Meals-On-Reels

As mentioned above, there are usually decided groups that love/hate Force. From what I've seen, most that love/like them have actually owned them, and the rest pass along the horror stories that they "heard" from others. Call them a step child or whatever but of the three I've owned (still have a 50hp from '98 and a 35hp from '86), none of my other motors start so quickly or with such little fuss (comparing that to motors I've owned in the past as well as the ones I have now.). I can't agree more with the sea-foam (again- there are decided groups for/against). It's made several motors of mine run like new. I usually run some through the tank then fog with it till it stalls, pull the plugs and shoot some in the cylinders, turn it over a few times and let it sit for an hr. When you crank it up you'll clear out your whole neighborhood with a cloud of smoke! Oh- the following was the best summary I found on force from another forum... "Chrysler sold the engine line to Bayliner, who I believe are the ones who gave it the Force name. They wanted low cost engines to factory rig their boats, perhaps an idea of ahead of it's time. Then, when Brunswick purchased Bayliner, these probably unwanted, and mostly obsolete, engines came with the deal. Mercury decided to spruce them up and improve them, with Mercury gear cases/props, CD ignition systems, etc., and market them as 2nd tier engines. I understand, they were actually pretty good, but not really hot performers and with a second tier, "cheapout" image for the owners. The situation spooked Yamaha and OMC enough that they downgraded their own lines, removing oil injection and other items, so they, too, would have a second tier line. OMC called them the "Special" engines, with odd ball HP number to set them apart. Yamaha had a designation for theirs also. As clean technology became mandated, this engine had to die, so Mercury dumped it in favor of putting Merc engine son Bayliners, and all their other brands also. Look at it as an economical motor, without much re-sale value. But it will get you around."

Congratulations on the new to you boat! The motor will run a 50:1 mix. I've had 3 force motors and all were great (they are stripped down a bit from the Mercury's) but sometimes that helps when you're working in them. Enjoy!

Like that time with the reparation money from Oxy and where some if it went...-edited out my rant from what happened at the meeting with the state-

Thanks for posting those pics!

Can somebody post a pic of the add-on keels? I have more sheet aluminum and steel than I know what to do with and might try to get creative. I always planned on messing around with it over the years.

That's a scary video Tim. Glad you guys made it all the way back in safely. I've always planned on running an emergency high volume bulge pump as a backup for safety (on it's own circuit or with alligator clips), just in case. Now I'm ordering the parts. Glad you're all ok.

Definitely do it I say. You can always upgrade the 50hp down the road if you're underpowered. Good thing is the transom height is the same so you know it'll swap over fine. That new boat will give you so much more room and the cash you get from selling the other will give you a good start on filling it up. Keep in mind if you do swap that console over you'll need new shift/throttle cables due to the difference in length, but that's an easy job and not too much money.

Plenty of good info here- especially about the currents below the surface. There are days when you'll be seeing 1.5 surface speed (or speed over ground if you're just using GPS) and the speed at the ball is pushing 3 or higher. If you're doing 3 at the surface then your lures down 50' could really be flying. Sounds like your biggest issue is troll speed. Get that sock out there to slow you down. Heavier weights will reduce blowback, but you'll still be going too fast till you get your speed down. Plenty of us still run 10lb balls and don't see the need to change. Before we had a down speed/temp probe we did better gauging our down speed off blowback angle alone. I'd save the heavier rigger ball money towards a used kicker motor (classifieds here or Craigslist- I've seen motors go for under $300), and get that sock out right away and you'll be better off.

I'd 100% do it as long as you're comfortable doing that type of work. The beam difference alone is worth the trouble. I like Salmonite's idea. Keep yours intact and you will get decent $$ for it compared to it being stripped. Put that back into the new one. The electronics should only take an afternoon or so and there are always aluminum consoles on eBay for $150 (realize you'd need the steering setup and new cables). With some time and attention to detail you can have it look near factory. I added one to my Crestliner WJ-MV model. Also- will that 25hp be enough for the new boat? I'd assume you'd probably be underpowered. None of it is beyond your reach as long as you like doing that work and can fabricate well. If you do happen to be looking for more power, I've got a 40HP Suzuki I'm about to list. Nice looking boat!

I haven't heard about greasing any gears, but Cannon does mention this... -Maintaining Your Downrigger- Periodically, lightly grease the thrust bearing and bearing race found behind the clutch knob. Replace the cable at least every two years. My DT IV's have been fine for years and they're always set to cycle or bottom track so they rack up some hours.

Mine acts the exact same way and is functioning properly. I have a dual frequency transducer (200KHz/50KHz). My 200 has a 12* beam angle and the 50 has a 35* angle. The 50KHz can "see" my downrigger ball as well as bait and fish. At nearly 3x the beam angle it has much greater coverage. The 200KHz with the narrower angle can "penetrate" the depths and maintain a lock on the bottom. With this narrow beam, it never sees my downrigger ball. Maybe if I were idle with the ball down, but factoring in blowback it sees nothing. I'm able to run a combined "50/200" on one screen and do that all the time. Not the split screen 50/200 because I hate the limited view, but it has an option to run 50/200 combined (200 with the 50 overlaid on the same screen). It'll show marks in black for the 50KHz and red for the 200KHz. When you factor in the beam or cone angle, you know that the red marks are directly under the boat and the black are in the peripheral. The "combining" of the two frequencies (if your unit supports it) is a function of the head unit software and not the transducer itself.

As for the kicker steering, you can go to http://www.mcmaster.com/ and order all the parts to make your own link between the two for about $20 and have it all in stainless so it lasts and looks good forever. They offer the quick connect ball joints and all-thread in stainless. That Panther company or whoever makes them wants like $60-80 for their stainless version. I think mine was $17+s/h.

Totally agree. I struggled with Tite-lok's for two seasons then saved up to get a set of the double Big Jon's. One of the best moves I ever made. I'll run double wire dipseys off each side of the boat with them without any worries.