Posted: 5/6/2026 12:52:31 PM EDT
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My buddy bought a 26' Thompson Fisherman 260. 1994 I believe. I've been helping him replace lights, fix some rot, etc, getting it ready to fish for salmon on Lake Michigan. When he bought it, the previous owner trashed the prop trying to power load it on the trailer. He had the marina replace the prop before dragging it home, and last night we put it into a small lake here to test run it. WOT we could only get 2500 RPM, and 9-10 mph plowing through the water. I don't know shit about fuck regarding boats but seems to me that the prop has too much pitch and the motor just isn't strong enough to push it, which is why it smells like it's running quite rich. Anyway I'm having trouble identifying either the engine or the stern drive. The engine appears to me to be a GM SBC, probably a 350, based on the intake manifold number. I can't find a serial plate on it anywhere visible other than a "REMANUFACTURED" tag. The stern drive SN is so faded I cannot read it and what I can see I don't think is nearly a complete number. Without knowing what the gear ratio in the drive is I think buying a shorter prop is something between guessing and wishing. Can anyone help identify this? I believe the model is Bravo II based on the prop installed, which is a QA1940R 19P Quicksilver.         
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It's a bravo 2 drive. To find out the gear ratio of the drive, put it in gear, and manually crank the engine over with a breaker bar on the crank pulley. Count the turns of the crankshaft, how many turns the prop makes, do the math...and you have your drive gear ratio  As far as it not turning many RPM's....could be the prop pitch, could be the fact that it needs a tuneup. If he hasn't replaced the plugs, wires, cap, and rotor....do that first. Also, clean the carb. You should be able to find a good starting point for the prop pitch. I would think that a 21p would be plenty low enough to get that boat on plane and not bog it down. |
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Originally Posted By imq707s: It's a bravo 2 drive. To find out the gear ratio of the drive, put it in gear, and manually crank the engine over with a breaker bar on the crank pulley. Count the turns of the crankshaft, how many turns the prop makes, do the math...and you have your drive gear ratio As far as it not turning many RPM's....could be the prop pitch, could be the fact that it needs a tuneup. If he hasn't replaced the plugs, wires, cap, and rotor....do that first. Also, clean the carb. You should be able to find a good starting point for the prop pitch. I would think that a 21p would be plenty low enough to get that boat on plane and not bog it down. Yeah I'm going to check timing and compression next time I'm there. I'm definitely leaning towards the engine not making enough power for whatever reason. Everything I can find says this setup should run 20+ mph planed out at ~4500 RPM. |
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Originally Posted By fredshort: Fishing Boats Thanks I didn't realize that existed. Though at this point I think it's "why is this Chevy 350 performing like a 305?" 
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Originally Posted By Danted: I had a pair of small blocks in a similar sized boat. It had a pair of 19s I dont think a single sbc is gonna spin a 19 in a 26 ft boat. . I bet a 15p would get you to redline Thanks that's the kind of experience I don't have. The only 15P available for this drive that I can find is 19.25" diameter, the 19P on the boat now is 18.25". There appears to be enough clearance to run the 19.25" but I don't know if there are any other considerations going up in diameter. I replaced the cap and rotor, they were so corroded I'm surprised it ran as well as it did, whenever that was the problem for me in a truck it wouldn't even start. But I couldn't even get my timing light to register any of the plug wires the current was so weak. That took care of the rich smell and the oil sheen in the water from the exhaust. We ran it around some more and I tweaked the timing a bit as we went and all said and done got us up to 3100 RPM and just over 10mph. I have a new fuel filter coming but I don't think that's restricting anything, the carb seems to be behaving quite well as far as I can tell. I expected more from the cap/rotor/timing than we got, and because the improvement was so small (outside of running much nicer at all RPM) now I'm back to thinking like you're saying, too much prop for too little HP on too big/heavy of a boat. ETA: Buddy finally got the mechanic at the marina on the phone (he'd been dodging calls, once he finally picked up and realized he wasn't being blamed for anything we just wanted his advice he became super helpful ) and apparently the transom was replaced last year and they had the motor and drive off. Brand new plugs. 2 year old gasoline in the tank (around 15 gallons? We put in 35 on top of it before he found that out).
