Bleeding Green

I tow kids and adults on a biscuit regularly (sometimes two adults) with a 70 2 stroke on a quintrex 475. No issues, with enough power. When I changed to a s/s prop the biggest improvement was almost non existant cavitation in tight turns which makes a big defferance when your trying to swing the tube around.The fuel consumption also rapidly improved.

Was your fuel filter changed at ladt service? Could be water in the carbies.

So after following recommendation from someone much more qualified than myself I settled on the Raymarine A series unit. Almost done fitting it, can't wait to get out there and test it. Will get a fair bit of use over the holiday period so I should know reasonably quickly how satisfied I am with my purchase. Thanks everyone for the input in this thread.

What was completed on the service? It sounds a bit high but hard to say as some items might have needed more attention than normal so the labour cost can quickly go through the roof. What is the break up of parts to labour? What parts were replaced? Did they pay any attention to the trailer/bearings?

Cheers tuffy, pm sent

Mate I think I have the same motor as you but my boat is lighter. I was having cavitation problems with the stock prop so was looking for a solution. I went with a 3 blade stainless as someone in the know told me the 4 blade was bs. I guess you'll get different opinions where ever you ask. I don't think I lost any rpm, I may have gained a few knots but the improvements have been great. Cavitation is almost 100% gone and the boat is quicker out of the hole. Cpany I dealt with also offer free exchange if your not happy, or trade in if you chance your donk.

Cheers ray, So like an automotive paint? Do I need to undercoat and does the undercoat also need to be a 2 pac?

I have just dropped the rear bench seat steel frame to a steel fab to straighten and strengthen. Once I get it back I'm going to need to paint it to protect it from corrosion. It is currently white and I think it was originally powder coated. Once I rub it back a bit what type / brand of paint is best for the marine environment? I'd prefer to spray it.

I just had another look under the dash and I think you are right, it would be a decent sized job. I thought I could label each fuse and that would make it easier than it currently is. But everything works I was just looking to tidy it up as the wiring is a bit of a mess. But I will get a better buss bar for both terminals, tidy up the wiring, keep the current inline fuses and see how that goes.

So now that I will be replacing the sounder shortly it's probably a good te to finally tidy up the electrics. I am about to buy a baintech 12 slot fuse board with both positive and negative connections, and a total amp rating well beyond what I will need. This will supply the radios, sounder and lights with power. Anyone have any reason why the baintech is not fit for my intended purpose? Ps I'm also going to order a six slotted for the camper trailer.

Cheers Geoff. Thanks for your input. I've narrowed it down to two units. One which is within the price range I wanted to spend but maybe a touch outdated, the other is over (as usual) what I wanted to spend but sounds like a top unit which I can build on later if I needed, and is user friendly. Stay tuned...

HI Emptyhooks. Good question. I want it to help me navigate in areas that I am not familiar with. as an example last year I dropped the boat in at wallagga lake at night. Having done the same trip only hours before in daylight I thought I would be fine. But bloody hell it was slow going, I had no idea where I was and no many land marks to guide me. And of course I'd also like to use it to save points and be able to guide me back there. Or input co-ordinates and guide me there. Helping me to find reefs, drop off etc would be an added bonus. With the cost of the unit, it's not really about what I can afford but how much I can justify spending. Also if I buy a unit now and want to add a better map in 12 months would it be worth buying it for a unit that is more than 12 months behind in technology? Jeez I have become such a procrastinator. I blame the internet. Before that I'd just go to a couple of shops, ask some q's and make a decision there and then!!

I didn't know that. Thanks for letting me know. Does it look OK int he horizonatal on the elite? The GME is slightly bigger so a touch wider.

Craig, thanks again for your advice. As I touched on in my pm it would be nice to have the ray marine unit but it a bit more than I was planning on spending. That leaves the gme or hds. I haven't seen the gme in the flesh but I like the slightly bigger screen and the horizontal split rather than vertical. But it sounds like to hds is a better overall unit I just have to work out if it comes with mapr or if I have to buy another card which would push the cost a bit closer to the raymarine.