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Fished Strawberry today with three family members. We did ok once we located them, had to move over in the crowd of boats by The Ladders. Second trip in the boat and the main outboard ran flawlessly. Only problem was after launching the boat I was headed into the dock to pick up the family when I discovered that the controls were locked and I couldn't shift from forward to neutral let alone reverse. Not a good feeling to be headed straight at a dock going a little too fast and not being able to shift in reverse to slow down. I grazed the corner of the dock, which of course was the only place on it that was bare wood. Cut a gouge about 10 inches long in the fiberglass. I will be taking it into a fiberglass shop right away to get that repaired and I need to figure out why the gearshift got stuck that time and on at least one other occasion. Fished with my brother-in-law who fishes with PowerBait almost exclusively. After not even getting a bite on PowerBait and watching my Grandson and I reel in several on tubes, vertically jigging, it didn't take long before he and his grandson were more than willing to learn how to vertically jig with tubes. Largest fish were several right at 22 inches and we caught two well under the slot and the rest were all in the upper end of the slot.
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Kent sounds like you did better than me . I struggled yesterday at Soldier Creek but did hook a dozen cutts with one bow . Lost my touch after being ill the last month . Was happy to see my patch job on the boat work great and didn't take on any water .
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I'm glad you could convert a fellow angler into some jiggin' action, and get them away from power death. Sounds like you are getting the kinks worked out of the new boat as well. Thanks for the report.
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Soldier Creek should have been busy with the CAST for Kids event going on. I didn't dare volunteer this year because I wasn't sure how my boat would run.
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My family grew up fishing from the shore and fishing with bait. I am the only one who has a boat and PowerBait will remain king for those who continue fishing from shore.
On another note, I am amazed at the quantity of water that continues to be dumped into Strawberry from The Ladders. I think the water level in Strawberry continues to rise. For that to be happening in August is highly unusual. One nice thing is the walk to the ice for ice fishing this year won't be as far as it has been for many years.
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It was busy for sure . I was happy the 2 kids I took finally got a fish to reel in .
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[size 1]"Was happy to see my patch job on the boat work great and didn't take on any water ."[/size]
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[size 1]I have learned to appreciate everything that goes right on a boat.[/size]
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Good to hear you are getting some of the bugs worked out on your boat. I had the same problem with my shifter on my first boat, I ended up changing my shifter cables and the control box. It could be as simple as old grease in the control box causing it to freeze up on your boat. What did you find wrong with your main motor anyway?
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We replaced the spark plugs, cleaned the points, and he covered one carburator at a time, and I guess that forces the others to work harder and helps clean them out. I will be running Sea Foam through it for awhile to make sure any varnish is cleaned out. The angle of the outboard was also set way too high and was causing extreme cavitation. We lowered it and that also helped. Now if I could only get the trolling motor to run at a lower speed.
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Glad you had some luck at Strawberry.A guy told me once after he had helped me get my boat back on the trailer when the drive won't go down "relax,this is just the first of many malfunctions"[  ] Other-"a boat is a hole in the water you throw money in"[  ]
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I guess you are running Sea Foam in your trolling motor already but have you changed your spark plug in it?
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I changed the spark plug, but because it is on a temporary tank which I won't be using very long I haven't started running Sea Foam through the trolling outboard, but that will happen soon. Hopefully, that alone solves my problem.
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Hey Kent, how do you run your sea foam in your outboards? I need to try some.
Also, i had the same problem with my motor a few weeks ago.(not going into gear) It was the indent ball. I took it out and have had no problems at all. I noticed no difference in the shift lever either. I guess it is worth a try.[cool]
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I just pour into the gas tank approximately 1 ounce of Sea Foam per gallon of gas. What is an indent ball?
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If it is going to be a while before you start running the Sea Foam, you could try a suggestion that that Dennis told me a few years back. Run the motor in a tank or while you are on the water and use a squirt bottle to spray Sea Foam directly into the carb as it is running. It might kill the motor if you spray it too fast but it does a good job of cleaning it. When you do start running it you can run it double strength, I usually run it at a ratio of one oz. of Sea Foam to one gallon of gas, so you would run two oz. per gallon. From what you describe it sounds like the idle jet or circuit is clogged or restricted. If you want to borrow an extra tank for a while, let me know, I've got a few extras laying around, one is an 3.5 gal.
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My trolling motor has the starter rope built into the cover. Trying to remove it after the motor is started would cause the flywheel to hit the cover, so spraying Sea Foam into it while it is running I don't think is an option. Thanks for the offer on the tank, but before I use it again Danzilla will have installed the permanent tanks (one 6 gallon tank for the trolling motor and a second 17 gallon tank for the main outboard).
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If your trolling motor is a Mercury like mine, you can take the cover off while it is running. You just need to be careful, practice taking it off when it isn't running, unlatch the two side hold downs, slowly lift the cover and angle the cover forward as you lift it off. Lee told me how to adjust my idle screw but that has to be done when it is running. Just don't force it off and you will be able to get it off after you get it started.
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I dont know how you might take this,but dont take this the wrong way,If your trolling motor tank has a air bleed on its cap and you dont open it,It will do two things,If it has alot of pressure built up it will push too much fuel into the motor causing it to foul your plugs in a short amount of time,Thats if it doesn't flood it at first,and if it has no pressure it will cause the opposite it will vacume on you and not let enough fuel in causing it to die.
Just a couple things to look at,You seem kinda new to the boat thing and some people dont know about these things.
Good luck.
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Hi Kent - thinking about your cables sticking and possible reasons:
Maybe the position of the big motor it causing the cable to kink.
This would be easy to see if this was your problem - just start with your motor turned to one side and engage the shifter and watch the cables with the motor cover off. Then slowly move the motor and watch the cable movement as you change the postion of the motor.
Also - having tuned my little motor this weekend (my spare 3 hp. 1950 Johnson Seahorse) - here is a way you can do it in your driverway. Put the motor on your boat as always - put the motor in a plastic tub - like the one that cost $5 that you use for storage and fill it with water. Just put it on a stool or chair or ?? to get it elavated enough to submerge the trolling motor. Keep the hose handy to keep adding water because your feet will get wet from the prop thrust.
Remove the cover and start your diagnoses. Make sure the motor if circulating water and cooling the motor adaquentlyl. Look for any signs of leakage, loose connections, etc. You can even spray some carb cleaner if you want. Run it through the full test and start seeing how this motor works.
Thanks for the fishing and bug report - [ ]
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Kent, it is the little spring and bearing type ball that gives your throttle box the "feeling" of the gears changing. Forward-donk, neutral-donk, etc... It might not be that but it was my problem. Good luck.
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