MattInOz

Well, barring unforseen circumstances it looks like I've just sold my 40HP... a guy just gave me a $1000 deposit on it and will be back with another $1500 in a week, so I made $500 on the deal which pays for the installation and the new external fuel tank I had to buy to show it running on the stand (which will now go into the boat as an emergency fuel source). Hoorah for free upgrades!

It's not quite free, turns out I need to replace a seal which is making the gear shift stiff in and out of gear but that's not urgent.

Update: SOLD

I have for sale a used 1999 Mercury 40HP 2 stroke 3 cylinder engine, long (20") leg. It's done about 30 hours since it's last service, and it had new plugs, leads, impellor, and gearbox seals, both anodes, and has had the fuel pump rebuilt. Still has the oil injection intact. Comes with a brand new spare propeller, as well as forward controls and gauges (speedo, tacho, trim, hours). It's total hours are unknown as the boat didn't come with an hour meter. I'll also throw in the home made engine stand it's sitting on. Only selling as I upgraded to a larger engine, has been a strong performer for me once I had it properly serviced and so on. Has been flushed after every use for as long as I've had it, no overheating etc. Compression gauge meters out at 107, 107, 105 (though it's a cheapie meter and may not be 100% accurate, but at least you know there's no dead cylinders. Feel free to BYO gauge if you like).

I won't lie to you, it's a bit more than 20 years old and like anything that's been around salt water than long it's not perfect. The biggest issue with it is the steering is a little stiff, but still very usable. When I got it, it was very stiff but I've done a lot of work on it and gotten new grease out of both ends and it's no longer an issue, just not perfect. Another minor quirk is that the trim sender is not quite in the correct position due to a broken screw, so the gauge doesn't read quite right. Again it's usable, just not perfect... and if you have the skills and patience to remove the broken screw it'd be just fine. The sender itself is obsolete but I found a "new old stock" genuine mercury item in the US to put on.

Asking price is $2000, can demonstrate it working on the stand in Gailes (just west of Brisbane). Call or text me on 0403 821 965.

Spent a couple of hours yesterday greasing and adjusting stuff on the boat and ran ithe donk up in the driveway and it ran nicely. Today finally got the boat into the water. Wow what a difference... it was fairly sedate before, it worked well enough and had sufficient power if you had one or two people on board but that was all. Now (albeit with just me on board) it practically jumps out of the water when you goose it, and the top speed's increased from about 22kn to 30kn at 5300RPM once it's all trimmed out (on a glassy Brisbane River). Current prop's a 10 3/8" x 13"... I could go up to a 14" pitch but it's only going to make a few knots difference, and do I really need every last erg of speed in what's mostly a fishing boat? I'd rather keep the power to get up on plane, and low end performance for trolling than chasing that last five knots or so, and 30kn is plenty for any family boating I'm likely to do... taking the wife & daughter out to Tippler's or around Bribie, etc. I had to knock it down to 6kn for a km or so to go under the bridge at Jindalee due to the bridge works and it chugged along at trolling speed nicely, no choking up etc. Steering's REALLY free now too... so much so that when it's idling with the typical 2 stroke "miss" it now moves the steering wheel around. I was planning on putting a steering knob on the wheel for when I'm docking, but now I can just "palm" the wheel and spin it around like I would a car.

There does seem to be a bit of an issue with the tilt/trim... if I trim it all the way up it makes a "crack" noise near the end of travel sometimes, and when I trim it down it gets past the "tilt" section and into the "trim" part of travel and it sort of hesitates for a second and the motor makes that "I'm not under load" noise then it sort of catches up with a "clunk" and drops the rest of the way normally. The hydralic ram seems to be undamaged so maybe an issue in the tilt tube? Also the gear change is quite stiff both into and out of gear, forward and backward. Brad at Ipswich Marine mentioned it and I'm gonna see if it frees itself up with use before I go looking any deeper. I'm using the original forward controls & cables that were in the boat rather than the ones that came with the engine and they worked just fine on the 40, although the throttle seems to be more free now than it was before. One other odd thing I noticed when flushing it today is that it has water coming out of a hole in the forward face of the leg, just above the cavitation plate. I'm pretty sure the 40 didn't do it but seems to be operating fine so I assume that's a thing with the 60. It was also pulling left once it got some speed on it... the original trim tab/anode thing was broken when I got it and they put a new one on for me when they fitted the engine, so I just adjusted that left a fraction once I got home. It was pointing slightly right originally and is now dead on centered, so next time I'm out I'll bring a 5/8" socket with me and see if it's right or not now.

Oh I didn't bring a rod with me but it might be worthwhile dropping a line in off the pontoon at the Jindalee boat ramp... my sonar was going nuts beeping at me all around there.

