Finally Got Her Home!

[beermunk]

We left Sunday morning at 4am from Wisconsin. Got to OK about 4pm. Went to the hotel and then the dealership to look at the boat. We went to launch it and absolutely loved it BUT the bilge wasn't working and the engine compartment was filling with water quickly after a 15min boat ride.

So we're crazy tired and just drove 800 miles and tell them to fix it. The dealership, Arrowhead Boat Sales in Grove OK, was very good to us. Besides the bilge not working the CD player would only go up in volume and not down. This was now at around 6pm at night on Sunday. They promised to look into the water and told us that they would just give us $200 cash for a new CD deck because they didn't have any in stock.

Around 9pm that evening the owner calls us at the hotel room and to let us know they hauled the boat down to the lake three times and finally found why there was water coming in. Apparently there was a rip in the rubber boot that was attached to the plastic pipe that the steering cables go into. After that was fixed they cleaned the float on the bilge pump and that worked.

Monday morning we go back to the dealership and pump some water into the engine compartment and verify the bilge works. He also shows me the boot that was fixed. We take it back out on the water and I put it through it's paces and verify no water comes in. For our troubles they comp our night at the hotel and throw in three nice neoprean life jackets for my son, wife and I. We air up the tires on the trailer and head out.

15 hours later we arrive back in Wisconsin without any incidents. I was completely tensed up the entire trip home. Never exceeded 62mph on the highway but unluckily hit St. Louis 5pm traffic. My Titan got 8.7mpg the entire drive home and about 15mpg without the load on the way there, so over all it was a $300+ adventure but well worth it. Hauling in 4th gear on premium gas bites.

I'm posting some photos later today now that I've recovered from the lack of sleep. A couple of questions though - we lost some hardware on the bimini top on the way home, probably from the rattles of the road, and I need to replace it.

1) the bolt and butterfly nut that is on the white light attached to the top of the bimini is gone - is that something a hardware store has or do I need to order that specially? Luckily the bimini was down and the light didn't get tore off.

2) we lost some of the bolts that attach the bimini posts to the rails when it's raised. They were the round plastic screws. I planned on replacing them anyway with a straight pin that has a wire U-shaped secure locking mechanism on it. I checked online yesterday and couldn't find anything that fit the bill. Does anyone know what keyword to use when searching for this or maybe a site that carries this pins?

3) After 800 miles on the trailer hauling it home I want to get the bearings repacked for our travels this summer. With drum brakes on all four tires is this an easy job compared to a brake-less trailer or am I better off taking it to someone that knows what they're doing?

Thanks all for your help before we bought the boat!

[curtiscapk]

Beermunk,

sounds like they really took care of you.
Here is a link for your pins.
http://www.wholesalemarine.com/mm5/merc ... ode=130005

Glad you got it home no issues. We always plan are trips to miss rush hour in st loius it ALWAYS SUCKS

Can't wait for the pics.

[HandymanHerb]

Great now you got your pontoon to it's new home no problems and yes pulling a parachute behind a truck with take the mileage down, toon has a lot of drag, weight is not bad but all that surface area will catch the wind.

Don't believe me go sit in the middle of the lake and power down even in a small wind you can get going a good speed, when I'm fishing I go up wind and let it take me across the lake trolling

[OldePharte]

Beermonk - just noticed that you are from Stevens Point. Can't tell you the number of times that I flown into and out of Central Wisconsin Airport. It seems that all of our meetings were during winter and walking out on the tarmac and waiting for the plane to fill was brutal. I used to work for Wausau Ins.

Although we boat in central Missouri, I also may be looking at boats from Arrowhead, if I can't get a deal locally.

[beermunk]

Beermonk - just noticed that you are from Stevens Point. Can't tell you the number of times that I flown into and out of Central Wisconsin Airport. It seems that all of our meetings were during winter and walking out on the tarmac and waiting for the plane to fill was brutal. I used to work for Wausau Ins.

Although we boat in central Missouri, I also may be looking at boats from Arrowhead, if I can't get a deal locally.

I too used to live through that hell at CWA. My previous job I was a national field engineer for a company in Bethesda MD. Every week I'd go through that airport. I hated it.

If you ever get up this way again let me know and I'll take you out in the new boat!

Btw I highly recommend the Arrowhead Boat Sales in Grove OK. They're part of a larger Arrowhead company and I can't say much for that as a whole, but this particular dealership sets the bar.

[beermunk]

Just took some photos! The 45f weather and snow on the ground is killing me!

[curtiscapk]

Looks sweet I'm jealous!

[lakerunner]

Glad all went well and glad the Okies treated you well.

On light I recomend removing the light completly and making your own bracket. Bolt it to top and attach new light on new piece. I made mine so it would lay along the bimini. Will post a pic when Betty gets home with camera

[beermunk]

Glad all went well and glad the Okies treated you well.

On light I recomend removing the light completly and making your own bracket. Bolt it to top and attach new light on new piece. I made mine so it would lay along the bimini. Will post a pic when Betty gets home with camera

Thanks Lakerunner - I'll tell you what though: Missiouri people are rude and crass, but 20 miles across the boarder in OK everyone is very friendly! It's very strange.