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Well, I finally found some forums talking about these boats specifically. It seems that the boats powered with a 260hp 350 would get up to 22-30mph at 4200-4400 RPM, whether they're Alpha drives with smaller props or Bravo 1 or 2s. Even the 24' boats with 5.0s are getting there. Maddeningly enough no one seems inclined to post what pitch prop they're doing this with. They say it seems to plane around 19mph. We're going 10mph @ 3000 and can't get any more RPM (roughly 5/8 throttle, moving from that point to full throttle gets nothing in response). Marina mechanic says 19P is *the* prop for that boat/motor/drive. So nothing's really changed, weak motor, too much prop. Where to dump the next $$ is the question. If this was my boat I would give up on the idea of fishing with it this season and pull the motor for a fresh rebuild. I know that's not going to happen he's going to fish it this coming weekend or the next and then it will be on the other side of the state and my interest in working on it significantly diminished. |
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Step 1 - compression and leakdown test. Step 2 - if Step 1 checks out then move to the spark. Simple test is to load test the ign. via spark jump test. Step 3 - pull carb, clean, refresh gaskets, needle and seat, double check the floats, they need to float, check float level and drop. Step 4 - not being familiar with i/o's, not sure what kind of fuel pump it has or runs but make sure it is supplying adequate fuel volume. Check lines, filters, check valves. Step 5 - with the engine running, make sure the primary and secondarys are coming in correctly Step 6 - tune timing with a vac guage for optimum performance Step 7 - go enjoy. Free advice and all that. Jump around depending on what has and hasnt been done or where the diag. leads. Good luck with it all. |
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Originally Posted By Borngrumpy34: Step 1 - compression and leakdown test. Step 2 - if Step 1 checks out then move to the spark. Simple test is to load test the ign. via spark jump test. Step 3 - pull carb, clean, refresh gaskets, needle and seat, double check the floats, they need to float, check float level and drop. Step 4 - not being familiar with i/o's, not sure what kind of fuel pump it has or runs but make sure it is supplying adequate fuel volume. Check lines, filters, check valves. Step 5 - with the engine running, make sure the primary and secondarys are coming in correctly Step 6 - tune timing with a vac guage for optimum performance Step 7 - go enjoy. Free advice and all that. Jump around depending on what has and hasnt been done or where the diag. leads. Good luck with it all. Thanks! |
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If your motor is sound and the prop is what other people run and the out drive isn't some odd ball ratio, you have one more thing thing to check. Is the boat full of water? Checked all the compartments Bilge area? If the boats got 1000 lbs of water in it it won't do.much. |
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Here's one...  I take my 1998 Ranger out with my daughter the other day, and while on the water I notice my fuel gauge flickering on and off (not the level, the power for the gauge), as well as my power trim not working. It flickers on and off like there's a loose connection. I use the trolling motor and fish a little bit, and then when it's time to go back, the starter on my outboard won't turn over. I fiddle with the battery cables a little, trying to feel for anything loose, and don't see any obvious problem. I try again, engine fires up, runs fine. I get the boat on the trailer and the tilt has no power again. I pull into the rigging spot, and everything works as normal. I get home, I give a good look at all the batteries and cables, and again, see no obvious problem. Now that it's on the trailer, I cannot replicate any problem. The trim is working, I have the key in the on position and shaking the boat, and everything appears normal. What should I be looking for to figure out why this happened? |
“Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a 10mm at your side, kid.”
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Originally Posted By Danted: If your motor is sound and the prop is what other people run and the out drive isn't some odd ball ratio, you have one more thing thing to check. Is the boat full of water? Checked all the compartments Bilge area? If the boats got 1000 lbs of water in it it won't do.much. I am guessing this as well, possibly rotted stringers, saturated foam with water. You said "they" replaced the transom, why would be my question. And looking at the pictures that transom looks original not just replaced a year or so ago. Especially if the paint matches all around. Not to mention the cost of replacing a transom on a 30+ year old boat. Doesn't make sense. Might try finding a scale some where if possible and weighing the whole thing then deducting trailer weight. Or put a bigger engine in it. And if that is the original engine, it's a tired well used engine. Good luck with it! |
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Originally Posted By AJE: Here's one... I take my 1998 Ranger out with my daughter the other day, and while on the water I notice my fuel gauge flickering on and off (not the level, the power for the gauge), as well as my power trim not working. It flickers on and off like there's a loose connection. I use the trolling motor and fish a little bit, and then when it's time to go back, the starter on my outboard won't turn over. I fiddle with the battery cables a little, trying to feel for anything loose, and don't see any obvious problem. I try again, engine fires up, runs fine. I get the boat on the trailer and the tilt has no power again. I pull into the rigging spot, and everything works as normal. I get home, I give a good look at all the batteries and cables, and again, see no obvious problem. Now that it's on the trailer, I cannot replicate any problem. The trim is working, I have the key in the on position and shaking the boat, and everything appears normal. What should I be looking for to figure out why this happened? Weird your gauges work off key on power. The tnt is battery power. Do you have a battery switch? |
"I miss the days of being able to shoot all commies" G.B.
