Introducing myself......

partsman · **Joined:** Mon May 09, 2016 2:07 pm **Posts:** 24

Thought I'd take a moment and introduce myself and our new (to us) 1997 240 Horizon. It's been a lake boat for it's whole existence so far, and only has 204 hours on it. The previous owner apparently hit something with the Volvo Penta outdrive, and the insurance company totaled the boat. They in turn sold it to a salvage yard who repowered it with a fresh reman Mercruiser (zero hours on it) and a matching mercruiser outdrive. I then found it, and found a great trailer, and brought it all home. I'm going to be keeping it on the Merrimack river, on the MA/NH line, with occasional trips back up to the lakes region. Our Touareg TDI got almost 21 MPG towing it down from the White Mountains on Saturday. I"m going to try and clean it up as best I can, and then enjoy the new boating life we've just found...

Some pics for those interested...

Just after hooking up...

It just about fits in the driveway...

View from above

Jdpber · **Posted:** Mon May 09, 2016 2:59 pm

welcome welcome

deafwish · **Posted:** Mon May 09, 2016 4:10 pm

Nice find!

What engine did they re-power it with?!

GottWhat · **Posted:** Mon May 09, 2016 4:20 pm

I am surprised they repowered it rather than just swapping out the drive. Especially considering it only had 204 hours. Is that a Bravo or Alpha drive?

Anyway, congrats and welcome to the forum!

partsman · **Joined:** Mon May 09, 2016 2:07 pm **Posts:** 24

It's an Alpha One set up. I bought it from a salvage yard, and he has shelves full of mercruiser stuff. He told me he went through the out drive, and had this engine for another project that fell through, so he combined them and I have a two year guarantee on both units. He said that the out drive for the Volvo set up was $8,000 to $10,000, so it was cheaper to go this route. I saw the orginal motor when I first saw the boat in Feb. By the time I went to pick it up, the orginal motor was sold. I'm sure he made out like a bandit on all accounts, but I still figure I came out ok. It's in great shape, was never used (200 hours on a 20 year old boat...that's like 10 hours a year. Hell I'll do that the first day), and only in fresh water...

partsman · **Joined:** Mon May 09, 2016 2:07 pm **Posts:** 24

Here's the motor..sorry it's sideways

deafwish · **Posted:** Tue May 10, 2016 2:02 am

Nice setup!
You've got the Dry joint exhaust manifolds, too! Score!

partsman · **Joined:** Mon May 09, 2016 2:07 pm **Posts:** 24

Great eye! thanks for the heads up....I immediately googled that and read up on all I found. Sounds like a huge benefit to me I really didn't know I had. I've spent time on many friends boats in my youth, but never owned one of my own. This should be an adventurous summer for us.

rpengr · **Posted:** Wed May 11, 2016 7:29 am

Nice find. Congrats.

How is your tongue weight on that trailer setup? I ask because in the pictures, the boat looks a little farther aft on the trailer in relation to the axels. Also, I don't see any sag at the Touareg's rear suspension (I would expect about 1.5-2"). Your tongue weight should be about 400 lbs (300-600 lbs, checked against the limits of your vehicle and hitch). So obviously you should not be able to lift the tongue by yourself (unless your a competitive weight lifter). Too little tongue weight can cause an unsafe condition when towing at highway speeds. Just look up "boat trailer tongue weight" online.

I have the same model Horizon, and also tow with a mid-size SUV. Your mileage of 21mpg is incredible, although you describe the trip as "down the mountain". I only average 11mpg towing the boat.

ThaScoobs · **Posted:** Wed May 11, 2016 10:53 am

Welcome! Way to squeeze every inch of boat you could get with the size of your parking pad.

GottWhat · **Posted:** Wed May 11, 2016 11:07 am

Guessing by your vehicles, I am going to guess that you are a member of vwvortex?

partsman · **Joined:** Mon May 09, 2016 2:07 pm **Posts:** 24

this is such a great site...I've been impressed with a lot of the posts I've read, and the help that everyone gives each other...

rpenr: When I picked up the boat, I asked about the tongue weight, and the guy told me it was around 275lbs. I'll check it when I get a second, do you think I should move the axles or the bow stop? BTW, I shot this picture near the end of my trip, when I had slowed to take an exit to a secondary highway...I set the trip computer up to show "since start" so it was displaying data from when I started driving after picking up the boat. The mileage was down a bit, I think the highest I saw was just over 21 earlier in the trip.

ThaScoobs: I'm actually moving at the end of next month, and I'll have almost an acre of land so parking won't be as tight as it is. I put a red bag over the end of the tongue because I didn't want any hassle about being "in the street"

GottWhat: Actually, I'm a parts manager at a VW store. My home fleet is 4 VW's and a Porsche. My extended family adds another 5 VW's....it's a sort of sickness, but the first step is admitting I have a problem.

partsman · **Joined:** Mon May 09, 2016 2:07 pm **Posts:** 24

rpenr: it was sitting a bit lower when I was towing this, but that was more weight than the boat.

rpengr · **Posted:** Wed May 11, 2016 2:08 pm

partsman wrote:

rpenr: When I picked up the boat, I asked about the tongue weight, and the guy told me it was around 275lbs. I'll check it when I get a second, do you think I should move the axles or the bow stop? BTW, I shot this picture near the end of my trip, when I had slowed to take an exit to a secondary highway...I set the trip computer up to show "since start" so it was displaying data from when I started driving after picking up the boat. The mileage was down a bit, I think the highest I saw was just over 21 earlier in the trip.

That's great mileage.
If you decide to adjust the tongue weight, I would adjust the bow stop to move the boat forward. Looks easy on your trailer, and you have plenty of room on the bunks. Your '97 Horizon 240 is right about 4000 lbs empty, and the trailer is probably 1300 lbs, so you're looking at about 5500-6000 lbs with some fuel and gear.

deafwish · **Posted:** Wed May 11, 2016 4:14 pm

partsman wrote:

This is the first VW I've seen without it's CEL illuminated?!
Is there something wrong with yours?!
:lol:

www.iFourWinns.com

Introducing myself......

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