1989 Bass Tracker Help

[Jiggz125]

I will be getting a 1989 Bass Tracker from my dad this spring. It will be my first boat. I haven't seen the boat in over 3 years, according to him it still runs without any leaks (fingers crossed this is the case). I am wondering what I should do first with the boat/motor for maintenance/tune up. As far as checking it out and getting it ready for a summer on the water. I believe the boat itself is 17ft long, steering counsel, and then a 40 HP Johnson Outboard.

Basically I am looking for a boat owner check/list to go over my used(new to me) boat. I am a newbie and not that mechanical but my father in law will be helping me out with the mechanical side and wiring. I am trying to save money where possible as I have read Marinas/Boat Dealers rates can be rather high. Just wondering cheap repairs I can make myself and things to buy/replace on my own.

Any suggestions are appreciated; thanks in advance!

 

[onthewater102]

I'll point you in a few good directions & leave you to hunt down the info online.

For the motor - Change the gear oil in the lower unit, inspect all the wiring & clean the intake to the carb of any oil that has caked over with dust over 3 years of sitting.

For the boat - verify the transom drain has been removed the whole time and that the lower reaches of the hull are dry. The boat should have been stored tipped bow up a bit so that any rainwater accumulating in the boat drained out naturally - you don't want alge buildup in there either - it holds moisture which then is exposed to the underside of your flooring which might not be cased in fiberglass - this is where floor rot comes from the most often.

That being said, check the flooring in the bow of the boat working backwards - if you've got a fiberglass '89 Tracker like me the flooring is a mix of fiberglassed wood and aluminum - I'd venture a guess that the aluminum hulled boats are the same. Inside the hatches the flooring is all fiberglass - check these areas and around the steering column. There shouldn't be an issue - but rot here would be a safety issue and a huge headache to repair if you found it - likely not worth the time effort & expense on a boat that old.

From there move to electrical items and accessories. Check that your bow and stern running lights work, your horn is functional, that you have a charged fire-extinguisher, a throw-able USCG (US Coast Guard) approved flotation device, USCG approved live vests for everyone you'll expect to have on board. At this point you should be sea-worthy if everything checked out...then just make sure the livewells drain & fill properly and the trolling motor zips and you're ready to stick holes in fishes' faces.

 

[onthewater102]

Oh - check the trailer wiring to make sure the signal lights work and that the tires are filled and do not have dry-rotted (cracked) sidewalls. Trailer tires are cheap - inexpensive to replace and less than enduring if left out in the sun to break down...and potentially HUGELY unsafe to innocents around you on the road (not to mention your precious new toy.)

 

[Jiggz125]

onthewater102 » Today, 08:31[/url]"]Oh - check the trailer wiring to make sure the signal lights work and that the tires are filled and do not have dry-rotted (cracked) sidewalls. Trailer tires are cheap - inexpensive to replace and less than enduring if left out in the sun to break down...and potentially HUGELY unsafe to innocents around you on the road (not to mention your precious new toy.)

-Awesome thank you for the help. I still haven't gotten the boat up here yet. Lakes are still frozen anyhow. Would it be a problem to dry-fire the engine if it is only 1 minute or less to make sure it runs. Would you suggest to do the engine cleaning etc on our own or take it somewhere? I will have to buy a trolling motor, for a boat this size would you get a separate battery for trolling motor? If so where would you position that, in the back as well? Thanks for the help!

 

[shawnfish]

id change the oil in the lower and put new plugs on it for sure and go from there... id also put a few drops of oil in each cylinder since youll have the plugs out and turn the flywheel a couple turns to lube the cylinder walls before trying to start it..sea foam wouldn't be a bad idea either..oh and fresh gas/oil mix

 

[shawnfish]

Jiggz125 » Today, 09:16[/url]"]

onthewater102 » Today, 08:31[/url]"]Oh - check the trailer wiring to make sure the signal lights work and that the tires are filled and do not have dry-rotted (cracked) sidewalls. Trailer tires are cheap - inexpensive to replace and less than enduring if left out in the sun to break down...and potentially HUGELY unsafe to innocents around you on the road (not to mention your precious new toy.)

-Awesome thank you for the help. I still haven't gotten the boat up here yet. Lakes are still frozen anyhow. Would it be a problem to dry-fire the engine if it is only 1 minute or less to make sure it runs. Would you suggest to do the engine cleaning etc on our own or take it somewhere? I will have to buy a trolling motor, for a boat this size would you get a separate battery for trolling motor? If so where would you position that, in the back as well? Thanks for the help!

I would use separate batteries for starter and trolling motor. use 6 guage or bigger between the battery and the trolling motor and keep the battery as close to the trolling motor as possible, the longer the cables the harder it is for the battery to get power to the trolling motor and the battery wonty hold a charge as long. read my above post about a few drops of oil in each cylinder. do not dry fire your engine at all!(as in let it run out of water) always have it in water preferably at the lake when starting because your motor will not idle and run the same in a tank as it will in a lake, why im not sure but it wont. if you really wanted to I guess you could turn it over real fast to make sure it will at least turn over but I would not let it run more than a second or so, they get hot fast with no water goin into the motor to cool it...

what length and weight is your boat? a 16 ft v or semi v with two guys and a hundred pounds of gear I would not go less then 55lbs thrust and that being the minimum IMO. no matter what lb thrust TM you get buy the biggest battery you can afford even if it seems like overkill. a windy day or a big lake and something would happen where the outboard wont start you may need the extra power for the TM to get you back to the dock.... don't forget your nav lights,PFD's and a throwable flotation device or whatever your laws require to be safe...

