Grantm

Ha Ha that took a while thought id get smashed within minutes ! Must not be many Ford fans around.

one could think i aimed my comment at you 'Jewhunter'. Na mate . Yeah its bummer of a spot at times. Not having a go at jew fisho's, just the jerks who think they own the place. I remember reading many threads on this topic where certain fisho's have been a real problem their and not the inexperienced boatie. Goes both ways i think. A thread on etiquette may be interesting although most here are not the prob. A nice big fat magazine artical on boat and fishing etiquette may at least reach a few more people. Maybe our new friends at Modern Fishing can have a look.

the 300c now your talking. Fully DUB.

Honestly i hate spots like Juno. There are people out their who think they own it and its the personal domain of the mighty Jew hunter. I remember hitting it chasing Bream once and when i arrived there was only two other boats. I stayed way out of their way and all was good. Until i pulled out the flick stick and started to jig deep for Breambo's. I got the death stares !! I felt as though i was not welcome cause of what i was doing. Geeeez !! Didnt worry me cause a landed two corkers !! I dont go there much anymore unless its vacant.

Ford's suck - end of story dont get me started.

I agree, chineese three course meal Perhaps a thought would be to understand why these spots are so good. Reefy areas where large eddies form perhaps. In theory if you can find less populated areas that have the same geological formations you should find the fish - in theory. Look for areas that jut out and form an eddie, there are a few around. Of course im certainly no expert but i remember the same topic in the past.

I would say there is no probs at all. Dont think the wpump has anything to do with it though. The impeller is keyed directly to the drive shaft which is spinning as fast as the motor. From there the shaft enteres the gear box where the it is connected to the drive pinion. The drive pinion sits between the drive gears ( forward and reverse ) and drives them at engine speed which free spin on the prop shaft from memory which is blury at best, they are always connected but the drive gears are not splined to the prop shaft. When gear is selected the dog clutch basically engages the prop shaft to the selected drive gear. Now what you will find is that the drive gears ( which are connected to the engine drive shaft )but free spin on the prop shaft are actually indirectly spinning the prop shaft slowly from fluid drive. Like a torque convertor.Gear box oil which is in between the drive gear and the prop shaft is indirectly making the conection. This explains why it is easy to stop. Very confusing and if you followed that your doing well. Another way to explain it perhaps is imagine you had two pieces of pipe one which slips loosly over the other. Fill the gap between the two pipes and spin the outer one at 700 rpm. Naturaly the inner pipe will turn from the indirect fluid connection between the pipes. Thats how i remember it anyway but like i said its a bit blury.

...meanwhile unlimited numbers of uneducated and unpoliced rec fisho's are filling their buckets with undersize fish on most coastal estuaries. Its good to see a bust on illegal abalone fishing activity but id still love to see more ( my opinion only ) important areas targeted. There is no where near enough Fisheries staff to do this the way it is being run now.

I hear ya Sammy but you know what, its all relative. A mate of mine owns a 60 footer. Cost him $6000.00 to fill the tank and go fishing for the weekend. Fark me i hear you say. well yes, BUT remember : He who can afford the boat, can afford the fuel. Its still sux with it going up though.

This may not be a very popular response but its only my opinion remember. Yes, fuel prices are on the rise but its still pretty cheap compared to world prices. We are in a pretty well off country to and the cost of fuel based on that is quite good. Ok its gone up say 20c of late but that doesnt mean a huge amount over a fuel tank in the boat. A bag of plastics maybe ? and look how many of those we all have ! I think some people get a bit carried away with fuel price and forget how much they spend on other things of less importance. Whilst its going up it wont slow me down at all from using the boat.

Hey mate, Dont need to defend the Suzi we all know they are good. Your last statement is the acurate one though when you said " ALL new outboards are good these days and deserve thier place in the market " Just to split some hairs though cause i cant help myself , ALL bucket and shim engines need adjustment at some stage. It is a matter of checking the valve clearance and fitting the appropriate thickness shim. You buy shims buy the box and they come in various thicknesses. As the valve pulls into the seat over time this clearance reduces and you have to sometimes change shims. No one said they had tappets. As for jap heads not failing on cars ! Your kidding right. Nissan 6 cylinder ( vl comm and skyline ) cracks right along the cam journal. 4 cyl Isuzu valve guides failing. v6 Holden Jackeroo cam belt tensioner failure and lifter failure. The list goes on. You listed the price on the oil and filter and nothing else. Based on that a two stroke would cost $0 to service. You will never convince me a 4 st is cheaper to service than a two anyway. Mate your obviously passionate about you Suzi motor and I think that is great but I dont think they are the be all and end all. Its a good idea to remain open minded to all types of engines and technologies and appreciate there are some other great motors out their. At the end of the day none of this means the ETEC's are rubbish and have become very popular with those who have actually owned one in most circumstances. Like you say as long as your happy with what youve got thats the main thing. Anyhoo its been fun shooting the breeze on this I love engine topics !

