Way2slow

I have a Minn Kota 65 transom mount I've had more years than I can remember, probably from back in the 80's. Even still have the Maximizer I used on it. Didn't realize they even made a 35. A lot depends on how you plan on using it. If just a small local lake you plan on spending a few hours on, or if a large lake and you plan on covering a couple of miles during an outing. Having hauled many a group 27 Deep Cycle battery from a vehicle to a boat and back over the years, that ain't no fun. I think the lithium's have gotten down to almost affordable for a descent size battery. You might see how Alex uses his 40Ah and see if that will fit the bill for you. Me personally would lean more toward something close to 100Ah. You have to remember, when you do the math to calculate run time, you can only use about 70% of that without damaging the battery. Then you have to figure even the last 10-15% of that is not going to be that great because the voltage drop is going to be having the motor running a lot slower. Not as bad a lead acid battery but it will probably be noticeable and it's recommended not to use a lithium when the performance starts to drop to keep from over discharging it. Also understand, if you go with a lithium, you have to get a charger designed for lithium's.

Is that a typo error or is it really a 17 lb thrust? Years ago, I bought an old aluminum jon boat that had a 17lb mercury TM on it. It was next to useless if there was any wind blowing, even on small private ponds. As for a battery, make sure it's for Marine Deep Cycle use. Automobile cranking batteries don't hold up under the constant discharge and charging. For the charger, get at least a 8 to 10amp and one that says it's a, smart charger or Inteli-charger and one that has a good maintainer in it. The cheap transformer style automatic chargers shorten the life of the battery because that can't properly charge the battery. To fully charge a battery, it has to be over charged approximately 5% to balance the cells and those cheap chargers don't do that,

Different weight springs have different stack heights. Might find a cure here. Trailer Leaf Springs | etrailer.com On a light duty trailer like that, another option you might want to look at is to use some 1/8" thick wall 1-1/2" or 2" high (get it a width that fits between the bolts) box steel and make you a couple of spacers to go between the spring and axle (if it's under slug with axle under spring). If it happens to use U-Bolts and not plates, you can make longer U-Bolts with some all-thread.

If you are talking about the trailer, I would move just mover the fenders. If on the vehicle, over slinging the axle tends to make them a lot more wishy washy going down the road. If on the rear, it can change driveshaft angles and possibly length as well as shocks and sway bar. You can always do like I've seen a lot of kids do to put wider tires on to get fender clearance. Just put air shocks on and pump them up and let them beat you guts out while driving down the road. If you are talking about the trailer. Do you currently have a drop axle or straight axle. Converting from a drop axle to a straight axle will raise the frame approximately 2-1/2" depending on the amount of offset it has. If you have an under slung axle (axle below the springs) if you move it to above the springs that's going to make the frame sit lower and probably make the finders rub and It will also give it less spring travel before it bottoms out. If you have and over slung axle (axle above the springs) and you under slung it, it will raise the frame the trailer several inches, depending on axle thickness and spring stack height. On most V-hull bass boats, this can cause problems loading the boat. As for converting from under/over slung to the other, it's usually just a matter of unbolting the axle from the springs, move it to where you want in and flip the U-Bolts and plate over. To answer your question directly, I have never seen or used a "Kit", unless you are talking about removing a drop axle and installing a straight axle. Most V-Hull bass boat have a drop axle along with a V-shaped frame so they can get the hull closer to the water for loading and unloading, not sure I would want to change that.,

It's not hard to do and it's something you should learn. There are a couple of alignment points you check first and then adjust the carb butterflies, so they are closed and start to open at precisely the same time at the point they are supposed to. A little tedious because you may have to adjust the butterflies a few times but not hard. Actually, I would not trust many average mechanics to do a proper sync on the carbs. Too many tend to say that's close enough, and just being close can make a big difference in how it idles vs how good they will idle done perfectly. One thing though, you absolutely cannot adjust the carbs idle mixture and speed running on a hose. The motor has to be sitting in water at the depth it sits when just sitting still to have the proper back pressure on the exhaust If someone says they can it's time to find a better mechanic.

