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    Need F-250 Feedback

    I'm going to buy a Ranger Tug R27 in the next 3-12 months. To be ready for when I find the right boat and deal, I'm selling my 2011 Silverado 1/2 ton and buying a 3/4 ton diesel. A colleague has a 2014 F-250 Lariet 4-door with 65,000 miles that he may sell. I intend to tow the R27 on trips...
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    Sonic Rodent Repellent While Storing Boat

    For winter storage, I keep my deckboat in a metal storage building with a gravel floor at our small farm property 250 miles from our primary residence. I've never had a problem with mice getting into the boat until last year. They got in with a vengeance. Fortunately, the only real damage was...
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    Great Boating Season Stats

    Today, I finished winterizing my two boats- a 1984 21' Sea Ray cuddy and a 2002 21' Four Winns deckboat. All went smoothly. It was a great season. The weather and water conditions were nice all season. I keep a simple log on my iPhone and here are the numbers: Sea Ray- 63 hours on 29...
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    Corrosion Under Distributor Cap

    I'm replacing the cap and rotor on my 1984 Merc 228R with Thunderbolt 4. When I removed the distributor cap, I was surprised by the amount of surface corrosion on the distributor body (don't know if that's the correct parts term). See photo. How should I deal with it? In the same photo and...
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    Thunderbolt IV Cap & Rotor Change Interval

    How often should Thunderbolt IV cap & rotor be changed? Boat is used 50-75 hours per season on fresh water.
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    1984 Taylor Made Windshield Trim

    To check the integrity of the hardware fastening the bottom of windshield to foredeck, I pulled a piece of black plastic trim about 3/4" wide that runs the width of a section of the windshield on my 1984 Sea Ray cuddy. The trim covered the slot containing the fasteners at the bottom of the...
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    Fluctuating Oil Pressure at Idle 5.0 GXiB

    Engine 5.0 GxiB #4012069514 Upon starting engine after oil & filter change, the engine alarm sounded for about five seconds. I feel sure it was oil pressure causing the alarm. I observed it fluctuate and then stabilize. That's never happened in the nine years I've owned this boat. Now when...
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    Evaluating a Donated Sailboat

    I'm a power boater of ten years. I know next to nothing about sailboats. My school-teacher daughter is volunteering at a Girl Scout aquatic camp for a couple weeks this summer. Someone donated a mid-80s Starwind 22 sailboat to the camp. It doesn't fit their mission and they want to sell it...
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    Wheel Hub and Transmission Fluid Temps While Towing

    Occasionally there are posts by folks contemplating a long distance tow asking about the stresses of such a tow on tires, hubs, and transmission. Several times a year, I tow two different 21' boats carried on tandem axle trailers on trips of a couple hundred miles. An observation I've made...
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    Little/No Prop Thrust at High Torque Merc MR-1

    Boat: 1984 Sea Ray cuddy Engine: Merc 228R Drive: Merc MR-1 Both original to boat Went out for a dinner cruise tonight. Like it has for the last 10 years, it throttled up and planed right off. About five minutes later, the engine rpm revved and the prop lost almost all thrust. After throttling...
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    Snaps Screwed into Fiberglass Pulling Out

    I have an elderly Sea Ray cuddy vintage 1984. The male component of the snaps that secure the cockpit cover to the hull are screwed into the fiberglass with a sheetmetal screw. Some of the snaps have pulled out of the fiberglass and need to be replaced. What are the ways to accomplish this?
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    2005 Crownline 270 CR Underpowered?

    There's a one-owner private sale 2002 Crownline 270 CR available locally. It's very well equipped, including a 7.3KW generator. The problem I see is the powerplant is a Merc 350MPI driving a Bravo III. That seems to me to be significantly underpowered. Most I've seen for sale have bigger...
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    Damaged Bottom Paint

    The bottom on my Sea Ray cuddy is painted with a typical ablative paint. I don't know the exact brand and type. I had the boat detailed by a local shop a few weeks back and one of the steps was an acid wash. The shop claims the acid wash took off some of the bottom paint in one area and left...
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    Indexing V-P Duoprops

    I'm certain I'm not the first to make this inquiry, but I did a search and couldn't find a post that addresses my specific question: Should the two props on a Volvo-Penta DP-S be installed in any certain position relative to one another? The V-P manual for my engine/drive makes no mention of...
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    Missing Boater Found on Kentucky Lake

    These situations usually don't end well. Boat sinks, five swim to shore. One missing. Hours later, and an hour after search called off for the night, cries for help are heard by a shoreline resident and rescue is effected. The missing person was found a mile from location of sunken boat...
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    Pocket Cruiser Questions

    I'm considering the purchase of a trailerable cruiser in the 25'-27' range. One cruiser I'm looking at has a 28 gallon waste holding tank for a vacuflush head. Is 28 gallons sufficient for a night or two with four adults and that type of head? Four people would be the max and then only a time...
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    Tachometer Fix

    The Faria tach in my 2002 Four Winns deckboat started indicating about 400-500 rpm high. I called Faria tech support and left a message. I was pleasantly surprised when my call was returned almost immediately. The advice given was that my 13 year-old instrument probably needed to be replaced...
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    MPG Towing With/Without Cover

    I have a well-fitting cover for my Four Winns deckboat. I almost always tow cover-on. There is no flapping of fabric or anything of the like. This week I conducted an experiment to verify what I've experienced in the past. I towed the same route with/without cover. The total weight was...
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    DP-S Shift Cable Throttle/Shift Coordination

    I had the shift cable replaced on my DP-S outdrive #4012069514. It shifts into forward OK, but now there is a significant gap in shift lever movement between idle and increasing throttle. It's on the order of 30 degrees of shift lever movement before throttle increase, but I haven't measured...
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    2002 DP-S FWD Shift Issue

    Drive serial #4202054335 The drive doesn't shift into FWD reliably. Sometimes there is a hesitation, sometimes a light shot of throttle causes it to shift and then it engages with a clunk. It ain't right. It shifts instantly and properly into neutral and reverse. The problem is only into...
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