A couple of weeks ago I
wrote about getting a new to me boat. Since then, I have used it a couple of
times for guide trips and have enjoyed working from it. On those trips, I used
my old Mercury two cycle fifteen horse outboard motor. This has been my
constant companion for over twelve years. I bought it, when I still owned my
original Shawnee. To me, it was the perfect motor. It was light, reliable and
easy to operate. My new boat came with a Honda fifteen horse four cycle motor
that featured electric start and power tilt. These were features, with which, I
had no personal experience.
Last week the folks at
Tracy Boat and Motor called to tell me that my motor was ready. I had taken it
in to be checked out and tuned up before I took it out on the river. I drove my
boat over and had them mount it and install a new battery for the electric
start and power tilt. At their suggestion, I got a lawn mower battery. It was
much smaller yet still had plenty of power to handle the motor. The smaller
battery took up a lot less space in my locker and gave me more storage.
While I was there, I
dropped off my old Mercury to have it tuned up and prepared for storage. I sold
my old boat and trailer but wanted to hang onto the motor. The idea is to store
it in my garage as a backup. In the future, if I encounter engine trouble, I
can quickly trade out the Honda for the Mercury
I drove straight to Rim
Shoals for a shakedown cruise. I wanted to familiarize myself with the new
motor, before I took out clients with it. I got everything ready and launched
my boat. As I luck would have it, I made a rookie mistake, at the beginning, of
the trip. I forgot to put the plug in. As soon as I realized what was
happening, I jumped in the boat, grabbed a spare plug (I keep no less than
three in the boat) and slammed it into the drain hole. There was a bit of water
in the boat and I had no bailer. I went to my Suburban and found a coffee cup.
It worked fine.
I was now ready to go. I
pushed the start button and it cranked immediately. I was impressed but I was
to soon notice that the motor was a lot more cold natured than the Merc. I had
to let it idle for a while before I could get under way. It also took me a few
minutes to get the throttle and tiller tension adjusted to suit me.
The problem I had was,
to get used, to the shifter, on the new four cycle motor. On the Mercury, all
of the controls were, on the tiller within easy reach of your hand. You could
get under way, shift from forward to reverse or kill the engine without taking
your hand off the tiller. The shifter, throttle and kill switch are in
different locations on the Honda. It took me a few drifts to get the hang of it
but in a few minutes, it was much easier for me.
I started the motor with
the pull start and used the power tilt to raise and lower the engine in the
water just to make sure that I knew how they functioned.
I made a few other
observations, while I was on the water. The Honda was much quieter than the
Mercury. You could easily carry on a conversation with it running. Next the new
four cycle sips gasoline. It uses much less fuel than the two cycle did. I also
noted that it ran much cleaner. There was no oil slick on the surface of the
water after I started it. The new Honda is a lot heavier. Without the power
tilt I would have trouble lifting it up to avoid rocks when under way.
All things considered, I
find the new boat and motor to be a major improvement. I look forward to
fishing with the new to me rig.
No comments:
Post a Comment