TomH

I've got a pair of 68" kidders out in the garage. They're 27" from the tail to the heels on a pair of medium bindings, and ride really well there. The skis' mounting plates start a couple inches behind that, and extend about 4 inches beyond the toe of the bindings on them. On 72s, maybe split the difference and start at 29ish. Otherwise, I think we've got some EP's (probably also 68s) in the team trailer, and might be down there tomorrow and could measure then.

/forum#/discussion/24092/cheap-dock-organizer/p1 This the one you're thinking of? @scuppers

I had to dig around because the rear was throwing me off (all the older barefoot warriors had teak platforms and a motor well). That is pretty much the last version (1997ish) of the warrior, and that is in fact the standard motor mount for that vintage. I don't think there were more than a handful of that version made.

The Stereo wake skis skied way better than the HO ones, but also are not being made anymore to my knowledge, but if you find some used ones, they're built well. I agree shorter jumpers fill this niche pretty well too. I've got a pair of 68's that my 11 yo loves bombing around on and wake jumping.

I've skied/footed behind one with a 200, and that would easily do 50+ with a pretty torquey prop. It's a pretty fast hull, so can't imagine the 150 Yama would have any issues for footing depending on the propping. Slalom wake is fine, but as with most outboards, it's small but pretty firm, and the rope with be a touch higher, and a strong skier will wag the dog some. Boat has wood in the construction, so that's the biggest thing to watch out for. If there's play in the pylon, expect that you have some compromised wood, and will have a project on your hands.

Keller is so inundated with milfoil these days, there's really only a small corridor to ski, and don't think they ever had a permanent course on there (but used to host tourneys back in the day - as did Island Lake a little north of there). I do believe there's a course on Kohlman though (under a few bridges from Keller). Otherwise, in the NE metro, there's permanent courses on Owasso and Bald Eagle, sometimes on Otter, and the guys on White Bear move a couple floaters around every few weeks.

303 Fabric Guard

I've seen lots of old DD's go this route. You'll need to sand off any glue residue from the floor after carpet removal, and then paint the floor with truck bed liner or similar, as the Seadek needs a smooth, clean surface to stick to. Removable floor panels usually end up being the trickiest, as you'll often need to shim them and add some material for width since the carpet usually wraps the panel. Without mods, the panel(s) will sit low and loose after carpet removal.

Being out of alignment (particularly with relation to the through-hull) can put uneven loads on the seal, and over time can oval out the seal. The flexibility of the seal plays a part and can mitigate some of it, but it's still there, and the seals will last much longer when the pressure is even around the circumference.

Alignment, or lack thereof, is also what likely contributed to the dripless failing in the first place. It's also pretty common for the shaft to be riding low in the shaft log if engine mounts have worn/settled. That will put more load on the bottom of the seal and prematurely wear it out. That PSS is a nice unit, but OJ also has a newer one out that is considerably cheaper, and doesn't need a water line.

Blew the right one about 3 weeks ago on my first OTF in probably 10 years.... Mostly back to normal. I did both within a week of each other about 10 years ago, one footing, one skiing. That was a pretty miserable couple weeks with the drainage and not really knowing if I was shouting or whispering, but surprisingly passed the hearing test on my annual work physical without any issue.....

@GaryJanzig Just crawled under the lift to see what the prop was. Boat is a 94 Hydrodyne Grand Sport, PCM 351W TBI w/Protec (~310hp). PCM model 40 1:1 tranny. Prop is an Acme 541 13x12 (1" shaft, LH rotation). I didn't look to see what the pitch on the original legend was, but can check if you want.

@GaryJanzig My boat originally had an OJ legend (still have as a spare), and now run a 3 blade Acme (forget the number offhand, but typical application for a 1:1 tranny). Same diameter on both, but the Acme beats the pants off the legend both on hole shot and top end (has significantly more blade area than the legend). I've had the legend on a few times while my Acme is in for repairs, and I lose ~4-5 mph of top end with the legend and it's a dog out of the hole. I think you'd be pretty happy with an upgrade to a CNC prop (either Acme or OJ), especially since you pull barefoot. Both Acme and OJ are very helpful with recommendations.

This one would work for your use https://lakeelmosports.com/product.php?productid=97&cat=52&page=1 You'd have to extend the release rope and it's a fairly awkward release to pull compared to a pylon mounted one, but about the only option I'm aware of.

For that, definitely give the rear eye a try. You'll wag the dog a bit more, but it won't roll the boat over like skiing from the tower will. Alternatively, get an inflatable dock/platform and anchor it somewhere quiet when you want to ski - throw the kids and others on it to empty the boat temporarily.

About 2 years out on mine. Wish I would have done it sooner (of course...). No issues skiing/crashing/footing, but also did mine in January so that it wouldn't affect my water time.

Did your shift cable break, or come out of/loosen in the clamp? If it loosened in the clamp, it could be sliding around rather than moving the inner cable in the sheath, and not getting enough push/throw to engage the transmission. You can try manually shifting it back at the tranny to figure out if it's cable or control related.

I've got no problems with a tube, anything to keep it fun. I actually just pulled one behind our boat for the first time last week (neighbor's). I've just never had one because prior to living on the lake, hauling around inflatables was just a giant pita when you don't have a dock or shore to go pitch it on, but I'm sure I'll have one by summer's end. Maybe it's the show-ski background, but I've always enjoyed doing a bunch of different things behind the boat, with slalom and footing always topping the list. So, I'm the same way with my kids and their friends and keep the equipment on hand for them to do just about anything on a handle (slalom, combos, jumpers, kneeboards, wakeboards, wake skates, shoe skis, barefoot, disc, etc.). Just need to add a sky ski and a wake foil for when the lake's blown out.

Beautiful boat. Love the tower. You'll soon realize the tower makes a nice grab bar for hopping in the boat too.

If you have a fid and know how to re-tie the loop, it's pretty simple to open up the loop and add the tubing. It's generally just 1/2" OD tubing with a couple of 1/2" bolt/rod caps (with a 1/4" hole punched in the ends). Just measure before and after to hit the right length.

I've been looking through a few PCM manuals of that relative era over the past few days, and what I read was minimum 89 unleaded is recommended, but 87 is ok if you retard the timing 4 degrees (for a carb boat).

Our ski team has been using Polywater for over 10 years for jump bindings - stuff works great and dissolves immediately. We've got a few electricians on the team, so they turned us on to that one long ago. It helps that it's made right here in MN, so we can easily get it

You're likely on the right track with the oil pressure switch. There's only 2 things that will throw the GT-40 into limp mode - oil pressure and water temp (assume your water temp was ok through this all).

You can pop the transmission coupler off the taper by putting a socket between the coupler faces against the shaft end. Then install longer bolts or threaded rods between the coupler halves and tighten. The socket will press the shaft out of the coupler (after you remove the retaining nut of course).

Totally choked on my coffee watching that