Do you have some type of manual? You must do a synchronization on them and the linkage. If you don't have a manual let me know and I will see what I can come up with. There's a lot more involved that just bolting them on. When you mention using a torque wrench, it thought you were talking about the water pump bolts instead of the lower unit bolts. The water pump was the ones I was talking about being so careful with.

A couple of things I should have mentioned that I wasn't paying attention to. You mentioned borrowing a torque wrench from a friend to tighten them, if you haven't tightened them already, a word of caution. You said you put Anti seize on the bolts. That makes them very slick, and you should back off the torque setting or it's possible to over torque them. How much, it's hard for me to say, because having done the stuff all my life, I go by feel as much as anything, especially the one with the insert since you are not too sure about how well it's installed. If in doubts about the installation, it would probably pay you not to use the anti-seize and use a drop of blue thread locker instead (Loctite 242) and not fully torque it. If you have already put anti-seize on the bolt and decide to use Loctite, you will need to use Brake Cleaner of something to clean the hole and bolt with. Loctite has to have a clean bare surface to work. it does not work on an oily surface. If you have already torqued them and it's a done deal, then you should be good to go and don't need to worry about it. When tightening them and they feel spongy and feel like they just want to keep on turning, and not giving you a good firm feel as they reach the torque number, don't keep on pulling on them, you will most likely pull the threads out of the aluminum housing, and you will get a chance to learn more about how to install inserts. This is all stuff that's mostly gained by experience, so it's hard to explain but just trying to help you not have to learn the hard way right now.

You want to learn how to fix stuff. Before you throw anything away, take it apart try to put it back together. I don't know how many people buy a new something because they don't feel the know how to fix the bad one. What the heck is it going to hurt if you try to fix it, might get lucky, and if you destroy it what's the worst thing that's going to happen, you have to buy the new one you were going to buy to start with. One exception, if you have to have a rebuildable core to turn in, you might not want to do anything that is going to affect that. When I was about 10, I couldn't resist taking mechanical/analog clocks apart. No telling how many I destroyed but before too long, I got where I could put them back together again. Might be surprised at just how much you learn. One day you may run into something similar remember something from the one you destroyed that helps you fix it. A lot of times people will ask me if I know how to fix something they are having a problem with, and I will tell them know, I don't "know how" but I'm pretty sure I can probably figure it out. When I was 12 or 13, I had my own used lawn mower and mower repair business. In the spring I would comb the different neighbor hoods looking for the old lawn mower people would put out for the trash to get. I would take them home, get what I could running and sell them for $5. People started asking me to fix their mowers and I would sometimes make a dollar or two doing that. This was back in the late 50's early 60's when a coke was only 7 cents out of a machine and a gallon of gas was less the 30 cents, sometimes a low as 10 cents when they had a gas war between brands. I have always been a firm believer in the term "can't never could" so I can't is not in my vocabulary.

As mentioned, a number of things can be causing it. If the motor has ever been run in saltwater, there could be a corrosion build up with the passages that's preventing enough water circulating at lower rpm. I have pulled the heads off old crossflows that it was hard to recognize the water jackets in the block. Pulling just the top part of the head off really does nothing for diagnosing the water flow problems. You pretty much have to pull the heads off, and doing that on an older motor, ESPECIALLY if it has ever been in saltwater can open up a whole can of worms you really don't want to get into. Without experience with them, you could very easily make a good running motor junk. Broken head bolts, tops of cylinders corroded out to where they have to be built up with Devcon to fix the destroyed sealing surfaces, etc. It is easy enough to see if it's a wire shorting out just by unplugging the sensor. If you get the alarm with the sensor unplugged, then it's something in the wiring.

I guess I'm wrong, I see on ebay and a few other places you can find Johnson's Paste Wax. One guy want's $250 for a new can of it that sold for about $20. I see some with used/partial cans wanting as much as $100. All are what I consider STUPID prices. There are a number of products that work very well, I just have never used them so I can't say what. I still have three full cans I bought for $20 a can because they were going to discontinue it and one open can. Since I rarely do any fiberglass work anymore, I have enough to last several lifetimes.

