We waited till the day after the holiday weekend for the first launch, after the lake crowd had cleared out, so we could take our time with setup and launching. This was the first run for our new Lowe SS210 and the first time for us driving a toon. I have to say it was pretty amazing, but I have some questions and first impressions I wanted to ask about. We were running the Mercury break in procedure, varying engine speeds, with occasional bursts to 3/4 throttle, and a couple excursions to WOT. We hit an indicated 30 MPH at around 5500 to 5600 RPM, so I'm pretty happy with the prop so far. Not your typical geezer pontoon boat, it can really rip! This is our first experience with a modern mid-range O/B with an ECU. Starting is effortless, and its so quiet at idle you can hardly hear it.
Here's some questions:
1) Turning radius is definitely bigger than a monohull runabout like we had. Having some power on seems to help rather than just low RPM, seems like you can cut a little tighter that way.
2) The trim gage went erratic after about an hour. Loose wire or water in something? The needle went to full scale, past full up. I just left the motor where it was, and ignored it. Sometimes it would read correct at idle speed. Where should I look for the problem?
3) There is a bundle of control cables, fuel line, and wire harness that goes into the power head thru a large rubber grommet. The grommet is split, and looks like it should have a clamp around it. Check out the photo, is there a hose clamp or zip tie that is missing?
4) Going back on the trailer, we used a combination of winch and forward throttle, and the deck came all the way up to the stops on the trailer. But when we pulled out of the water, it seemed like the boat settled back a bit, leaving a gap of about an inch and a half. What's the secret to getting the boat all the way forward on the trailer? I hate to use nuclear force on the winch for fear of bending or over stressing something.
All in all it was a great afternoon and the boat ran real well. We're glad we got the 90 HP instead of a 60 that we originally thinking of. This will definitely give somebody on a tube a good ride, or even pull a skier!
Thanks in advance for any info you can pass on.
Cheers, Infidel
Here's some questions:
1) Turning radius is definitely bigger than a monohull runabout like we had. Having some power on seems to help rather than just low RPM, seems like you can cut a little tighter that way.
2) The trim gage went erratic after about an hour. Loose wire or water in something? The needle went to full scale, past full up. I just left the motor where it was, and ignored it. Sometimes it would read correct at idle speed. Where should I look for the problem?
3) There is a bundle of control cables, fuel line, and wire harness that goes into the power head thru a large rubber grommet. The grommet is split, and looks like it should have a clamp around it. Check out the photo, is there a hose clamp or zip tie that is missing?
4) Going back on the trailer, we used a combination of winch and forward throttle, and the deck came all the way up to the stops on the trailer. But when we pulled out of the water, it seemed like the boat settled back a bit, leaving a gap of about an inch and a half. What's the secret to getting the boat all the way forward on the trailer? I hate to use nuclear force on the winch for fear of bending or over stressing something.
All in all it was a great afternoon and the boat ran real well. We're glad we got the 90 HP instead of a 60 that we originally thinking of. This will definitely give somebody on a tube a good ride, or even pull a skier!
Thanks in advance for any info you can pass on.
Cheers, Infidel
