Greetings Gents!

[Donutman]

Sure wish I'd found this forum BEFORE I bought my boat.
Been trolling through these threads now for weeks. Reading, learning and absorbing SO much info and I have to say first, you guys are freakin hilarious! Zook, 1fast, Bama (why the logo change?), NoFear, Capt. Mike...everyone! I have laughed til I cried from some of the crazy stuff you guys have done and said. And so much information and helpfulness to those of us newbies. Thank You for all the help to all us less experienced peoples!

Been fishing out a canoe for years and have very few problems. Had different canoe's all my life, been very comfy doing so. Last October we got a bug up our butt to get a fishing vessel of some sort. Found a great little Tracker deep V 17 with a 60 rude on it. I've had zero experience with real boats so to speak, and asked many a person about this boat we had found. Apparently, just not the RIGHT people we should have talked to. We slapped down the $1800 after a test ride, not knowing exactly what to be on the lookout for. Huge mistake.
First thing to do was replace the tires and wheels, very bald and rusty. That's when we discovered how bad the trailer was rusted out. Knew it had been repaired before, but the bottom of the rails were completely rusted through. Got the prop redone because it looked like it had been through a mine field of stumps. We had ventured out a few times and for the most part, been very happy with her. Bought some new trailer lights and installed those. It was running a little rough so I changed out the plugs and fuel filter and it ran like a top. Now granted, this is our first trainer boat, so we're kind just getting the jist of things and how they work. One of the last times we had it out, discovered what a "lake wind advisory" is. Waves kept crashing over the sides of the boat, and the Rude kept stalling at idle, low throttle. Add the cold wind at 30 mph gusts and it just sucked. Loading proved interesting.
After that test of wills, it was time to head to the repair shop. Made a list of things that needed to be fixed and took it to a local, independent boat shop. Man was that a wake up slap in the face. Didn't have any maintenance records when I bought the (Ahem...) boat, so I figured it it would be best to get the routine stuff knocked out. Had the steering replaced, as it was taking two hands and whole lot of effort just to turn the wheel. Water pump replaced, tune up, change the lower units oil, check everything over. Turns out the most of the seals in the lower unit had never been touched and were all leaking. He said the oil had some water in it, not all that much but it looked to be as if it was the original oil from 20 years ago. Asked him about this huge C channel steel beam across the back of the transom and without missing a beat he showed me where the welds and metal had ripped away from the stern, which would explain the heavy duty stainless steel braces that run from the C channel beam to the aft bulkhead. The seller pointed out to me that there was a small soft spot in the back deck where he kept his cooler. He also said it had never seen salt water. HAA! After the mechanic gave everything a good once over, it's very apparent that this boat has sat in and spent much time in salt water. The bottom of the motor cowling, and several other small spots is all ate up with corrosion. I'm sure there is others, just not sure what to look for.
Anywho... after a carb rebuild, fresh water pump, new seals through out the lower end, a new steering set up, a month with out my boat and $820 lighter in the wallet, I should be good to go. I would also like to add that he let me help with fixing said (AHEM...) boat, ask questions, learn and gain some experience about how they work. In that past month, I have read almost every single thread in this particular forum. Damn there's some good information in here! So we went to pick it up Sunday morning and take her out. We went over everything again, cranked it up and made sure it was working like it was supposed to. While we had it running, I checked the kill switch, that I never knew about until this forum and all my late night readings. (Thanks guys!) The mechanic has several used trailers sitting in his lot and I bought one of them because ours is in such disrepair. $200 bucks for a heavy duty C channel good looking trailer. No rust, solid as he!! steel, but needs the bunks re-carpeted. He's got a boat that's on it gutted and ready for the landfill. Then, weather permitting, this week sometime we're going to go swap out trailers and I'm gonna cut up the old one and make a nice bar-b-q out of it or something.
SO...we're all set. Go load gear and head out to the lake. Troller batts are dead of course, glad I brought a freshly charged one from the canoe with us. Boat ran like a champ at first. Between this forum and what he showed me, got the choke with the key thing figured out. I don't have an stats for you, as none of the gauges work. Depth finder was reading about 30 in choppy windy H2O. Speaking of which, I'd have never knew anything about trimming a boat until I read it here, Thanks guys! We went and fed the fish for a couple of hours and called it a day. Went to get loaded and the motor wouldn't stay running at low throttle. Kept dying out when on approach to the trailer. Went to power load it and it died out under load. Restarted it, backed out to get on the trailer straight again and made it on enough to winch the rest of the way. Wife got about two cranks and SNAP, THUMP, POP! What the heck was that? Trailer broke right there in the ramp. The tongue just gave way and snapped the bottom side of the tube. We were able to pull the entire rig up and out of the ramp and on to level ground. Had to call a wrecker and load it onto a flatbed. We dropped it at Dad's shop and I'm going to go deal with it today. Glad I bought that other trailer today, you know the one sitting at the mechanics lot, with another scrapped hull on it, 30 miles away. What's that acronym for B.O.A.T again?!?! Beginning to think I should have just stayed in the canoe.

SO here's a few questions...

WOT it runs like the proverbial scalded a$$ ape. Having a hard time idling and running at low throttle, like on approach to trailer. Heading out it idles and runs fine at low throttle. Coming back in is when it seems to happen. This is why I originally took it to a mechanic who does this for a living. Granted, (before I knew) I had filled it up with high octane and never heard of seafoam. Before we went out, I put in regular octane, 8oz. of Da Foam, and tried to jiggle the (AHEM...) boat to mix up the old and new. Still dying on me. Haven't checked the tank vent yet, nor if the bulb is firm after the run back to the dock. I was a little ticked at the time with the trailer breaking and forgot to check them. Am I driving this thing wrong? Just like when I went to power load it on the trailer, coasting in, put it in gear, bogged a little, gave it some juice and it seemed to choke it out under load (and dye) instead of spinning up the rpm's. Throttle up on wide open water and she jumps to attention.

When I had dropped it off at the mechanics, it ended up sitting over there uncovered in the rain and freezing temps with the plug out. I know it collected some rain in it and then went into a hard freeze. Is that gonna hurt the hull? I'm sure the foam inside was prolly still soaked when it froze. This boat has been garage kept for 98% of it's life. It's a 20 yr ol' boat though. Seat are dry rotted and ripping, one small soft spot in the back, a few scratches and dings. But she don't leak. Here it again gonna have some precip (rain, sleet and ice according to media hype) and another immediate hard freeze. Gonna get a cover for it today and jack up the front end real high. But it's still not in my garage where it should be. Be my luck, gonna pop all those fresh seals I just had put in it.

I had found these batts while cleaning out an abandoned house. Any thoughts if I could use these for trollers? Got a 12V MK 50# or 55# on the bow. Don't know any info on their history, but found out they are AGM's. Thought they might work as back ups if ever needed.

Thanks again to ALL you on here. Not only for the fantastic info in here, but also for the good laughs and humor. Although I still haven't figured out exactly to rig a tampon. (see a couple of years ago in da threads)
Look forward to hearing from ya'll and possibly even meeting some of ya out on the ponds someday. HAA!!! I'll prolly be the one shooting off the flares and waving a distress flag while blowing a whistle.
First time I've ever posted to a forum/thread. Sorry if I screw something up.


Dave-0