Bozeman Bob

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.

To the best of my knowledge with a alpha 1 you have a fill hole in the bottom bullet and a relief hole on the side of the top set of gears. You take the top screw out,,,fill from the bottom until it starts coming out the top side hole and then put the two machine screws back in,top first then bottom. If in the water you could take the top cover off and see where the oil is in relation to the screw hole and fill it from there as long as there was gear oil in the upper section to begin with. The reason for bottom to top is to purge all the air out while filling it. Never seen a dipstick on a closed system like that.

2005 Mercury 225 Opti Max 6500. listed on Buffalo Craigslist

Craigslist/buffalo 2005 Mercury 225 Opti Max 6500.00 Just to give you a idea of what it might cost to repower it with a 12 year old motor.

Tim Calms, Paradise Boat Works, specializing in in-lines and older Mercs , located near Silver Lake,in Perry, [ cant get much closer to Dalton than that ] 585-493-5073.,best guy in the North East. Has a warehouse full of Towers.

Decent used outboard motors are not that plentiful around here. Not sure what it would cost to fix a seized block in your case. That would be something I would look into and have a good idea what its going to cost before even thinking of making a offer on it. You could be dropping another 3-5 grand on repowering it ,at that point without knowing your budget you may be better off finding a true turn key setup. That's the beauty of I/Os inboards ,blocks are a dime a dozen compared to high hp outboards. From what I read your going to want at least another 200 hanging on the back.

You should be able to see any outwardly visible delamination, To me it depends on what the asking price is and the condition of the motor as well. Maybe if you reach out to some of the members that live near where ever the boat is they may be willing to inspect it with you. If the boat is under 4,000 I would not pay for a survey. If I was to go that route I would look at it with a fine tooth comb and have a boat savy friend with me. Then I would make a offer based on any flaws and it passing a survey [ which I would have done if I had any concerns about the hull after climbing around it and tapping everything in site with a plastic tipped hammer ]. You may also try googling the boat and then the motor info and read everything that shows up. If it going for more than 6 grand I would have a survey done,probably set you back about 400-500 and that would include a land and in water inspection.

I have read otherwise on different boating forums where people have run into what I wrote. Not saying they all get waterlogged but some of the older models have had that problem....... Matter of fact ,I just glanced at www.Continuouswave.com A site dedicated to whalers and one guy was replacing the WOOD in his transom because of water intrusion , another was trying to figure out how to dry out his 200 lbs of extra water imbedded in his foam,didnt look any further, that was enough to verify my previous post.

No one knows how the survey would turn out until its done. The hull may have been compromised way before it sat in a barn ,so that means very little. If its a I/O I would hesitate if its a OMC vs a Mercruiser. OMCs have not been made for quite some time and parts may be hard to come by. As far as the survey you may see what it cost to just check for moisture vs a full blown survey that will run aprox 20-25 bucks a foot. A surveyor will not check the engine out, that you do yourself or have a local mechanic check it out.

In 1990 and that MFG I would put money down that it used encapsulated wood for the stringers and transom. Boston Whalers are not immune to water logged flotation that is between the outer and inner hull. Easiest way to check for water intrusion is to pull the largest fastener you can find on the stringer and transom then put a right angle pick in the hole and dig around. You should get dry wood shavings. You can also tap around listening for a pinging sound vs a thud. Moisture meters are available on Ebay and finally a Surveyor should be able to tell you the condition of what your looking at.

it will bleed itself.

The only way to see if your somewhat pitched correctly is to see what the rated RPMs are for the new engines and compare that when your WOT with a normal load. I would guess it had 454s in it and if that was the case and they never changed the props you would be under pitched. That would translate to a slower speed while trolling but really should have minimum affect on your steering issues. Sounds like you may have to take Dublin Ups advice and have your rudders enlarged. It trolls like that all the time or just in heavy seas ?

Your legal at 102 " . IF it was me I wouldn't even worry about it. They will measure it at the stern ,not midship and I would go with I thought I was allowed 9' + and there is some law where private boat owners are allowed extra width. Thought I saw that posted on here some place and I looked it up after I saw it to verify that. Try googling it.- NYS boat owner allowed width -or something like that.

What is your beam at the stern ?

The control dam which sticks maybe a 1/4 mile into the river that is a solid mile wide at that point is located on the Canadian side. Its purpose is too slightly back up the water which ends up going into the water conduits that feed the power plants. Closing the gates would not do Ontario any good ,same amount of water ends up there

They have boats coming to the WHI from all over, that's why the area code may look out of place. Also some people move from one state to another and keep there cell number the same for various reasons. Just chiming in.

How much you asking for it ?? Same as the Brooklyn Bridge ? Yep I am being a smart ass , couldn't help myself.