Derek's Tracker TX-17 rebuild

[Derek]

I did a little work on the boat saturday. I wanted to re-mount the rear battery to make it easier to access. Just slide it back so I can pick straight up through the rear hatch.
The edge of the front deck where you step down onto the floor had already begin bowing. Originally there was space under the front deck on the floor of the boat. So the Plywood was spanning about 1/2 width of the boat unsupported. See picture. Not good for my heavy ass.

To remedy this I could have braced it with aluminum angle, but then I would have had to look at it. So I moved the wall of the hatch out just shy of the end of the deck. I also added a brace under the deck running parallel with the gunnel. It is rock solid now, and I have more interior compartment space.


I also have something else up my sleeve, or should I say, in my garage. :mrgreen: Working on the boat again later today.

 

[Derek]

1977 Johnson 70hp :mrgreen:
Picked it up over the weekend. Plugs looked brand new. Lower unit oil looked new. Good compression. Supposedly it had been winterized before being stored. I ran it on a stand before I bought it. It ran mint. The water coming out was as cold as the hose going in.

Finally got it mounted up yesterday. Ran all the cables, wires and fuel lines. We finally got finished and brought it to the lake. It would start but not stay running unless the high idle/start lever was pulled up. I am guessing in transportation home I dislodged a bunch of crud in the carbs. So I am going to start by cleaning them. Most likely Ill get a rebuild kit for the carbs since I will have it apart. I am also going to get an inline fuel filter. What else would you suggest looking at?

 

[Flatbotm]

Sounds like a carb issue to me. I had one doing the same thing I ran it in the bucket 3 or 4 times for about 5 to 10 minutes. It must have been some small deposits or varnish because it cleaned itself and started idling down. How long did you run it for? Does yours have the mixture adjustment? Your boat should haul with a 70!

 

[fish2keel]

Is that 70 at the head of the prop? Not saying it wont haul but im just curious! If it really is 70 at the prop its going to be boogy but i got a feeling its that at the head so its going to loose some power at the prop

 

[Derek]

This motor would be rated at the powerhead.

Before I bought it the motor ran for a solid 20 minutes on muffs. It sat at idle for atleast 10 of those minutes. I plan to pull the carbs out and clean them today. I am not sure on the mixture adjustment on this motor. Still getting to know the old girl. Been looking for a FSM for it.

 

[Derek]

A little update on the motor and boat. I did pull all the carbs and cleaned them out. I replaced the fuel lines as well. After that the motor fired right up. The motor runs awesome, starts right up every time. It will run 34 by myself and 33 with 2 people. The prop is not in great shape from the previous owner, so that is significantly hurting the performance. I suspect to be in the mid 40's once I re-prop the boat.

Last weekend I made a 618 mile round trip to Maine for some fishing. The "pond" was 7.5 miles long and we did a lot of running around. I ran 17 gallons of fuel through it this weekend. No problems. I am very pleased with the motor.

 

[Flatbotm]

That's great Derek. I was hoping it was carb related. Your boat looks like it sits real nice in the water. 40 plus mph your boat should be just barely touching the water.

 

[Derek]

right now, even with 2 guys, only from the seats back touches the water

 

[Derek]

Found a used Raker prop for the motor to replace the banged up aluminum one. Its a high performance stainless prop. Slightly larger with an inch more pitch and cupped blades. Should plane quicker and get more topend speed. Hopefully ill have it in next week.

 

[clarego]

same boat maybe a little restore as im going to only own a couple of years. so the aluminum capartment left of the steering column was original made for a battery >? or is it the smart thing to do im a hefty guy myself and this would solve alot of issues with the tanks and motor in the rear. mine looks avg pics to come as soon as this monsoon leaves Central PA

 

[Derek]

Originally both batteries were mounted in the rear, but they were also smaller batteries then I run in my boat. I moved one battery up front, thinking it would help it get on plane faster.
Currently I have mine set-up with a 12-gal tank (pass side) and a group 27 battery (drivers side) in the rear compartment. Then the group 31 battery in the pass side compartment up front. With a full tank of fuel and just me the boat sits fairly level side to side.
With another guy my size the boat will list to the pass side, but doesn't seem to make much difference at speed (-1 mph), just a larger wake.
I also have a 6 gallon fuel tank I can add into the rear compartment for when I need more fuel capacity.

 

[Derek]

Got the prop in yesterday. 13.5x18 Raker. Obviously I had to run to the garage and put it on so I could test it. The results are the boat is quicker but not much faster. It jumps right on plane almost instantly, but I only got 35mph out of it. I also played around with the trim a bit. I don't have power trim but I can adjust the pin on the motor. I have been running it with the motor all the way down. I tried moving it up and on the next hole the boat porpoises bad. Any ideas? I want to set it up with power trim and possibly a jack plate at some point. That will come later.

 

[Cubman]

Do you have a tach on your motor? I am inclined to say your motor doesn't have enough power to pull 18" of pitch, but there is no way to tell without knowing what RPM you are running wide open.

 

[Derek]

I do not have a tach yet. Gauges are one of the next few things to be added to the boat. This motor came originally with a 13.25x17 aluminum prop. Stepping up to 13.5x18 does seem like a big stretch. I chose it based upon a prop shops recommendation.

 

[clarego]

hey bud
got some pics up
got any tips let me know
https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=21590&p=220322#p220322

 

[clarego]

got tachs none of them work expect for the battery and rpms :shock:

 

[Derek]

huh? :|


Took the boat out yesterday to a fairly large lake, which gave me lots of room for running. The boat porpoises sometimes, not violently but enough to be a pain. It usually only happens when I am alone, some times with another person. I wanted to move around my trolling motor battery to see what affect it had on the porpoising. Right now it is mounted in the front left compartment, forward of the console. I put it mid boat where the passengers feet would be and then in the rear compartment with the other battery and the gas tank. The further back I moved it the worse the porpoising got.

 

[clarego]

Gauges i meant sorry

 

[clarego]

huh? :|


Took the boat out yesterday to a fairly large lake, which gave me lots of room for running. The boat porpoises sometimes, not violently but enough to be a pain. It usually only happens when I am alone, some times with another person. I wanted to move around my trolling motor battery to see what affect it had on the porpoising. Right now it is mounted in the front left compartment, forward of the console. I put it mid boat where the passengers feet would be and then in the rear compartment with the other battery and the gas tank. The further back I moved it the worse the porpoising got.

i know what you mean lol 3 battery's (+12 gallons of gas) in the rear is not fun i got her planned and felt like the boat was going to tip i dont know if it was because i was new to it but sure scared the dickens out of me. the steering wheel seems to not be as tight as soon as i get a plane either you ever seen anyone tip a boat backwards ? i know i got more weight on the rear then you do im in the center console close to 285 and a skinny dude right next to me about 180 at the most. i would like to get a new trolling motor 12v only. mine is 24v

 

[Flatbotm]

Hey Derek you have anything heavy you can move to the front? Or what about a hydrofoil whale tale for the motor? You might have to take a sandbag with you next time just to see where she likes the weight.