 

[onthewater102]

onthewater102 » Today, 08:31[/url]"]Awesome thank you for the help. I still haven't gotten the boat up here yet. Lakes are still frozen anyhow. Would it be a problem to dry-fire the engine if it is only 1 minute or less to make sure it runs. Would you suggest to do the engine cleaning etc on our own or take it somewhere? I will have to buy a trolling motor, for a boat this size would you get a separate battery for trolling motor? If so where would you position that, in the back as well? Thanks for the help!

I would not go starting the motor without running water through it using one of those cup seal attachments that go at the end of a garden hose - but if your area is still frozen there's a good chance your hose is too so that isn't an option.

If you're comfortable working on engines (cars, tractors etc.) then pulling the intake off the carb and cleaning it shouldn't be an issue - don't go disassembling the carb unless you've done that sort of thing before and have a reason to - it shouldn't need adjusting from the last time it was used but if the engine doesn't start it's likely the seals in the carb were left exposed to this $#!t gas that's available now-a-days (alcohol and rubber seals/gaskets don't play nicely when left together.)

You said you've got a 17' tracker with a 40hp outboard right? So we're talking a welded aluminum hull...scratch what I said about not being worth repairing the floor in my first post that thing will last forever and is totally worth it...you're probably around 1,000lbs boat & motor, so a 55# trolling motor will really move you well - you can get by with something 40#'s or so if price restricts you from getting a 55#. Make sure you get a bow-mount with a foot-pedal control. I had to drop down to a bow-mount hand control having had a foot control on my Tracker Tournament and the difference is night and day and well worth the wait if you have to save up for the better unit...

I always use a 2nd battery independent of my main motor battery for my trolling motor. Reasoning is simple - you don't want to drain the battery using the trolling motor all day and not have the juice to start up the main engine & get back to the dock. Just means you have to put it on charge when you get home, but a good large deep-cycle battery won't set you back more than $100.

As far as location for the battery - most boat designs locate as much of the loaded weight in the boat in the sections which will remain submerged when you've got the boat planing at normal speeds - this is so the motor doesn't have to fight to lift unnecessary weight up out of the water. These batteries are mostly lead - if you mount it up front you'll have a big lead weight with 17' of leverage working against the motor putting a TERRIBLE strain on the transom - think about how much more torque you have just by slipping a 10inch pipe over a socket ratchet handle - now imagine 17' of pipe...you'd be able to lift a car with that one handed for sure...You'll set yourself back some money on heavy gauge wiring to make the run safely but it will be well worth it in terms of the longevity of your boat. Also, run the wires down the opposite side of the boat from where you plan on installing any fishfinding electronics. The electromagnetic field around a heavy wire with a lot of current running through it will foul up your very sensitive sensors if it gets too close.

 

[kofkorn]

One more thing to check is the VRO Oil. If it hasn't been used in 3 years, I would pull the VRO oil tank and drain it. For some reason, these boats have a problem with collecting water in the oil tank. At a minimum I would pull the line off of the motor, and use the hand ball pump to pump a good amount of oil out to make sure there isn't any water in it.

If you run the motor with water being mixed in instead of oil, best case is that you'll have a motor that won't stay running. Worst case, you could sieze it up and then be looking for a new motor.

You can check out my rebuild (in my sig) to see what else you may need to get into.

Good luck!

 

[onthewater102]

Oh - that motor has an external oil mixing tank? Not cool - I'd look up how to remove that and just mix the oil in the gas 50:1. It's an accident waiting to happen - all it takes is for that to run dry - you not notice it & some cheaply made warning system to fail and boom - no more motor...

 

[kofkorn]

I did the same thing. It wasn't worth the worry in the long run.

 

[Jiggz125]

kofkorn » Yesterday, 10:35[/url]"]One more thing to check is the VRO Oil. If it hasn't been used in 3 years, I would pull the VRO oil tank and drain it. For some reason, these boats have a problem with collecting water in the oil tank. At a minimum I would pull the line off of the motor, and use the hand ball pump to pump a good amount of oil out to make sure there isn't any water in it.

If you run the motor with water being mixed in instead of oil, best case is that you'll have a motor that won't stay running. Worst case, you could sieze it up and then be looking for a new motor.

You can check out my rebuild (in my sig) to see what else you may need to get into.

Good luck!

Awesome rebuild. I can only hope mine looks that nice. Thanks for all the help/suggestions. I will take photos along the way of my successes/failures to show you guys. Thanks again.

 

[Jiggz125]

Finally got the Tracker. Needs a little TLC. I think I need to replace the front deck. Does anyone know how big of an undertaking this is? I would re-carpet and replace front deck...back deck has aluminum plating and carpet is also coming off of there...otherwise I will slowly fix it up. Any suggestions on what upgrades I should make are appreciated. I will be getting it up to my father in laws this weekend to address some wiring issues and getting the boat running.

 

[onthewater102]

Carpet is glued down - so attaching it to metal isn't any different than to wood. Are there soft spots or breaks in the plywood (can't tell from the pictures. It isn't horribly difficult - if you use plywood you want to use marine-grade and seal it with fiberglass if you're going to glue to it...make sure you pre-drill the holes where your fasteners will pass through it so the insides can be sealed too - often the wood breaks down starting from the fastening points.

As far as the windshield...good luck...maybe Ebay? You can heat acrylic sheeting (from home-depot) carefully and make it flexible - if you made a mock-up skeleton of the hard points it has to mold around using wood you might be able to heat it and press it into shape and make one.

So long as you have the S/N for the motor you should be able to go on either www.boats.net or www.marineengine.com (sites i've ordered from in the past) and get parts. You should DEFINITELY check/change the water pump before you use it - I would clean/rebuild the carb(s) too while you're at it not knowing the history. But check the impeller for sure as I just avoided a nasty situation with my newly acquired used motor by doing just that.