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Originally Posted By akethan: Weird your gauges work off key on power. The tnt is battery power. Do you have a battery switch? Originally Posted By akethan: Originally Posted By AJE: Here's one... I take my 1998 Ranger out with my daughter the other day, and while on the water I notice my fuel gauge flickering on and off (not the level, the power for the gauge), as well as my power trim not working. It flickers on and off like there's a loose connection. I use the trolling motor and fish a little bit, and then when it's time to go back, the starter on my outboard won't turn over. I fiddle with the battery cables a little, trying to feel for anything loose, and don't see any obvious problem. I try again, engine fires up, runs fine. I get the boat on the trailer and the tilt has no power again. I pull into the rigging spot, and everything works as normal. I get home, I give a good look at all the batteries and cables, and again, see no obvious problem. Now that it's on the trailer, I cannot replicate any problem. The trim is working, I have the key in the on position and shaking the boat, and everything appears normal. What should I be looking for to figure out why this happened? Weird your gauges work off key on power. The tnt is battery power. Do you have a battery switch? They are digital gauges, not dial. They are only on if the key is on. |
“Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a 10mm at your side, kid.”
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Replaced the fuel filter and the thermostat, and changed out the prop to a 15P. Need to figure out why the temperature gauge isn't working. With the 15" pitch prop at full throttle we get 14 mph and it will go up to 4200 RPM. Still plowing water but I feel a lot better cruising at 3800-4000 RPM knowing it's not lugging. Also sounds better, no hitching or jumping up RPM momentarily, stalling, etc. Oddly the idle speed at 600 rpm with the 15P is the same as it was with the 19P. Slippage? Either way he's got drift socks if it's too fast. We'll fish it like this. Maybe pull the engine after the season and rebuild it or take the fresh 350 out of the Jeep I haven't worked on in 10+ years and give that a go. Going to fish this weekend we'll see how it goes. |
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Originally Posted By akcaribouhunter: Other thing to check is the foam waterlogged. It can add hundreds of pounds of weight. I'm not sure there is any on these? The little bit I've been able to find of people who've stripped them down to the stringers, I haven't seen any. But I could be wrong because I haven't really seen any images of the bow stripped down. |
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It sounds like the secondaries aren't working and if they aren't, good luck getting it up on plane. |
Liberals are a curious mix of communism and fascism, they want to destroy you but want to use your own money to do it.
I'm getting down to the last box, the others have all been destroyed...
I'm getting down to the last box, the others have all been destroyed...
