Harley 42'

[Swamplizard]

I heard a rumor somone is going to buy the Superstar 42 molds from HH soon....can't divuldge who quite yet but from a good source.

 

[martin@kroesche]

46 Harley

Gentlemen:
Howard said he is going to put the 42' back into production. The molds have been sitting outside so it would take months to clean them up. Now days you can take exact measurement(laser) and have a company stamps a mold using some type of packed foam? Anyway, if anybody does it, it is a long haul.
HH also said he is going to build a 36'. I told HH and ill tell you the same-it is a momentous task and I doubt HH has the time or ability to make one from start to finish-my opinion. It would be great if he could/can.
As far as towing rigs, I differ with Lee and use Diesels for all my hauling. I haven't made exceptional distances but I have pulled my Harley(46) from Corpus Christi to San Antonio and then back after it was worked on(interior). I used a late model Cummins Dodge dually. We have two of these trucks, one is a 4 x 4 mega and the other is a 2 x 4 quad. Both trucks have pulled the boat somewhere, most recently I used the Mega to haul the boat out at a boat ramp. I have attached a picture of the boat sitting in the trailer. Generally, I have two Bobcat excavators we haul on a double goose neck trailer, they weigh 28,000lbs together with the goose neck.
My boat trailer was custom built and if anybody ever want that info, let me know. It is an aluminum's 4 axle 24,000lbs. It was around $7500 several years ago.

Anyway, on the San Antonio trip I went 65-70 with no problem and I don't know the fuel mileage but it wasn't bad, over 10. So, I prefer diesels and currently the Dodge Cummins is a monster. My opinion only, Lee. You guys could probably use a 3 axle 21,000lbs and 4 feet shorter for the 42's. I don't use my trailer to haul the finished boat, rather for a haul out only and instead of using a lift. The boat will not go down the road with its current height.

Thats it for now. I'm still working on my site, www.harleypowerboats.com will be up over the next few weeks. I am going to ask that we not bash HH on the site since that has been a tendency, including from me. I want to have a solid resource and by providing all of the data, like props size, weights, speeds, hulls etc I think we all benefit.

Martin
martin@padredevelopment.com

 

[Steve H]

Lee/ Martin

I don't know of a one ton truck that is rated to pull that much weight. Did you modify your trucks at all? Would insurance stand behind you in an accident? I want to do some towing. Just want to make sure my insurance won't balk.
I currently have a one ton dually chev w/gas power. I pull the boat a very short distance from the crane to my shop about once a year for maintanence. It just does not feel like it is up to the task of going cross country.

Steve

 

[pizzacutter]

Harley Towing

Steve-Martin

You are correct that towing a 42 Harley with a std. dually is over-doing the ratings. I think the highest rating on any dually around these days is about 15,800lbs. while the boat,trlr. & gear is easily over 20,000lbs. maybe 22,000lbs. Probably would void warranties (I've always told my crew if we have a drive train failure, try to hire the boat towed elsewhere before the dealer gets the truck). However, (knock on wood) I've never had one (yet), lots of flat tires though. The other issue would be the DOT officials at a truck scale. We do pull oversize permits for the Fl. to Md. tow (which requires stops @ scales), but when we approach the scales, we just ...., you get the picture. Since the Harley was based on an old 8' wide Cig. they appear legal from ground level up to about 8' above the road. I know I should knock on wood but I have been questioned only twice in 17 years, once I had my 70 year old Mom with me and a very knowledgeable, but nice cop let me off with a warning, the other time the two troopers couldn't figure out what to do and in the mean time they got a call and left. My family used to develop mobile home/modular communities so I have been around over-weight and over-size stuff for many years. A little skill and a lot of luck has kept me truckin for 17years and not just around town. The Fl. to Md. is 1,100 miles, I guess I have done it 10 of the last 17 years. We also go 120 mile round trips Ocean City, Md. to Crisfield, Md. (check a map) to access the Chesapeake Bay. We have a small home on Tangier Island, Va. From my house it is 60 miles by trailer and then 14 miles by boat, OR by boat it is about 200 miles. Another reason why I trailer so much. I don't know the answer to the insurance questions, I guess you'd have to ask your agent. The weight of the rig is a big tow factor, but I believe that aerodynamics work in our favor. The pointed nose deflects wind nicely. I have been in mountain areas and seen big 5th wheel campers not be able to keep up with me and I'm certain they weight less, but catch more wind. One other important factor, on any long distance tow, we install a cover from base of windsheild back over transom. It has to have numerous support poles to keep it from flapping. I know that the cover helps alot, especially if it is windy. Bottom line is (in my opinion) a standard heavy duty dually will do it, but there are risks. You could spend a bundle on a custom 2 ton hauler, and I think Ford will have production F-450 soon rated in the low 20,000 lb. range, but it won't be cheap. Note that Martin tows around 28,000lbs. of equipment with a production dually. By the way Martin, I agree the new Dodge diesels are beasts for towing. I just like the purchase price and quiet operation of the gas Chevys.
Martin, thanks for the rule suggestion about HH. After all he really has alot of knowledge and without his designs (especially back in 1990) I don't know what I would have bought. Since I trailer so much I probably would have had something with big triple OB's. Think of how many engines I would have gone through in all those years (and fuel!)

