BaitDropper

Modernization and using new Tech was Britain's downfall, for example, the triumph engine was designed by Edward turner in 1938 and still being used till Triumphs demise. The Japanese were light years ahead in technology, while the workers at Meridan ( Triumph factory) were still using 30-40 and 50 year old machinery, Japan had computer type generated machinery, with much more accuracy and speed, made them a far superior made engine. I saw a video a while back, it was of a retiring Meridan worker in the late 60's early 70's. He was being presented with an award for his service, as they picked up his lathe that was the machine he had worked on, for the past 25 years, which was packed up underneath by and made level with wooden packing cases !! As these machinist retired, there machines were also removed from service,, simply archaic.. They were still making engines, by hand, with terrible tolerances, while the Japanese were near fully automated,,, mind boggling really.. But for me, this is what appeals to me about owning and rebuilding them.. Having re built many of them, seeing first hand where cost cutting parts were installed, just to survive and remain competitive, was very short sighted. It would be interesting, to see what other companies, giants in there early days, went by the way side like OMC did,, I bet there would be a few examples of this. Agree Noel, The British were extremely clever when you look at history, but I guess they never had that foresight about the future direction or development.

The reason I found this such an interesting article is because it can sort of be compared, though not the specific technicalities, to the British motor cycle industry of the 70's. The author briefly mentioned one facet of this, or rather one player, BSA. While different, it was however the same lack of market forward thinking, heavy union involvement and subsequent lack of development, that caused the collapse of the British iconic motorcycling manufacturing. The Japanese, who never really had an Iconic status with the motorbikes they were producing in this Era, took grasp of new technology, with regard to the manufacturing process, which eventually surpassed then dominated the industry and was a major contributor to the likes of Norton, BSA and triumph being left in the wilderness and basically closing there doors. There were many other factors involved in this, as per the above outboard topic, but if you don't move with the times, up your R&R and have something price competitive in the market place, it doesn't matter how Iconic your product was/is, it won't last. There are prototypes of Triumph motorcycles, in collectors hands, that were complete disasters, never to be manufactured commercially, valuable now because of there significance and rarity, but clearly showing Triumphs lack of initiative and market forward thinking, as their competition strode ahead on completely different successful paths. History is a great thing, Luv reading about this sort of stuff.

I just read that the moratorium was over and in the Illawarra, fines can now be given out for anyone caught rock fishing without a life jacket. I honestly thought this was already in effect. Fines of $100 can/will be issued. Brilliant idea, lets hope everyone complies, for their own well being..

What a great read JustJames, there was a lot of history in that article, which bought us to today..

Looks like a great project Frank. I couldn't offer any opinions or recommendations, but what you intend on doing looks pretty good to me. Your customizing it for your own type of fishing use, look forward to seeing some updates on your project..

In my opinion. you could be the worlds best swimmer and still come to a whole lot of grief rock fishing. It's all about being smart !!. Being swept away with a rogue wave coming in is one thing, but being picked up and smashed against the rocks would be a far more dangerous scenario. Having the right gear, life jacket, proper foot wear and clothing are all part of it and sensible, but you can't beat experience in a lot of cases, knowing the area your fishing from, understanding the risks of the area. When I was younger, I did a lot of rock fishing, some of it done in some very risky areas where lives had been lost over the journey, we always fished in pairs, had the right gear and most of all researched before we went and seriously paid attention to the weather. It can be a very pleasurable and productive way of fishing and I have a couple of mates that still only rock fish, but every year you hear in the news about someone coming to grief and even loosing there lives from the rocks. I feel safer in my boat in all honesty, especially remembering some of the close calls we had years back doing stupid stuff in the quest for that prize fish. However, if the proper care is taken, it definitely can be an exciting way of fishing. There's some good sites around who specialize in rock fishing, with good information about locations and safe practices, maybe this would be a good option for you and the chance to meet up with the like minded and gain some valuable experience from.