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Originally Posted By Danted: 4200 rpm is real close to rated on that motor. Plowing at 14? Does the trim and tilt work? Are we trying to get up with the motor full down and in? Any chance we can drive this thing onto a scale Id have bet at 14 mph it would try to climb up on plane All the boating forums say these hulls plane out about 19 mph. Everything was going great this morning, 8 coho on board, on our way to limiting out by lunch when the previously thought to be not working temp gauge pegged and we started getting smoke/steam. Got the lines in and shut her down. Didn't think to bring an ir temp gun but water boils off the port side and not the starboard side. Dunno if its not getting enough water or enough oil since oil pressure is pretty low at idle. Sitting on the lake waiting for it to cool off now |
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Originally Posted By Striker: why yes..yes we do. My project I drug home last spring. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/135/464077842_10169843494620078_607499087327-3509796.jpg That looks fun. Jet? |
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Got off the phone with a proper boat doctor. He has nothing good to say about the marina mechanic that previously worked on the boat while the previous owner was getting it ready to sell. Lots of little things and a couple big things. The biggest issue was that it appears like they tried to reuse the old o-rings when they reattached the stern drive, and on one of the intake water paths, the ring was left out of the channel and never sealed. It was open to an exhaust path, so every time we ran the engine we were injecting exhaust into the intake water jacket, which explains why we had such a hard time getting it to draw water from muffs. Temp gauge didn't work because they had it plugged in to the temp alarm sensor, that's why it was 0 or pegged. Intake pump impeller is completely roached. But it really was a brand new pump, so the bearings and everything are good. Just needs a new impeller and sleeve. The exhaust flappers are completely fucked from the lack of water. Compression is good though, 150-170 psi. Oddly it appears like 2 spark plugs on the starboard side are brand new, the other 6 are completely fouled. On the 2 new plugs, it's not just the electrodes that look new, but the wrench flats and cylindrical area above the seats look brand new. Personally it looks to me like they never even fired, since we have operated this engine probably 8 hours with those plugs in them, I would expect the electrodes to look slightly used, these look like they just came out of the box. Dropping 2 cylinders would explain the lack of power while still seeming to run well. Need to test spark. Trim adjustment is fucked. Out of the water when actuated down, it basically drops in free fall. Hydraulic pump has red/pink coloring in the fluid, if it's ATF that's apparently a no-no with these and can eat seals. Seals/pump blowby would make sense since it doesn't have enough power to raise the trim when under power. Lots of little shit. Fuel line is the old grey stuff that new gas eats. Short shift cable in the drive is kinked and likely detent is missing. The trim tabs are junk quality and too small for a boat this size. Ultimately now I think we just need to triage what's necessary to operate and what's nice to have. Outdrive seal kit, water intake pump rebuild kit, new flappers, shift cable, trim pump/control, fuel line and whatever is required to get all 8 cylinders firing. Then we can peck away at trim tabs, the longer cables, etc.     Off topic, why do they keep inventing new fucking file formats for jpegs. Jesus fucking christ I had to take screenshots of pics just to get them uploaded because now Google Photos uses whatever the blue fuck .heic is and if you change the extension to jpeg they'll open but they won't upload to Arf
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Originally Posted By Kuraki: Got off the phone with a proper boat doctor. He has nothing good to say about the marina mechanic that previously worked on the boat while the previous owner was getting it ready to sell. Lots of little things and a couple big things. The biggest issue was that it appears like they tried to reuse the old o-rings when they reattached the stern drive, and on one of the intake water paths, the ring was left out of the channel and never sealed. It was open to an exhaust path, so every time we ran the engine we were injecting exhaust into the intake water jacket, which explains why we had such a hard time getting it to draw water from muffs. Temp gauge didn't work because they had it plugged in to the temp alarm sensor, that's why it was 0 or pegged. Intake pump impeller is completely roached. But it really was a brand new pump, so the bearings and everything are good. Just needs a new impeller and sleeve. The exhaust flappers are completely fucked from the lack of water. Compression is good though, 150-170 psi. Oddly it appears like 2 spark plugs on the starboard side are brand new, the other 6 are completely fouled. On the 2 new plugs, it's not just the electrodes that look new, but the wrench flats and cylindrical area above the seats look brand new. Personally it looks to me like they never even fired, since we have operated this engine probably 8 hours with those plugs in them, I would expect the electrodes to look slightly used, these look like they just came out of the box. Dropping 2 cylinders would explain the lack of power while still seeming to run well. Need to test spark. Trim adjustment is fucked. Out of the water when actuated down, it basically drops in free fall. Hydraulic pump has red/pink coloring in the fluid, if it's ATF that's apparently a no-no with these and can eat seals. Seals/pump blowby would make sense since it doesn't have enough power to raise the trim when under power. Lots of little shit. Fuel line is the old grey stuff that new gas eats. Short shift cable in the drive is kinked and likely detent is missing. The trim tabs are junk quality and too small for a boat this size. Ultimately now I think we just need to triage what's necessary to operate and what's nice to have. Outdrive seal kit, water intake pump rebuild kit, new flappers, shift cable, trim pump/control, fuel line and whatever is required to get all 8 cylinders firing. Then we can peck away at trim tabs, the longer cables, etc. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/125898/Screenshot_2026-05-27_113102-3769147.png https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/125898/Screenshot_2026-05-27_113027-3769148.png https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/125898/Screenshot_2026-05-27_113013-3769149.png https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/125898/Screenshot_2026-05-27_113003-3769150.png Off topic, why do they keep inventing new fucking file formats for jpegs. Jesus fucking christ I had to take screenshots of pics just to get them uploaded because now Google Photos uses whatever the blue fuck .heic is and if you change the extension to jpeg they'll open but they won't upload to Arf And this is why everyone has gone to outboards now which also come with their own set of issues which aren't exactly cheap on most of them. |
Liberals are a curious mix of communism and fascism, they want to destroy you but want to use your own money to do it.