I turn 18 next week, cant wait for school hols to end so I can get back. I really need to hurry up and finish year 10. Its been the longest three years of my life ! .

Sorry sorry i know when im wrong. HAPPY 60TH ! Better stop now before mrsswordie carves me up ! Have a good day mate, looking forward to a lake sess.

Cmon Swordie your amoungst friends here no need to be shy, 50 is a golden age ! Lawn bowls, bingo, bus trips, its all good ! Ha ha just kidding !

Happy 50th

Hmmm, A brave man to rubbish such a good product ! Having owned both ETEC and 4stroke Johnson ( Suzuki ) in the 50 - 60 HP range I can make a reasonably good comparison. I am not biased towards any particular brand as ive had em all and worked on most. If a product is good then its good, and this whole BRP sale thing is really old news and not relevant. I think it may be a good idea to comment on some of your statements though. Explain to me how a 4 stroke engine is cheaper to service than a 2 stroke which has no scheduled service for three years, in fact any two stroke. 4 strokes require oil and filters at least once a year just for starters, not to mention valve clearances, timing adjustments etc etc. There are litterally hundreds of moving parts in a four stroke top end compared to only a couple in a two stroke. The no scheduled service is not a gimmick, its a fact. Yes it probably is a good idea to do a water pump and a fuel filter within this time but no more regularly than a four stroke. There is just nothing to do ! edit- Service 'schedule' is refered to by ALL manufacturers and refers to what the manufacturers has specifed the service requirement is. It is not a marketing trick it is a specific procedure which must be followed. Piston pins working loose ? Does a service schedule cover that ? I would say the reason the yanks are so low on the two stroke use is because of emmision laws. This is what the ETEC is countering as is now Yamaha and even Tohatsu with its current design and yes it will take a while for it to take off in big numbers. The yanks love their 4 strokes. I cretainly wasnt sucked in by the marketing, I just did my homework and was unable to fault the performance. Your Suzuki 4 stroke also has fuel injectors which would cost the same money to replace but this is highly unlikely on either product. A cylinder head on a 4 st would cost several thousand to replace if that failed. Check the specs, ETEC 50HP 109kg - Johnson and Suzuki 50 hp 109 kg, Go up to 60 hp ETEC are still 109 kg and Johnson/Suzi jump to a whopping 159kg ! Dont get me wrong, Suzuki make a great motor and I currently own a 4st Johno, and although a 2stroke is not for everyone its a bit unfair to knock it on the basis you have. Of course i dont expect everyone to rave about them its not going to happen as everyone has different opinion I just think the reasons given are not really acurate. I would check the initial price as well. Last time i checked the ETEC 50 was about a grand cheaper but of course this can very depending on the dealer. After studying the technical articals written on these motors by independants and the manufacturer, it is hard to see how anyone can bag them as opposed to just not prefering them. The technology is way ahead and you will find that in the future all 2 strokes will go this way. Not trying to have a go Angler or cause a drama, just making a point. Like you say anyone who buys a Suzi 4 stroke WILL NOT be dissapointed anyway.

Interestingly enough the Johnson EFI motor is actually just a rebadged Suzuki anyway. Your right, good motor.

Thats one killer Flathead ! Its funny I was out having a fish the other day for flatties and was going to put a 5 inch Jerk shad on. I stopped and said to myself nah thats too big i'll go smaller. Fark me if that thing wouldnt have inhaled a 5 inch shad through its nostril. Great fish.

