Re: Electric start "back in the day"….

[chas56x]

Back in 1957 I had an electric start 1957 Johnson 35. Back in the day, I did not know about Marine Batteries, so I used 12 volt car batteries in the boat. We lived on a lake, so I used the boat almost every day in the summer, fishing, waterskiing, and just joy riding. As I recall, I had to take the battery to the local gas station about once every 2 months to have it recharged, as I would run it until it was dead. I just pulled the rope until I got the recharged battery back. I cost me $2.00 to have the battery charged. I had to get the money from my Dad, as I spent all of my cash on oil and gas for the motor. I had to buy a new battery every couple of years, as car batteries would not last very long with constant charge/discharge cycles. For Christmas in 1960, my Grandmother gave me a "Silver Beauty" battery charger, which I still use to this day.