I'm getting down to the last box, the others have all been destroyed...
I'm getting down to the last box, the others have all been destroyed...
| The best move is to never buy a used boat with a MerCruiser sterndrive. I really hope that they redid the transom properly, not a good sign with the quality of work done on the other stuff. Really need to make sure you get the water pumping through the motor before you run it anymore, need to keep in mind that there is no coolant or radiator/heat exchanger like in a car. |
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Originally Posted By Tier1BeanCounter: The best move is to never buy a used boat with a MerCruiser sterndrive. I really hope that they redid the transom properly, not a good sign with the quality of work done on the other stuff. Really need to make sure you get the water pumping through the motor before you run it anymore, need to keep in mind that there is no coolant or radiator/heat exchanger like in a car. Oh, no they did not do it properly. I don't have pics but from what he described it's secure/stable, but not anywhere close to "right." |
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Originally Posted By Kuraki: That looks fun. Jet? |
To say that you are on thin ice would be a vastly optimistic view of your current situation. The ice has melted. You are being supported by the surface tension of water.
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Originally Posted By Kuraki: Oh, no they did not do it properly. I don't have pics but from what he described it's secure/stable, but not anywhere close to "right." Very unfortunate, seems it’s likely going to be a bad experience in boat buying/ownership for your friend. The engine, hydraulic systems, & electrical stuff isn’t too bad if you’re used to wrenching on cars and the like, but boat structural issues and fiberglass are a whole different animal. You should always check the transom before buying a used boat, as it’s a real make or break type deal. Definitely not the sort of thing you want when buying a boat in the spring when you want to get out on the water ASAP. |
Equality is not in the natural order of things, and the crusade to make everyone equal in every respect (except before the law) is certain to have disastrous consequences. - Murray Rothbard
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Originally Posted By Tier1BeanCounter: Very unfortunate, seems it’s likely going to be a bad experience in boat buying/ownership for your friend. The engine, hydraulic systems, & electrical stuff isn’t too bad if you’re used to wrenching on cars and the like, but boat structural issues and fiberglass are a whole different animal. You should always check the transom before buying a used boat, as it’s a real make or break type deal. Definitely not the sort of thing you want when buying a boat in the spring when you want to get out on the water ASAP. Yeah. To be fair this was a marina mechanic who said he'd replaced the transom etc. |
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Just to update: Our mechanic removed the stern drive, found it to be misaligned, then found one of the rear motor mounts was just missing completely. He got the engine squared up, replaced the kinked shifter cable, remounted the drive with a new seal kit and handed it off to us. He also went through the exhaust manifolds to try and find any blockages in the water passages. We wrenched on it all day Saturday, replaced the trim pump, hooked the temp sensors up correctly, replaced plugs and wires, replaced the tstat housing and all gaskets, replaced the downpipe bellows, flappers, and some water hoses that were looking iffy, changed the oil, replaced the fram filter with a quicksilver, got the shifter linkage timed correctly and finally ran it and checked the timing with a light, I had gotten it almost perfect by ear which I wouldn't have predicted. Stripped out a bunch of nonsensical wiring or re-ran wires that had been cut and spliced multiple times. Put it in the water Sunday with the 15p prop. Get 40 psi oil pressure at idle now, it didn't even register with the Fram filter. Water temp gauge indicates correctly now. Ran a steady 145-150 the entire time all through RPM range. Prior to plugs and wires, at WOT with the 15p, we'd get 14mph and 4-4200 RPM. Now at half throttle we're getting 14mph and 4200 RPM. Definitely putting the 19p back on. Ran out of time to install the new trim tabs, but have everything to do it. I expect with the larger tabs and the 19p she planes right out and we get 25 MPH. But most importantly everything that should stay cool, is staying cool, everything that should get warm does, but nothing gets hot. I was watching the engine like a hawk the entire time with an IR thermometer and nothing on the exterior got over 150 degrees. Didn't even burn off the oil residue on the exhaust manifolds from changing the filter. Feeling like we've got it licked... for now Though I've dedicated so much time to fucking around with it, I don't have any more to actually fish with 
