New user & Skagit Ski Master owner

[jingram]

Hello everybody, my family is the original owners of a 16ft Skagit Ski Master. Great little boat that will now be seeing far more attention from me now that I have sold my 26 ft C-Dory Venture.

I've done a bit of searching and like most of you, my internal saddle tanks are pretty much useless anymore. It sounds like the fuel blends of today (the ethanol?) must be the cause. Are those Moeller saddle tanks the best fit?

We have probably a 10 year old 40hp "force" outboard. Ethanol fuel doesn't play well with it at all and I'm sure the carbs are varnished all to hell and back. I might end up replacing the motor with a new 40hp 4stroke... honda, yamaha, or suzuki. That all leads me to the following questions:

Can the transom handle the additional weight from a modern 4 stroke?

Has anybody converted to push/pull steering setups as opposed to the cable/pulley units? I know that can be a bit of blasphemy on forums like these, but the original evinrude is long gone and I would prefer ease of use and operation and enjoy her on the water. Consider it a restomod if you will. Ideally, however, I would find a way to keep the original classic steering wheel!

Finally, is there anybody who would take on a bit of glass/restoration work on these things? There is a crack in the hard top and a few other things needs to be squared away. I would rather send that work to somebody on these forums who loves these boats than send it to my average boat yard. I'm no stranger to glass and epoxy work, but at this juncture have other demands on my time.

Jack

[Helmar]

Welcome aboard for starters.
I know that Skimaster and well as another of our members Clint.
I think Clint has a pretty good size on the back of his but those transoms on the Skagits were all pretty much the same, built hell for stout. If yours is solid, then yes, pretty much any engine.
I remember Marty with a 100+ Suzuki on the back of his 17 and a few others went big. Seems that the 50 Honda 4 strokes are the ones that seem to to the best..

I myself am not sure about the glass work any longer, used to be Middy Plastics I think. Some of the members will be able to tell you.

I think Tim Mattson is about the only one of us that is still able to do the work and he has been doing it...........Well, almost forever.
Tim is one of those that can do anything from the trailer up.
You should be able to PM him (Privet Message)
That would be Tim_Mattson for his username.

Anyone else available ?

I was running a Bearcat off the back of mine.. Right now she is just sitting.

[ATTACH]16135[/ATTACH]

[Bflaherty]

Welcome to the club!!

The transom can handle it as long as the transom is still sound (not rotted out). But, unless you are wanting to run in the non 2-stroke lakes or really hate 2-strokes there is really no reason to ditch the old outboard. You can get a carb kick for less than $50 and be up and running. Also there are gas stations that sell non ethanol fuel scattered all over the country. I always run ethanol free fuel at the beginning and end of every season...

As for your steering, in all the boating clubs of the world modifications are always aloud when it comes to areas of safety. Converting to the push/pull system with a modern cable is actually pretty simple. If your motor has the tube on the front to hold a steering cable then it's just a matter of mounting a helm and running the cable. If no tube, then you have to get a little creative. I custom fab'd a bracket that would hold the end of the cable to be able to run a '55 merc. I might be able to find pictures of it somewhere...

Overall it looks like you have a pretty nice boat and hopefully you can start enjoying it with little hassle!

[Steve_Kiesel]

Welcome to the group Jack. Nice looking Skimaster. I converted my 59 Seafair from the cable system to the Teleflex no feedback steering. It's the best thing since sliced bread in my opinion. Actually Tim Mattson did the conversion for me while he was doing some work on my engine. Have fun with the restore.

[jingram]

Welcome aboard for starters.
I know that Skimaster and well as another of our members Clint.
I think Clint has a pretty good size on the back of his but those transoms on the Skagits were all pretty much the same, built hell for stout. If yours is solid, then yes, pretty much any engine.
I remember Marty with a 100+ Suzuki on the back of his 17 and a few others went big. Seems that the 50 Honda 4 strokes are the ones that seem to to the best..

I myself am not sure about the glass work any longer, used to be Middy Plastics I think. Some of the members will be able to tell you.

I think Tim Mattson is about the only one of us that is still able to do the work and he has been doing it...........Well, almost forever.
Tim is one of those that can do anything from the trailer up.
You should be able to PM him (Privet Message)
That would be Tim_Mattson for his username.

Anyone else available ?

I was running a Bearcat off the back of mine.. Right now she is just sitting.

[ATTACH]16135[/ATTACH]

I know that color all to well... she used to look like that before a real good buffing out! Thanks for the information. I'll PM Tim when it gets to be that time.

[Treejay]

I just bought a 1958 ski-master this past Sunday. It had push pull steering already on it with a great running 2 stroke '70s Merc 50hp. that motor is a runner! Currently just using a 6 gallon red plastic portable tank for fuel but wouldn't mind a longer term solution. A friend with the same boat put a tank up in the bow but complained that it was riding bow heavy.