amateurhour
Well-known member
Well, I found a boat. motor, and trailer on craigslist that someone was nice enough to sell to me for the $200 gift card to Bass Pro Shop that I got for Christmas, so I'm now the proud owner of my first boat!
Here we go:
It's a mid 70's Sears V Hull and I've got the tags, title, and paperwork for it. The motor is a 5 hp Briggs and Straton that's seized up at the moment because someone tried to put a fuel mixture in it instead of straight gas last summer and it needs to be cleaned out (?) (That's what I was told)
The back right trailer tire was low so the dude filled it up with air before I left. Thankfully they were only 10 miles away from my house. I got about 5 miles to my house and was actually getting off the highway going up the off ramp when THE TIRE FELL OFF THE **** RIM!
I pulled over and promptly freaked out because I was still a good 3 miles from my house (not too far) but it was late last night, and there was no way I could buy a new rim and tire and there was also no way I was paying like $150 or more for a tow truck with a flatbed.
After about half an hour of making calls someone was nice enough to pull off and his advice was "drive on it really, really slow and just make it home" which I ended up doing, the tire actually did come off the wheel with about 1/2 a mile to go so I got a few angry/confused looks as I pulled into my subdivision from the main road but at least I made it home safe. Seriously, first night owning a boat and I realized that the first thing I need to do is buy a spare trailer tire.
So, seeing as how I have no idea what I'm doing, what are the next steps? The hull looks solid but I know I need to test it for leaks properly. What kind of tools do I need for the boat? What should I do about the engine?
Woo!
Here we go:
It's a mid 70's Sears V Hull and I've got the tags, title, and paperwork for it. The motor is a 5 hp Briggs and Straton that's seized up at the moment because someone tried to put a fuel mixture in it instead of straight gas last summer and it needs to be cleaned out (?) (That's what I was told)
The back right trailer tire was low so the dude filled it up with air before I left. Thankfully they were only 10 miles away from my house. I got about 5 miles to my house and was actually getting off the highway going up the off ramp when THE TIRE FELL OFF THE **** RIM!
I pulled over and promptly freaked out because I was still a good 3 miles from my house (not too far) but it was late last night, and there was no way I could buy a new rim and tire and there was also no way I was paying like $150 or more for a tow truck with a flatbed.
After about half an hour of making calls someone was nice enough to pull off and his advice was "drive on it really, really slow and just make it home" which I ended up doing, the tire actually did come off the wheel with about 1/2 a mile to go so I got a few angry/confused looks as I pulled into my subdivision from the main road but at least I made it home safe. Seriously, first night owning a boat and I realized that the first thing I need to do is buy a spare trailer tire.
So, seeing as how I have no idea what I'm doing, what are the next steps? The hull looks solid but I know I need to test it for leaks properly. What kind of tools do I need for the boat? What should I do about the engine?
Woo!