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Final update: with the 19P prop reinstalled and the new 12x24 trim tabs installed we plane right out at 20mph and at 4k RPM cruise right along at 25mph  It's still a 30 year old boat and I anticipate "something" happening pretty much every time it's in the water (yesterday the bolt that secures the long shift cable fell out and disappeared into the engine bay on the water ) but it's working like it should at least.I think this winter if he pulls it back to store in his shed I'm going to do a major rewiring if only to unfuck the absolute caucaphony of half-assed bullshit the various owners added over the years with no rhyme or reason as to whether the device is always on wired directly to the batteries, on/off with the battery disconnect switch, or on/off with the ignition accessory switch. |
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Thought this might interest some folks. This is a 75 foot 2 masted schooner a cousin of mine built from the keel up. It was an 18 year project that will be finished next spring when he launches her. Every piece of wood n her started as a log in his yard. He built his first boat when he was 13. he's in his 80's now and never stopped building them. Along with the wood part he also built several things out of metal. The anchors, some metal bands that go around the dead eyes you can see. She has 2 4 cylinder Detroit engines in her hull, 3 bathrooms, bunks for 11 people.. Oh..except for the goose neck he built the trailer she is sitting on too.  These pegs are called trunnels. He couldn't find stainless steel lag bolts that would work so he went old school. He made a jig to turn them. They are round until about the last 3" which is left square. that locks the trunnel into the plank. I'm not sure but that may be were the "square peg in a round hole" saying originated. There are 900 of them in the hull and his wife pounded in every one of them. 
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To say that you are on thin ice would be a vastly optimistic view of your current situation. The ice has melted. You are being supported by the surface tension of water.
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Originally Posted By Striker: Thought this might interest some folks. This is a 75 foot 2 masted schooner a cousin of mine built from the keel up. It was an 18 year project that will be finished next spring when he launches her. Every piece of wood n her started as a log in his yard. He built his first boat when he was 13. he's in his 80's now and never stopped building them. Along with the wood part he also built several things out of metal. The anchors, some metal bands that go around the dead eyes you can see. She has 2 4 cylinder Detroit engines in her hull, 3 bathrooms, bunks for 11 people.. Oh..except for the goose neck he built the trailer she is sitting on too. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/135/20260822_175216_1_-3816251.jpg These pegs are called trunnels. He couldn't find stainless steel lag bolts that would work so he went old school. He made a jig to turn them. They are round until about the last 3" which is left square. that locks the trunnel into the plank. I'm not sure but that may be were the "square peg in a round hole" saying originated. There are 900 of them in the hull and his wife pounded in every one of them. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/135/IMG_0481_JPG-3816254.jpg Absolutely amazing. Have always wanted to build an airplane. Afraid I'll run out of time like your cousin has. Get it built, but too late to use it. Going out & spending your last days on a boat like that doesn't sound too bad though. |
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Originally Posted By Striker: Thought this might interest some folks. This is a 75 foot 2 masted schooner a cousin of mine built from the keel up. It was an 18 year project that will be finished next spring when he launches her. Every piece of wood n her started as a log in his yard. He built his first boat when he was 13. he's in his 80's now and never stopped building them. Along with the wood part he also built several things out of metal. The anchors, some metal bands that go around the dead eyes you can see. She has 2 4 cylinder Detroit engines in her hull, 3 bathrooms, bunks for 11 people.. Oh..except for the goose neck he built the trailer she is sitting on too. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/135/20260822_175216_1_-3816251.jpg These pegs are called trunnels. He couldn't find stainless steel lag bolts that would work so he went old school. He made a jig to turn them. They are round until about the last 3" which is left square. that locks the trunnel into the plank. I'm not sure but that may be were the "square peg in a round hole" saying originated. There are 900 of them in the hull and his wife pounded in every one of them. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/135/IMG_0481_JPG-3816254.jpg Damn! That is cool. 
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“Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a 10mm at your side, kid.”