I know this is about props and not live scan but a little story about it. A couple of years ago I was at my favorite lake I grew up fishing in my little 14' jon boat. As I was putting in, there was a young guy at the dock with his tackle looking like he was waiting on someone. Walking back to the dock after parking my truck a guy in a really nice boat with all that live scan and other gear drives up to the dock and starts giving the young guy at the dock all kinds of instructions so I figured he was probably a paid guide. I was going to try my luck at crappie fishing, which I know nothing about, and was having no luck with that so I bass fished the last couple of hours. I saw the boat that was at the dock a couple of different times and in places I would have never wasted my time fishing, and wondering why he was there. When I quit and got back to the dock, the guide with his fancy boat and electronics pulls up and I asked the young guy how he did. He said they caught three bass. I didn't have the heart to tell him I caught seven and spent most of the prime-time crappie fishing with my $500 jon boat with an $800 Garmin. It ain't all about the boat and electronics.

Get you one of these, not particularly this model but one the that will check battery capacity. It's the only way to conveniently check sealed batteries. Amazon.com: ANCEL BA101 Car Battery Tester 12V - Digital Automotive Batteries & Alternator Diagnostic Tool, 100-2000 CCA Load Capacity, Charging & Cranking Analysis for Motorcycle, Truck, Boat, RV, Marine & More : Automotive Amp hour capacity is amp hour capacity, Just make sure they are using the same rating system. Most use the 25 min rating system, but there are several, and it makes a huge difference in numbers. Some of the imports will just plain lie about them, just to make theirs look better. If the Chinese sells something, they tend to add a couple of zeros to back of almost anything they sell.

I have spent close to $1,000 on buying SS props and having them custom tuned for my boats, but that's about as deep and my pockets would let me go. Those kinds of accessories are for people that can spend thousands of dollars and think nothing of it, I start having to weigh my options when I'm even looking at spending one thousand. Like the new wave of live scan sonars, would luv to have one, but never will. Hard to rationalize spending that kind of money just to catch a couple extra fish.

A large TM will make the boat run about the same speed as a 2.5, the big advantage is the gas motor is a whole lot lighter and you don't have to worry about the battery going dead after 30 minutes of full speed. It beats the hell out of paddling, but don't expect to get there in a hurry. I have a 4hp Merc I used on my 17' canoe. Now that can get scarry if you try to turn at WOT.

A release agent is something to keep the adhesive you are using from sticking to something you don't want to stick to and make it a permanent part of the repair. For instance, you are glass bedding a rifle barrel and action into the stock. You use Devcon as the bedding compound and press the barrel and action into it so if makes a perfect matting surface for the for them. However, after the Devcon cures you normally want to be able to remove it. Without some type of a good release agent, you will have just made the barreled action a permanent part of the stock, basically a one-piece rifle. Johnson's Paste Wax has been my go-to agent for many years but I can't recommend that for you because, they quite making it in 2021. So, unless you can find some old stock or happen to have some laying around, that's not an option. There several options, even commercially made but since I've never used anything but Johnson's Paste Wax, I can't recommend one. Anytime messing with epoxy resins or any of the bonding agents like them, it's always wise to apply a release agent you don't won't the adhesive to turn two parts into one. When installing an insert, it just pays you to use a Q-tip to apply a release agent on the inner threads so any adhesive used that happens to get on the inner part can be remove easily. The last thing you want to do is have to use a tap in you brand new insert to remove any stray resin that happen to get in there. There is such a thing as putting too much, which most people seem to do with their first few attempts or not putting enough and having the insert turn loose. Putting too much it gets pushed to the bottom of the hole and them back up into the inner threads. When it does this, it's extremely hard to get it all out so it does not leave a film that binds the new bolt when you try to screw it in. With a good release agent, it won't bond and "Normally" let you clean it out. As for using JB Weld, I don't have much experience with it and have never used it for this kind of repair. Devon and other specially products to do the job made for what I want is what I usually use. Never got into using do-all products to make critical repairs.

I think a threaded insert is going to be your best option for repair if you have destroyed most of the metal in the upper part of the hole. If insert feels loose or you don't think there's enough holding it. get you one of those thread repair kits I posted the link to above. I know it's expensive, but it's a lot cheaper than a lower unit. Don't use a release agent on outside of the insert, but do put some on the inside, just in case you get some on the inside threads, you do not want to do that. I've done this a few times with Devcon but Devcon is super expensive now. Let that cure the specified times and if done right, it will hold just fine. If you do try to go back with a heli-coil, use red Loctite on the thread you cut to screw it into, just don't put so much it gets all over the inside part of the thread. It only takes "ONE DROP" and spread it around a little, the insert will take it on down into the hole as you screw it in.

