Got a duck hunting boat, now need veteran advice.

I picked this up earlier this week. 1960 14' Alumacraft w/ 6.0 HP Mercury.

I am not new to boats, but I am new to aluminum boats. I got this boat strictly for duck hunting and taking the kids out for small fishing excursions on resident lakes/ponds.

I will add more pictures as I start the tear down to make it my own.

Motor cranked first pull, no leaks and runs excellent.

I have taken the front deck, trolling motor and lights off currently and will be redoing that since I like the idea, but the previous owner completely half assed it.




The kiddo's were excited.



My concerns..

1-When I got it home and it sat overnight, I noticed gear oil leaking off the prop and puddling below. How hard is it to change out the prop shaft seals? I have great mechanical skills, just concerned that I don't know enough about boat motors to make sure everything is up to par and with labor rates here @ $95 an hour, I'd like to learn from you all and do it myself.





Here is the puddle. It is thick gear oil even though it looks rather clear in this picture.


You can see the shimmer of the oil on the bottom of the lower unit.




2- The hubs. I cleaned them up a bit (believe it or not) and removed quite a bit of rope/twine from around them. I am repacking them this weekend. I pulls straight and no strange noises. Does the gap between the hub and axle in this picture look correct?




3- I don't have pictures currently, but across the front there are 3 rivets missing. Not a big deal since I don't plan on jumping wakes, but water can get in. Is it worth riveting again? The boat has no leaks what so ever.

Any information and knowledge would be awesome! I look forward to hearing from all of you.

I don't think that your oil leaking down is gear oil. It's most likely just burnt 2-stroke oil. If it looks black and sticky don't worry about it. You can pull the prop and see if the seal area has any oil. Most likely it won't.

Easy way to ease your fears is to replace the gear oil. If it's got a milky tan color or any amount of water in it, then you've got a seal problem. These things always drip burnt oil after running for a bit.

Good luck on the rest of the update. It looks like you've got a great place to start from.

Nice rig. I like the camo paint job he did on it.

As far as the wheel hubs, first thing I would do is put the trailer up on blocks or jack up each side, and shake the wheels side to side to see if there is any play in the bearings. Something doesn't quite look right there. How did the trailer pull? Were the hubs getting hot after pulling the trailer a decent distance?

Priceless look on those boys' faces. The good stuff.

Thanks for all the info! The trailer tracked fine. No sway or wobble or vibrations. I'm jacking it up this weekend and see if there is any play.

Ok. Got the prop off after the little guys went to bed. Pics below are what I found. I think it would be hard to tell anything about the seal without a pressure test.

Here are the pics though.

Sorry doing this from my phone. THE PICS ARE SIDEWAYS. Turn them clockwise.

What boat?

lugoismad said:

What boat?

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You lost me.

Change the oil in the lower unit - that will tell you what is what as was said above.


Simple job!

https://features.boats.com/boat-content/2012/07/how-to-change-the-lower-unit-oil-on-a-boat/

Captain Ahab said:

Change the oil in the lower unit - that will tell you what is what as was said above.


Simple job!

https://features.boats.com/boat-content/2012/07/how-to-change-the-lower-unit-oil-on-a-boat/

Click to expand...

Awesome. Thank you!!

Bad news.

After tweaking a few things tonight I grabbed each tire WITHOUT the trailer jacked up and shook side to side and top to bottom.

There is play, not a crazy amount but noticeable.

Now, I know how to do the work but how do I know exactly what size bearings and/or hubs to buy for replacement.

I was going to tow it to my parents this weekend to show it off and repack the bearings but I don't believe I am now.

Any more info would be appreciated!!

The old bearings races and seals will have part numbers on them or you can take the whole hub with you to a good parts store like Napa.

lckstckn2smknbrls said:

The old bearings races and seals will have part numbers on them or you can take the whole hub with you to a good parts store like Napa.

Click to expand...

This.

I replaced mine last summer, along with new seals. Was repacking the old ones and noticed some corrosion on the inner bearings on both hubs. I recommend genuine Timken bearings and races. Pretty easy job that I was able to do in about an hour or so. First time ever doing it also. Once I got past the fear of dinging up the new bearings, everything went fine. Knocked out the old bearings with a punch and installed the new ones, first with a piece of 2x4 to get them started. Once they were in past the hub I used a water heater element socket that fit perfect to drive them in the rest of the way. Don't remember where I got mine at, but if you Google your bearing part number you should be able to easily find them.

I'm looking at a 22" LED light bar for the front of the boat. 2400 lumen. Not sure on amperage draw. What size battery would I need?

I looked up one that would work in my truck thinking of it'll crank my truck, it'll run a light thought process and they want $125 for one.

Any other ideas? It'll only be running the light and maybe a trolling motor here and there. Never at the same time.

Tj0hn said:

lugoismad said:

What boat?

Click to expand...

You lost me.

Click to expand...

It was a joke. Because its camouflage.