I'm looking forward to the photos of how you moved your light.

[mike]

WOW, thats sweet!! Now you have to go enjoy it!

[FloterBoter]

welcome home, beermunk!

sounds like the trip went great. congratulations! that's a long haul.

ok, a few comments on what you said...

you need to watch carefully for water in the bilge--it can destroy things. i've had a similar problem
and hope i have it fixed. the bilge pump should not be your main defense. the bilge should stay
fairly dry and the pump should be the backup in case you get water. the first problem with water
is that the bouncing will splash it around, including onto the geared flywheel at the back of the engine.
that flywheel will zing it all over the place--especially into your starter. if it is a permanent magnet
starter (the smaller, lighter ones), one time wet and it may be junk (ruins the warranty, too). the
second problem is that the water can get into the engine oil. i know, it shouldn't, but i've talked with
several mechanics on this and they said when the bilge fills they often find water in the oil. so it's always
a good idea to check the dipstick for milky oil in addition to the oil level. finally, water in the bilge can
ruin your electronics in short order. so if it were me, i'd take a look at that bilge pump and try to get
a make and model off it, or at least note the configuration, then go buy a backup bilge pump. i think
i paid $29 for one at cabela's. even the lower flow ones (like 500 gph) will save your bacon in a pinch.
you could skip the float on the backup and just hardwire it in an emergency. i checked with rule and
they said their bilge pumps will run dry for about a 1000 hours before they fail. it's a good idea to dump
some water into the bilge a few times a year to wash it out and check the bilge pump operation.
a nice biodegradeable cleaner might even be an idea.

carefully check all of the other rubber boots and bellows, and places where the fuel line and wires come
into the bilge. if one rubber boot failed, the others may be deteriorating. they are CHEAP, it just
takes some time to install them.

someone pointed you to iboats.com, and they do a nice job. i recommend you check out boatfix.com.
i buy all my merc 140 parts from them. you can always call george if you are confused and he will bend
over backwards to explain things to you. he knows EVERYTHING about i/o's. i think a lot of their
customers are professional fisherman on the east coast, guys who's livelihood depends on their i/o's.

cd deck -- i don't even bother. all i want is a powerful amp (mine is very powerful) and an input port--
mine is set up for the standard stereo mini plug. we plug in ipods, mp3 disc players, whatever. i would
pull that deck and put a nice plate there, and spend the money on a good amp and speakers. those
cd decks are usually low powered anyway and sound awful at the volumes you need on a busy lake.

staying at 62 mph on the highway is a good idea. i've pulled ours long enough that i'm comfortable at
65 or 66 mph. but at 72 to 74 mph, if it's windy i can get a nice fishtail going--no thank you.

on your questions:

1. my rule is that whenever i replace any hardware on the boat, it's either aluminum (light load stuff)
or stainless steel. no zinc plated crap, you will regret that.

2. i use only stainless steel bail pins. i buy them at the local ace hardware store.



3. find a friend who knows trailer bearings. buy some boat trailer grease (doesn't mind
being submerged), buy some beer and some fat steaks, and have him come over to
teach you how to repack the bearings. put on bearing buddies if you don't already
have them. when you're done, wash your hands, fry up the steaks and pig out.
you'll save tons of money over the years and he'll be stuffed and happy.
send the wife to her mother's.


nice pics, great boat! you're going to love the tri-toon. ours has only two, and it can get
pretty rocky when the wind brings up the chop.

enjoy the boat late into fall, but plan your winterization to avoid low temps. if you do end
up stretching it, put a magnetic block heat on the port side of the engine or hang a 100w
light bulb down in there. it's also pretty easy to open the petcocks and drain the block
and exhaust elbow until you have time to winterize. don't push it, though, a cracked block
is not much fun.

fb

[lakerunner]

FB one thing Tracker did right on axles was use the kind with grease zert in middle of axle end. Take off rubber plug and grease is all that needs to be done. It pushes out from rear of hub so new grease pushes old out.

[beermunk]

FB one thing Tracker did right on axles was use the kind with grease zert in middle of axle end. Take off rubber plug and grease is all that needs to be done. It pushes out from rear of hub so new grease pushes old out.

That's what the guy at the dealership was telling me about those axles. What is the deal with the rubber plugs though? Don't they allow water into the assembly? My boston whaler trailer has the old type with dust caps and that seems to be more sealed up than these.

[scbwr]

Congratulations on the new toon! It really looks nice, and I'm sure you'll have a great time once she's in the water.

Getting over 8 mpg towing wasn't too bad....I have a Dodge 3500 with a V10 (gasser), and when I'm towing my 29' travel trailer, I'm real happy when I get anything over 7.5 miles to the gallon. Can't say I've ever pulled a pontoon on a trailer, but I can tell that it would be a "fun" task. Glad you had a safe trip!

And...I hope you're on the water soon! It will be another 6 weeks or so before I can even think about the boat going in the water. Our docks go in sometime around the beginning of May.....so for now, I just have to stay busy and daydream!

[HandymanHerb]

I have the rubber caps and they don't leak but if they do all you do is pump in new grease and pump out the old grease and water