Enforcer Gator

[R/Cbum4life]

I need some help with an enforcer gator, is there anyone out there that has one?? I want to start a forum specificly for this boat.... start posting let me know if you can help me...

[Doubledog]

I've got one, what do you want to know?

Also what do you mean about starting a forum just for the Gator? There's not that much to them to talk about in my opinion.

Box stock, they're a great hull,
easy to use,
easy to maintain
Good turn of speed for stock
look pretty good
priced right
money well spent


Problem, they can't handle much speed. I'm pushing mid 40's and it gets flighty. No real complaints because its still a fun hull and I pleased.

[Doubledog]

Btw,

Over the winter, mine will be getting:

New paint
a fresh 260,
new canopy &
drive system

For the drive, possibly an MHZ scalelike outdrive or maybe something from Ballentines. Can't guarantee the drive, but the engine & mount is sitting on the shelf.

Like I said, it looks good stock, but there's a vision that needs to be fullfilled.:)

[lovinnitro]

For Double has seen the mountain top, and it was good. :D

[Doubledog]

The Gator will be a break in stand of sorts for the 260.

Going to push that little hull to BLOW OVER SPEED !

[R/Cbum4life]

Can anyone get me some pictures of the whole outdrive assembly, rudder, etc... particularly where the shaft comes out the bottom of the boat?? Is there any kind of bearing that is supposed to be in that? Anyone have a problem with it planning off? I have the 30 cc homelite in mine and it takes forever to get up on plane? Will different props help this or will i loose all my top speed? How fast should it be going with the homelite? LMK

[lovinnitro]

Props will play a HUGE difference in speed. as well as the adjustment on the strut. I have a 46" deep vee (similar to the Gator w/ a 32cc Mac) and I'm seeing 30 on the gps. Stock can muffler (gutted) and a POS Zama carb. w/ a walbro and tuned pipe I would prolly see high 30's. Saving for a 260 so I haven't done anything with the motor.
What size prop you running?

[R/Cbum4life]

How can i find out?? I had if off and all I noticed on it was the word "enforcer" sounds like the stock setup to me. I have no idea exactly how fast im going but it sure doesn't feel anything close to thirty.... How can you adjust the strut? it does not go up and down becuase of where the prop comes out of the boat right? the more i prop it for top speed the longer it is going to take to plane off right? thats the last thing i want....

[Doubledog]

Here's the drive from this link.

http://www.whobbies.com/SuperGboatmodeler.htm

[Doubledog]

Scroll down on the bottom of this link and you'll see mine on the first page.

http://www.radiocontrolzone.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=130866&perpage=25&highlight=Real%20world%20testing&pagenumber=1


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All it is is the metal shaft tube with teflon liner.

A few pumps of the zerk grease gun in there and its good to go for at least a tank.


Props I'm running have been everything from:

Engine is Stock RC230

P270 --- Alright
P275 --- The best when thinned and sharpened
P280 --- Too much prop
Mod 280 --- Takes a while to get up to speed but good
G20 --- Great prop
X470/3 --- Too much
X470 --- About the same as the 275

And a handful of others.

I'm currently running a Cooper Quiet pipe exhaust and will be running the same on the 260 when it gets installed.

[R/Cbum4life]

What are you adjusting on the strut? There is no way to go up and down there because of where it comes out of the boat?

[lovinnitro]

See the strut that holds the shaft? The bolt there is loosend and the strut is raised up or down. You don't raise the whole shaft. If you go to far one way or the other the cable/prop will be tight to turn. you'll have to play with the adjustments to find out what will give the best speed.

[Doubledog]

If yours is the same as the one in the photo, you can adjust it a total of 3/8" (about 1/2") total travel up and down. So figure 1/4" down and 1/4" up.

Losen the nut where the red arrow points and you can move the strut.

Set the strut level and slap a P275 on there. You'll be fine.

You never stated what prop you are running. Asking a lot of questions without info to work with isn't good. :( Help us help you.

[R/Cbum4life]

The prop is the one that came with the boat, I think I asked how to identify what size it is... Is there something else out there that you would reccomend over the stock prop? I did not realize that you can flex that drive cable so much when adjusting the strut.. I guess I wil have to experiment with this I made a piece of aluminum to wedge down in that slot also, becuase the rudder keeps kicking up... I just got back from trying to run it and my pull start got tangled up inside somehow, I am so angry!! I am going to take it apart when I get the time to look at it closer.. any idea how to fix that quick, short of taking the whole engine out and taking the starter stuff off? Thanks for the help

[R/Cbum4life]

Just realized something, man am I dumb, bear with me now. The blue squared in area, that bracket does not exist on my boat. Is that something that came in just recent years? I have no idea how old my boat is (I bought it used), but im going to guess it is at least 5 or 6 years old. It has the red 30cc homelite engine in it.