You should be able to take something like a hardened scribe (probably not one of those Harbor Freight junks) or similar that has a long sharp end on it and slowly tap it between the broken bolt piece and the aluminum housing and get it started pulling loose from the wall of the hole. Once you get if separating you can keep working it and eventually get it out. It will take time and patience, if you try too hard or get frustrated it's just going to lead to more problems.

I have to say, it sounds like you really botched the first repair attempt, especially if you tried to put a heli-coil in with part of the broken bolt still in there. You should have never tried that. I'm going to give you a little broken screw 101. First using a sharp center punch try to get and starting point as near center of the broken screw as possible. Using a sharp, 1/8" drill bit, drill a pilot hole as near center as possible. Start slowly and angle the drill as needed to get the bit in the center. Use max drill speed and light pressure as you drill the center straight down, If you use slow speed, the bit might bite into the metal and break the bit off in the hole. If the bolt is has work hardened, you might have to use a slower speed on the bit to get it to cut, just be extremely careful if you do. Getting that broken bit out will open another whole bucket of worms because it's too hard to drill so has to be broken out. Once you get your pilot hole, being careful to feel when it goes through the bolt, and you don't drill all the way through into the lower unit. Now you want to go up to the next larger bit and start making the hole bigger, still angling the drill as you first start to help work it toward the center of the broke bolt. Once you get the hole large enough you can start seeing the threads on the bolt, us a small, pointed punch and start working it between the aluminum hole and the steel bolt, breaking, crushing the bolt into the hole. There are easy-outs you can try once you get close but not those spiral tapered, they only make it tighter at the top, it has to be a straight shank, again, be extremely careful doing that because you can break the easy-out off and back to the same problem of trying to break it up to get it out. Unless there is a fair amount of good metal below where you have already botched that hole, you WILL NOT be able to use heli-coil to install the factory size bolt back in. That's why I said you might be able to install an insert, they require a little larger hole that a heli-coil and you might have enough metal left to hold one of those. The only option for a heli-coil is going to be using one larger than the factory size. Your heli-coil options are probably going to be a #16 or #18 machine screw if you can find one or something in a metric that is just a little larger and drill the pump housing out a little. I doubt you have enough metal to go as large as and 5/16" bolt. That's why I said and insert is probably your best option if there is not enough metal left below what you have screwed up. If by some chance there is enough, then do the heli-coil deeper and use a longer bolt. Just be care you don't drill through into the gear case. If by chance you do, don't fret it too bad, just make sure you put a dab of silicon in the hole before you install the bolt to seal it. If all else fails, you can just drill the OEM hole deeper, getting below all the botched hole junk, using the water pump housing and plate as a guide. If you do, make sure you go a little at the time with grease on the #7 drill bit to catch the metal shavings, so they don't go into the gear case. Tap it to the with a 1/4-20 tap, if that's the size of yours, again, keeping grease on it to catch the shavings. Then just use a longer bolt. Let me say, I've never done that with an OMC gear case, so I don't know how much metal is below the OEM hole and there might not be enough to get a useable length of threads. So you are on your own if you try that one. I've never use this but I know a couple of people that say it saved their butt, so might be worth trying if you see no other options. Loctite Stripped Thread Repair Kit, 12.9mL, Gray Form-A-Thread 236382 | Zoro Like I said, there are tons of ways to repair it but I have done this crap for most of my 77 years so I have a little more experience on how to fix an "O-Sh**!"

The are a number of ways you can fix your current problem. My first thought and easiest is just to file out the holes in the plate and cover to match the miss aligned screw hole. If you have enough metal left at the edges, you can take that heli-coil out, make a guide plate to correctly hold the a drill bit in alignment, drill the hole slightly larger an install a brass or stainless-steel threaded insert. There are other ways but would require things you don't have. TIG welding the hole and just drill and tap it back out is one, but that requires someone than really know how to TIG weld. One other thing, I know it's a little late now but when you are trying to do something like you were doing. Bolt the housing back on and use it for a drill guide. Learning how to take a corroded bolt is an essential skill if you work on these things, especially if it has ever been in salt water. Never trying to break a corroded bolt loose by just applying wrench pressure, it will probably break every time. You will use a lot of back-and-forth pressure and a lot of tapping with a hammer. When you get it to move enough to get a gap under the head. Keep it saturated with Klotz of PB blaster and let it soak a while.

