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All - if you haven't changed wheel bearings since new don't wait 3 years... Fortunately this bearing collapsed on the way to workshop for yearly service.

Another mod I made was to put a plate in the dash and then mount my sounder on a bracket so its sits out from the dash nearer the steering wheel. This would not suit a lot of people because it is uglier than flush mounted in the dash but I use the sounder a lot and like it to be at my fingertips while driving. I can also swivel it around a bit so I can see it better when fishing off the rear deck. It's also closer to my aging eyes. I was wondering, does anyone else get a persistent fuel smell in the boat? It's not overpowering in mine and no evidence of fuel in the bilge but maybe a loose vent hose or something like that.

I don't think I need more power from my engine. Can't wind it out as it is... Some pics of the putty job would be good.I was thinking of coating the thread with sikaflex or similar just to create a bit of a bond to the fibre glass but the marine putty sounds like a better way to go. My speedo is not working. I just bring gps speed up on the sounder screen. Have thought about getting the vessel view system to connect sounder to engine via NMEA but haven't got round to it yet.

Hi All, Just wondering how all the SS64s are going? I've had mine for 3 years now. No major issues. My stereo has stopped working and screws coming loose all over the place - some of which have been re-tightened so many times I am going to have to drill out and use larger ones. This is a particular a problem on my drivers side console (the screws that hold the foot well insert in place). I have always had a bit of a problem in this area - something doesn't fight right and when all the screws are snugged up I get some crunching noises when taking sharp chop from the starboard forward quarter. Probably going to replace some of these screws with bolts and lock nuts. The top hinge on my windscreen broke free last weekend. The rivets snapped. Need to find a better fixing to re-attach it. I spend most of my time out in the bay pounding it out in the chop so that might explain the windscreen. Other than that I am still happy with my choice. How are others fairing? S PS I spent a weekend in the great sandy straight between Fraser and the mainland. Did around 300 kms driving in two days (mostly at or above 50 kph). Could have run top speed but I was worried about hitting the wildlife - heaps of dolphins and dugongs etc. Such a great place for the SS64.

Oops. You are right. I just checked the manual. I asked a merc dealer about that feature and he said you run the motor. I thought it weird at the time since my pervious motor (a Yamaha) was strictly no run while flushing using the hose adapter. Oh well. No apparent harm done. Engine was nice and cool throughout. I am just going to use the hose fitting in future. The manual says turn tap on 1/2 way which suggests it flushes well without much pressure.

I was out Wednesday. First flushed using dual feed muffs and the high speed pickup blocker. Temp straight to 100! Triggered alarm. Never done that before. Had no problems with temp out on the water. Incidentally I got her up to 93 kph! Anyway. I tried using the hose connection on the motor. Worked beautifully. Temp at 62 throughout. Not sure why the muffs didn’t work but I’ll be using the hose connection on the motor in future.

Hey Greg. You probably have better than average water pressure I think. It is pretty common for big engines to have issues flushing with typical Brisbane water pressure. These Mercury engines have a high speed water pickup on the nose of the skeg that most other outboards dont have which exacerbates the problem. When using muffs lots of the water goes straight out of that pickup. If your pressure is not high you definitely need to block it off to flush properly. Do you use a regular diameter hose? The pressure at my place is pretty bad which doesn’t help.

I just use the plastic bit that fits around the hydraulic piston during transport. Lift the motor. Slot in the plastic stopper and drop the motor till it compresses it slightly. Not sure of the technical term for this.

Yeah. I do. But I use a strap with a rubber stopper on it. This slows water escape but doesn’t stop it fully.

I suspect your water pressure is not high enough. Do you have dual feed muffs? If not you will need them the water from the tell tale will always be cold. I queried this myself with Mercury. The water that comes through the tell tale has not been through the block. The water that pours out the exhaust and other returns is very hot during flushing. From memory the thermostat opens at around 65 degrees and the temp oscillates from 60-65 or so if engine cooling is sufficient. If not it creeps up until the alarm goes off. I crapped myself the first time. Now if I am having trouble due to low pressure or high input water temp (in summer) I just flush until it hits around 75. Switch it off. Wash the boat while it cools and give another flush at the end. some other things I have been meaning to try are using smallest length of hose possible and also using 18mm hose instead of 12mm. That should significantly increase water flow. One other thing. Maybe taping the pickups is not good because no water can escape from there and it might continue to get hotter?

It’s a sweet engine that’s for sure. Especially with a full boat. Still hauls ass. Sooner or later you take the paint off the skeg. It’s a sign of a boat that gets used. I would have thought any damage would be immediately noticed. If she is still running smooth then I’d say nothing to worry about. I use the hose with double sided muffs (ie the water comes through both sides of the muff not just one side). I have a strap with a rubber stopper that sits over the high sped pick ups. Need pretty good water pressure. At my house everyone waits for the engine to be flushed before having showers etc. I keep an eye on the temp. If the water pressure goes down the temp starts to climb. Usually one of the kids has jumped in the shower mid flush.

I would not go to moreton tomorrow. Won’t be pleasant over there. Strong westerly. Will be a **** trip back too. If you are really keen I’d hang on this side of the bay. In close to redcliffe/Scarborough. Probably going to be pretty ordinary out there.

