Hey all- bought my '00 Fountain 35' lightning from a place south of Grand Rapids and they have a great service department, but I live in Cadillac which is about 2 hours away. Was wondering if anyone up this way has a recommendation for a good Merc mechanic that's a little closer to home. Looking for someone who's at least familiar with high-perf stuff and has been trustworthy and thorough for you. Would greatly appreciate any recommendations!

If you have Merc Bravo 1 drives your best bet for service, price and honesty is Dick Tryce in the Holland MI area. He goes by Mr Gadgets here. I know you were looking for something closer but he is well worth the drive, Ian (Mr. PatriYacht) hauls our drives up there from Waterford when ever he has an issue. Dick does this on evenings and weekends and knows a ton about them, I believe he is an authorized dealer, he has a nice shop set up on his property. I would say drives are his life! Dick has even pulled our's apart while Ian watched and waited to take them home, he also rebuilt part of one or both (i forgot) If you need more info, PM us here and Ian will get you his contact info. If you do a search you will probably hear others say good things about him.

Congrats on the purchase and you found a good place (OSO) you will get more info here than you will ever need to know

Donna

Just saw you also have a Malibu, so do we, We have a mid 90's open bow, think it's called a SunSetter, good boat never gives us a problem, but then we don't use it that much, do you ski? we used to, but since the wakeboarders took over our lake not much good water left in the evening

X2 for Dick aka Mr Gadgets. He really knows his stuff and is a super nice guy. I live in Northern Michigan also and when I needed drive work done I drove to him. I wouldn't trust anyone in this area.

I agree. Dick had taken care of my boat, friends 780hp 37 outerlimits, and other friends 550hp 97 43 black thunder. All of us are very happy with dick, his service and knowledge. Call him!

Well- I have to thank everyone for the recommendations thus far. My dealer has a really good drive guy there, and it's closer than Holland, but at least I have another option should I need it. If anyone can chime in with someone up north here, that would be great. Thanks again though-

-Patriyacht- yeah it's been a great boat so far. It's old, but it's in really great condition for its age. We (my wife and I) do ski, but me not so much any more. I hear ya on the wakeboarders. I don't have anything against them, but it would be nice if they would give us that last hour of daylight at least... that's always my favorite time for a quick pull. Love the boat though- just plop it in the water, turn the key and go. Can throw the dogs in too- don't worry too much about the interior the way I do with the Fountain...

One more for Dick, he did a nice job on my Bravo X

Northerndoc you looking for basic maintenance or repairs?

Repairs mainly if something were to happen mid season. For upgrades, serious work, etc. I have no problem driving to Wayland or to Holland. The boat is stock for now, but thinking possibly next summer about doing a set of Prochargers and I want to make sure the drives will handle the extra power. I'm a big fan of trouble-free boating, so I would rather upgrade the drives than do the "wait-til-she-blows" things and then pick up the pieces.

I love my prochargers but hate what they did to my drives. Start saving for a pair of imco SCX, arneson conversion, or b-max. NOTHING bravo based will hold that kind of power without often break downs!