I hope Mr. Asa is right (he certainly is a better resource than I am when it comes to outboards).
Have you been having any more fun with your Starcraft?
I was just watching a video on a 9.9/15 Johnson and it made me think of you and this hole in the water.
We've had a couple weeks off the water but I hope to get back out this weekend. We have plans for crappie and blue cat fishing. My daughter really wants me to bring my cast net so we can get some shad to use as bait. (We did some dock fishing last weekend and there were a ton of shad around, driving her crazy because they wouldn't bite on her worms.)
I did make a PVC support for the cover! I haven't checked to see how it did in this latest rain. I think I made the front bars too long so it will have some sag in the front once water lands on it. We'll see. Easy enough to fix.
I am itching to replace the wood dash panels because they're really hacked up, but all I have on hand that's appropriate is some 1/2" MDO and I really need 3/4" material. I keep telling myself trying to hack it with the 1/2" would be a bad idea.
Question for you guys: Do I need to flush the cooling system with antifreeze for the winter? I'm seeing conflicting advice, with many claiming that the engine fully drains of water if you leave it in the down position, and there's no water in the system to freeze. But others claim otherwise, and say you should flush it with antifreeze for freeze protection and to clean the cooling passages.
Also, do I need to fog the cylinders?
Blow air through to flush the water out. Some might get stuck in the impeller, but I doubt it will be enough to worry about.
As for fogging, isnt that what 2-strokes do naturally? I genuinely don't have an answer to that one as I don't bother to do that down here.
I've never flushed with anti freeze in a lifetime of boating in Massachusetts where it gets cold, just leave it down. I do fog the cylinders because it only takes a few minutes and can't hurt.
In reply to dculberson :
If you leave the engine vertical it will free drain, no need for antifreeze in an outboard. I would recommend draining the lower unit gear oil but your boat is trailered and I think you’ve changed it fairly recently. If the boat was in the water all summer and you had leaky seals you wouldn’t want any water to freeze and split the gear case.
Fogging is a personal choice, I don’t think yours is electric start and fogging oil will mean it will be a b#&ch to start in the spring. Pulling the plugs and squirting a little 2 stroke oil in the cylinders and pulling it through will do much the same thing.
Good point on the 2-stroke thing! It's pretty dang oily already. And yeah, it's trailered and I changed the lower unit oil but given the unknown seal condition and that I already have the oil I think I'll go ahead and change it.
Thanks guys, you saved me from buying a useless antifreeze flush kit!
No winterization required. I don't even stabilize fuel.
If you tilt up, I would buy one of those saran wrap bonnets to put over the center of the prop. When you tilt up, water can go in the exhaust hole in the prop and sit in the exhaust passage in the lower unit. It's rare, but when it freezes it can crack the lower unit.
My I/O is on a low trailer, so the lower unit has to be trimmed up. I use a coffee can over the prop hub with a bungee around it to hold it in place.
Edit: I honestly treat my 2-stroke outboards like I do my lawnmower. Turn it off and shove it in a field somewhere. With my outboards I will take the hose off at the tank and run it until the hose and carb are dry. You'll need a pen cap or something to push open the check ball from time to time. On that 15-horse, expect it to take a LONG time. 5 minutes or more. They sip gas.
You can speed things up by not purging the hose and just disconnecting at the motor, but it might age your hose faster and the stale gas in the hose might make for a tougher start next year.
If you have OMC fittings on both ends, you can also invert the hose... put the motor end on the tank and use the primer to push the gas back into the tank out of the hose. Again, pen cap to release the check ball in the open end.
Thank you!!
Get ready for that 60* day in January. It'll be there. You'll have fun.
As soon as I get the project Volt out of the garage, which should be this week if the new coolant pump fixes the heat issue, I'm planning on putting the boat in and doing some upgrades.
One item it needs is a swim platform. One big reason we bought this was to use the boater swim areas at the reservoir - it's fun to pull up, jump out of the boat, and swim around in deep water. The problem is getting back in. I put a knotted rope out the side and I was the only one able to pull myself in so I ended up pulling everyone else back in myself. (Including my wife.) I want a swim platform with ladder; I think this one will fit beside the outboard with room to spare:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TQSMDZF/
Does anyone have negative feedback on that platform or on swim platforms in general? I'd rather a platform over just a ladder as I have two small kids that would be more comfortable with that.
