Bye bye speedometer - will I miss it?

[metriccrescentwrench]

I recently bought a used boat w/ 1981 90 HP Johnson. I've got it down right now replacing carpet, installing new wiring, etc.

I found a great deal on a tachometer on ebay, plan on installing that as soon as I bench check it. Unfortunately there's not a lot of mounting space, about the only logical place for it is already occupied by the speedometer. (The speedo, like many others I read about, isn't terribly accurate compared to my handheld gps.)

I'm beginning to have visions of the speedometer at the bottom of the lake, with the tach in it's place. How much will I miss the speedometer, for example, when pulling skiers? (My son said he wants to learn next spring - it'll be a learning experince for me also figuring out how to tow him)?

 

[Dhadley]

Re: Bye bye speedometer - will I miss it?

As long as the tach is made for outboards it'll be fine. I'm sure you'll find that even if the speed-o was still there you'll be looking at the tach more.

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: Bye bye speedometer - will I miss it?

Why trash the speedometer? Put it on eBay and if you get $5-$10 for it, that's a gallon or two of gas money, or batteries for the GPS!
- Scott

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Bye bye speedometer - will I miss it?

i agree a new one is around $50-plus

 

[Drowned Rat]

Re: Bye bye speedometer - will I miss it?

You might miss it when you're learning to ski. It will be easier to read than your handheld GPS (especially if you don't have a mount for it) and your speedo gives you actual speed though the water (something your GPS can't do) which is helpful if you travel on rivers.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Bye bye speedometer - will I miss it?

i agree on that also, my dad liked 28 mph, i like 35mph on pairs, wide open on single, small kids can get by with 18-20mph, hard to hold plane there, but until they get there legs, it's good.

also there are some really good post on teaching to ski, do a search

 

[AguaSki]

Re: Bye bye speedometer - will I miss it?

I don't think you will miss the speedometer. My speedometer was terribly inaccurate, so I started using a hand held GPS mounted with a windshield suction cup cradle. My GPS also allows me to change the display to big block numbers, so viewing the display while cruising was not an issue. I became trained to look exclusively at the GPS instead of the speedometer. Eventually some of my other gauges died, and I ended up replacing everything in the dash with new matching gauges. The new speedometer is spot on accurate, but I still find myself wanting to look for the GPS. I used the GPS for water sports and general cruising. The tachometer is your most important gauge, and if space is an issue, I would dump the speedometer.