Faker, there's an old saying that I was told once, the fish doesn't know what rod or reel you have in hand !! I have about 7-8 working rods, thinned out over the last few years. Yes, my rollered heavier stuff probably only has one use, trolling out the back. But the rest of my rods, vary from Jig rods to ugly sticks and they get used for everything. I have a large Ugly stick for flicking lures, stickbaits etc but my jig type rods are used for a multitude of purposes, including a bit of lighter trolling. Yep, there are some U-bute specific rods that the sales man will tell you what they are for, but in all honesty, my group of rods just about cover all bases and certainly aren't what the salesman sais there for. When I try a different type of fishing, I'll use my standard gear, if I really get into it and know I'm going to spend a lot of time doing that type of fishing, I may go and spend the coin on a for purpose rod or reel. An example of that, was I bought myself a specific rod for whiting fishing when I was down in Victoria, I chased them, my favorite eating fish of the time. Off the rocks, I couldn't help you there, but for the boat, use what you've got, if it becomes a regular event, look at something more specific then. I live bait out wide with my Japanese Jig rod, I believe it's rated 20-50 kg, Cant exactly remember, but it works a treat and has plenty of other uses as well. Maybe I'm just a tight arse, I dunno 😁, but give it a go with what ya got first...

Wow Derek D, your a Legion !!! I sit here pondering about my youth, self learning the art of fishing, mainly trout ( as an 8-9 year old ) It wasn't till I was well into my early teens, that a bloke with 4 daughters who took tourists out trout fishing, took me under his wings as a kind of surrogate son he never had. The learning curve was huge and I valued every hour he spent with me. It would be well worth the effort Aussie-fisher to take up Derek's offer, goodluck.

Yes, wired in series is how I wired up my old 6 volt Bonneville's coils, wired parallel is the correct term. Just James, I never switch between while the motor is running either, out of habit I guess, But I did notice, that the Blue Seas battery selector, sais that you actually can do this with there battery switches, it states it can be done between all positions without damage being caused. BUT, I have to say, old habits die hard, I haven't and wont put this into practice. I just got back from giving the boat a run on the ShoalHaven river and getting rid of some old fuel, it always blows me away how much of a fantastic waterway it is,,, took the O'l fella next door out, he's 78, lived in Nowra for all but 4 years of that and hadn't been out in a boat since he had a bad experience in a tinny in about 1968 😁. He's a funny bloke and he decided that he would accept an offer for a run in the river, it was like being in a tour guided bus, he knew just about all there was to know about the history of the river etc, interestingly, both him and his wife, have streets named after both of their families !!! a bit of history there.. Anyways, back on topic, I left from the Nowra bridge, went right up to Green Well point ( battery 1), tied up and got the O'l bloke a coffee at Green well point, then we headed back on Battery 2. So I think we use the same system of battery usage. It works for me and has done on most of the boats and batteries I've had over the years. But I will add, XD definitely has something with his explanation on why the " reserve battery is fused, as per his explanation and diagram, I'm yet to check out exactly how my motor was wired, but I am going to look further into that. Apart from taking the boat out and burning some fuel, with the influx of tourists arriving now and up until Xmas, I won't get back out and fish again till end of Jan, when the rush is over. But I was quite happy with my new live bait tank's performance, the drainage hole in the tank kept the level in the live bait tank at the perfect level the whole time I was motoring, so that was a win.. All ready to drop a bait or a lure again after the tourists leave 🤪

Cool Video snippet, thanks for sharing

Another great day out by the sounds, well done. Even the soapies are super fun on the end of a line.

