Adding guages.

[66KingFisher]

Ok, one of the things missing on the Tracker boat we purchased was any sort of guage in the dash......I was surprised there wasn't even a tach on this model..lol....the saleman said they could install one for $175...$75 of that was the tach. I figured heck, I can install a tach, and surely I can find one cheaper then $75....but after searching the web last night I was surprised to find all the marine tachometers I saw seem to be priced between $75-$95. I originally thought I'd use an automotive tach, but since our motor turned out to be a 3 cylinder, I can't do that either....lol. Any of you guys ever install a tach or speedo on your boats?.....Its not a big deal is it?

Also the shop guy that gave us a brief rundown of the boat techy stuff before they hooked the boat to our truck, kept talking about maintenance based on "hours on the engine", but there isn't an hour counter on them so what do you guys do regarding maintenance....go by time on the water or hours of engine running or just every few months or every season or what?....Should we think about adding some type of counter that keeps us with how long the engine is ran?

[carolina-rig-01]

I can't help you with the tach because I have no experience with adding them aftermarket. But as for the hours, he is talking about hours on the motor whether it is idle time or wot. I wouldn't add an hour meter if it were me but I am sure you can do that if it's your fancy. I am not familiar with your motor but I would think that the mechanic can hook it up to his computer and tell you how many hours you have put on it just as he would with the bigger motors and this is how I would handle it if it were me.

[nofearengineer]

66,

I am assuming you are getting a Merc with the Tracker. Almost all new Mercs are "Smartcraft" compatible, which is to say they have a computer on board that keeps track of all manner of things, like rpms and engine hours. It might be more than you are wanting to spend, but you could always hook up a Smartcraft System Monitor, or a Mercmonitor, which will set you back around $400, but it will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about your engine.

As far as an old analog teleflex style tach, they seem to be pretty easy to install, as I just removed one from my boat. There are a couple of wires from the engine to the gauge (you would have to check out your motor's schematics to figure out where to connect them...your current wiring harness might even already have the wires), a 12V hot for the backlight, and a ground wire as well. But easily installed in a couple of hours, even by an amateur like myself. The analog gauges are pretty inexpensive too. You can probably find a used one on ebay for 20-30 bucks if you look hard enough.

[66KingFisher]

Yup, all the Tracker boats we looked at had Merc engines....granted ours is just a 30hp so I dunno if its "Smartcraft" compatible or not. The tech guy didn't mention it. I suppose its not really that big a deal...i'm a old service tech guy so am kinda OCD about maintenance...lol. I'll figure out some sort of regular schedule to follow.

I did run across a few tachs that were a little cheaper but not much......No biggy,i'm sure like everything else the price has gone up more then I expected....lol. but i'm pretty sure Ron would feel better if he had a tach to look at...lol...Me too. I've installed alot of tachs on old cars, so i'm sure it won't be a big deal to run a couple of wires to an outboard motor instead....just gotta figure out where to attach them...lol.

Thanks guys.

[BrownHL]

Kingfisher, I have a 60 yammie and when I bought my G3 I also bought a Casio wrist watch with a stop watch on it (up to 24 hours) to track my motor run time. I have a motor log table I made up on the computer with the run time and date for each outing and the cumulative run time. I also annotate on the log table when I do prop, engine and wheel bearing maintenance. When I sit down to fill in the log I just read the time on my watch.

[66KingFisher]

While thats not a bad idea, I hate wearing a watch or any kind of jewelry, and we won't even talk about the fact, that I have OGMS....."old guy memory syndrome", so i'd have a hard time remembering to start or stop the stopwatch.....Actually since I don't wear watches, I'd most likely have a hard time remembering what I did with the watch....hahaha.

[Bender]

I wish I had installed an hour meter on mine when I got it. There's no computer to hook up to but it is a Yamaha. I think they cost around $30 and are very easy to install. The tach may be a little harder to find for a 3 cylinder. It's hard to say for a speedo, the in-dash ones just have a piece of hose that runs to a "feeler" that mounts on the transom. They are better than nothing but not very accurate. Easy to install since it's just a piece of small hose.

[WTL]

As far as I've heard, you mainly install a speedo cause it looks cool, and use GPS speed readings if you really need dependable speed readings. Myself, I already know my boat goes about 60 on the plane....hehe...


(sometimes its better not knowing, or else you will realize how slow you are)

For the tach....there is a product called smart tach I believe which is easy to install, but doesnt look as cool....

[66KingFisher]

I'm beginning to think installing an hour meter might not be a bad idea if they are cheap enough.

As for the tach.....The truth is, I think I want one more for its aesthetic value then anything else. Just something wrong with looking at a dash with no gauges in it....hahaha. I suppose its the racer or hotrodder in me that says I need some gauges to look at. Lord knows i've been listening to motor rpms all my life, and don't really need a tach to tell me that we gained a couple hundred rpms when the motor trims out. But I guess its nice to verify that by glancing at a gauge huh?....lol