Quote:
Originally Posted by GWTHedman
. . . Any thoughts on what I should be looking out for? Lastly, any recommendations on a local knowledgeable member / surveyor who could assess the boat?
Not sure if the photos will come through sized correctly, haven't quite figured that out yet!
Thank you in advance-
Gary
|
Welcome aboard Gary! Current owner made a wise decision by choosing a relatively light 2 stroke motor to use on a bracket!
One thing I'd be looking at closely is motor height, as it's hard to get that right on a bracket. The old rule of thumb frequently quoted on the internet of "raising motor 1" for every foot of setback" is totally bogus . . . in my experience, it should be more like 2"/ft! Even most dealers, who should know better, seem to mount the motors too low! So during the sea trial, when it's up on plane and fully trimmed out, take a look over the transom at the Anti-Ventilation plate . . . it should be above solid water. Some splash on top of plate is ok, but if you can't even see it, motor is mounted too low, causing unnecessary drag, loss of top speed and excess fuel burn. If it's too low, I'd also check to see what holes the motor is mounted on to see how much it could be raised, if at all. If it can't be raised enough, you may have to add a short jack plate to get the height correct. For an example of AV plate appearance at correct height, check the photos in my recent reply to Vezo about his 20' Seafari.
I'd also check to see if the boat seems to porpoise easily when motor is trimmed up. If it does, that indicates some weight needs to be shifted forward to offset effects of the bracket. (Check my post on the "Pro's & Con's of Brackets" for more discussion of boat balance issues.) Also, with motor trimmed all the way down, check to see how slow you can run and hang on plane. As originally designed, with a motor of 300 lbs or less hanging on the transom, these boats would plane at about 12-13 mph, which is a very good thing when you get into rough seas! If it won't plane below about 20 mph, you may need a stern lifting 4B prop and/or a fin on AV plate! And also check to see if it's propped correctly by checking rpm at WOT. Don't know what the optimum is for that motor, but probably at least 5500 rpm, measured by an accurate digital tach. Analog tachs can be off by 200-300 rpm!