In article ,
says...

On Thu, 1 Aug 2013 05:42:15 -0700 (PDT), True North
wrote:

First I'll drop into a local Mercury dealer to get an estimate on installing a 'trim gauge' and sender pkg.

===

Why bother, not worth the money in my opinion (and experience). As
others have said, you just need a little practice setting it up for
different conditions. There is no one trim setting that is right all
of the time. The big variables are sea state, boat loading, wind
direction, speed, etc. After a while you can a feel for what bow
angle works best for different conditions and then you adjust the trim
to achieve that angle.

A tachometer will tell you more about the trim than any gauge on your dash.

On Fri, 2 Aug 2013 08:16:51 -0400, BAR wrote:

In article ,
says...

On Thu, 1 Aug 2013 05:42:15 -0700 (PDT), True North
wrote:

First I'll drop into a local Mercury dealer to get an estimate on installing a 'trim gauge' and sender pkg.

===

Why bother, not worth the money in my opinion (and experience). As
others have said, you just need a little practice setting it up for
different conditions. There is no one trim setting that is right all
of the time. The big variables are sea state, boat loading, wind
direction, speed, etc. After a while you can a feel for what bow
angle works best for different conditions and then you adjust the trim
to achieve that angle.

A tachometer will tell you more about the trim than any gauge on your dash.

===

A tach is fine for optimizing flat water trim. The real challenge is
when conditions start to get a bit gnarly and you're trying to
optimize speed vs ride quality while minimizing spray.

On Fri, 02 Aug 2013 12:13:18 -0400, wrote:

On Fri, 02 Aug 2013 09:09:52 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Fri, 2 Aug 2013 08:16:51 -0400, BAR wrote:

In article ,
says...

On Thu, 1 Aug 2013 05:42:15 -0700 (PDT), True North
wrote:

First I'll drop into a local Mercury dealer to get an estimate on installing a 'trim gauge' and sender pkg.

===

Why bother, not worth the money in my opinion (and experience). As
others have said, you just need a little practice setting it up for
different conditions. There is no one trim setting that is right all
of the time. The big variables are sea state, boat loading, wind
direction, speed, etc. After a while you can a feel for what bow
angle works best for different conditions and then you adjust the trim
to achieve that angle.

A tachometer will tell you more about the trim than any gauge on your dash.

===

A tach is fine for optimizing flat water trim. The real challenge is
when conditions start to get a bit gnarly and you're trying to
optimize speed vs ride quality while minimizing spray.

After hooking up the laptop to my Yamaha, I wonder how accurate a tach
really is. Somebody is lying.,

It may be a general idea if "this is better than that" but I would not
take the reading as gospel.

===

I think that I'd tend to believe the computer but who knows. I have a
digital hand tach somewhere in my tool collection if you want to
borrow it and get a third opinion. First you stick a reflective dot
on the flywheel and then the tach strobes it out.

On Thu, 1 Aug 2013 05:42:15 -0700 (PDT), True North wrote:

Unlike the majority in here, I'm off to enjoy a beautiful day of boating.
First I'll drop into a local Mercury dealer to get an estimate on installing a 'trim gauge' and sender pkg.
Then I'll have to decide whether to boat on the largest freshwater lake around here... or explore either of two beautiful ocean bays...St. Margaret's or Mahone Bay.
Winds are supposed to be light.. although from the South, so hopefully it won't be too rough for the wife.

Please don't let your wife hurt herself trying to get your boat in your driveway.

John (Gun Nut) H.
--

Hope you're having a great day!

On Thursday, August 1, 2013 7:42:15 AM UTC-5, True North wrote:
Unlike the majority in here, I'm off to enjoy a beautiful day of boating.

First I'll drop into a local Mercury dealer to get an estimate on installing a 'trim gauge' and sender pkg.

Then I'll have to decide whether to boat on the largest freshwater lake around here... or explore either of two beautiful ocean bays...St. Margaret's or Mahone Bay.

Winds are supposed to be light.. although from the South, so hopefully it won't be too rough for the wife.

Hope you had fun, Don.

On Thursday, 1 August 2013 19:30:13 UTC-3, Tim wrote:
On Thursday, August 1, 2013 7:42:15 AM UTC-5, True North wrote:

Unlike the majority in here, I'm off to enjoy a beautiful day of boating.



First I'll drop into a local Mercury dealer to get an estimate on installing a 'trim gauge' and sender pkg.



Then I'll have to decide whether to boat on the largest freshwater lake around here... or explore either of two beautiful ocean bays...St. Margaret's or Mahone Bay.



Winds are supposed to be light.. although from the South, so hopefully it won't be too rough for the wife.



Hope you had fun, Don.


Had the mechanic look at my Mercury 60 Big Foot yesterday and discovered that in addition to the wiring for a trim gauge being present in the wiring harness, my motor had the sender already installed (from the Chinese factory?).
Since that reduced the cost to the gauge and an hours labour, I told him to go ahead and order a trim gauge that would match the 4 other gauges already installed in my console.