Nah. Got the dreaded lurgy going through my house at the moment. Should be good though. Post some pics when you get back.

Yeah. The water separating fuel filter. Usually located in some relatively easy to access location.

Yeah I guess but I just step over it or on it. I often have the barrier in anyway so I step on the esky to step over that…

I don’t even know where the filter is on mine …

I put the esky between the driver and passenger console. It fits nicely there. I use the space under the rear seat for fishing gear. Greg’s idea with the stoppers is good. I’m going to do the same.

Best boat ramp on the Northside is pelican park at clontarf. 4 lanes plus floating pontoon that holds 6+ boats. Good wind protection and no tidal flow. Can launch at any tide. If weather in the bay is **** you can run into the pine. Usually not too busy either. Could be worth the extra travel time for the first few launches.

Nice looking boat mate. Very happy for you. Many hours of fun out the water ahead of you. Every time you start that engine you’ll be glad you waited for it. Where are you located?

Yep - What Greg said. The DTS throttle is very smooth (and definitley smoother than cable) and yes it can be adjusted. The issue is that the motor has a lot of torque - the six is a beefy engine. If he is used to the small displacement 200 hp engines like Suzuki and Yamaha then the extra torque will be very noticeable. It does take some getting used to but you won't ever want to go back. Most of us have big 4-blade props too. These increase the responsiveness because there is very little slip. A 3-blade prop with more slip is recommended if you drive in very choppy conditions - it makes for a smoother ride and it is easier to manage the throttle because the prop slip takes a bit of the edge off. There are some good articles out there if you want to read more about prop selection for different conditions. The 200 or 225 V8 is the way to go. DTS is the only option for these. But the DTS is is definitely a plus. You get used to the torque and will drive it comfortably in any conditions. Prop selection involves compromise - but most of us have opted for the 4-blade because it gives a very sporty responsiveness...

Hi Willi. I think the V8 Mercury is probably the best thing I have ever bought. Every time I start it I am happy I bought it. The engine has so much grunt and it moves the boat around so effortlessly. I absolutely love it. I am not a merc fanboy either - I have never owned one before. I use less fuel on a trip to Moreton and back than I was using in my old 5m tinnie with a 75HP (a new Yamaha engine at the time). The merc uses more fuel per hour but I get everywhere so much faster...But I wouldn't care if it used twice as much fuel it's that good. If it was me - I would wait for the V8. You won't be disappointed. What is the ETA for the v8? Any chance they will put a demo engine on it and swap it over when yours arrives? With respect to DTS - this would probably not concern me much one way or the other. Cable is old tech now but many people still like the mechanical connection feeling it is less prone to malfunction. There are other issues with cable though especially as it gets older. Good maintenance is the key. My 2c S

Hi Greg, Sorry for the very late reply...The Minn Kota is great. The cost was definitely worth it from my perspective - I use it all the time and it suits the type of fishing I do (lures/soft plastics). I had one on my last boat too and I struggled a bit with the Stej until I had the minn kota. In hindsight - I would probably just go for the terrova (manual deploy) than the ulterra which would have save me a few hundred dollars - but overall very happy. It was quite an expensive exercise though and so I would only recommend it to someone that really wants to use it a lot. Cheers, S

Will do.Tim said they are fitting HDS 9 inch units in the SS64. The Elite is about 5mm bigger so hopefully it will fit or it will have to go on the Ram mount...

Garmin, Humminbird, Raymarine, Simrad and Lowrance make excellent gear. I don't really think Brand makes too much difference. I have had Lowrance gear for the last 10 years or so so tend to just stay with that (you get used to the software etc). Simrad is made by the same people. The Simrad NSS Evo is exactly the same hardware that Mercury use for their Digital Vesselview gauges so there are possibly some advantages to using that. I think you can plug and play directly to the engine although not sure about that. I have the HDS Live 7 in mine. It fits neatly in the dash but it is too small for my likeing. The seating position is such that you are a fair way from the screen. You can fit a 9 inch in the dash minus the shrouds around the gauges. This would be much better. I have bought a 9 inch Lowrance Elite that I intend to put in the dash and then mount the 7 inch on a ram mount so I have two screens in the cockpit. These two units can be networked and can operate independently off the same transducer (i.e. one showing downscan and maps and the other showing sidescan etc...). This is how I had my last boat set up and it works well. Anyway - one high end 9 inch screen would be good - whichever brand. The other thing to consider is the transducer. For Lowrance the common one is called "active scan". They all have one which gives similar image quality. There is another higher end one that can do live sonar (called Active Target for Lowrance) - if you haven't seen this it is worth a look (YouTube). It gives a live sonar image but it is very expensive and I think it is probably cheating if you are fishing....The other brands also have similar tech available. Garmin were first with this and might be a little ahead of the others... So with all that - I think a good option is the Lowrance Elite FS 9 inch which is about the same price as the 7 inch HDS but does almost all the same things...you will appreciate the screen real estate.

Hey Willi, Tides at Poona were pretty small last weekend. It might be better on larger tides? Also 15 cm should only take 1/2 an hour or so. I'd say my estimate is pretty conservative too. The SS64 will probably float in less than 500mm (it's a wide boat with big revers chines) 450mm might be enough. S