DynaSkiPete

In Wisconsin many gas stations sell premium without ethanol. They usually have signs advertising this. Regular and mid grade without ethanol are harder to find. Farmers know where to find it so co-ops with gas stations usually sell it. In Wisconsin the Fleet Farm gas stations sell mid grade and premium without ethanol. There are others but it does require some research although many station have signs advertising non ethanol fuel. You may want to avoid E-85 and E-88 fuels unless your manufacturer says they are OK to use.

I don't want to be accused of promoting my boats here, I'm just trying to answer your questions. I also have a blog which has more pictures of most everything and lots more information. www.dynaskiboats.com Since someone asked here is a picture of the wrap around seating option. It can be ordered in all models. This is a 17.6 Open Bow. It is unlikely anyone has skied behind a true new style Dyna-Ski as the old Hydrodnes and ski team "Dyna-Ski" knock offs the hull is 9" shorter. The 9" made a huge difference in the boat performance. The 20' Barefooter is the same as the 20' Open Bow just without the sun deck. Interior area is huge but storage is a lot less obviously. People seem to value storage over passenger space. There is also storage next to the motor well. The right side has the battery and oil tank while the left one is for wet stuff. The website has a variety of pictures on it for all skiers. The twins and triples can be made to tail stand very easy using motor trim. With two or three motors the driver can also force the bow down at any speed. Doing this induces bow steer which is dangerous even if you know about it. A single motored boat has very little if any bow rise. It can be fine tuned some using the trim or adding some weight in the very nose of the boat. Ski teams tend to add a lot of weight under the bow to help pull more skiers with minimal bow rise. Some drivers like a little bow rise. Not something you can do easily with an inboard.

I wonder if I'm the only real owner of a boat company in this group? Any boat company executives? I don't expect to sell any boats to anyone in this group. I'm just interested in gathering any information that I can. Price is right, free unless you figure my time. Sorry but the tracking of a water ski boat inboard or outboard is not just about just having hydraulic steering. There are many factors that get into the mix. Hull shape and weight are two of the bigger things. Hydraulic steering just allows a person to steer the boat easier. If any of you ever skied behind one of our twin motored new style 20' closed bow boats you'd be shocked by how true it tracks. Two motors in the water along with the weight (mass) of the boat is amazing as far as tracking and hole shot go. I'm now wondering a little how the wake would compare? I know the bubbles are greater with two motors. Imagine the pull with 600 hp. or more? I doubt one skier could slow the boat so speed control would not be needed. Any one interested in giving it a shot? Imagine how the three motored, 20' 1" long, 7' wide boats accelerate? We have pulled 72 people but some of the skiers fell building the pyramids.

Some people are always going to buy used stuff which is good for sellers. Comparing prices for new and used is still crazy. Warranty is important to many folks. Our owners tend to keep their boats forever. So our boats hold their prices well if you can find one. The outboard motors are the only thing that goes down in value.

Comparing new boats to 20 year old boats I will never understand. Used boats often sell for less than asking prices too. People are desperate to sell often and the available used boats are many. $30 K goes a good part of the distance for a new Dyna-Ski. New outboard motors are expensive so buyers can increase the cost quickly. Then most people add a lot of options to the boat and the price climbs.

Old wood skis are cool but not the best to ski on with those old style bindings. I'd refinish them and put them in the water ski cave.

Same platform used on both boats. I have two owners in particular that I know slalom mainly. I pay attention to what people want. I love realistic feedback. I cannot work miracles though. New Dyna-Ski Boats are way less than new inboards so I guess I don't know what regular people can afford. A dollar range would be nice. Keep in mind that most outboard water ski boats can be pulled with a small SUV or even a mini van. It would suck having to buy a vehicle just to pull my water ski boat.

I was hoping to get some suggestions for a realistic size for a platform to put on a slalom ski. The couple owners of my boats that slalom report no issues using what is on the existing boat. Please get your tape measures out. Most outboards we sell have 15 pitch 4 bladed props. Any V-6 outboard will pull the handle out of your hands starting in the water easily.

The prop numbers are interesting. A difference of .5 is not a lot. Most outboard props are 2" different. I'm not talking about the typical prop repair shop when I suggest having a prop improved. The prop shop I'd suggest is run by guys that used to make props for a company. Props are mass produced like many boats, motors, trailers, etc. A fine tuned prop is very specific and held to much tighter tolerances than stock props are. All boat racers use these types of services. Again they are big bucks often. I also know one prop company that makes over 400 different props. The owner will fine tune a prop if he likes you for free. Of course you have to be able to talk with him personally. A fine tuned stock prop is worth a couple miles per hour and often times gives a better hole shot as well. Figure paying 3 times the cost of a stock prop for the services alone. Usually one orders a stock prop from them and has them fine tune the new prop specifically for their desires. Trust me the performance prop shops are excellent. They don't like to rebuild and modify used props.

What are the prop specs? Without knowing the specifics it is hard to suggest a solution for you. You could have a prop shop tweak your existing prop to get what you want. An inch less pitch would improve hole shot without killing the top end most likely. Or they could reduce the diameter slightly. Prop shops are the experts. They are not cheap! Buying a different prop is often the cheapest and easiest solution though. Are you hitting the suggested motor red line? You don't want to exceed the suggested red line and changing the prop may allow this to happen.

