yowoodchuck

I had a friend who worked for BP, and he sold boats. I asked how many came back for leaks, faulty wiring or other assembly problems and he suggested that roughly 85% came back for at least minor repair. Maybe their quality control has gotten better.

Day Two Report Sprays of electrical contact cleaner (has nice nozzle tube and power) sprayed into nest area. Nothing Long wire with hook on end pushed back into hole until softness was encountered, could not hook up. More spray--this time with hot pepper in oil... nothing. Day Three Report This morning, they had left small leafy branches near the entry point. More work with the long wire, more hot spray, stomping and cussing, to no avail. Swear words do not affect the furry critters at all. (Just re-watched Deadwood, so I have a bunch) Stayed tuned: On Saturday, the boat will be drug out of the water and brought up to the house. If still present, they will be confronted by pressure washer, followed by F150 exhaust. I need a hungry mink for 1/2 hour! I will then set a trap on the boat with apples when I put it back on the water to try for the adults.

So, it seems muskrats have taken up in the area behind or to the side of the fuel tank, after having eaten a bunch of wiring including the fuel tank level sender. The boat is a G3 sundancer 20 foot fishing pontoon boat...we have no boat lift at the dock. The vermin I believe are "nesting" (sock it to me two times) in there. I have sprayed noxious stuff, opened the small covers that open to the tank sender and pulled off everything that is easy...stomped and cussed, driven backwards as fast as possible, attempting to flush them out...no luck so far. My intent is to pull the boat off the lake, bring it home and park it on the hilltop while blasting Lawrence welk, the Ramones and Doris Day, then shooting water in at moderate pressure there and if that doesn't work, maybe the noxious sulfur smoke bomb set off inside a 4 foot caped at one end pipe, while aiming the open end into the area... any better ideas?

If I still had my old walleye boat, I'd take that and install it onboard--for easy upright fish cleaning...hose off and fold away.

An epic saga, I can hardly wait for the next installment. Hoping to see a video of the river or lake trials and maybe a slow troll for walleye!

Sounds like a good idea to me...I'll keep this number and call in the spring. Thanks

I use one often on Yamaha 60, Merc 50, OMC 70, Bad Boy mower, and lawn boy I've never had a problem with the pick-up tube diameter or length. It is real handy when changing oil on a boat on the water in a dock or on a lift...much cleaner. The only downside is that you are leaving a small bit of old oil in the engine, but this is not important if you are doing regular oil changes. The big challenge is getting the darn oil filter off and replaced without dripping 1/4 cup of oil into the lake...a bunch of paper towels can stop that from happening.

Aren't most boat outboards "She/her", or are they "they/them" ? Can't wait to read the rest of this saga, I am always impressed with the help this group gives to each other...

wow, this engine looks sweet. I will touch base with my neighbor with the "Johnson" 70 4 stroke that is not running.

Up here in the north Missouri woods, we prefer the term "Sky Chiggers"

now you are making me hungry!

Thanks for the info, but the tow would be brutal. If it were my boat, maybe...but if it were my boat, the problem would have never happened. Why do so many people have such an aversion to basic maintenance? Then again, why am I so fat?

At this point, I'll be lucky to get my gas money and seafoam money back. I have to admit that I got a boat with a four stroke on it that runs great and has been very little trouble--but is is run often, with only nonethanol gas, and overwintered in the shop only after being run to a stop with the gas line disconnected, freshwater only, and a Yamaha. OH, and who is Cody?

I was hoping wrench would be chopping at the bit to take it on as a job! I have enough jobs on my plate...pool pump rebuild, on demand water heater repair in our house and then there's the 97 year old mom....all I really want to do is float fish for smallies on spring fed rivers! I certainly appreciate gotmuddy and his exploded diagram and advice...looks like a 3 day job, if no factory parts are needed. As time moves forward, I'll bet that staying with 2-stroke engines overall would have caused less pollution if all weird parts replacement, driving, frustration and quicker end of life were factored in. I used to think wrench was such a curmudgeon, now I am agreeing with him. Perhaps I should ignore all calls from the owner of the beast. Thanks again

My other neighbor on our N. Missouri lake has a 21 ft pontoon boat on a lift. A year ago, he ran the boat two weekends...put it on the lift and did not come back for 8 months. The boat was up on the lift all winter. He has never been careful regarding gas, just throws 10% ethanol 87 octane in the huge tank. He came back in June, started the motor, did not run it, and shut it down. two months later, the battery was dead, recharged and then the motor will barely start and immediately stalls out when put in gear. I went over, hooked up auxiliary gas tank with good gas and a bit of seafoam...it started and I ran it for 2 hours...could not get it past 3500 rpms. I went back today, hoping to get lucky...it would cough, almost catch the die. I no nothing about these weird engines...I'm thinking-- Put a known good battery in, change any easy fuel filters, replace plugs, pump out a quart of fuel from the tank and let it sit overnight to see how much water shows up... Am I on the right track? What about power packs and the electrical side of this? I have a hard time doing anything as the stern has only about a 3 inch walkway to stand on. Any ideas appreciated.