[mudd_catt]

Did you ever come to a decision on the rod holders? If not, how is the boat going to be positioned while you fish? Are you going to be parallel to the current, in-line, or be able to fish at all angles from the boat? What kind of rods? Very heavy, medium, heavy?

i ask for a reason. If you are going to be able to fish from just about any angle around the boat, you might want to try the Driftmaster style of rod holders. You can mount them to just about any flat surface, or rail, with quite a few angles available on the holders themselves.

I have never had a rod come out of the holder, and the only real problem was when the 45# blue hit the Penn 3/0 like a freight train while I had the reel engaged. Then it only started to strip the screws out of the fiberglass.

Just wondering, cause with these, you can just unscrew the holder from the base, and get them out of the way. You can even buy extra bases, to put the holders at different locations depending on the situation.

Just my two cents worth.

 

[Hawkeye]

I've thought about driftmaster rod holders. I was worried they'd pull out of the hull. That's when I didn't know about the plywood in the boat... LOL... I probably get a few bases and screw them in all around so I can fish at almost any angle from the center of the boat. I still plan on incorporating the rack, like Warren has, but I haven't decided on which one.

I took my two youngest for a boat ride this afternoon. There was a loud gear noise coming from the engine, and I don't know if I did damage. I might not have shifted it hard enough to engage the gears all the way... who knows... I was SOLD an engine in "perfect" shape, and now I'm a little worried there might be a problem. Instead of fooling with it, I brought the boys in... I had no trouble going down river @ 50 mph @ 4400 RPMS... I stopped and putted around a bit and when I started going again it made a terrible noise like gears were eating themselves. I hope the guy who worked on the motor didn't forget to put GEAR LUBE in it... I didn't think of checking it... I hope I didn't trash my new motor.....

 

[mudd_catt]

Dat don't sound good at all. Usually if you have the shifter anywhere out of the center position, it should be in either forward or reverse. I would suggest taking it to someone that knows how to rebuild the foot, and let them check the gears themselves. Of course, the linkage might have worked loose, not letting it go completely into gear. just doesn't sound good though.

If it turns out that there is a serious problem with the gears, I believe I would be making a phone call. maybe everything will be ok though. I know how you feel.

 

[Hawkeye]

I'm going to make TWO phone calls tomorrow... one to the guy who sold me the boat, and the other to the mechanic who worked on it. I inend to be courteous, as I have no recourse except to find out what's wrong and fix it. I don't think I'm supposed to own a boat :-(
It shifts a little "soft" and takes a while to get into gear, so I'm hoping it is shifter related. When I ran back to the ramp at 2000 rpm, it didn't make any noise at all. If I increased speed or decreased speed it made noise... so I don't believe the drive is trashed... I ran it off the portable tank I bought and it ran GOOD Bro... I can see 65 mph in this boat if it isn't damaged... and even if it is, I can't turn back now... whatever it takes to get it right is what I'll have to do, I suppose... Momma isn't happy... this was her gift to me, and she's as disappointed as I am.

 

[mudd_catt]

Man I know the feeling. I don't know what to tell you about the noise, as that is a new one on me. Good luck.

 

[NightTrain]

If Momma ain't happy,ain't nobody happy.....

I feel your pain,man...When I first got my rig,the guy told me,"water ready"...then I started findin' stuff.After I decided to gut it and customize it,and we were about halfway through,and lots of little"uh-oh"'s started to spring up,I was literally ready to sell the motor and sink the hull....BUT,I'm soooo glad I didn't!New boats will test your patience...kinda like wimmens...asya go along you learn new things ya did not know about 'em.With your ingeneuity(SP.)and mechanical abilities,you'll be o.k....patience.:headknock

 

[Hawkeye]