I would also like to move the start and kill switch to the console, along with the mixture knob, if that's possible/practical. I think that's mostly a question of getting into it to see what's needed but if anybody has tips on that too I'd appreciate it!
I don't have any experience adding a swim platform or ladder but I look forward to seeing how you install yours and how you like it as both of my Starcrafts can benefit from some climb-aboard access.
I see nothing wrong with that one you linked. Most of them are aluminum and I like that that one is stainless. If the wall thickness is beefy enough, it looks pretty sturdy. When you take it out of the box, don't be put off if it seems too wimpy. Your buoyancy makes up for a lot on the first two rungs.
If I may suggest... find some way to cover the top of the ladder tubes and the brackets on the platform. That's the one big problem with those. I have a scar on my shin from when I was about 8 and slipped on one of those. For that reason alone, I'm ponying up for this one to replace the scarmaster 2000 on my current boat.
In reply to dculberson :
Its so easy to get in the water and once in there and out of the boat, you realize that it can be really hard to get back into the boat.
Ladders like you've shown work fine. One side note, for the adults, try to avoid using the lowest rung. Like a retractable antenna, the tube diameter is the smallest at the end, making it the weakest point. An adult on the bottom rung will naturally push the ladder under the boat where you get your possible bend. Try getting yourself out of the water starting with the second rung.
This image implies that right image is best for the person but I'll argue that the middle image is best for the ladder. The right ladder is still trying to do what the left ladder is doing. I feel the best option is right image but starting from the second rung.
We usually climb up the engine to get back in the boat. You have your left hand on the transom, right hand on the engine, then right foot on the anti-cav plate above the prop, then stand up on the anti-cav plate and then step into the boat with your left leg.
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:... the scarmaster 2000 on my current boat.
Lol...snort...ha!
Also...good call. There's only like $9 difference between the price of the one you posted and the one on Dculberson's list. And they look largely similar otherwise (at a glance). Having racked my shin more than a few times in life, I'd gladly pay a few more than $9 difference ;).
Awesome input, guys! I ended up ordering the one Curtis linked to, so I'll let you know how it looks when I get it and how it fits the Starcraft. There's not a lot of room on the transom of that little boat, but from the few minutes I spent measuring and thinking it looks like it will fit. The Scarmaster incident was a great tip, I didn't even consider the exposed stabby hardware.
Sonic, I had no problem getting in the boat, but the kids were pretty much helpless without me pulling them in. The engine as ladder might work but I figure I have the down time for the boat anyway, with it being 19 degrees right now, so I'll give it a shot.
I'm not a fan of using the motor. It can be pretty slippery and just like the Scarmaster, lots of bolts and pointy things. Especially on a 9.9. That anti-cav plate is pretty small. We'll call that method the Scrotalizer XC which stands for Xtreme Castration
Those platform/ladder combos work fine. What's more important is how it is installed - big backing plates if it is just thin sheet aluminum, and sealant (epoxy or 4200) if there is wood core to go through.
The bigger the person, the deeper the ladder rung they will need. I've dove with a couple big guys that bring their own rope ladder along with them.
And remember to always flip up the ladder before you get going again. Ladies may like to use that as a head rather than jump full in the water too.
My hole in the water just hit someone else's sunken hole in the water, unmarked, in the middle of a channel. Bent both rudders, mangled both props, bent one strut and both shafts.
Thank god for insurance...
Sorry to hear about your boat, 67LS1!
I got the project Volt done and out of the garage, and the boat went into the garage yesterday. I have the platform on hand - it looks nice and feels like a quality unit, actually. The only thing I don't like about it is the ladder staying stowed depends upon a velcro strap that isn't attached to anything. As in, if you drop that, you're jury rigging something to keep the ladder stowed and out of the water. It looks like I can make it fit on the Starcraft, though it's going to be a tight fit with really only one possible location given how small the transom is on that boat. I'll spend some more time with a tape measure and some tape to mark it up and see what you guys think.
dculberson said:Sorry to hear about your boat, 67LS1!