 

[martin@kroesche]

46 Harley

Steve:
Its time for me to chime in. I have a similar background with this as Lee, although mine is a little different. Since I could drive we have hauled trailers, generally helping in the ranching business or pulling my own trailers. I remember at least 20 years ago we had a 42' goose neck steel cattle trailer which we would load up and haul, and I mean load up. This is with a Ford 1 ton dually, 1985 vintage. I have just never really thought much about loading a truck if I need to go somewhere and it would pull it. I owned a 35' triple Donzi, red, which HH convinced me to sell from his shop. I pulled it from Corpus Christi to his shop in Bartow. It weighed 13,000lbs, scale. I didn't obtain permits, I just pulled it, and behind a diesel excursion. I have buddies who are Ford, Dodge, or Chevrolet dealers here and they would always take care of warranty issues. although, after 20 years of towing I have never had a significant item related to towing or the power train. I think the summary is; a one ton dually will pull your boat easily short distances with care and caution-do you agree, Lee? I recommend a Dodge with a Cummins diesel, the later model the better. I have an old one as well, 1998, which has 160k miles and I would not hesitate to hook up a load and haul it somewhere. That truck is probably valued at less than $8000. So, if you don't want a new(er) one, my opinion is that an older one will work as well. By the way, when you are not hauling they get 20 mpg @ 75 mph.

I have some great pictures for you guys, a video clip BK's 63 Harley running 50+mph in the Atlantic. ill get it up soon.

Regards Martin

 

[Steve H]

I realize that a one ton truck is very capable, especially the newer ones. My concern is insurance. If an accident caused injury or death, I would not want my insurance company to use the tow rating on my truck as a reason to void my coverage. I will do some more research. Thanks, wealth if info here.

Steve

 

[Ron Alexander]

A new Harley Boat Owner

Martin,

I just discovered the Harley forum on boatdesign.net. My wife and I live in Seattle and purchased a 1985 42' Harley Superstar last August. This is our first major boat investment and we see that we have a lot to learn. From the sounds of the comments in this forum it sounds like these boats may be a problem. We love ours and so far are only running it on Lake Washington. She's got twin 454 Chevies with Arneson ASD8s and we've been able to get her up to about 50 mph. Good enough for our purposes as we are not out to race.

Add us to your list of owners. We'd be happy to be included in any and all mailings or forums regarding our Harley

Thanks,

Ron Alexander
Seattle

 

[Swamplizard]

She's a beauty - welcome Ron.

We both have Chevies - would like to hear more details about your configuration if you have it:

Size of motors (454, 502)
EFI or carb
HP rating?
Transmission reduction?
Props - diameter, # blades, pitch?

Thanks!

 

[Steve H]

Hi Ron,

I've been aboard your boat! I looked it over several years ago. I still have a lot of pictures that I took. I think it was around 1999. That wooden cockpit floor is awsome. It was overpriced at that time and the broker would not even consider my offer. I think he said that the former owner had cruised it to Alaska more than once. That's a trip I would like to do soon. I'm about two hours south of you in Longview. I don't need much on excuse to go for a boat ride.