I called and talked to the previous owner, who does seem to be almost as upset as I am, and the mechanic who replaced the water pump for me Thursday. I drained the lower unit oil and found nothing of importance in there... no metal to speak of and the gear lube was free of water and other contaminants.. I shifted the lower unit into forward and reverse and it seems to be acting like it should (now, of course), but I'm shopping for a good used lower unit, just in case. I'm probably going to remove the lower tomorrow or Thursday and I might take it back to the mechanic to inspect if it doesn't act right off the stack. I have NO CLUE what would cause the thing to make noise like it did, unless there's something seriously broken in there. I've been fixing things for almost all my life (30 years now) and I've never heard, or felt something that rattled, banged, clanged and bucked like the unit did that wasn't broken at least a little. It acted like the input shaft for the drive is broken in half at a slight angle, but I don't think it's possible for it to be broken and still move the boat....

What's most puzzling for me, is that it went quiet and smooth running at 2000 rpm or so, and got noisier at lower speeds vs higher speeds, as you might expect something broken NOT to do... I found a '95 model lower unit for 850$ locally... and there are a couple on Ebay (wait, isn't that how I got into this mess to begin with LOL), so I'm keeping my options open. I'm seriously considering taking the drive back to have a pro take it apart to tell me what he sees wrong with it... I'm also tempted to fill it with gear lube and run it in the water one more time to see if I didn't imagine the whole experience... I am a little paranoid about boats.
Bill... I fixed the Nav & all around lights... installed a new bilge pump... and rigged up a spot light in the bow, so we could night fish this weekend... but you see how well my plans worked out once again....
Did you fish Saturday?

 

[NightTrain]

MY BOSS has to use the computer..be backin a little bit.

 

[mudd_catt]

You might want to be careful about what year model you get for the replacement unit. Only certain year models will fit. on my 140 Evinrude (76) they made a production change halfway through the year, and the lower unit from the same year model won't work, unless it is a pre-midyear. So, you might want to ask a mechanic before you dive into another 850. Better yet, I would have your gone through thoroughly before doing anything.

 

[Hawkeye]

I did ask two mechanics about the variations in the lower units in Mercs.... your advice is well recieved and very important. Fortunately, the big outboards (150-175-200 hp) all use the same lower units from about 1980 (which I found out my motor is newer than I orginally thought) until about 1998 or so, maybe even newer... there is a difference in the shaft lengths, of course, and in the shaft design. The old style shafts have a bearing pre-load pin (like the pre-alpha outdrive lower units) on the top of the drive shaft. The newer models lack the pin, but the design of the bearing has been changed as well to make the pin obsolete. They inverted the drive shaft bearing and added a backing plate or something.... anyway, I did ask about interchangeability and as long as I get the same shaft length, it should be okay....
The guy who built the motor suspects there's a chipped or broken pinion gear tooth.... I don't know what I think yet....

 

[mudd_catt]

And all this time I been sayin Mercs wern't worth using for a boa anchor. I kinda had a thought it might be a pinion, or tooth missing, I had an old 35 hp Johnson (I reckon you can tell I like the old OMC's) that ran like a champ, but going down the lake, it would buck or jump every so often, but still run like a new one. It felt like you had hit a log, finally stripped ALL the teeth off the pinion gear. I know this isn't exactly what yours is doing' , Jus bumbpin my gums.

 

[Hawkeye]

Dennis (The mechanic) thinks that at some point, someone probably *DID* hit something with the motor and I'm paying the price down the road. He asked me if I hit anything.... and I can't honestly say I didn't, but I think I'd have felt it if I did. The shallowest water I ran in was 4' or so, and only when I was backing the boat out of the ramp area... Oh well.... I'll learn something from this, and move on I suppose... Maybe I should've bought a Johnson....

 

[NightTrain]

Dude...

...you didn't hit nothin' the day you came by Gaston...Just talked to the boss,and he wants me to switch my schedule around...probably workin' 11AM-11PM this weekend...hwell:

 

[Hawkeye]

I don't believe I hit anything bigger than a pencil in the James either... oh goodie... more internet time LOL