Oh and if anyone's interested... I've got a well behaved 40HP 2 stroke I'm looking to sell.

The 60 metered out to exactly the same figures as the 40 which is encouraging. The gearbox oil was green, not white, and it started and ran better than the 40 does. The steering's really light and free too, unlike the 40 which I've struggled to free to to a usable point. The vendor even gave me his home made engine stand which'll make it easier to sell the 40. Took boat and engine in today, should be ready tomorrow AM but I'm baby sitting a sick toddler tomorrow so first chance to put it in the river and give it a blast will be thuraday... will let you know. It's propped to suit a 5.1m fibreglass boat and is going on a 4.3m ally boat so chances are will have to change prop to get the best out of it.

Well, answered my own question... according to Ipswich Marine they use the same controller so all good, just swap the engine over.

Bought a new compression gauge today, going out to look at the 60 tomorrow. Tested the gauge on my 40HP and got 107, 107, 105 psi which is a bit lower than I'd expected but ok for a 26 year old engine. It could be the gauge but it's all I've got and the numbers seem close to right so if the gauge is out it shouldn't be by too much. At least I'll be able to tell if there's a significant difference between the cylinders on the 60 or not, and I'll get Ippy Marine to put their gauge on it when they swap it over so I can compare to my readings.

Hey guys.

One take away from my recent trip to Turkey Beach was that, with the addition of a second battery & anchor winch and with three big boofy blokes on board, my little 40HP 2 stroke struggled to get up on the plane... it managed it but took a while longer than I like to get there.

The hull's a 4.3m aluminium runabout rated for 40-60HP, and currently has a 1999 Mercury 40HP, 2 stroke, 3 cylinder ELPTO motor serial no 0G772228. I'm going out tomorrow to look at and hopefully buy a used motor, a 2001 Mercury 60HP, 2 stroke, 3 cylinder ELPTO serial no 0T328216. As far as I can tell these are basically identical engines even sharing the same block, just with different capacities.

So my question to any Mercury experts out there... what's the odds that I can do the swap without changing out the forward controls and gauges? Reckon they'd be compatible? I'll swap them if I have to but getting all those cables and wires out and new ones in would be a pain to be avoided if possible. Just getting the dual battery switch panel off to get at the battery leads will be a big enough pain.

Matt

5 hours ago, Huxstang said:

Consider a Mooloolaba Pick anchor https://www.whitworths.com.au/mooloolaba-pick-anchor

Thats what all the boats have on the swains that I have been on.  

Shackle to the top then lay chain down the shaft and heavy zip ties to what you would normally attach to.  If its stuck you just pull back over the top and it snaps the zip ties and you then pull the anchor up from the head.

Mate bought a very expensive version of one (cannot remember the name) but it uses a sheer bolt to hold the fins in place and all you do it drive over the top and it sheers the pin and the fins collapse.  A guy up in Mackay makes them.  Very neat.

I did look at them but the price vs a reef anchor put me off a bit, I'm already spending about $270 replacing the Manson, and the reef anchor really won't see much use, I almopst always anchor in sand or mud.

Why am I not using a fluke anchor? I used to and it was ok, but it doesn't self launch and having to get out the front and shove it sort of takes away at least some of the fun of a winch.

Re: the zip ties down the shaft thing... that works right up until the tide/wind shift your boat around and the anchor tries to reset and the chain tears the zip ties, then your rode's pulling on the head of the anchor. Probably not a huge issue on a reef anchor since you won't be relying on it overnight or unattended, but still. Thinking I'll just get a 20m line and a float to attach to the head of the anchor in case I need to pull it loose.

The sliding shackle in a slot thing you see on some anchors seems a bit problematic too to me. It's fine if you're in a nice level sandy bottom but if you're anchor's sitting on a bottom that means the shaft's on an upsward angle the shackle's not going to slide down the anchor as you motor forward. It could also end up pulling out the anchor if your boat shifts but at least then the anchor would turn around and reseat itself.

17 minutes ago, mangajack said:

Dyneema / spectra is not a good option for anchor rope...it has next to no stretch and often will un-nest an anchor with surges coming down the rope. Use silver rope, it is a good stretch rope that helps keep an anchor holding.....plus it is enormously cheaper.

I don't really have an option for the main anchor as it's on a winch, and the thicker silver rope means a much shorter anchor rode. I've got a coil of silver rope I was planning on putting on a fluke anchor to use a s stern achor when I'm anchoring off a beach or as a second anchor in case a storm blows up... no reason I couldn't swap it out and use it on the reef anchor too, just put on whichever anchor I'm using on the day.