Thankyou for your time an effort to draw this up for me XD.. I'm kinda seeing what you mean now, I need to have a good look and see exactly how the shop wired the outboard in now, then reference your above drawing again. I can, or rather I try to put my hand to most things, but I need to physically see something to relate to it, so thanks... I couldn't for the life of me get it to sink in, the different set up, which could allow the aux battery to be fused. I'm picking that most would have it set up, like JustJames mentioned and how mine is currently, but I do see now, how it could be wired up. In all honesty, before I re did the wiring on my boat, if something had of gone wrong while out, I would have been dead on the water !! So by forcing myself to re wire the boat myself, I learned so much and I'm fairly confident if something went wrong while out wide, I could at least identify the problem and more than likely rectify it. I was lucky I helped out an auto electrix shop 2 doors down when I was doing it, so one of the workers there was popping in giving me help and advice, soldering was the hardest part of the process, but I got reasonably efficient at it by the end. But as mentioned, the main cabling was done after I moved up and in a rush to boot. Once again XD, thanks for that, once I get some free time again, I'm going to check out, how the engine was wired and go from there... Cheers

Basically how mine is set up and how I operate mine as well James.... And I'm sure, as Noel pointed out, if accessories are well fused, there shouldn't ( touch wood ) ever be an issue. The only time there would be, if there was ever a battery plate dump, as XD mentioned, there's not a lot of protection there for that occurrence. I'm picking that most out there are set up like yours and mine and have no issue. But it's definitely food for thought all the same. I have a method, I always start the outing on battery 1, but switch over to Battery 2 before heading back. Those ACR units, supposedly do all the thinking for you, with regard to charging the idle battery, but I didn't have enough time to consider that when I set mine up...

Now, I have to digest this a tad.🙃.........I have used, two similar type marine batteries, to a single battery switch, 1-2 & both. wired in series. Now, I understand the principle of having different batteries, one dedicated to starting, the other dedicated for everything else, which they use a deep cycle type battery. When I arrived up here and ordered the new 4 stroke, they told me 3 months, which I figured would be a heap of time to get the wiring finished, batteries in etc, Well, the new 4 stroke turned up in 3 weeks, I basically had a day to get the wiring finished and dropped off for the new motor to be fitted. So, fast forward, They wired the feed to the starter from battery 1 to the motor, all good, I use position one for starting and running etc, if I'm ever drifting, anchored up, not motoring, I switch over to battery 2. But here's the thing XD, battery 1 will run all my electronics and pumps as does battery 2, both positions will start the motor, so if I dedicated battery 2 for my house and fused it as per above, using battery 2 to start in an emergency would potentially pop the fuse, Yes ?? Because both position 1 and position 2 can both start and run all the accessories, surely the batteries would have to be wired differently to how I have it now, a fuse at battery 2 could/would potentially blow if I started on battery 2 ? In my way of thinking, the only way that would/could work, is if a fuse/breaker, was fitted AFTER the battery switch itself, on the main cable going forward, away from the parallelled wired batteries ?? I probably haven't explained myself well here XD 😁, sometimes I'm like a computer, I need the information punched into me 🤪... So, surely, an inline fuse/breaker after the switch forward, away from the batteries, protects all cables forward of the switch ? to try and protect the battery cables, should a battery cell cause major issues or an earth situation, kind of defeats the purpose of being able to use both batteries to start ??

Thanks Noel, Yeah, I was a bit confused when I was told I should have one, Well, a breaker not a fuse, and I couldn't get my head around this blokes reasoning. In fact the bloke telling me was adamant that I install one for my safety. I discussed it with him on how I had wired the batteries in series/parallel, showed him the fuse panels up front etc etc, but he was adamant !! I told him that it was my belief that you shouldn't do so if it was direct feed to the starter, which all positions on my blue seas switch will start the engine, I have just dedicated pos 1 as my starting battery. I have fused every accessory well, and even gone up in cable size on most accessories, so I'm comfortable there, this bloke just made me second guess myself. The internet is very wishy washy about the facts on this as well, So I just wanted to confirm what I had done was fine. Thankyou Sir, I shall continue on as normal 😁 appreciated..