Taking some timing out is lowering the power of the motor. There are motors (vehicles mainly) that run fine on 10% ethanol fuels. In the service manuals for vehicles if you run 15% ethanol fuel it calls for more frequent or shorter service intervals. Given a choice I avoid the stuff. All motors run better and last longer it appears with less ethanol fuels.

I'm curious about the specs of props on inboards. What are they for the two props in question? With outboards the prop is very important on a water ski boat in particular. Engine size or power along with gearing of the motor make a difference in prop selection. What is the gearing of an inboard? Are there differences for different boats? The smaller the motor on a water ski boat the more crucial the prop match to intended use. If the motor is large it is slight less concern. We usually put a 15 pitch 4 blade on a 17.6 with a 150 V-6. On a 20' model we may use the same prop or a 17 pitch or 19 pitch 4 blade. The higher the pitch the faster the top speed assuming the engine can still hit the red line.

Here is a tip to find ethanol free gasoline. Find out where the local farmers get their fuel. Most old farm equipment won't fun well on fuel with ethanol. That's correct the farmers that supply the corn to make it don't want to use it in their machines. My brother in laws are farmers. They buy 87 octane non ethanol gas for farm use!

The best fuel for any toys is non ethanol fuel. If you run 15% ethanol fuel (E85) your warranty is usually void. I use Stabil in all my off road toys fuel.

Seems like it is a "cost" of using the site. I'd leave it to the professionals although shopping around is not a bad idea usually.

I should have mentioned I have electronic engine controls. Fine speed control is a snap with the electronic controls and more difficult with cable controls as they have resistance (drag), age and wear. I suggest manual cables be replaced every other year unless you are running more than 50 hours per year.

Speed does not vary by 1 MPH pulling her swiveling. My GPS Speedometer reads in tenths. The RPM's is 2350 steady going west. When I go east on the lake I drop to 2300 RPM's or 2250 to get the same speed range of 13 MPH. I say range as the speed fluctuates between 13.2 & 13.7 usually. If a driver tries to hold the speed at the exact tenth of a MPH they tend to see saw the throttle along with the speed as the 25 or 50 rpms changes causes a slight speed change. My wife can tell if the speed is about 1 mph faster or slower. Trim is all the way down with transom shims. The large lake we live on has a dam and water does flow very, very slowly towards the west. Wind is also a very slight factor although we don't ski if it is too windy or there is a lot of traffic on the lake. There is no speed fluctuation pulling John bare footing at 39 MPH which is 4900 or so RPMs depending upon the trim level. Motor trim can adjust the speed a couple MPH at faster speeds. The 17.6 and 20' 1" Dyna-Ski Boats at 84" beam are 12" wider than the old 18' Hydrodynes. I also own an 18' that has a 150. The new boats have taller sides and a slightly different hull shape which makes for a good dry rough water ride. The modern outboards have so much torque that speed variations are greatly reduced from even 3 years ago. Oil and gas consumption goes down every model year it seems. By adding a lot of weight to the 17.6 or a 20' it has more mass and mass improves tracking and speed holding. We add weight when John wants to wakeboard using fat sacs. Placement in the boat is somewhat important. The noise of an inboard is not pleasant to many people. More and more lakes around Wisconsin are starting to regulate noise especially loud music. Big fines. I have thousands of hours driving 17.6's with 150's. A speed control type of system is like cruise control on a vehicle in that it reacts to changes after they happen which is slower than a human mind is capable of doing which can anticipating and act accordingly. So I'll wager that a great driver is better than speed adjustment systems but many people including skiers are not very good drivers. Just steering the boat keeps them on edge. These are my opinions based on 46 years of driving and skiing behind outboards. They have improved massively. Whatever boat does the job you need is the best boat for you.

I just pulled my son barefoot at 39 mph then my wife at 13 mph swivel skiing with my 150 Evinrude outboard. It has electronic shift and throttle so no mechanical cables. I fail to understand why people have difficulty driving properly set up outboard water ski boats at a steady speed? Maybe the key is properly setup? 17' 6" Boat has a 3 blade 15" by 16" stainless steel prop and transom shims. Top speed is around 51 mph on the GPS. Wake is tiny. Sips gasoline. Now we are not slalom course skiers but we do everything else other than wake surf so far.

The power of an outboard is measured at the prop. The power of an inboard is measured at the crank. This makes for a huge difference. A 250 hp. or larger outboard has way more power than you realize and also uses way less gas than a V-8 inboard.

Even at $5 the launch fee is very cheap. You are getting what you are paying for.

I think a boat is made to be used. Not allowing shoes or dirty feet in the boat is interesting and something I'd never do. Of course I don't want people intentionally dragging in dirt. I have 31 year old carpeting in a water ski boat. It still looks great.

Is the launch on public property? Does the resort owner or anyone else charge to use the launch?

And you all know this is coming from me. The very biggest short coming of inboard boats and ships is low speed maneuverability. Outboards are way easier to maneuver at slow speeds. Getting wet is the easiest solution. The other go to may be doing it very early in the morning or late in the evening maybe even after dark to avoid the crowd. I like boat lifts. Leaving boats unattended and/or overnight in a lake is rolling the dice. The horror stories are all over the internet.

Tough to answer. There are never simple answers which is why I want to know the realistic minimum size. Many people have space limitations in their garages or boat houses so that is a factor as well. The load on the platform is another consideration as they have to be braced. They also have to look good or there is no point to making them.

Type and amount of use also matter a lot. If the carpet never gets wet or removed to be cleaned it isn't much of a test. Ski Teams tend to torture their boats and cleaning is not done like family owned ski boats.