MrGiggles

Get a carbon monoxide detector if you're gonna fool around with those things. A lot of guys up north would fall asleep with their sunflower heater running in the fish house and never wake up.

Took a couple hours tonight and finished up the brace. It's pretty solid now, there was a lot of bounce before. The splashwell drain kind of bugs me, but there isn't much I can do about that, except start over. Putting the rivnuts in the rear deck support. The finished product. Fitting and getting ready to drill the holes and trim the tabs.

Nothing new with fuel pumps, still waiting on a different pump to see what that does. I started working on the transom brace. It'll go right up against the top of the splashwell, the upper engine mount bolts will go through it, the tabs on the side will be fastened to the sides of the rear deck to tie it all together. The splashwell is supposed to do the same thing, but because of it's shape, isn't very rigid. I started with a chunk of aluminum I-beam from the scrapyard. Cost a whole $6. Cutting it down to size, and cutting the back of the flanges off, turning it into channel. Notching for the splashwell drain, which turns out to not be perfectly centered in the transom, so I got to do it twice. I took a file to it after so it didn't look so much like I cut it with an angry beaver. The finished product, before I brought it up to my brother to get welded. I don't have the equipment or skill to weld aluminum.

If I had unlimited funds, I don't think I would have the latest and greatest. What I would have is a stable full of turds in various states of polishing. I'd love to have an aluminum cabin cruiser with a Merc tower of power on the back, a smaller runabout with a peppy vintage OMC, and a Deep-V with a big four stroke tiller as a dedicated fishing rig. Playing with boats is a lot of the fun for me, and would be a lot more enjoyable without the worry of finances, a project needing to be "worth it", etc.

What you said has been studied and proven to be true. Money does buy happiness, to an extent. Just enough to pay your bills, ease worry, and live comfortably. More than that and you're no better off mentally.

About as useful as a bump stock. Only good for emptying magazines and your pockets afterward.

@Dutch, I shared my brush fishing with you, I'd like to hear a little about this structure fishing that you do, if you don't mind.

That hole is a lot better at introducing air than it is at purging any. Wish I hadn't tossed the original one so I could see what it had. Looking at other photos, looks like they have a hole there of varying designs.

An update: New pump showed up today. No change, still just a trickle at best. Almost sounded like it was sucking air around the seal where the pump fits into the FSM, so I investigated. I plugged the pump outlet and blew into the inlet nipple. Leaked air like crazy. These friggin pumps have a hole drilled into the inlet housing. No way could it suck up any fuel or hold a prime with that hole there. Must be a manufacturing defect. To test this theory, I smeared some epoxy over the hole and slammed it together. Worked like a charm until the gas presumably dislodged it. Might go ahead and order a new one from a different company, but I could probably just smear some JB weld over the hole and be just fine.

Just sign the note on a new Epiq work station. I'm sure that'll keep him coming around. Swivels are something I've never dabbled in. I watched a classmate fire off the head of a 13mm bolt like a bullet with one of those things, way too close to the Chevy Bel Air that was in the next bay. Wobble extensions work fine for me, Snap-On makes a nice set that will work both ways, wobble and straight. Sunex makes some thin wall impact sockets that you might be interested in.

I really like Tekton for hand tools. They have a killer finish, good prices, don't skip sizes, and a great warranty. Shoot them an email and you've got new tools coming in the mail. I destroyed the guts in my 24" mega ratchet (totally my fault), I sent them an email asking if they sold rebuild kits, they just sent me one, no charge. Being able to source a rebuild kit in 2021 is a rarity in itself. I consider torx and allen bit sockets to be consumable if you really use them. Especially impact stuff. Again, Tekton is my preference for them, since they're easy to get replaced. For screwdrivers, I like the Pittsburg Pro set from Harbor Freight. I usually lose them before I ever wear one out. I'm also partial to Snap-On Instincts. I think Wera is pretty well regarded too, but I've never used them. Picks are worth splurging on, Snap-on there as well. A good radiator hose pick will change your life. Ratchets, Snap-on and Tekton. I have some Harbor Freight ones too, their Pittsburg Pro models are okay, Icon (their top shelf line) is pretty underwhelming IMO. Not worth the price. Wire strippers/crimpers, Snap-on. These will never splay out like most crimpers eventually do, and the cutters are razor sharp. https://shop.snapon.com/product/Wire-Strippers-Cutters%2FCrimpers/7"-Wire-Stripper-Cutter%2FCrimper-(Green)/PWCS7ACFG For air tools, Aircat and Astro are top dogs IMO. I'd like Harbor Freight's Earthquake stuff a lot more if they didn't have the dang forward/reverse selector backwards. I have all Milwukee M12 cordless stuff. 3/8 impact, ratchet, hackzall, and a basic drill. Knockoff batteries are cheap and the 5.0s last a really long time. I see them in your thumbnail, Knipex Cobras are my favorite pliers by far. The Doyle brand from Harbor Freight is pretty good too, I read somewhere that they are made by the same company that supplies them to Matco. I have a couple of those Braun magnetic work lights that kick butt. Worst trouble there is that it seems like nothing is made with ferrous metal anymore. Gearwrench makes a magnetic spark plug socket that is the best thing ever for that application. I used to really like the rest of their stuff too, but a few years ago they changed their COO to China, and the quality dropped way off. I'm not terribly loyal to one company, they all have strengths and weaknesses. I try to cherry pick the best from each.

