thomas15

I'm not familiar with your particular motor but it's possible that there is a cut off on the motor as well as the console? My search and rescue team has a 1990s 20 HP Mercury tiller with a cut off on the motor.

Everyone at sometime or another tries to start their motor with it in gear or with the cut off switch in the off position.

OK that is why a volt meter is useful to figure out where in the system you have voltage and where you don't.

Let me add just a general statement. I know it's a PITA when you have troubles with your boat motor. You want to be fishing and not trying to figure out what is next. I would guess that your motor sat for a while before you purchased it and there are a few kinks that need to be worked out. I got my boat late in July of last year and it took me several months to get it running to my satisfaction. I did some of the work and I had two certified Mercury guys look at it. In the end, I solved the problem through sheer determination which turned out to be a combination of several things but the main one being a simple repair that the mechanics that looked at it should have diagnosed it with ease. The problem is that the motor didn't always act up, only when I used it hard. But this isn't a matter of misery loves company. Once you work through all the little bugs in your motor you will soon forget these little setbacks and get to the fishing. So hang in there.

First thing is to make sure your battery is charged and no other accessories are putting a drain on the battery. Next thing is make sure your throttle is in the neutral position and if you have one, the man overboard cut off switch is in the on or run position. A volt meter is useful, you should have a little over 13 volts at the battery. When you are trying to crank the motor there should be voltage at the starter solenoid, check there. If you don't have a volt meter maybe a friend or neighbor can lend you one? Anyway, you need to find out where you have voltage in the system. Hopefully it is something easy like a drained battery or a lose wire.

Not to change the subject but as the ammo crisis is now 2.5 years old now the other firearms related item that is hard to find (besides 22LR) is smokeless pistol and shotgun powder. I have been handloading now for two years and it has been at times a problem to locate acceptable powders. Things are starting to look up though. The other day I found at a reasonable price 8 pound kegs of HP-38 and WST, both are powders that I use. Seeing this particular powder available was somewhat of a novelty for me, it has been almost impossible to find. While many handloaders are having problems finding powder, for some reason obtaining it is one of the only things I have a natural talent for so I didn't buy the HP-38 or WST as I have plenty. I think there is a point where the market saturates and my gut says that powder supplies will begin to really to level off sometime in the fall. This is of course assuming no big event causes another crisis in the gun industry. The same should happen with 22LR. I had 5000 rounds of rimfire on back order for over a year and finally gave up on it.

Can someone offer up line recommendations?

This statement makes me nervous. What I think you mean is the outside of the hull is prepped because you would not replace the carpet without first replacing the stringers and transom. A fiberglass boat that is prepped has all of the foam* removed and has all of the nasty ground off. It would be spotless clean. Next you would fabricate your new transom and stringers for tabbing in. Hoepfully you have the old stringers and transom because they are used as templates for the new. It is possible to make new without the old but keep in mind that once the stringers are out the fiberglass shell will need support to keep it's shape. The new floor and carpet are installed towards the end of the resto.

Forget about the deck, carpet and anything wood on the boat. It will all have to be replaced. You will have to strip all of it out, pop the cap and scoop out all of the foam* under the deck. You are looking at a project that will take at least a year to complete. Not sure if this is against forum rules but check out the forums at iboats.com There are many restos for you to see with blow by blow reports. Also, Homelite outbords are early 4 cycle outboards. You may find that parts availability is a bit of a problem. That motor is at least 40 years old. Not trying to talk you out of it but just want to add a bit of reality to the discussion. When I was a kid, my dad (with the help of my brother and me) built two boats out of wood, a 15' bay skiff and a 19' Comet Class Sailboat. We were for years building boats, but if I decided to take on a resto, my first would be a tin because working with fiberglass is expensive and time consuming and there is a learning curve.. I don't want to sound mean but you are not getting "steal". That's just me being honest. What you are getting is someone elses headache. Boat restos are possible but you will end up putting many hours labor and most likely 1000s of dollars into the boat. Hopefully you have a roof over your head and heat in the winter. *if it even has foam. ON EDIT: here is a link to iboats resto forum http://forums.iboats.com/forum/boat-repair-and-restoration/boat-restoration-building-and-hull-repair

Oh, one other thing. If I may offer up a bit of advice. Right after I got my boat I purchased the Seloc repair guide for Mercury Outboards. Do yourself a big favor and get the official Mercury Service Manual for your actual motor. It cost twice as much as the Seloc but worth it, really. The Seloc manuals cover many models and are just too vague. The Merc Service Manual costs about $75.00 but are great to have. I wish I bought the Service Manual first. Good luck with your boat. I'm glad that you got what appears to be a solid tin rather a questionable rig with too much stuff.

I have a 12V, 40 pound minkota and it works fine on my 16' tin/ 50 HP Merc. I have a single 12V deep cycle battery that also runs the bow sonar unit. The sonar (Lowrance 7 HDS) has a battery gage and last Saturday I used the TM for 6 hours at low speeds and still had 85+% life left. Sure a bigger TM would be nice but I say this so that if you find a small 55# TM don't feel that it isn't enough because it is. If you decide on a 24V system will require an additional battery which will cost +/- $100.00 and take up additional space in the boat. Whatever you decide will work in your particular application, there isn't a bad choice really.