The alloy vs Poly is like Holden vs Ford. Their is no real winner only personal preference. Quintrex and Stacer seem to hold their value the best cause of the name. Dont loose too much sleep over the motor brand wither cause everyone has an opinion of which is best. If you go new you cant go too far wrong whatever you get. You will be suprised how much electric start will add too but its a nice option. I think it adds about 500 bucks at least cause it gets an alternater too ! Painted vs un painted ? Easy. Painted hulls look better by far but dont offer any benefits apart from that. In fact corrosion gets under the paint no matter what as well as the normal scratches. Saying that ill always go painted regardless because it holds the resale better if looked after. Its not hard to look after them too just a bit of care. Actually having a painted hull forces you to look after your boat better in the long run anyway. Its easy to get lazy with an unpainted hull. Painted hull is about 400 bucks. Quintrex and Stacer will come with a Dunbier trailer which are good. You cant go too far wrong with a trailer as long as its new. I like having alloy wheels though which Dunbier dont do on this size i dont think. Redco and Oceanic do trailers with alloys. Go a strap winch too not a steel cable but try not to wet the strap too often as it will rust the hub. If you go electric start just get a big MARINE battery rated 500 cca or better. About 150 bucks or so. If you go manual start then go deep cycle at least 120 amp hours to run a leccie, a live well and a sounder. Go the bow mount if you can afford it, it is such a pain trying to steer and fish with a tiller steer leccie. 55 riptide sells for 1300 bucks and i reckon you only need a 40 although it will be a fresh water version not the saltwater riptide.Thats ok though just look after it, you can add an anode if you like. It is recommended that you have a 100ao deep cycle to run. This is the tricky part : One battery or two ? If you go electric start you can run the leccie of the crank battery although they dont recommend it. Not sure why other than you run the risk of flattening the crank battery. If you can pull start the motor it wont matter anyway as a backup. Alternatively you can run a battery for each. Crank and deep cycle. Boat starts to get heavy and batteries are exy when you add a charger to the bill as well. You cant charge the deep cycle of the motor either. My advice to keep it simple and keep cost down is to go a 40 freshwater. About 900 bucks. Run it off a large marine battery and have just the one about 150 bucks. If you do manual start get a deep cycle and run everything off that. A deep cycle will cost up to 200 bucks and an auto shut off charger about 70 bucks. If you dont go deep cycle with on a non alternator set up you will be wasting your time. Setting up for all this is confusing for anyone so take your time and ask plenty of questions. Good luck Ken

Gday Ken, The boat for you is a 400 Explorer Trophy. It can be optioned with everything you want and close to the money, and by close i mean it will be be around the 12 to 13 by the time you spruce it up. It measures around 5 metres in total lenght on the trailer. I doubt you will get much of a live well but a standard option is a 20ltr livie tank. I doubt you will get all the stuff your after for 10k but your not far off. The leccie adds a about a grand and youll need a 40 to 55 pd job too. Make you life easier by ordering your boat with a leccie bracket done from factory, it only adds about 70 bucks. Hope you find what your after

Ive always regarded Tohatsu as a pretty good motor in fact I was a dealer many years ago. What worries me is not so much the fact there was a failure, because unfortunately this can happen with any motor, but the fact that there is no factory support. That fact is important and would stop me from buying one in the future moreso than the engine fault. Most people can accept faults can occur, its what the manufacturer is prepared to do to help that counts. In this case its pretty bad and being forewarned about this service is a good thing. I can see your point Hazza, I now work for an auto dealer and brand bashing is rampant and people do jump on board a bad experience with gusto. If one person fires up at the front counter it seems to infect everyone ! This thread is however a good insight into poor service from a manufacturer rather than a crappy motor Cheers

Mate, the only people bagging ETECS are the ones not selling them ! I have owned one and can honestly say they are fantastic. I cant knock its performance at all and if you go with one you wont be dissapointed. Dont believe the propaganda perpetrated from dealers who dont sell them. Its a sales croc. They are responsive , fuel effecient and reliable. Four strokes are a little smoother and quiter but also are more exy to service. Heres a good spec. Yamaha 4 strokes have 195 parts in the top end of the motor, ETEC have TWO ! Yes, i do like ETECS !

What a load of bollocks ! Open and transparent ? gimme a break. Haraka mate that type of report is typical of the uphill battle rec fisho's face. Its a political game made to look like everyone has had a say and its all above board. My guess is the decisions are made and the park zoning is already mapped out. Yes there were surveys but what are they really worth. A cynic would say they were only to find out what rec fisho's wanted so they could do the opposite ! The questions in the rec survey for this were very specific in asking what everyones fav spots were. Any meetings were made public at such short notice they were over before anyone knew. Look at the Byron park, practically everyone opposed it and it made no difference.

Nice going twinfisher, i understand there are big numbers of blue swimmers in there at the moment, it just keeps getting better in their !

gday Brownie, How longs a piece of string ? Tough question to answer id say cause it totally depends on your battery type, condition, size etc. It can also depend on current draw of the light any other accessories and 'leakage' and how much cranking amps is required to start your motor. The same question can be asked if an interior light left on in your car will drain you battery overnight. The answer : some will - some wont. Best bet is to ensure you have the largest best quality battery you can find. In my opinion an anchor light shouldnt drain a good quality marine battery overnight, if it does upgrade it. If your not sure test it at home overnight and see how it goes. Hope this helps