Question... I have dual batteries, wired in parallel, down back, going to a blue seas standard switch, 1 2 & both. From there cables run up to a positive and negative buzz bar behind the dash, then from there go to the various fused switch panels. Now I did this wiring job myself, was checked over by an auto electrician, then by the marine shop when I fitted up the new 4 stroke 18 months back, both said it was good to go. I use battery 1 for starting and running, if I'm anchored up, running sounder, bait pump etc I'll switch over to battery 2. So, to the question, Was I suppose to put a fuse, in the main positive cable from the battery, either before the battery switch, or just after ??? I never did !! So in investigating this, the literature states not to put an inline fuse on the positive battery cable, that starts the engine ?? A bit confused about this issue. Anyone have an answer on this please..... what is best practice here ? I'm getting some conflicting opinions.

Boy, I gotta say Geoff, Prep and gaining knowledge first is the key if you haven't done a transom before. Without doubt, the difference between a good job and a job that will fail, is a real fine line. There's a heap of pages on face book and utube that you could research first, which I thoroughly recommend you do. Have a plan, take a heap of notes and talk to as many people as you can. There will be the ones that say a transom must be done from the inside only, yep, that'll work, but so will doing from the outside as well, perfectly fine either way. If your handy, then it would be an interesting project,,, I was lucky, mate owned a fibre glass shop, but I was on hand during all the stages, but that was way different, having someone experienced on hand to ask the question there and then. If that bloke is still around, I would try and touch base with him, someone experienced makes a heap of difference when doing one first time.. Good luck Geoff, make sure we see some progress Pics.

Job finished, just a wee bit of connecting up front. I just thought I would show what the stern saver was being used for, pick up and bilge pump for re modified live bait tank..

Then it's just a case, of locating the pin in the center which you previously stuck on and push the stern saver on. Remove the tape, clean up any excess epoxy, put some supporting tape over it until it cures, then the next day, Presto !! I have used one of these before, so I know it's strength and capabilities, but if fitting large heavy transducers like the 1 kilowatt jobs, which are quite heavy, like I will be doing soon, best to fiber glass something separately onto the transom in my opinion. Hope this was of some help to those that hadn't heard or used these before, I'm pretty impressed, relatively cheap, quick and easy to install..

I heated up the two part epoxy applicator in a glass of hot tap water, as the instructions states, this makes it very easy to squirt out. So, fill up the holes on the back face of the stern saver, leaving it an 1/8 or so proud, there is the perfect amount in the applicator for this.

Next up, mask the area you want to adhere the stern saver on and sand the area thoroughly, wipe down with acetone. Your given a template, with the center locater having a double sided tape on it at the back. The protruding pin, locates into the underside of the stern saver itself.

Just thought I'd show how easy these Stern Savers were to install on your transom, for those that have not seen them, really easy job, 15-20 min tops, saves putting holes in your transom, which in my eyes, is a great thing. I'm pretty useless on the computer so I'll see how these photo's come up. It comes with pretty good instructions and everything is really easy to follow.

Awesome report, Well done Sir

Yeah, there pretty impressive engines Dunc, the CT is the same gearbox as the 3lt 150 version swings and only adds a few kg's. They save a lot of weight with there valve train, which they say requires no maintenance, which is a bonus for self servicing when the Warrantees done and dusted.. Then there's the Pro XS version, which gives you another 500 revs at top end. AS I mentioned previously, if it wasn't for the Covid Tax and long long lead times at the time, I would have definitely gone this way, than the Suz 140 I ended up getting, BUT, still satisfied with what I have. AS you said, they don't make a BAD, as such 4 stroke now a days, it's just Merc developed this range of new breed engines 2011-2012 ers from memory, the rest have just modified existing blocks that have been used for a couple of decades or so. The only thing that confused me with Merc and I think they missed the boat a wee bit, Yamaha use the 115 block for there 130, Suzuki use there 115 block for there 140, couldn't understand why Merc never went that way, rather than detuning there 3ltr 150 to a 135, the weight of it alone excludes a huge market that Yamaha and Suzuki stand alone in, Its that 5-5.5 meter range that there 135, from there 115 block would have been a big seller,, Dunno..

Correct, this is one of it's biggest pluses, the lightest in it's class... with more cubes to boot. Add in the larger CT gearbox and it certainly looks the better performance engine.