It also has the advantage that if you do need to cut it you can always resplice a new thmble into it.

Hey guys

While I was up north I ended up having to cut off my expensive manson anchor (which also means replacing the double braided rope & chain since the old rope no longer has a thimble and apparently you can't resplice double braided rope once it's been wet & taut), so I've decided that to prevent a repeat of this I'll invest in a reef anchor. It's less likely to get permanantly snagged, and I'm less concerned about chopping off a $20 anchor than a $300 one. I'm gonna use the old anchor rope with it and just tie it onto the chain with an achor bend knot... but that begs the question of how much chain do I need?

I know the "standard" answer to that question is "the same as the length of the boat", and the "extreme" answer is "as much as you can store", but that assumes a "standard" anchor and I keep seeing posts in various places that say when using a reef anchor on reef or rocks you should reduce or even omit the chain altogether as the chain is often the bit that snags or damages the reef.

So what's the concensus? Same as the boat (abt 4.5m)? A bit less (say 3m)? Use chain but put it in a chain sock? None at all? What say you all?

Matt

I've used both the boat wash and the engine flush. I can say for sure the boat wash works, but it's expensive so I switched to a 4x4 "after beach wash" that, while it doesn't do as good a job, is a ton cheaper and for a beat up fishing boat I'm not that concerned about appearance. I still use their engine flush religiously though. I didn't get their expensive "captain's musket" thing... I bought exactly the same thing in a cheaper brand on special from Anaconda.

If you have a pretty new boat and want to keep it looking flash by all means use the Salty Captain products... they do work. Just comparing the cover on my outboard after washing with "salty captain" compared to the 4x4 wash shows a significant difference in salt spotting on the black surface once it all dries.

13 hours ago, mangajack said:

If i fish central to north qld I always set the last fishing day in one of the dams.....give it a good sloshing at the end of the day and throw 20 buckets in the hull and run the bilge pump back to the ramp.

Just another job you don't have to do when you get home.

For many years I would flush out at Youngs Crossing before they added all of those bollards.

That's gotta be a lot easier than hosing it all off and flushing the engine.

Funny, there's a 2007 (I think) Yammy 60 with the same problem listed for $2.5K on gumtree that I was very tempted to spring for and have a go at fixing as an upgrade from my 1999 40HP Merc. Thought it might have been yours at first but you fixed it, so no.

On 31/01/2024 at 4:10 PM, Huxstang said:

Mate of mine did a trip up to Pancake Creek and on way home drove into Monduran Dam reversed down the ramp.  A guy was yelling at him about not having undone the straps…he laughed and said he was just flushing trailer and motor with fresh water.  Not sure if its bad etiquette but its only around the corner from Turkey Beach relatively so you could always stop for a quick fresh water fish on the way home and run it with some fresh water.

Best idea I've heard all week... thanks.

On 15/01/2024 at 2:24 PM, Hweebe said:

My Coast Guard renewal is up in Feb-24 ($80) so I thought i would look up where this merger is up to. Supposedly merger is to be wrapped up by June-24.

Name and Emblem:

MRIP - Marine Rescue Queensland emblem and uniforms approved | For government | Queensland Government

 

Regions Divided up:

RIT - Monthly Newsletter December 2023 | For government | Queensland Government

 

 

I heard about this when I was doing my VHF licence (at Manly Coast Guard) but I wasn't paying a whole bunch of attention. Will we still need paid memberships, or will it be a govt funded service like Police, Fire, Ambulance, etc?

On 14/01/2024 at 8:20 AM, RayM said:

Hi There,

i have 3 x 150ah lead batteries on my boat. 1 for Cranking and 2 for House use.

i run two small fridges off the house batteries (60L each) with a 160w solar panel.

One fridge will stay on all night but the other will turn off and on intermittently.

Do I need a larger solar panel like 500w ?

or do i need to keep my lead acid cranking battery and change the two house batteries to deep cycle ?

Any advice will be much appreciated.

 

Kind Regards,

Ray

The answer to your question is another two questions: Are the batteries charging to 100% during the day, and are they discharging to below a usable voltage with normal use overnight? A volt meter will answer the question for you... a lead acid battery at full charge will read just under 14 volts, and once below about 11 volts it'll probably be too discharged for your fridge. If your batteries are not charging completely you need a bigger solar panel, and if they're charging to 100% during the day and discharging too quickly at night you need bigger batteries (or possibly just new ones, get them load tested).

Of course, putting bigger batteries in might also require bigger solar panels to charge them too... have to suck it and see. If your current batteries are already at 100% by say 11am you can probably afford to put a bigger battery on it but if they struggle to get to 100% by say 4pm a bigger battery will require a bigger panel.