Nose down gives a better ride when you're running into a heavy chop, that's the only practical reason. I've also seen guys taking a never ending eight second ride because it's trimmed too high. I'm not sure how they stand it.

On most there is just a thermostatic coil that closes the choke when the engine is cold and opens it once warm. Pretty simple. The air flapper governor deals work with airflow created by the flywheel. Engine slows down, less air pushing on the flapper, opens the throttle, and vice versa. I've only ever seen that on push mowers, it's been a while since I don't work on them anymore. Everything else uses a flyweight setup for the governor that's driven by the crankshaft.

That's nothing new, been doing that for a while.

I got an Echomap 93SV last year from them. Ordered online that morning, picked it up at the curb around lunch time. No problem, seemed like they had plenty. I'd buy another but they're $100 more this year. What are they getting for Panoptix? I don't see it on the online ad.

I think some of those little private lakes around KC have a 10hp restriction, so there's a few of those little motors around. I ran up and bought one just like that a few years ago for the electric start stuff on it. Had a 25" shaft and a prop that looked like a fan blade, probably from a pontoon.

It's electric. I tossed the quick connector on the tank a couple weeks ago. There is nothing but a bare rubber hose between the pump and the tank pickup.

I guess it's time for an update. Last trip to the lake was the same result. Worst part is that it will run fine until you get to the spot and throw a fit coming home. Vesselview shows codes for the vent switch, purge valve, and float switch. Vent switch code is from me priming it and overflowing the FSM, the purge valve code is there from when I unplugged it while the motor was running to clear the vent valve. The float switch code is likely a timeout error (code sets when lift pump has ran for X amount of time and float switch still hasn't closed, indicating the FSM is full) but Vesselview doesn't really elaborate, and Mercury apparently hasn't published a list for VV codes, which is extremely aggravating since they don't correlate to anything else. It's basically a "call dealer for more" type of deal. I have tested the float switch and it works perfectly. It'll pass the siphon test with flying colors. I removed everything, filters, primer, all of it from the suction hose. Stuck just the hose right onto the pump tube. Still nothing, pump won't pull fuel out of the tank unassisted. The seal between the FSM body and lift pump is in great shape. The pump is not wired backwards. The pumps have different connectors so they cannot be mixed up. There is no reason for it to not be sucking fuel except if the pump is no good. There isn't even the tiniest bit of suction on the lift pump inlet. All signs pointing to the pump, even though it is new.

Just go on Amazon and order a new carb. Ain't worth fooling with those little things when a new one is $20. Chances are it'll run just fine if it hasn't been straight gassed.

I ordered a tractor window from Agco a couple months ago, with a gasket. It came off the truck with no packing, just the cardboard draped around it. No gasket. It's a miracle it made it in one piece. The windows I get from CNH come so well packed, it almost takes longer to unbox them than it does to put them in. They pour foam in the box, smoosh the window in, pour some more foam in, slap the other half of the box on top, band it, and ship it.

You would be surprised... There's folks out there with way more cojones than me.

You wouldn't find me in a mud puddle on a kayak when the water is colder than 70*.

My Thanksgiving routine for crappie is brush in 20-30 feet. I also had a ton of fun last year working the ned, put several big bass in the boat and a walleye. Working windy bluffs and humps at the same depth.

I put a bluegill in my mom's fish tank when I was kid. Worked well until it acquired a taste for guppies....

What are you doing with those cannon balls? I don't think I've ever used heavier than 1/16 for crappie, even in 40 feet. Heavy jigs just get you hung up more. I guess it doesn't matter too much though, I've caught dinky crappie on 3" keitechs before. I have all sorts of colors and styles, but use black/chart or blue ice baby shads pretty much exclusively. I've also taken a liking to slab busters. I did the spooning thing last winter and had a lot of fun with it, although I also had success with a 3" tiny fluke on an 1/8 oz head and small jigging raps in the same conditions. Put a bunch of whites and a couple walleye in the boat too.