Thanks everyone for all the suggestions. It’s running super good right now at all speeds, so I may just leave my Rube-Goldberg fix in it and see if it holds – running it a lot in the next 3 weeks before I take it as one of three 15s to Canada for a week long houseboat fishing trip. We put 8 to 10 guys on a 58 foot houseboat on Lake of the Woods 90 miles into Canada from Minnesota; and tow fishing boats in two strings behind it – we have towed as many as 7 boats. The 15s go on 14 and 16′ Aluminum open rowboats that we drag into small portage lakes, using a couple bigger boats for the main lake. The wire I wrapped around the screw and carb is stranded/braided copper – kind of like steel picture hanging wire – I’m thinking I’ll solder the twist area so vibration doesn’t make it come apart. If my fix doesn’t hold, one of the three motors I take is a spare.
Below is a photo from last year – only had 6 guys, so a slightly smaller houseboat (54 foot). Note the extra steering wheel at the rear of the houseboat up top so you can see where you are going while backing up!
FYI: Lake of the Woods, with all it’s islands channels and bays has more total shoreline that the east and west coasts of the 48 states combined!
Dave
