That's... Generous

"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion) 05/19/2020 at 09:57 • Filed to: None

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We all know about various license plate types . Antique plates, for example, are supposed to be for vehicles over a certain age, and there are usually mileage or usage restrictions, so someone isn’t just registering their old hoopty as an antique to save on taxes.

Agricultural plates, you usually see on old pickups that would never pass inspection, but they’re fine “farm trucks” and sure, they occasionally go on the road to get hay or whatever. But you have to provide some evidence of agricultural income, and there are other stipulations. Here’s the language, for New Hampshire:

Vehicle must be a truck, truck-tractor or tractor and shall only be driven within a 20 mile radius from the main entrance to the farm and used for agricultural purposes.

Welp, as with any rule, it’ll be stretched, tested, and broken. This “truck-tractor” was spotted at my local Agway yesterday, the driver got out and asked me if he could go look at the loam. “I don’t work here but I can’t imagine that would be a problem.” Your beater first-gen X5 on the other hand, probably shouldn’t have gotten AG plates. But hey, if you really use it for farm work, hats off to you, sir. Entirely possible; it’s just... not what you’d call a typical farm truck. 

Future next gen S2000 owner > functionoverfashion 05/19/2020 at 11:04

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I’m going to hijack this thread with a more important topic. Boats. Specifically two things.

1. Radio fell out. Seriously. Running a bit fast for conditions, maybe, just having a good time really and the damn thing fell out of its mount. It is mounted pretty terribly. Just one flimsy piece of metal band but without any screws actually going to the radio, like a deformed “L” and those little tabs at the front part of the metal mount . I need to fix it and buy a new blue tooth equipped unit.

2. Can you over pressurize a fuel system with the primer bulb? I think you can vapor lock the system. My primer bulb typically never really gets firm, but I can see fuel filling the fuel filter. Then it starts pumping bulbs into the filter and the level drops. Once this happens the motor won’t start. Release the hose clamp and it will shoot out fuel under pressure. Pump until the filter is full and starts like a champ. The problem is, am I priming too often? I was screwing around with the fuel lines trying to figure out the issue and when I put it back together the bulb never got firm. The bulb got firm the first time I pulled the boat of of winter hibernation. Old boat, prime every time. But the new one seems to hold the prime. Going to test that theory this weekend. See if the boat will hold a prime from Sunday to the following Saturday.

3. Trolling motor doesn’t work this year. Gotta look into that more . Possibly a bad battery. Need to get that tested.

functionoverfashion > Future next gen S2000 owner 05/19/2020 at 11:26

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ha! I approve.

1. I’d get a simple media receiver, I have a Pioneer one but there are lots of options under $100 with bluetooth and no cd player, so the unit is smaller and lighter but still fits a DIN-sized hole.

2. I think, yes. I would definitely try starting it without the primer ball. Refresh my memory as to what motor you have?

3. Yeah, trolling motors are pretty simple things, unless they have electronic controls, which can fail. But for sure, test the battery. What do you have for a charger? That can tell you a lot - I have an old-school one with a needle indicating amps, and if you put a battery on and the needle pegs, it’s probably pretty dead. Then, depending how quickly the amps creep back down, it can tell you a lot about the health of the battery... 

Future next gen S2000 owner > functionoverfashion 05/19/2020 at 11:33

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Right! 2001 or 2000 125 Mercury two stroke. Carb with oil injection. I have a digital charger. Shows volts and a charging status or charged/maintaining. Charged it before it sat in my garage over the winter. Volt meter on the boat drops off the scale on the low end when I check it there .

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > functionoverfashion 05/19/2020 at 13:09

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1. Make sure it’s  marine rated! I’ve had a few cheapo car units crap out on me. Never had any issue with a marine rated one.

functionoverfashion > Future next gen S2000 owner 05/19/2020 at 13:38

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Ok, that engine is right in the range I was thinking of. I don’t think you should need to use the primer ball every time. I’d give it some throttle and choke (I assume it has one, probably an on/off deal?) and go from there. I used to jump in a jillion boats and start them all the time and I’d almost never go for the primer ball unless the engine was like, early 90's at the latest, or if I knew it hadn’t been run in a very long time.

re: battery... hmm. I guess you could have it load tested, that would tell you a lot. Volt meter on the boat ought to at least sit somewhere near 12 if the battery is healthy. How old is it? This is just for the trolling motor, right?

functionoverfashion > WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI 05/19/2020 at 13:47

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I’ve never had a marine unit, but here’s why: b oth in my old boat and this one, the radio sits in a covered glove box under the windshield. The interior doesn’t get rained on because the cover is on if we’re not in it. So it’s really pretty dry, minus the obvious high ambient humidity. I also wouldn’t mind spending  $100 or less to replace what I have, while the marine options are much more expensive and typically have fewer features. I swapped out the unit in my old boat after 5 years and sold the old one on ebay, simply because I wanted one where the backlight on the screen could be set to turn off automatically. Total cash outlay was like $50 for the upgrade. 

If there’s any chance it’ll get wet though, for sure, marine. The options have come a long way since I first put a car stereo in a boat in the 90's. 

Future next gen S2000 owner > functionoverfashion 05/19/2020 at 13:53

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Age? Who knows. Few years I think. Cabella’s branded IIRC. Came with the boat. Just for the trolling motor but the voltage gauge reads 24-32V. Which is odd for the 12V batt. Must have some sort of transformer somewhere in the system.

No choke on the motor. Priming once at the start of the season seems to be the way to go.

functionoverfashion > Future next gen S2000 owner 05/20/2020 at 06:13

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There are 24v trolling motors, for sure. I’ve personally never seen a big 24v battery, rather, people usually have 2 deep cycle batteries wired in series. But I also didn’t deal with a ton of boats with trolling motors either - most of the ones we handled were 12v.