He'll call me when it comes in and we'll make an appointment for the install.
I'll have one spot left for a 2" gauge after this ... guess I should have asked him what would have been a useful instrument to add.
I'm thinking maybe an oil pressure gauge...or an engine temperature gauge.
I'd like to check the engine impeller status while underway without having to turn all the way around, but I suppose a small mirror could handle that.

On Friday, 2 August 2013 13:37:26 UTC-3, True North wrote:
On Thursday, 1 August 2013 19:30:13 UTC-3, Tim wrote:

On Thursday, August 1, 2013 7:42:15 AM UTC-5, True North wrote:



Unlike the majority in here, I'm off to enjoy a beautiful day of boating.







First I'll drop into a local Mercury dealer to get an estimate on installing a 'trim gauge' and sender pkg.







Then I'll have to decide whether to boat on the largest freshwater lake around here... or explore either of two beautiful ocean bays...St. Margaret's or Mahone Bay.







Winds are supposed to be light.. although from the South, so hopefully it won't be too rough for the wife.







Hope you had fun, Don.





Had the mechanic look at my Mercury 60 Big Foot yesterday and discovered that in addition to the wiring for a trim gauge being present in the wiring harness, my motor had the sender already installed (from the Chinese factory?).

Since that reduced the cost to the gauge and an hours labour, I told him to go ahead and order a trim gauge that would match the 4 other gauges already installed in my console.



He'll call me when it comes in and we'll make an appointment for the install.

I'll have one spot left for a 2" gauge after this ... guess I should have asked him what would have been a useful instrument to add.

I'm thinking maybe an oil pressure gauge...or an engine temperature gauge.

I'd like to check the engine impeller status while underway without having to turn all the way around, but I suppose a small mirror could handle that.


BTW.. when we returned home I got my manual tongue dolly out and was able to push the rig up & over the gutter/driveway hump by myself.
No need to put the wife in the way of the dollies wheels if she stumbled.

True North wrote:
BTW.. when we returned home I got my manual tongue dolly out and was
able to push the rig up & over the gutter/driveway hump by myself. No
need to put the wife in the way of the dollies wheels if she stumbled.
That's ridiculous!

In article ,
says...

On Thursday, 1 August 2013 19:30:13 UTC-3, Tim wrote:
On Thursday, August 1, 2013 7:42:15 AM UTC-5, True North wrote:

Unlike the majority in here, I'm off to enjoy a beautiful day of boating.



First I'll drop into a local Mercury dealer to get an estimate on installing a 'trim gauge' and sender pkg.



Then I'll have to decide whether to boat on the largest freshwater lake around here... or explore either of two beautiful ocean bays...St. Margaret's or Mahone Bay.



Winds are supposed to be light.. although from the South, so hopefully it won't be too rough for the wife.



Hope you had fun, Don.


Had the mechanic look at my Mercury 60 Big Foot yesterday and discovered that in addition to the wiring for a trim gauge being present in the wiring harness, my motor had the sender already installed (from the Chinese factory?).
Since that reduced the cost to the gauge and an hours labour, I told him to go ahead and order a trim gauge that would match the 4 other gauges already installed in my console.

He'll call me when it comes in and we'll make an appointment for the install.
I'll have one spot left for a 2" gauge after this ... guess I should have asked him what would have been a useful instrument to add.
I'm thinking maybe an oil pressure gauge...or an engine temperature gauge.
I'd like to check the engine impeller status while underway without having to turn all the way around, but I suppose a small mirror could handle that.

Temperature gauge. The pee stream isn't a good indication of proper
cooling.

On 8/2/13 2:29 PM, iBoaterer wrote:
In article ,
says...

On Thursday, 1 August 2013 19:30:13 UTC-3, Tim wrote:
On Thursday, August 1, 2013 7:42:15 AM UTC-5, True North wrote:

Unlike the majority in here, I'm off to enjoy a beautiful day of boating.



First I'll drop into a local Mercury dealer to get an estimate on installing a 'trim gauge' and sender pkg.



Then I'll have to decide whether to boat on the largest freshwater lake around here... or explore either of two beautiful ocean bays...St. Margaret's or Mahone Bay.



Winds are supposed to be light.. although from the South, so hopefully it won't be too rough for the wife.



Hope you had fun, Don.


Had the mechanic look at my Mercury 60 Big Foot yesterday and discovered that in addition to the wiring for a trim gauge being present in the wiring harness, my motor had the sender already installed (from the Chinese factory?).
Since that reduced the cost to the gauge and an hours labour, I told him to go ahead and order a trim gauge that would match the 4 other gauges already installed in my console.

He'll call me when it comes in and we'll make an appointment for the install.
I'll have one spot left for a 2" gauge after this ... guess I should have asked him what would have been a useful instrument to add.
I'm thinking maybe an oil pressure gauge...or an engine temperature gauge.
I'd like to check the engine impeller status while underway without having to turn all the way around, but I suppose a small mirror could handle that.

Temperature gauge. The pee stream isn't a good indication of proper
cooling.

I agree. Unlikely to have an oil pressure problem on such a new engine,
but sucking up a piece of crap from the water can clog your cooling
system quickly.