I would not even consider the 78 motor. I think it even has a different bolt pattern to mount it. Also, that 85 hp is rated off the flywheel so it's really only a 60 - 70 hp using the current rating standards. I would check locally for a used LU. The problem I have is I have been out of this for a while and don't have a lot of experience with V-4 cross flows but I think they have the small and a different gear ratio so you might be stuck with find one of those. V-6 loopers I have several good LU's but never did much with the cross flows. Finding one locally makes life simpler if you happen to get a bad one. As for buying a used one, I would have no problem provided it's a fresh water unit. Don't even consider one that was used in salt water. They are easy to recognize by the corrosion.

Too bad you are not closer to Macon Ga. I have a 17' Stratos I'm about to dispose of that has a good trailer under it, but two new tires and the round trip would probably cost more than the trailers worth.

Weight wise, a single axle is all you need. A tandem axle tows better and offers more security against getting stranded on the side of the road from a bearing, hub or tire failure. If you have a breakdown, you can just take the wheel off, tie the axle up if it hangs too low and go on your way. With a single axle, you are there until a roll back comes and hauls it away or you can get it repaired.

I generally used a mechanical contact tac to check the mounted one and rarely ran into one the was more than a few RPM off (back when they made things in the USA). I guess I've been out of this stuff too long and the Dumb**s for trying to help since I guess the Chinese don't know how to make accurate tac's, since that's where everything seems to come from these days. So, ya'll have a good day, since I don't seem to know what I'm talking about, I will keep my 2cents worth to myself.

Too bad it's not a Go-Fast boat with an OMC motor. I've got all kinds of custom tuned three and four blade SS props for those, but they only go down to 24" pitch. My first 70+ mph bass boat was in the early 80's, a 15' ProCraft with a 200 on it. I had race boats that ran faster but not a fishing boat. Bought the boat with an 85 that needed rebuilt, (it was only rated for 85) had a modified 200 sitting there ready to go but doing nothing so said, "Why Not". Don't remember having one that would not run in the high 70's, mid 80's and one that ran in the low 90's since then. Even my Javelin Renegade 20DC ran 82 with two people and gear with one of my modified motors on it. Stepped out of that three years ago into a 22mph 24' pontoon boat, talk about an attitude adjustment. Used to be, there were not that many choices to make on props, and it was easy to find someone that had a similar setup and swap props just to see how they performed. Now days that doesn't seem like a very viable option, tons of different boat designs, motor designs and prop designs. Then add the fact that people just don't seem to be as obliging as the used to be. I used to always say there's an AH in every crowd. Now I say you are lucky to find someone that is not one. Back to the prop situation. Start with getting the known good, basic information together, and I'm pretty sure we can walk you through diagnosing the problem. I'm a firm believer in not just throwing parts and money at a problem. Start from a known good point, and work into the unknown a step at the time and you will be surprised how easy it can be. Now, applying a cure might not be so easy but diagnosing the problem should be.

A tachometer and the GPS in his sonar (assuming he has that since most do these days) is more than accurate enough. If by chance he is depending on a water pressure mounted speedometer, hell he might be running 40 and just don't know it. Diagnostics usually tells what percent of time it has operated in different rpm bands, not the exact rpm it's turning at WOT running down the lake. Like I say, start with the facts first. Get a good RPM reading and GPS speed reading with it trimmed out perfectly. While doing this, pay attention to where the spray is coming out of the side of the boat. Run these numbers on a prop slip calculator and see what you get. Also, pay attention to the sound of the motor while trimming it out. Make sure you can over trim it. You should be able to hear the motor change sound and a lot of times you can feel it in the steering wheel because it will start cavitating the prop. If you can't over trim the motor, that's the rabbit you need to chase first. Getting the spray coming out behind the driver's seat is the next one if it's not doing that.