I got the project Volt done and out of the garage, and the boat went into the garage yesterday. I have the platform on hand - it looks nice and feels like a quality unit, actually. The only thing I don't like about it is the ladder staying stowed depends upon a velcro strap that isn't attached to anything. As in, if you drop that, you're jury rigging something to keep the ladder stowed and out of the water. It looks like I can make it fit on the Starcraft, though it's going to be a tight fit with really only one possible location given how small the transom is on that boat. I'll spend some more time with a tape measure and some tape to mark it up and see what you guys think.
Grab a short length of bungee cord, loop/tie it around the swim platform's handle, and then when you stow the ladder just take the loop of bungee and swing it over the end of the ladder (where there's the small protrusion of the telescoping upright). Should keep it taught and stowed.
dculberson said:Sorry to hear about your boat, 67LS1!
I got the project Volt done and out of the garage, and the boat went into the garage yesterday. I have the platform on hand - it looks nice and feels like a quality unit, actually. The only thing I don't like about it is the ladder staying stowed depends upon a velcro strap that isn't attached to anything. As in, if you drop that, you're jury rigging something to keep the ladder stowed and out of the water. It looks like I can make it fit on the Starcraft, though it's going to be a tight fit with really only one possible location given how small the transom is on that boat. I'll spend some more time with a tape measure and some tape to mark it up and see what you guys think.
You can buy/make a velcro thing and blind-drill a hole in the bottom of the platform. Rivet the strap on. You could also take a short strap of nylon webbing and put a snap on it and screw the male part of the snap onto the platform. I did a similar thing for my bimini top. It came with unattached velcro on some webbing, so I just drilled a 1/8" hole in the tubing and riveted the strap to the bows of the top.
Like this... if my remedial drawing helps. Screw a strap to the bottom, or even use one of the bolts there on the underside of that plate. Put a female snap in the end of the strap and screw down a male snap on the deck. Just fold the strap up and snap it.
Good tip on having an attached tie-down, I'll get something I can do that with. I suppose we always have lengths of rope on the boat so if the velcro walks off it could be temporarily tied with rope.
I finally got my project Volt done, out of the garage, and sold. Then i pulled the boat in the garage, and had a bit of a setback. See, I was having a ton of trouble pulling the thing around, despite my new trailer dolly. It was fighting me turning, going straight, everything. I was straining and having to have a helper put wheel chocks down to keep it from rolling back every few inches. After finally getting it wrestled into place, I looked it over and discovered something: the bilge plug, still in place from the last time we used it. Two, three months ago? And, of course, the cover leaked. Then the weather turned cold. And now there's a foot of ice in the bottom of my boat.
Well, that sucks. I'm glad I'm learning lessons like this on a $2000 boat.
I couldn't get the bilge plug out since it's frozen solid in there. I pointed a space heater at the bilge plug and left it over night and then was able to push it in with my finger and got quite a rush of nasty horrid bilge water. And it kept coming. And coming. Filling up my 20 gallon tote. I dug up another bilge plug and plugged it from the outside (thank goodness I had another!) and drained the tub. And drained it again. And again. And finally took to using two buckets, swapping back and forth, so I wasn't carrying so much water and didn't have to fumble with the bilge plug between dumps. I lost count of how many buckets of water I emptied, but maybe 100-150 gallons or so? And there's still more ice in the thing. So I put the heater under the cover, on low, with a fan to circulate the air to help melt the ice.
Obviously the hull isn't damaged, or at least not enough to leak, since the nasty bilge water wasn't leaking out. Not a drop, anywhere. I'm sure the bilge pump is destroyed. The engine is fine. The only questions are: battery, gas tank, wiring, and floor. It's possible the ice might have pushed the floor up? I'll have to wait until it's totally defrosted to find out. Once the ice is melted I'll swap the heater out for a dehumidifier and get things dried out in there.
I'm thinking the 1000 pounds of ice in the boat might have had an effect on how hard the boat was to pull around with the trailer dolly. Who wants to throw in odds on damaged stuff? I'm thinking the floor will be fine, or at least good enough to keep using for now. The gas tank is metal so will probably be damaged. The bottom of the battery was under 1" of ice, so who knows, until I get it out of there.
Ahh well, if it was easy everybody would do it.
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