Bozeman Bob

What year is the boat and how many hours on the engines. Most , but not all saltwater engines are a closed system, meaning they have a heat exchanger and use antifreeze. The raw sea water is pumped into the heat exchanger to cool the antifreeze and then exits out the exhaust manifolds. The exhaust manifolds under these conditions are usually replaced every 5-7 years and is not a big deal. Very easy for yourself to do, no need to pay a marina for that. They probably go for 350 per engine from ebay. Once in fresh water they last just about forever. If its a open or raw water system you should figure the cost of replacing the engines into your offer as they will be needed to in a very short time. You are not very clear to me what it actually has. Other than that I would not hesitate to buy a salty providing it passes a survey which includes a sea trial and inspection on land. You pay for that and can figure it will run you around 600. Some people are very negative on this but in most cases if you follow my advice there are no more issues than a poorly or even well maintained fresh water setup. I have a bunch of saltys docked near me and none have had issues do to them coming from salt water. And yes most did it because of the cost vs a fresh water boat that can go fro 2 - 3 times as much mostly IMHO because they are not used as much as the warmer climate salt water boat vs the Great Lakes and 8 months of being laid up.

Was over Darien Lake at 1; 45 heading towards Rochester ,had a good tail wind

Tournament Trail First off I appreciate all the effort by the organizers of these events and most go unsung and maybe this has been brought up before and went no where. Having said that it would be nice if they could all get together and run them week after week in one direction ,then anyone that has two / 3 events, schedule them on the return trip. I would guess that a lot of the bigger non-trailerable boats do not want to make a run [ just a example ] from say Olcott/Oak Orchard to Sodus Bay then back to Rochester then to Oswego. Some may be more inclined to enter if it went from port to port West to East, migrating like the Kings. Fuel, lodging, transport vehicles, crew Lake O kicking up for a few days , would be a lot more manageable if it was about 20-30 miles between events instead of all over the place. If your port has a few tournaments line up the biggest one to coincide with the "Trail" so you would have maximum exposure and entries/payout. I know there are a few stand alone events like WHI that is real early in the season that wouldn't fit into this ,but once the lake heats up it seems a shame that the Tournaments are not all linked up. Any thoughts on this ? Pro or Con

Excellent !

Agree with using The Oak as a port as well, would be in it if that was the case.

The weight hanging there will always be the same . Doesn't matter if you put tubes on the cylinders the weight is still the same. Just raising it with your pump will do the same thing and it wont hurt the hydraulics to drive around with it in the up position. Most throttle controls have a 2 selection trim switch, one for in the water and one for trailer mode.The only benefit would be, as noted, to keep the drive from moving left to right which is no big deal. A ratchet strap/bungee from the trailer to the outdrive holding it to one side will do the same thing. A outboard is a different story,the complete weight of the motor hanging and bouncing on the transom in one direction vs it somewhat centered over the transom with the motor raised.

You say its not hot to the touch, maybe your gauge and or wiring to it along with sensor have issues. A cheap harbor freight heat gun would not be a bad investment. You could also remove the thermo as new ones can be bad ,unless you checked that on your stove. That will allow full flow and at least take that out of the potential problem list.

Try calling Traxstech direct or PM them on FB.

Remanufactured in my mind is the same as rebuilt.

The primer bulbs don't last long , I bought a bronze 3/8 " 1 way fuel check valve off ebay for around 10.00 and problem was solved, Your line may be 5/16.

Check the shift interrupter switch to see if its stuck in the closed position, if its a I/O. Usually located on the secondary shift cable above the outdrive. I believe you can disarm [ to see if its the issue ] it by following one wire to coil and removing it. If it is the "pointer" , it can be adjusted so its not always engaged.

If it was growling the damage is done. I believe you can get one from NAPA or on ebay for a reasonable price. You can stick your hand in there and rotate it,should be able to feel the roughness as it rotates. . The race that holds the bearing should pop out if it was replaced recently. I have had some that didn't want to budge . You can remove the bearing by itself, there are two detents on each side of the race, rotate the bearing where the indentations are and it will slide out by hand. You might have to put a tube of some sort into the bearing hole to get it started,just use it as leverage.When putting it back ,lightly tap into place with a small peice of wood against the bearing so you don't compromise the bearing. Some may insist you replace the race but it worked great for me when I skipped that step.

