first... maybe slow down a little more often. Speed limit on the main lakes of White and Muskegon - 55mph...

[Genie]

Should we have a poll to guess Dan's age?  Based on that post, I would say 104.

Anyone?

[Mike S.]

The fish will still be there even if you take an extra 60 seconds to get there. Of course, you have to get there first... maybe slow down a little more often. Speed limit on the main lakes of White and Muskegon - 55mph...

Oh, but I was still in the no wake zone when that happened!  Just kidding. It's all about the stupid pride. See, my ROI partner was behind me, and I really didn't want to let him catch me. My boat is a little faster, but that Champ sure does soak up the waves. He saw me start to come up, and he trimmed down and never had to let off the throttle. Needless to say, he got around me, and by the time I got out of my mess, I had no chance of catching him.

Yeah, Genie, 104+!  Just kidding Dan.

[Lightningboy]

It would be great if you could post a pic of the transom/pad area from directly behind the boat/trailer.

You don't need the level to stick out from behind the hull to measure.  Have a buddy man the crank while you get under the stern with a level.  Hold the level on any flat area along the length of the pad & have them crank up/down until the pad of the boat is level.  You can then measure from pad to floor for a baseline measurement.

Now trim the motor (with prop off) until the prop shaft is level without moving the boat crank.  Now measure from center of prop shaft to floor.

Math time; subtract the prop shaft to floor measurement from the pad to floor measurement.  You now have the prop to pad distance.

Hitting a new high speed means you're not far off.  Do you have a water psi gauge?  You really need one to do this safely.  You mentioned you felt the prop blow out (lose grip).  You really don't want that to happen.  Trim down slightly in turns to keep grip, and trim up when running straight/flat. 

The main measure of how high you can run the motor is water psi.  You must maintain minimum water psi when running WOT.  Standard method is raise the motor 1/4 inch at a time until you lose minimum psi, and bump back down 1/4 inch.

Watch your trim angle also.  Lots of drivers trim too high and actually lose top end.  You want a rooster tail about 3 feet high, or about as high as the top of your cowling.  Anything more than that looks cool, but actually wastes speed.

They feel different when you really get that hull out of the water, don't they?    ... it gets pretty addicting...

[Genie]

duh - I should have thought of that to measure it right.  Just wasn't thinking - I was trying to to the measurement at Fisherman's landing and just wasn't thinking.

I did notice my water pressure gauge not working correctly though .. normally it is spot on and works every time.  Sunday, it was pegged when the motor wasn't even on.  I do watch the water port (the pee port) on the motor all the time and it was peeing just fine all day so I know I never ran it dry, but I don't know what the pressure actually was.

Is the gauge shot or is something just plugged?

[Lightningboy]

Water pressure gauges should go to zero when the power is off.  They are "mechanical" gauges; there is an actual hose from the stern to the gauge.

Two possibilities.  One, the hose is plugged.  Probably not since your gauge is pegged when off.  Try taking the hose off and blowing it out.

If that doesn't work, (sorry, but probably won't) the gauge is shot, time for a new one.

Hey, check out Livorsi Marine.  They've got colored gauge bezels; might as well pimp it out a little while you're at it.   

[Genie]

The engine did get plugged last time out (not Sunday but time before) and I had to really throttle and forward/reverse to get it unplugged ... could be something to do with that.

Is the hose inside the cowling?

[djkimmel]

I think you can check it from the attachment under that dash?? At least, you could in the 'old' days... gramps kimmel

This one's for you 'kids'...

[Genie]

I think Dan still has that yellow suit ...

[djkimmel]

No... but rumors still swirl about some Rod Stewart-style leopard print pants...

[Firefighter Jeff]

No... but rumors still swirl about some Rod Stewart-style leopard print pants...

THAT I don't wanna see  !!!!!