Thursday, September 6, 2012

Trailer Jack

The trailer has two jacks on it.  One is the factory Attwood jack that is welded to the trailer.  This jack does not work.  It is missing the caster wheel, it will not rotate on the trailer mount and it will not move up and down.


The second jack is aftermarket and is also in bad shape.  When the weight is on the jack the top of the jack will move back and forth around 2 inches.  The previous owner broke his foot when that jack broke and the trailer feel on his feet.  So, basically I don;t trust the second jack and have the trailer's weight resting on a log. 






   I first sprayed the Attwood jack in PB Blaster then I was able to pry the rotating pin out and start loosening the jack's swinging motion.  Next I tried turning the crank to see if the jack would go up or down.  Unfortunately the jack just spun in place and did not move up or down.  I took the Attwood jack off by removing a big c-clip.   To disassemble the jack I punched out the pins that hold on the two gears.  This freed up the inner tube of the jack.  At this point I could see that the screw the gears turn was seized inside the inner tube.  Tonight the jack will soak in PB Blaster and hopefully I can work it free in the morning.

New Boat

   I have been looking for a ski boat in my budget for about a year now.  It started when I started working as the Water Ski Director at a summer camp.  After skiing behind Mastercrafts all summer there was no way I could go back to my Dad's big wake throwing deck boat.  My budget was small but I had plenty of time to wait for the perfect boat.
   I finally found a boat in my budget.  It is a 1985 Sylvan Ski-Tastic.  The boat needs some work and is not a collector boat.   I met with the owner and took it out for a test drive.  It has two big problems, one is a major vibration and the other is a lack of top end power.  Apparently the vibration was started after the owner hit a stump.  I am taking an educated guess that the lack of power is a carb issue.  Here are a few photos of the boat.



Minor issues with the boat are
ripped interior
drivers seat is not original and sits too high
gelcoat and teak platform are dull
trailer jack is not sturdy and unsafe
stereo is old and speakers don't work
no glove box or cup holders
carpet is dirty and doesn't match
bow vents are bent
speedometers don't work
horn doesn't work

I will keep posting with each part of the boat that I fix.

~Ryan