First voyage - it floats!

[ozenine]

Well, i am pretty happy. Yesterday was the first time in my life when I was on the boat. My boat!
Unfortunatelly we did not make any pictures since we were out maybe for just 30 minutes and had so many things to do and remeber.
The launch was easy, it just got stuck at one pont on the trailer and I had to back it down a bit, but other then that it went smooth. Long ropes help!
Then was not so great part of starting main motor (40 hp Force). I had to crank it for 10 seconds 4-5 times and have throttle to the max (30% of WOT) for it to start. Then it would run rough and will die as soon as I will move the throttle in neutral. Then it is all over again. One thing i did not like is taht engine speed is not always correspond to the position of the lever, it matches but only after few secs, which is not very comfortable. (I am blaming the controller, maybe need to lube it very well)
Then when it started and and we decided to go it ran pretty smooth for maybe a minuten and then slowlly died.
So we started the little 6 hp Evinrude and cruised down the river for 15 minutes. Little guy ran fine, the only thing i need to fix is the pull start, wraping rope around is not fun.
Well, the boat did not leak a drop and the whole thing felt great! Except when we decided to stop on the way back and try to start the main motor again. We should have dropped the anchor, but the line was not atatched to it, so by the time we tied a rope to the anchor we were in the weeds and under a huge tree. We were afraid to put kicker dows since there were a lot of tree truncks int he water. So we had to almost paddle to back to the clear water and then clean up the motors from the weeds.
Getting the boat back on the trailer was more difficult then getting off. It is a roller trailer and I did not back it up far enough thinking that I will just winch the boat on, but is started scraping the trailer with the front of the keel. I am blaming steep ramp but maybe I am wrong?
Well after 20 minutes of struggle we got it on. It is good that we picked the quiet ramp, when there is nobody at 7 pm.

Overall I have mixed feelings. From one side it was a very frustrating experience with the whole main motor thing, but that minute when we went underway felt great. I think we will do it again .... after fixing this motor or getting new one.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: First voyage - it floats!

Well, i am pretty happy. Yesterday was the first time in my life when I was on the boat. My boat!

Congrats!!!

Unfortunately we did not make any pictures since we were out maybe for just 30 minutes and had so many things to do and remember.

Unacceptable

The launch was easy, it just got stuck at one point on the trailer and I had to back it down a bit, but other then that it went smooth.

Launch deep, retrieve shallow

Then was not so great part of starting main motor (40 hp Force). I had to crank it for 10 seconds 4-5 times and have throttle to the max (30% of WOT) for it to start.

Older motors will take a bit to fire with the choke. My '73 Johnson took quite a bit of cranking to fire the first time from a cold start. And it will require a good bit a throttle too. I used to fire it up on muffs in the driveway before leaving which made starting it on the water much quicker.

Then it would run rough and will die as soon as I will move the throttle in neutral. Then it is all over again.

Sounds like a dirty carb or a fuel delivery issue. I'm fighting with this one myself right now.

One thing i did not like is that engine speed is not always correspond to the position of the lever, it matches but only after few secs, which is not very comfortable. (I am blaming the controller, maybe need to lube it very well)

I doubt it has anything to do with the controller.

Then when it started and and we decided to go it ran pretty smooth for maybe a minute and then slowly died.

Again, fuel delivery issue. Fuel pump, improperly vented tank, dirty carb

Getting the boat back on the trailer was more difficult then getting off. It is a roller trailer and I did not back it up far enough thinking that I will just winch the boat on, but is started scraping the trailer with the front of the keel. I am blaming steep ramp but maybe I am wrong?

You should be able to winch the boat on. Maybe it was the steep ramp creating too much of an angle. I guess the trailer needed to be a little deeper.

after fixing this motor or getting new one.

I'm thinking it's nothing serious with this motor.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: First voyage - it floats!

Ozenine, I'm glad to hear you got out on the rig!

Awesome that it doesn't leak, that is great news. I agree with Ez that you should be able to get that OB running nicely with some minor work. If you had a marine mech look at it you might find that a carb rebuild and tuning will go a long way and won't break the bank.