My boat has the other 2 piece bracket mounted directly on the transom, which does not leave much room between the transom and the bracket (the green area). With that limited amount of space I have very little up and down adjustment, I can move it up about a quarter of an inch but the farthest down I can go is about parallel with the bottom.

The red area I highlighted becuase I am curious to know what you all are doing to keep that rudder from rotating up on that screw and nut all the time. I do not know if I am missing critical parts and pieces for some of this or not. Please fill me in!

Last but not least, I did mention that the starter got jammed today when I tried to get it running, I had it idling to warm up and it died, when I went to pull it again the cord was stuck. I was wondering if there is any quick fix to this, aside from taking the whole engine out of the boat??? Thanks for all of your help!

[Doubledog]

Thank you for sheding more light on things and drawing on the photo. :)

We're going to try and do this without spending too much time or $'s.
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BLUE---- thats a Stand Off Bracket

It was implimented to put the prop further back allowing it to run in cleaner water, thus giving better handling and speed. Not always needed.

If you install one, you'll need a two inch longer flex shaft also....

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DO NOT put the shaft in a bind when adjusting the strut ! You'll possibly break the shaft, make the hole bigger, mess up the bearings in the strut...... and just tear up a lot of stuff !

Run the shaft straight out the back Don't worry about adjusting it for now. Lets get it running everytime first.
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RED--- Rudder Bolt & Nut

I tighten mine pretty snug. Torque it on down but no TOO tight.

Once in a while, it will kick back on me at an angle causing my steering to act strange. Once it comes in close, you can see its out of place and adjust it again.
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PROP--- Take it off and look at the nut side. There you will find the Name and Size. Give those to us.
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In case I didn't say it, Don't worry about the engine just yet. Leave everything as is. Get the boat running consistent and then we'll work on the rest. You've got a good setup it just takes time.

Or you can put it on ebay and make some pocket change to buy anther one. I've got mine up for sale in the classifieds. Just don't spend a lot of $'s on a boat thats mainly for kicking around. Before you know it, you'll have quite a bit tied up and still have a basic hull. I know, I'm working on mine this weekend.... stay tuned.

Keep 'em coming.!

Take photos. If not, copy and paste like I did from the website while doing a little Paint Shop drawings. It helps as you can see.

Regards,
Jamie

[lovinnitro]

as to what Double said about tightning the nut on the rudder. You want that to be able to kick back incase the rudder catches something hard. (i.e. tree branch) it's to try to help the rudder from being ripped off the transom. I'm like Double tight but not too tight.

As far as the cord goes make sure that the cord didn't get caught or wound around itself. you should be able to see a little into where it coils up. If a no go, sorry my friend the only thing I know if is to pull the motor and get the cord wound right. I've vever had a problem with my gas in this but my nitros can vapor lock where you can pull a cord and you have to pull the plug to relieve built up pressure. Can't hurt to check but guess is a bound starter rope.

[R/Cbum4life]

Hey thanks for the continued help, I was looking at getting this boat running good and selling it after next summer to put some cash im my pocket, I only paid 150 for it.... Does anyone have any idea how old it is? How long ago did they discontinue the homelite engine series? I have to get time to work on it, which as been a problem now for the last day or two. I do not have a digi-cam, I wish I did... The first time I went to run it, I got halfway through a tank of gas and my steering servo went haywire, it must have gotten wet, becuase now it has dried out and worked fine. I just was not pleased with the overall speed. What do you think this boat might be worth, if it runs properly and has a fresh coat of paint? the engine runs reliable, I think that pull start situation was just some crazy accident. I think the biggest thing is getting the right prop and messing with what little adjustment I have on the angle of it, I have heard it is quite sensative and that could be why i was going so slow. Right now it is an ulgy blue with a metallic silver deck. It is painted with rustoleum paint, any idea if they make some kind of stripper for that?? I'll let you know when I get it running again, Thanks for the continued support!

[Doubledog]

Darn, and I was hoping you was starting another project like mine.:( :)

[mjmsprt40]

I have a Gator, mine's not a bad runner. When I bought, I was looking for something that would be relatively stable and dependable. It is that, though maybe not as exciting as you'd like. It replaced a Prather Deep Vee 40 that was inclined to barrel roll. I never could get the barrel rolls out if that boat.

See the picture here at this link;
http://users.sisna.com/mjmcmillan/MyWeb2/Large/Out_to_launch.jpg