About 15 years ago I decided that I wanted to try a bait caster so I bought a Shimano Curado Bantam and a 5.5' St. Croix pistol grip pole. I bank fished at the time and wanted a short pole that I could keep in the car all the time. I think I paid about $130-140 not sure. It's one of the green reels with 6 pins for brakes. I used it a few times then due to life situations had to put fishing on the back burner. Last year I restarted the fishing pastime and of course still have my fishing poles. I also have a Quantum bait caster and several Lews and of the 3 brands, the Lews is the easiest to cast. The Bantam is hands down the best form fit and finish but the Lews is just a pleasure to use. I spent quite a bit of time practicing in the yard this spring and this help my casting but seems like when out fishing one day a few weeks ago, it all came together and I can more or less cast without thinking about it. Still, it's easy as falling off a chair for me to get a birds nest.

Congratulations!!!

I got my boat last year, it's a 2005 that was not abused. However, it took me (and a merc mechanic) 4 boating months to work out all of the kinks in the propulsion system. In the end, the biggest kink was actually quite simple and basic and I fixed it on my own. I say this to warn you to be prepared to hit some rough and stormy seas in this adventure. Coming up on a year of ownership and just now starting to gain some trust in the outboard. Not as much trust as I want, but moving in the right direction.

A tin boat is far superior to no boat. Or a leaking glasser.

If you are a smoker, leave the smokes home. Bring with you more snacks and drinks than you need, so that you can offer something to the other guy. Leave a few $$ on the car seat if money is refused. Do not leave any trash or any kind of dirt or debris in the boat and consider helping tiding up any mess that the other guy made. Do not criticize the other guy for not having some sort of equipment you might think you need or something less than the latest TM or sonar. Let the other guy set the schedule. Thank the individual for having you as his guest. I'm not a tournament fishermen but have had a few guests on my boat lately and going it alone is looking more and more attractive to me these days. When I take someone out I feel like it's my responsibility to get them back safely. So for that reason I make sure my equipment is in good working order. This costs a little money and a lot of time. Think about how long it takes to get the boat ready to hitch up and un-hitched after the trip. It seems like I spend a half hour getting the boat ready to trailer and an hour fussing with it after the trip. I don't fret over a few bucks or have some kind of ownership/control complex. I like to do things myself but enjoy teaching someone something if they really want to learn. If someone wants to learn how to back up a trailer, the time to learn is not when there is a line of 10 boats at the ramp. Ramblings of a madman but I'm sure some would agree. I know that most co-fisherman that are posting here on this board already know how to act when out on someone elses boat so please don't anyone take this personally. I really want to share my time with friends and so forth. But if you invite someone over to your house for a beer and burgers you might not appreciate having to pick up all the trash and paper plates, beer cans and cigarette butts. Nor would you care to hear about the flavor of a brew that you don't happen to have in your fridge. What I'm taking about is regular everyday common courtesy and politeness.

I grew up on the Jersey Shore and we ate a bit of saltwater fish in my youth. To me, the times we caught a trout or other freshwater panfish or gamefish, the taste just wasn't there. The few times I've eaten catfish in a restaurant, it seemed like a chore to consume it. Of course I'm sure that that meat was farm raised. Anyway, I'm inland now and fish freshwater. I've never in 57 years consumed LMB and to be honest unless driven by necessity cannot imagine ever doing so. And I doubt seriously that I will eat any other species of freshwater fish with the exception of stocked trout. Put just about any species of saltwater fish in front of me and I'll have a dinner but something I've caught in an impoundment or pond doesn't have (in my opinion) enough taste or a meat/bone ratio high enough to appeal to me.

Zach I'm out there fishing my heart out and nothing. I see them though, sitting on the beds!

^^Beltzville^^

There are some catfish in that lake also.

Exactly where in Ocean County are you looking? I lived in Tuckerton for many years and worked in Lakewood. There are a few good ponds there, at least they were good a few years ago. Actually, I did better pond/bank fishing in Ocean County than I do in Carbon County PA. I assume you are bank fishing?

My boat came with the Hummingbird Wide Eye. This is the only thing I can comment on. This model is older but the instructions are available for download on the Hummingbird web site. The display is monochrome and has somewhat large pixals. It also has a rudimentary side scan but I don't use it. Mine works at my boats full speed of 36 MPH. The best use is for giving water depth and bottom contours. Does not give speed or water temp. I put a Lowrance 7" HDS on the bow and there is no comparison. I have a 5" Lowrance ready to replace the Humminbird but haven't found time to install it. Not to belabor the fine points of a minor aspect of this potential purchase but just wanted to let you know. As far as the hull of this boat goes you want to try to determine if the wood stringers and wood transom core are intact and that the flotation foam is not waterlogged. Spend some time at iboats.com on their restoration forums. You will read the stories of a lot of people who bought boats not knowing what they were doing and found out the transom and stringers were rotted and the foam waterlogged. While a fiberglass boat is mainly fiberglass, under that glass are some structural wood components that can rot when wet, and since fiberglass is heavy, foam is used to keep the boat from sinking if it becomes swamped and to add rigidity to the hull. Over time water can saturate the foam causing the wood to rot and the boat to weigh more because water weighs 8.3 pounds per gallon. It all depends on how well the boat was maintained and stored. Sorry, didn't mean to get that involved. Most people focus on the motor and accessories and while they are important, the condition of the hull, in the areas that you cannot see are also important.

Love your work! Your making me want to do one of these types of projects myself!

Hey Zach, My son and I fished Beltzville last 7:00-13:30 Saturday 5/9/15. Very frustrating. Spotted loads of fish but none interested in what we were presenting. Lot's of other frustrated fishermen also. Going out again this evening with fingers crossed. Gonna try to get out Sunday AM also. Will try the drop shot as you mentioned.

I think we all understand that you might not want to talk about it but it would also be helpful if you could give some detail as to how the motor became blown and what are the conditions that you now see. Is the motor seized? Have you tried to do a compression check? Did the motor overheat? Run low on oil?