Bozeman Bob

Outboard repowering in the hp rating your looking at is expensive and then some. Rebuilding them is right up there as well. Now if you went with I/Os or straight inboards a 350 long block, will run you anywhere from 2500 to 3500 which is a fraction of the cost of a new outboard. Most used outboards will have just as many hours as the one's hanging on the boat your looking at and still set you back 5-10 grand per. Depending on how much you want to spend, may dictate a outboard or inboard setup. A saltwater outboard is a time bomb vs a closed cooling system inboard if your going that route. All the hulls you mentioned have wood in them, including the whalers transom,< along with the closed cell foam sometimes getting waterlogged. Gradys used to have some stringer and transom issues ,not sure if or when they may have been corrected, maybe google the models your looking at and see what pops up from boating forums etc. I would get a survey done and base any purchase offers on the boat passing a survey.

I assume you have a I/O. The first thing I would do is narrow down where the problem is. Try disconnecting the steering linkage from the outdrive. Is the outdrive hard to move by hand or is the steering cable sticking ? Maybe it has a hydraulic steering ram that is starting to bind up and needs to be rebuilt. Or power steering pump is on the way out . Really need more info than your original post states ,like make and model of outdrive and steering system/brand as well.

^^^^ I agree in that something is out of kilter. With the radar that all the boats involved have how in the world can you not foresee/track a collision. I realize there ships and don't turn on a dime but a simple shout out to one your on a collision course with, as in, you head to your port and I will head to my port or whatever would of stopped these "accidents" from happening

Make sure you tell the wife that you need 200 lbs of ballast up in the bow area and to get a move on it !!! hahaha

From what I read with your link it didn't say anything about low /idle speed handling . To me it looks like drag being added on to the outdrive and ventilation plate . To me that would negate any top end gains, which the report showed it lost with one boat and gained with the other. I would think the area immediately around the prop would not have any effect on compacting the thrust. Maybe 6" to a foot behind the prop would condense the thrust like a jet engine. And if it worked that great Mercruiser would of developed something like that as a stock unit years ago. People have been complaining about I/O wander for decades, more so with the deeper V hulls. Seems more like a sales gimmick but what do I know ? Maybe try googling it and see what kind of feedback you can find. Having said all that give it a try and report back one way or another if you want to.

So your not putting a hose down the filler tube ,just screwing a hose on the top of the tube ? If so I would buy a fluid evacuator [ Mighty Vac is top of the line ] from harbor freight/ebay/amazon etc and get one that the small diameter hose goes down the filler tube and bottoms out on the pan. Or just change your oil a bit sooner to hopefully compensate for what your leaving behind.

When you say "it was the same shape as the original " does that mean the holes all lined up, the side view was exactly the same as well as the top view. Did you fill each of them to see if they held the same amount of oil ? Hard to say without looking at it to see if it would retain oil ,depends on where the dipstick tube lines up with the configuration of the pan. Many pans have a high and low side. If you have been running it for 2 seasons and it hasn't seized up I would guess that around 1 quart was being left in the pan. Are you counting the oil filter in the 3.5 fill up? Most of them hold 1 to begin with unless your putting a small one on. Do you still have the old pan and can you google the year and models to see if you have the correct one. How much oil did it hold before you changed pans ? Hopefully a expert on this can chime in and set you straight.

Let L+M talk you through it. Just trying to.help seeing that no one else was offering any suggestions ,help,thoughts on what might be the issue.

I am going to assume its a inboard and the same cubic inch engine and it has been timed as well since you didn't answer my questions. Just cant see going any less than 15" in pitch on a boat that size . I am leaning towards something engine related like the carb not opening up all the way. Have you checked the linkage vs the movement of the carb linkage ? Really need more specific info

So this a new power plant of the same cubic inch or has that changed. Straight Inboard ? Really shouldn't rev her up to 3gs in neutral. I would assume you have had it timed as well.

You are going the wrong way. That pitch will decrease your RPMs by a couple hundred. Every inch of pitch equals about 200 rpm up or down , in your case I would guess with the bigger diameter and pitch you would lose 300 +rpms The bigger the diameter the slower it will go over a stock unit. In most cases bigger diameter props are for semi displacement hulls. What RPMs are you running and what is the motors advertised maximum rom range ?

www.wellcraftboatowners.com would be a site to research on. I would also google the year make model etc of what your looking at. There seems to be more negative reviews than good ones when you look at the google results.

Pretty sure the first digit is a M not 4 as in MS4a -, MS4b etc.

While walking along the lake on the way to the dock I saw a boat out there.. Did a double take, then saw it was the Niagara Sheriffs Dept rescue boat heading back to port, nothing in tow, must of been practicing or burning gas. Those things are pretty much unsinkable and your moving along at a speed that wont have you rocking and rolling. Yep, it was ugly out there today.

I have never laid eyes on a 48 ft Carolina, you must have deep pockets !

Saw something like that on one of those Extreme Homes TV shows the other day, had about 5 of them joined on various level and angles. Great idea to repurpose the containers and I would guess a lot cheaper than making it out of wood.

If you got some water on one of your fill ups that probably would of ended up in your spin on filter and be the source of your issue. One of my two filters per engine has a drain petcock on the bottom, and since gas floats on water it is easily checked with a clear glass catching it when drained periodically for inspection. Good to hear you got her purring !

And the marina diagnosed the problem or you just told them to change the gimbal bearing ? What kind of noise was it making ?

Besides the inline filter do you have a remote filter that looks like a oil filter ? Many boats will have two or even three filters. When was the carb last overhauled ? You could have some dirt in it, but my first thought is the filters or kinked hose that isn't letting the correct amount of fuel in. I would think if you had water in the gas it would work its way out or not run at any speed, along with you changing the inline filter which is probably close to the carb where the water would end up.

Why was the gimbal bearing replaced ? Cracked bellows and water intrusion ? If so I would agree with the U- joint being wiped out as well. Most marinas would of caught that ,I would take it back if the vibration wasn't there to begin with. Or pull the outdrive and do it yourself or a local auto repair shop can handle it if the marina isn't fair with there pricing.

Besides all the good advice above there are these big boats out there called Lake Freighters, along with the Ocean variety. Since anchoring is near impossible out there if you were to drift into one of the shipping lanes [ fog or no fog ] it could end badly for you, just saying.

Which direction you troll into the waves the majority of the time is also a factor. The boat will push to the opposite side of where it is mounted. If you have a tendency to troll so the waves are hitting your port side then the motor should be mounted on the starboard side. If its 50/50 then you may need a small trolling bag mounted on the same side as the motor to counter the wind and wave action along with the motor wanting to push it to the opposite side of where its mounted., This is more of a issue with a auto pilot set up.