nautime

Yes the scotty retrievers will work with your big jons. The auto stop beads slide through no problem. I put a dab of glue on the beads to keep them from sliding on the cable as well. That being said, I just took them off and have gone back to tilting arms up or swivelling base to bring them to side of boat. Also use scotty clothspin type release on my cable to keep ball in water. HTH's Cheers

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Could be your timing advance but if advance was not working I dont think it would shut you down but would make it verrry boggy. For sure spray some lube/penetrating stuff to make sure the weights move freely and springs are doing there job. Timing light will tell you if they are working.When you throttle back it comes back to life? Make sure you have new points and condenser and cap. They do not like running with old or iffy components. My old omc cobra 5.0ltr was very picky about that. I would barely get a full season out of a set. But I did put a lot of hours on it though. I have also had a new condenser that would cause issues/stumbling/shutting down. Replaced with old condenser and problem solved. Also have a good look at your fuel system. Pick up screen in tank not plugged or partially plugged? Old gasoline crudding up bottom of tank from ethanol in gas? Some easy things to check first.... HTH's... Jake

I have had one of my old airmar tri-ducer cables for my 840 successfully re-spliced back together. I had to cut it to remove it from my old boat. I took it to a shop that builds/repairs stereos and loud speakers, figuring they were better at soldering than I was. I explained what it was used for and they gave me no guarantees. The connection was nowhere near the water and worked flawlessly for 3 years. Cost was well worth the effort. Might be another option. Cheers...Jake

Does anyone know if Shark weights will stay put or even fit in Big Jon ball cradles? Its time to retire my well used walkers and am looking into new Big Jons and I really like the idea of the ball cradles, but I run 10 and 12lb Sharks on my out downs. Any input greatly appreciated. Thanks....Jake

I bought my fishhawk 840 used in 1997 and it worked flawlessly until 3 years ago when it started losing signal. I purchased a new x4 probe at that time and it has worked rock solid since. I would bet that a new probe would solve your problem. That being said, my next purchase will be the new display, as my eyes cant quite see the numbers on the 840 as well as they used to. The ducers on these are quite reliable as long as they haven't been abused. Airmar makes them. HTH's Cheers...Jake

Glad to hear you resolved your issues. Points are foolproof, if they are clean and replaced regularly. I toyed with the idea replacing my ignition with electronic, but decided to keep it simple and stay with points. Always had a spare set with me. Cheers...Jake

Pink is less visible in water than the clear or green, at least the Ande. This from watching down hole ice fishing for rainbows on Georgian Bay's clear water. Cheers...Jake ps: wish I could still get Ande line here.....

Not sure what year you have, but if it has points for distributor (not elec ignition) make sure you have fresh clean points, condenser, plugs and cap. I ran 5.0ltr omc cobra 1989, in my boat for 10 plus years, and always got new tune up kit at the start of every year. Any time I had running issues similar to what you are describing, I could always trace back to my ignition. Except one time when there was aluminum fillings in my fuel tank that was plugging up the screen on the intake line in the tank which didn't allow it to take throttle. HTH's...Jake

Well you are all set. If you didn't get the probe with the boat, pick up an X4 probe, as they are compatible with the 840 head unit. I am using a new x4 probe with my 20 something year old 840, and it works solid.The wheel on the transducer only gives you surface speed anyways but you can get that with gps. Down speed is more important any way. The other paddle wheel you had on the boat was probably wired into the sonar/fishfinder.. I know Lowrance has external surface speed wheel kits. Cheers..Jake

That appears to be the transducer for a Fishhawk 840/x4 temp/speed unit. The speed wheel is missing from it though. All you need now is the head unit and power cord. Cheers..Jake