On 8/1/13 9:28 AM, Eisboch wrote:


"F.O.A.D." wrote in message
...

On 8/1/13 8:42 AM, 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.


I think the trim gauge may be a waste of money. If you observer the
outboard when you are running on plane and adjust the trim, you can
usually tell by sight and sound (and speed abd tach and whether the bow
is up or down or whether the boat is running on its optimum plane.}
Unless the gauge and sender are cheap, maybe you can do without them.

--------------------------------------

I agree. When I first got into boating I tried to rely on the displayed
drive trim setting but soon realized it was only a general reference and
after a while I never bothered to even look at it.

The drive trim setting one day isn't necessarily the best setting on
another, depending on sea state, wind direction and strength. This
results in determining the best setting based on visual indicators, seat
of the pants inputs along with your tach and speed indicators anyway.
I remember running a Boston Whaler in one direction (with the wind) and
the ideal trim setting was often very different than turning around and
running against the wind.

Obviously, larger boats with fixed propellers and rudders don't have
"drive" trim indicators. They may have trim tabs, but even on them the
actual reading isn't important. You adjust by feel, visual and
tach/speed indications for the best setting and it can vary, day to day.


I don't recall having a trim gauge on any of my outboard boats prior to
my two Parkers.

"F.O.A.D." wrote in message
m...

On 8/1/13 9:28 AM, Eisboch wrote:


I agree. When I first got into boating I tried to rely on the
displayed
drive trim setting but soon realized it was only a general reference
and
after a while I never bothered to even look at it.



I don't recall having a trim gauge on any of my outboard boats prior
to
my two Parkers.

--------------------------------------

Me either on outboards, except for on a couple of newer ones. The
tried and true method of adjusting the trim for max RPM for a given
throttle setting always seemed to work fine. The throttle setting was
obviously dependent on sea state, so the trim setting also varied.

On the two I/Os I had the trim was useful in making sure the leg was
fully up when retrieving the boat at the launch, but that was about
it. Oh, it was also useful in troubleshooting a problem on the old
Century I had. A leak in the hydraulics would allow the leg to
slowly be pushed back down, once adjusted and the damn boat would
start to bow steer. Not fun at higher speeds.

On 8/1/13 10:17 AM, Eisboch wrote:


"F.O.A.D." wrote in message
m...

On 8/1/13 9:28 AM, Eisboch wrote:


I agree. When I first got into boating I tried to rely on the displayed
drive trim setting but soon realized it was only a general reference and
after a while I never bothered to even look at it.



I don't recall having a trim gauge on any of my outboard boats prior to
my two Parkers.

--------------------------------------

Me either on outboards, except for on a couple of newer ones. The
tried and true method of adjusting the trim for max RPM for a given
throttle setting always seemed to work fine. The throttle setting was
obviously dependent on sea state, so the trim setting also varied.

On the two I/Os I had the trim was useful in making sure the leg was
fully up when retrieving the boat at the launch, but that was about
it. Oh, it was also useful in troubleshooting a problem on the old
Century I had. A leak in the hydraulics would allow the leg to slowly
be pushed back down, once adjusted and the damn boat would start to bow
steer. Not fun at higher speeds.




I managed to avoid owning I/O's for my entire boating life. My father
sold them but didn't like them for many reasons, and I suppose I picked
up on his opinion/prejudice.

My dad's best friend was a competitor boat dealer who handled Century
boats. I always loved the fancy mahogany speedboats but my favorite was
a 20-footer (I'm guessing from a long ago memory) lapstrake model, not
unlike a Lyman, straight inboard, maybe 120 hp or so. Nice riding boat,
soft chines.

"F.O.A.D." wrote in message
...

On 8/1/13 10:17 AM, Eisboch wrote:


On the two I/Os I had the trim was useful in making sure the leg
was
fully up when retrieving the boat at the launch, but that was about
it. Oh, it was also useful in troubleshooting a problem on the old
Century I had. A leak in the hydraulics would allow the leg to
slowly
be pushed back down, once adjusted and the damn boat would start to
bow
steer. Not fun at higher speeds.


I managed to avoid owning I/O's for my entire boating life. My father
sold them but didn't like them for many reasons, and I suppose I
picked
up on his opinion/prejudice.

My dad's best friend was a competitor boat dealer who handled Century
boats. I always loved the fancy mahogany speedboats but my favorite
was
a 20-footer (I'm guessing from a long ago memory) lapstrake model, not
unlike a Lyman, straight inboard, maybe 120 hp or so. Nice riding
boat,
soft chines.

------------------------------

The Century I had wasn't one of the nice, older classics like that.
It was a 1982 26' Express Cruiser I/O and probably should have been
retired from service years before I bought it. It had been repowered
by an amateur and had all kinds of problems. The second time out
Mrs.E. and I were enjoying a nice cruise towards Boston Harbor when I
started smelling burning rubber. Looked back from the helm and black
smoke was coming out of the engine space. The engine had not been
aligned properly with the outdrive and the rubber drive coupling
(forget what they are called) self destructed. My father-in-law
came to our rescue and towed us back to port with his Uniflite.

That started a series of repairs, corrections and adjustments and I
learned the value of having both a survey, mechanic's inspection and
sea trial before buying a boat. It was also the second and last I/O
I owned. Two footitest set in and all the the subsequent boats
(except for a few smaller outboards) had fixed props and rudders.

I'd never even consider an I/O again.

On 8/1/2013 10:59 AM, Eisboch wrote:


"F.O.A.D." wrote in message
...

On 8/1/13 10:17 AM, Eisboch wrote:


On the two I/Os I had the trim was useful in making sure the leg was
fully up when retrieving the boat at the launch, but that was about
it. Oh, it was also useful in troubleshooting a problem on the old
Century I had. A leak in the hydraulics would allow the leg to slowly
be pushed back down, once adjusted and the damn boat would start to bow
steer. Not fun at higher speeds.


I managed to avoid owning I/O's for my entire boating life. My father
sold them but didn't like them for many reasons, and I suppose I picked
up on his opinion/prejudice.

My dad's best friend was a competitor boat dealer who handled Century
boats. I always loved the fancy mahogany speedboats but my favorite was
a 20-footer (I'm guessing from a long ago memory) lapstrake model, not
unlike a Lyman, straight inboard, maybe 120 hp or so. Nice riding boat,
soft chines.

------------------------------

The Century I had wasn't one of the nice, older classics like that. It
was a 1982 26' Express Cruiser I/O and probably should have been
retired from service years before I bought it. It had been repowered by
an amateur and had all kinds of problems. The second time out Mrs.E.
and I were enjoying a nice cruise towards Boston Harbor when I started
smelling burning rubber. Looked back from the helm and black smoke was
coming out of the engine space. The engine had not been aligned
properly with the outdrive and the rubber drive coupling (forget what
they are called) self destructed. My father-in-law came to our rescue
and towed us back to port with his Uniflite.

That started a series of repairs, corrections and adjustments and I
learned the value of having both a survey, mechanic's inspection and sea
trial before buying a boat. It was also the second and last I/O I
owned. Two footitest set in and all the the subsequent boats (except
for a few smaller outboards) had fixed props and rudders.

I'd never even consider an I/O again.






You remember bots from 60 years ago but you can't remember to pay your
taxes or mortgage?