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Originally Posted By Striker: Thought this might interest some folks. This is a 75 foot 2 masted schooner a cousin of mine built from the keel up. It was an 18 year project that will be finished next spring when he launches her. Every piece of wood n her started as a log in his yard. He built his first boat when he was 13. he's in his 80's now and never stopped building them. Along with the wood part he also built several things out of metal. The anchors, some metal bands that go around the dead eyes you can see. She has 2 4 cylinder Detroit engines in her hull, 3 bathrooms, bunks for 11 people.. Oh..except for the goose neck he built the trailer she is sitting on too. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/135/20260822_175216_1_-3816251.jpg These pegs are called trunnels. He couldn't find stainless steel lag bolts that would work so he went old school. He made a jig to turn them. They are round until about the last 3" which is left square. that locks the trunnel into the plank. I'm not sure but that may be were the "square peg in a round hole" saying originated. There are 900 of them in the hull and his wife pounded in every one of them. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/135/IMG_0481_JPG-3816254.jpg Thats awesome and the dedication is impressive |
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Originally Posted By bprifle: Absolutely amazing. Have always wanted to build an airplane. Afraid I'll run out of time like your cousin has. Get it built, but too late to use it. Going out & spending your last days on a boat like that doesn't sound too bad though. Here is a blog his wife started. https://lenablanche.blogspot.com/?spref=fb She moved to fakebook. Here is the link to that for those that have an account. https://www.facebook.com/schoonerlenablanche Along with building boats, he has a machine shop in the basement and a casting forge beside the house. |
To say that you are on thin ice would be a vastly optimistic view of your current situation. The ice has melted. You are being supported by the surface tension of water.
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Originally Posted By Kuraki: Got off the phone with a proper boat doctor. He has nothing good to say about the marina mechanic that previously worked on the boat while the previous owner was getting it ready to sell. Lots of little things and a couple big things. The biggest issue was that it appears like they tried to reuse the old o-rings when they reattached the stern drive, and on one of the intake water paths, the ring was left out of the channel and never sealed. It was open to an exhaust path, so every time we ran the engine we were injecting exhaust into the intake water jacket, which explains why we had such a hard time getting it to draw water from muffs. Temp gauge didn't work because they had it plugged in to the temp alarm sensor, that's why it was 0 or pegged. Intake pump impeller is completely roached. But it really was a brand new pump, so the bearings and everything are good. Just needs a new impeller and sleeve. The exhaust flappers are completely fucked from the lack of water. Compression is good though, 150-170 psi. Oddly it appears like 2 spark plugs on the starboard side are brand new, the other 6 are completely fouled. On the 2 new plugs, it's not just the electrodes that look new, but the wrench flats and cylindrical area above the seats look brand new. Personally it looks to me like they never even fired, since we have operated this engine probably 8 hours with those plugs in them, I would expect the electrodes to look slightly used, these look like they just came out of the box. Dropping 2 cylinders would explain the lack of power while still seeming to run well. Need to test spark. Trim adjustment is fucked. Out of the water when actuated down, it basically drops in free fall. Hydraulic pump has red/pink coloring in the fluid, if it's ATF that's apparently a no-no with these and can eat seals. Seals/pump blowby would make sense since it doesn't have enough power to raise the trim when under power. Lots of little shit. Fuel line is the old grey stuff that new gas eats. Short shift cable in the drive is kinked and likely detent is missing. The trim tabs are junk quality and too small for a boat this size. Ultimately now I think we just need to triage what's necessary to operate and what's nice to have. Outdrive seal kit, water intake pump rebuild kit, new flappers, shift cable, trim pump/control, fuel line and whatever is required to get all 8 cylinders firing. Then we can peck away at trim tabs, the longer cables, etc. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/125898/Screenshot_2026-05-27_113102-3769147.png https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/125898/Screenshot_2026-05-27_113027-3769148.png https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/125898/Screenshot_2026-05-27_113013-3769149.png https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/125898/Screenshot_2026-05-27_113003-3769150.png Off topic, why do they keep inventing new fucking file formats for jpegs. Jesus fucking christ I had to take screenshots of pics just to get them uploaded because now Google Photos uses whatever the blue fuck .heic is and if you change the extension to jpeg they'll open but they won't upload to Arf You took this thing out fishing? Btw, that is the original transom and the goobed on caulk is rather alarming. |