Data plate says it is a 1983 model, which is consistent with my memory of when my dad originally bought it. We ran this on a 12' Achilles inflatable that we used as a river skiff and fishing boat up through the season before my dad passed in early 2000. I've run it a few times (my role on the boat was anchor guy), but was never involved in the maintenance. In 2002 I had the local outboard repair shop in my hometown give it a winterization servicing, then I packed it up in a crate until such time as I needed it again (the inflatable boat was basically all used up by then, and is long gone).
I hadn't planned on it sitting for quite so long, but having just purchased a property that can only be accessed by boat or aircraft, and needing a boat with longer legs than my canoe or D5, I finally pulled it out of the crate yesterday. I changed the spark plugs, mixed some fuel, and using a 55 gallon drum as a test tank, it fired up on the second pull. My dad definitely took good care of his gear.
I didn't run it long because there was no water coming out of the hole on the back, so I am assuming I will need to replace an impeller somewhere (I had been planning to ask about that anyway). I know I probably need to change the gear oil, and I see a bunch of grease fittings on the motor that almost certainly need to be hit (is there a particular grease I should use, or will the wheel bearing grease I use on my Jeep work?. I have a service manual ordered for it, but in the meantime, is there anything else I should plan on doing to it? I have probably at least a couple of months before the ice on the lakes are gone enough to try crossing, and i have yet to find a boat to put it on.
This is just going to be for an interim boat to use until I have gone out there a few times, and have a better idea of what I actually need, so I am probably just going to look for a basic 14-16 foot Jon Boat. Went to a couple of places today to ask about prices on new ones, and they didn't really have what I was looking for and the prices (as is the case for everything now) ranged from merely high, to ridiculously high (Alaska tax). So, Craigslist will probably be my friend and as much as I don't want to have anything to do with the Devil's Database, I am probably going to make a fake account so I can get access to Facebook Marketplace since it seems like that's where a lot of used stuff is being sold these days. Building my own unfortunately out of the question... Maybe if I already had all of the materials on hand, and was willing to cut ALL of the corners and not care what it looks like at all, but the lead time on getting the materials here makes it a no-go in the time that I have left before the ice goes out. Possibly for the permanent boat I will build.