Steve

 

[Ron Alexander]

Swamp Lizzard,

They are 330 hp carburated (800 CFM Holleys) 454s with Twin Disc 1.54 : 1 reduction transmissions. Props are Nibral 3 blade 19 x 20 LH 7 RH with cup. Frankly I don't know what that means. I took this information from the survey I had done before I bought the boat.

The story I got was that an elderly gentleman owned the boat and then when he passed away he left it to a son or other relitave who blew up one motor and transmission. He put it into a local repar yard to have it fixed. The engine was rebuilt and the last new Twin Disc transmission available was purchased and installed by the repair yard. When the son got the $25K bill he walked away and abandoned the boat. Said he was afraid of it and didn't want it anyway. It was tied up in legal battles for a while and then just sat in the yard. A friend of mine told me about it and when we saw it we fell in love with her. We bought it for less than the mechanic's lien that they had put on it. The outside upholstery was shot so we have completely re-upholstered her and have been fixing up little things to bring her back to life. She has a teak deck from the factory. I talked to Howard Harley and he remembers the boat because they didn't ship many of these boats to Seattle..........especially with teak decks.

I am interested in all the chatter about props here on this website. I spoke with Rik at Arneson in California and he suggested that we would get better performance with cleaver type props........with 4 blades rather than three. We've been able to peg the spedo at 50 at around 4600 or 4800 rpms.......I can't recall exactly. We were too thrilled to see the rooster tail to take any notes about rpms etc.

Like I said, we are just learning but are anxious to see the summer come back so we can get out again. Seattle weather hasn't been kind to us this winter. We had a big windstorm in December that knocked out the power for over 1,000,000 up here....us included. Thankfully our marina had power after the first day so we moved onto the boat for a week. Me, my wife, our 18 year old son and our Golden Retreiver...........But that is an entirely different story.

Guess I've rambled on too long. Thanks for the "welcome aboard"

Ron & Terri Alexander
"Seattle Vice"

 

[Ron Alexander]

Steve,

So what's keeping you? I live in Kenmore on the lake. I'd be happy to take you out for a spin any time. We haven't ventured out through the locks yet into Puget Sound but we plan to try that this summer. Maybe even crusing up into the San Juans for a few days. It's all new to us. Alaska? Someday for sure.

All I know right now is my bank account is at rock bottom. This old girl needed a lot of TLC and I'm still not finished.

Ron

 

[martin@kroesche]

46 Harley

Guys:
How come nobody invites me? I'm feeling a little left out! Just kidding-Ron-nice boat. Ive been looking at simulated teak for my decks, "flexiteek" or "plasteek".
I'm looking for some lightweight alternatives to the real thing.
Also, keep in mind that Im looking for suggestions/ideas for the Harley site.

Take Care-Nice Boat, Martin

 

[Steve H]

Steve,

So what's keeping you? I live in Kenmore on the lake. I'd be happy to take you out for a spin any time. We haven't ventured out through the locks yet into Puget Sound but we plan to try that this summer. Maybe even crusing up into the San Juans for a few days. It's all new to us. Alaska? Someday for sure.

All I know right now is my bank account is at rock bottom. This old girl needed a lot of TLC and I'm still not finished.

Ron

Ron,

That was an invite for you to come here for a ride. But since you offered, I will take you up on that as soon as the weather clears. I'll be in Seattle this weekend, but I won't have time for any recreation, just work stuff.
You should consider cruising the Columbia this summer. We do a trip up stream most years for the Unlimited Hydro Races in Tri Cities. I have a dock next to my boat house that is empty most of the time.
Martin, Lee, and Oliver. You are all invited to come up for a boat ride anytime.

Ron- lets see some pics!

Pulled broken engine yesterday. Still in the back of my truck. I'll get it undressed and to the builders today. I'm way to old to be wrestling these things.



Steve

 

[Swamplizard]

Likewise gents - if you are ever in Fort Lauderdale area....we can take a ride and check out the ICWW.....but slower than you guys go until I get blowers

;-)

Cheers

O

 

[Swamplizard]

Just tried to mount Steves props on my boat - wont slide on the shaft because the forward part of the prop - the barrel - doesnt have tapering the entire way like my props do. I cant try the other props I got either - 4-blade clevers. Very dissappointed. The 19-spline ends are correct, the holes are the right diameter - just not tapered right???????

What does this mean? Do I have ASD8s or not? Ugh - bit frustrated here in FL