As for the type of battery, a deep cycle battery is specifically designed to be fully discharged and charged repeatedly, while a cranking battery is designed for the heavy, brief load of a starter motor and then immediately recharged by the alternator. If replacing your house batteries you want deep cycle (or dual use) ones ideally.

On 15/01/2024 at 8:28 AM, Hweebe said:

Not really practical - but you could buy one of those collapsible outboard flush bags.

You would need to carry sufficient amounts of fresh water to use though.............

Example Shop Outboard Flush Bags In AU | Salt Attack (salt-attack.com.au)

Probably cheaper options available or DIY options as well

 

Nice idea, but ridiculously expensive. Think I'd just get a plastic garbage bin and cut it to suit instead. Suppose I could do that and put 3-4 jerry cans of water in the ute... fill them up in Gin Gin or somewhere else close by to save carting water all the way from Brisbane. Still, as Huxstang pointed out it's probably not worth it if I'll be using the boat daily, just do it when I get back.

On 02/01/2024 at 9:21 PM, Neil Stratford said:

Take your own hose and get a four way brass tap key from Bunnings ,so you can access the council park water. I’m pretty sure there would be a tap in or near the public toilets or at the picnic shed, at the ramp park.Its always a good idea to flush the salt out of your motor asap -if you can.

Also good to give your trailer and boat a quick rinse as well.

Neil

 

Unfortunately my understanding is there's no town water anywhere in the turkey beach area... will look into it though. I'd be happier if I could rinse things off.

On 11/02/2022 at 6:29 PM, turdle said:

Actually the outboard engines are designed and tuned to run on 91-93ron. Yamaha specifically states that if you encounter engine troubles/roughness, it may be due to the use of premium or high energy fuel, and recommends only using standard fuel. Economy also suffers when using high octane fuel. 

From my time as a mechanic working on old Minis, MGs, Rovers etc I can confirm this. Spending money on octane levels higher than your engine is designed to use is just throwing money away. The fuel companies will argue that they put in detergents etc to help "clean your engine" but realistically all that would do is take up space in the combustion chamber with something that's not producing power and actually lower your output. Of course if your engine's designed to use 95 or 98 RON you should use that, but the majority are not.

One caveat though is if you're using 91RON (or 94, depending on the brand) be very sure not to use fuel with ethanol in it. Not because it would do any damage (it won't assuming your motor's less than 30 years old) but because ethanol is hygroscopic... ie: it absorbs moisture from the air. This isn't a real problem with cars under normal use, but with boats it's inviting water contamination in the tank.

Thanks guys, you've set my mind at ease. I tend to get a bit OCD about things like this.

Yep... just when you the boat's perfect and there's nothing else to do some other shiny toy (usually with a 4 figure pricetag) suddenly seems absolutely essential. Oh well, everybody needs a hobby.

Well the winch is all fitted up and I finally got out on the water the other day... what a game changer it is, especially for a solo sailor. It's now so easy and fast to drop the anchor and pick it up that I'm questioning if I even need a trolling motor now. Just pull up, throw in half a dozen casts, and if you're not happy and want to move on you're gone in under a minute.

Oh and I talked myself into lay-bying a new fish finder too at the BCF boxing day sales. Upgrading the old Lowrance Elite Ti the boat came with to a Lowrance HDS Live. They had the 7" ones on sale for $1399 ($30 less than the Elite FS 7") because they're discontinued now in favour of the HDS Pro. From looking at the difference between the Ti and the Live on youtube, it's like comparing chalk and cheese. If you want one they had about half a dozen left at various branches the other day... I bought the second last one at Ipswich.

(Tried to attach a pic of the winch but it gave me an error when I tried to upload.)

The obvious suggestion is have you checked the fuses, and are you 100% certain they're connected correctly? Looked for damaged wires? (I'm sure you've checked it half a dozen times, but it's gotta be asked). If nothing's working it suggests a bad power supply or eath return... if you have a test light or multimeter find out which connections are +12v and -12v and make sure they're working correctly.

Hey guys

I'm going up to Turkey Beach near Gladstone with some mates to do some fishing for a week in April, and the house we're renting (AirBnB) only has tank water (no town water in the area) and they expressly forbid washing boats/motors with their limited supply. The boat will be in the water every day for the week... how much of an issue is it if it's not flushed till I get back to Brisbane?

Matt

On 26/11/2023 at 3:24 PM, Angry51 said:

What I would like to know Matt, how do you use anchor and troll motor at the same time. Asking for a friend.

Perhaps not exactly the same time but on the same outing. If I decide to pull up somewhere and anchor I don't to have to mess about taking the trolling motor off (and knowing me dropping it overboard) before I can.