Your main bellow is cracked and that's where your water intrusion into the gimbal bearing is coming from. Not your exhaust,they are two separate circuits. While your changing that out do the shift bellows as well. NAPA sells those parts. Then make sure the engine is aligned to the gimbal. Thru hull pipes would be a expensive time consuming loud fix. Exhaust manifold do not have any pressure so if there cracked where you can JB weld them they may hold up. One other option is ebay and just replace them. I drain all the water out of my block and exhaust manifold ,blow some air into all the openings and use a pick to make sure the exhaust holes are clear of debris. Air don't freeze.

I thought I read on here that the sewage overflow may actually help the fishing food chain in some way. Nope the environmentalists can't see anything,the trees there hugging are blocking there view (of reality )

Yes I agree it's a 100% man made fiasco semi brought on my the environmentalists and there desire to keep the frogs propagating, mother nature has a way of evening things out over time,could of just left it the way it was.

As far as snow pack melt, I would guess that 90 % of that comes directly from Lake Erie or Lake Ontario, lake effect snow is siphoned off the lakes, and most if it goes back to one of the lakes. Some is absorbed into the ground,some into the water table and some evaporated . We get very little snow from the "national" front. Climate change is more BS than reality in my opinion. And if you believe it your either part of the problem , not solution. Your on here so you probably have a boat,a car a smart phone etc. All part of the problem and that includes anyone that breathes,bc your exhaling carbon monoxide, part of the alleged problem. So if you cared that much ,sell everything and check out, now your part of the "solution! !

Tim is the guru of in-lines and will get you back and running in no time. I also have a short shaft low low hour 1100 in mint condition for sale if something is drastically shot and your looking for a replacement of that vintage.

To re do the stringers and transom your looking at pulling the motor and the complete outdrive assembly. The deck may have to be cut out depending on how far the stringers go under it .If that is the case your looking at a very pricey job for that alone. I would guess 3-5grand. Your boat from what I saw listed on some sites is worth around 5-7 grand. Not sure where your surveyor came up with 85% good stringers and transom.Where was the water intrusion that got the 15% ? Seems like a random number to me. In any case if it was me I would either run it in the ground the way it is and tighten up the mouldings/ windows and live with the steering. The kicker wouldn't worry me as I would either sell it when I got rid of the boat or put it on the new one....2nd option, move it as soon as I could while looking for another boat that might have a 8'6" beam for a bit more elbow room . I would also look for one that was designed more for fishing with a higher quality builder reputation. Say you put 8 grand into with stringers and kicker etc vs selling it for 7 g and taking that 8 you ended up putting into it towards a 15 G set up that is 100% ready to go with no issues and a much higher resale than the 5 gs your going to get out of your rebuild when your done with it in a few years. All in all its your call,just keep researching

Just to be clear OP said it was a Alpha 1 and never mentioned Gen 2. That why I wrote to the best of my knowledge ,no dipstick etc. As well as removing cover plate without mentioning shims,which I wouldn't of suggested if I knew he had gen 2. Good catch on the correct model !

Scroll through the Fishing Reports South Shore, Olcott Wilson, Oak Orchard and the Niagara bar will all be pretty close to what there using and depths there fishing etc. The launch was open last weekend and I would imagine they will try to be open this weekend as well. IF it isn't,after walking checking it out in person, you could either drive 7 miles to the east and launch at Olcott or possibly 8 miles to the west and hit the state park by the Fort near the end of the Niagara River.

Yes it should be in the down position, and as level as possible, not tucked all the way in.

If its on land just remove the top screw and oil should start to creep out. Like I said you can always take the 4 bolts off the top with a 12 point wrench or socket and look down to where the overfill screw is and see where the oil is in relation to that.