Saving Family

Pete , unless I missed something here ....
be it Merc,or OMC,almost all Mercs were clutch dog F/R. The Bravo is a cone type,as well as the newer Volvo Penta.
As far as I know all OMC products used the clutch dog setup,The powershift was a hydraulic assist set up ,but was still a sliding clutch dog. Same for the eletric shift, it just used two solenoids to move the shift rod up or down. The system had a fail safe that would lock into forward if the shift system failed or power was cut off to the l/unit....POS in my opinion..
M/Cruiser has the best c/dog set out there , followed by the Bravo......boat dr

the old r/ mr / a drives were not shabby either, just not as easy to work on as the Alpha 1, or the newer Gen. 2

I have one of these units for parts if anyone has a need, it was a hydraulic assist shift, if your dogs are worn pete and they are the same as what i have you can have them, just let me know

Doc, So, part of your buying technique is to call it a "clunker" !! Well really, I don't think it would pay to haul the clunker all the way to LA. but thanks for your concern. I started asking $4100 at the begining of summer because it has a new lower unit on it (less than 5 hours on it). That was dropped to $3800 mid summer and come spring time I think I'll start at $3500. The boat is in good shape with the normal repaired nicks in the gel coat and has about 550 hours on it. My son and daughter learned how to repair gel and buff it and the result was there weren't anymore nicks in the gel after that!! Amazing! the upholstery has one hole smaller than a dime. It also has a extended pylon for the wake boarding/skating.

The lower unit is a good story! I was home when my wife called from up north telling me she was having shifting problems. Because she didn't have a means of trailering the boat to my normal marina, she pulled it in to a "mechanic" on the lakes. He ended up replacing the helm (shift/throttle) and she used it until I got up 4 weeks later. I got in the boat only to find that the shift was so out of adjustment that it would rev up to about 2000 and then "clunk" into gear. By that time the poor shift dogs had seen the end of their life. I re adjusted and we ran it that summer until they finally went. It has always amazed me that the old crude method of clutch dogs have been used for so many years. I think Ole Evenrude invented it! From a mechanical engineering standpoint the dogs are junk. OMC's electric clutch was a step in the right direction but it hasn't gone anywhere! I think with the economy getting bad, the market for less expensive used will improve so I have my hopes up for this spring.

Pete, gotta buddy lookin' what do ya want for that clunker?
Do not even have to ask what shape she is in,shoot me a pic and what the winter time" Buy It Now " price.
It may be too late for him to buy now , just asking..........boat dr

Our 17' Rinker with the 140HP Merc I/O was great for years of pulling the kids skiing untill they got bigger!! Yes it started having problems pulling them up as well as adult male deep water so I went shoping and ended up with the Tique. The only problem I have now is I'm still stuck with the boat after trying to sell it all summer. It's now going to get another price reduction in the spring! I wasn't to happy having to winterize it and store it again!

Too bad how it turned out Ken. But he's far from the only one. My sister had a crummy underpowered i/o for years. It frustrated them, especially when their kids got older and better skiers. They went to a boat show to look for something new. I tried to talk them into a ski boat, but same old argument, too much money for a new one, didnt want used. Bought a better I/O, a celebrity Starfire with a 5.0. Thing went like crazy about 60-65, but it was still crappy out of the hole, like you said, 0-50 in about a day and half. Also, my nephew likes to wakeboard and the boat just could not hold speed or decide to plane or not at 20 mph. Overall a poor choice...but it was fast and had captains choice exhaust. They wrecked that (hit a log and tore the lower unit off) and then saw the light and got a Malibu.

I think any kind of boat is fine for the designed purpose and would never tell some one they got a crummy boat if it does what they want. But the thing is, like someone said above, they sold a million of those underpowered I/Os to people who actually hoped to do a little skiing.

you guys are use to running around in Rolls royces and its hard to compare a ski boat to one of these, im sure he's happy about the 20 bucks in gas though, just as long as you can put a smile on the kids faces and maybe he'll step up one day when thier older and buy a real boat

Ken

You can not tell family anything, goes in one ear out the other. Maybe the test drive will convince him. I agree with the rest of these guys all depends on what he wants to do with it. I have a couple of friends that told me their I/O can run with my BFN. I just told anytime any place. The one already has his for sale after skiing behind the BFN.

The test ride in your boat is a great idea. That way he'll know what he is passing up.

My neice bought a new Tahoe with a Merc 4 cyl i/o last year and has decided to sell it this year. It's hardly been used and is like new, but she will probably take a beating. I wished I had talked her into spending the same amount of money on a used ski boat. She'd probably get all her money back and be able to sell it quickly.

Eric, you definitely want to tell him why this boat is for sale: IT'S UNDERPOWERED! Those I/O companies are famous for selling entry level boats at cheap prices by underpowering them. That boat will only pull a slalom skier out if the skier knows how to get up. If there's more than two people in the boat, it may barely do it, if at all.

I agree that it depends on what the owner wants a boat for. If he's never going to ski, then go for the glastron--it's got a pretty good record. But he should not buy it if he wants to ski. He can buy an i/o if he wants, but not one witht that small of a motor.

all that said, you also want to treat him respectfully as I'm sure you will.

oh not the nautique at all. dont you have a 2001?

ahhh barefooting, i forgot about barefooting. that will use some fuel.

eric wow thats a lot of fuel. how far are you going? is that skiing, wakeboarding[with a ton of weight} my tank is only 27 gallons @3 a gallon is 81 dollars and a tank will last a few wakeboard trips with 1000# ballest and 4-8 people.

Right....it'll be so less efficent.

But ya gotta let a man make up his own mind.

john

LOL Adam......but how true.

Let him buy Ken then just make sure yours is avalible for comparison. After he smacks himself in the head and goes "duhhh" don't say "I told ya so" even tho it'll be hard not to.

john