Sounds like you had fun, don't worry about the difficulties...you will get into a routine and each trip will be less hassle.

Keeping the anchor tied is a good idea so you can drop it quickly. This is especially important on rivers since when the motor dies the current takes you places you may not want to go.

I love having my 30lb Minn Kota so I can easily keep the boat where I want it. They only cost $100, I'd recommend getting one.

Congrats!

 

[ozenine]

Re: First voyage - it floats!

Thanks guys!
here is my plan of attack on the Motor:
1) Clean up the carbs
2) Check out the fuel supply

I am thinking that carb can be an issue. When i took out the plugs they were all covered in black ash, that I had to wipe them off. Pretty sure there is lot of gunk in that carb.
I think I will take it off and do proper cleaning. Also will check for the need of rebuild. Motor is not that old (1993), so cleaning alone may help.

We did not get the proper rope for the anchor (I am not sure what size do i need, would 150 pounds working load rope do?)

There is no choke on this motor......

When retrieving, i wanted to winch it on because I thought that if I will put trailer too deep it will be winched on but will still float and i will have trouble setting it on the rollers, but then the angle was too steep, so the bottom started scraping the trailer. Maybe I will have to add something like a guide roller in the place where it was scraping.

Last question, my 6 hp Evinrude has lean/rich knob. It is now set to something like 6 (1 is leanest, 8 richest, I think). what is the best setting for most situations?

 

[ezmobee]

Re: First voyage - it floats!

I find it very hard to believe your Force does not have a choke. I could be wrong....but that would be pretty unusual.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: First voyage - it floats!

Last question, my 6 hp Evinrude has lean/rich knob. It is now set to something like 6 (1 is leanest, 8 richest, I think). what is the best setting for most situations?

My 5.5hp Johnson has a lean/rich knob and I just adjust it until the motor sounds like it's running the strongest. There are ways to set it based on the numbers but I just go by the sound of the motor while running in gear.

 

[ozenine]

Re: First voyage - it floats!

I find it very hard to believe your Force does not have a choke. I could be wrong....but that would be pretty unusual.

The Manual says " for the motors with choke .... for the ones with primer bulb ...." I will have to look again but I did not see anything that looked like choke.

 

[dozerII]

Re: First voyage - it floats!

Oz, great you got out, always seems to be some bugs to work out. Good luck with the motor it does not sound too serious.
Glen

 

[motorpsykler]

Re: First voyage - it floats!

Sounds like a great first outing! Like others have said, don't worry that it didn't go perfectly. You will figure things out. Take each concern one at a time and solve the problems. The outboard is a good place to start. It's good you have the kicker, having a back-up power is a great idea. Boat launching and retrieving is an art and a science, IMO. I obsess over trailer set-up, probably too much. But you will figure out what works and what doesn't and don't be afraid to make well thought out adjustments and modifications to your trailer set-up. I can't tell you how many boats I have seen that are sitting on misadjusted trailers. Sometimes a ten minute adjustment can make all the difference in the world. Have fun!

 

[ozenine]

Re: First voyage - it floats!

Thanks guys.
I hope taht motor is something not serious. As far as trailer, I may need your help on properly setting it up. Will do me pictures an maybe do another post.

 

[kyles v221 islander]

Re: First voyage - it floats!

I don't feel so bad now..I thought my maiden voyage was embarassing.
Bought the boat on Sunday, put it onto water Wednesday drove to dock and sat. Cleaned and preped.
Went out on the river Sat. 1 hour into it no foreward. Humm..moved some adjustments got foreward again...stopped again no foreward. Got back to ramp and took out. Loaded fine and went to repair shop on Monday. By Fri the shop hasn't even looked at the boat yet. Took boat back and drove a hour away to a dealer and they are so nice to get boat running by the big weekend. 4th of July weekend. Well I can only hope. Family Reunion is in 3 weeks. At least it will be ready for that. So what do you all think?