Full Circle
 

Hello everybody. My name is Jason and I'm the new owner of "Pedal Pusher" (P.P.) I am from New Orleans which is the original home of the boat after Billy Ruddy had it built. I took a liking to P.P. in the late 90's when I 1st saw the boat at Precision Marine.

At the time I had a 24' P&D sporting a Gale Banks turbocharged 502, connected to a Stern Powr drive. My dad was the original owner of the P&D and when I was 7 (1977) I got to go to S. Florida with him to pick up a blank hull. We brought it back to N.O. behind his new Coupe de Ville (yes we were the only ones on Lake Pontchartrain with a performance boat being towed by a Cadillac), really wish I had a picture of that. Dad built the boat, and that was my introduction to offshore boats and the New Orleans boat scene. Dad sold it in the early 80's and it had a few owners until I brought it back into the family.

Mark (Precision Marine) and his partner Billy (Allen) were nice enough to let me hang around the shop, peak at a lot of stuff that I couldn't afford, ask a lot of questions and dyno my 502. P.P. was a frequent visitor to Precision so I had many opportunities to look at it. I even recall going by one day to study the bottom as I had the P&D flipped over to straighten its bottom. My friend Steve (aka Cignificant Other on OSO) suggested I do something with the inner strakes. Not having any idea why boat bottoms were the way they were I figured I'll go look at some bottoms and see what i could figure out. P.P. was the closest hull to the P&D so I took a bunch of measurements and lengthened the inner strakes and shaped them just like P.P. In the end the P&D went from high 70's to low 90's. What an experience all of that was.

I then moved to a 26 American Offshore and a 28 Cigarette SS. By 2004 I was ready for another move and by that time P.P. had found it's way to the Aqua Toy Store in S. Florida after Billy traded it in on another boat. I started negotiating a deal with ATS only to loose the deal to someone in the Bahama's. I then pursued a 28 Eliminator Daytona. After I made a deal on the cat and was heading out to pick it up ATS calls and tells me P.P. was back on the market. I passed on P.P. and enjoyed the Eliminator until 2009 when I traded it to a guy in Miami for a 2006 Z06 that I could use to do things with my young daughter.

In 2014, she was a little older and I was contemplating boats again. My friend Kevin pointed out that P.P. was for sale in Memphis. I talked to Robert who who bought it from ATS and had kept it for 10 years. After some brief consideration I passed, decided it was not the boat to get back into boating with. I bought a Formula 303 and my daughter really like it. All was well until this past spring when Kevin decided he would make another run at getting me interested in P.P. when he found it posted for one day here on OSO before the moderator axed the ad cause it that was in the forum and not the classifieds. It was for sale or trade. I got to admit I got excited and then quickly realized I needed two boats like I needed my schmeckle cut off so I kinda snubbed the idea. Kevin being the great bud that he was suggested that I consider offering the Z06 in trade. I told him I didn't have the time to haggle a deal but for him to feel free to contact the owner (John) and see what's what.

John turned out to also be into cars and got P.P. in trade for a blown 'Cuda that he traded to Robert. As it turned out he only used the boat a couple of times as he just didn't have time to use it. The idea of the Z06 got immediate interest. Initially we had a difference of opinion on the exact deal and by the end of the 1st week it was 50/50 at best. After that weekend John replied to Kevin and agreed to the deal we(he) offered but wanted it done ASAP due to some family obligations. The irony is I was driving to Georgia in two weeks for business, however, I never had any intentions of taking my Excursion on the trip.

I made the deal. I traded my Z06 that I got in trade for the Eliminator that I bought only because i was unable to buy P.P. 12 years ago. And now the boat is back home to N.O. where it all started. I guess you could say it all came "Full Circle". "Pedal Pusher" has long since been removed from the boat and since I'm not in the bicycle business or an avid cyclist I've decide to leave the name retired and start fresh with "Full Circle". perhaps not as catch as "Pedal Pusher" but equally fitting considering the circumstances.

So if you're still reading you now know my story with Full Circle (aka Pedal Pusher). It seems to have gathered some attention over time, perhaps because its one of a few Powerplays to have SSM's, and 1 of a very few SSM's that were not staggered, perhaps it was the catchy name or the fact that it's in a limited group of Powerplay sport decks (non race) that have hit the triple digit mark.

In any case I plan to keep an online diary of sorts here in the forum. Those interested in this boat boat or Powerplay's in general might find it interesting to read from time to time. I don't think that I could ever possibly compare to the thread by "Steve 1" but I'll do my best to keep it interesting and perhaps helpful to others who might be interested in getting into performance boats or have questions about Powerplays. I've gathered invaluable info from this site over the years, perhaps from time to time I'll be able to post something that will help someone else. Maybe I'll get lucky and find enough interest from others who'll share some of their good ideas with me. Anyway, thanks for reading and stay tuned, FC.

Congrats again, Jason! OSO needs more threads like this about passion for a particular boat. I'm a big fan of this one and look forward to following.

congrats, any pictures of the P&D?

Good luck with it, nice story.

Not many, here's one of my dad having fun around 1980, and twenty years later upside down in my back yard.
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Specs
 

1997 33' Powerplay Sportdeck

Twin 572's
approx. 725 H.p.
solid lifter roller cams
Dart aluminum heads
Dart intake
Single 1050 Holley's worked by Big's Performance
1" Spacer
Stainless headers, dry exhaust

Bam transmissions

#4 Speedmaster drives mounted even with the bottom of the boat with now spacers
1.5:1 Ratio
19 spline
Currently has 2" spacers putting the prop 2" below the bottom
17.5 x 30 4 Blade props finished by Mercury Racing

Gaffrig gauges
Liquid filled speedometer
Tachometers
Oil pressure
Oil temperature
Water temperature
Water pressure
Fuel pressure
Volts
Fuel level

Latham full hydraulic steering

The boat can be throttled and trimed from the port or starboard side as it has:
2 complete sets of gauges
2nd set of throttles on the starboard side
2nd set of trim switches (drives and tabs) on the starboard side

The rear seat is a 3 man drop out bolster for a total of 5 drop out bolsters

Two fuel tanks, both fills are on starboard side

Paint by Kangaroo Graphics, Joey Earl.

Myco tandem axle trailer

I'll continue to add additional information

Very fond memories of Billy a long time client of p.p. sent me an awesome bike for my sons 5th birthday. one of my favorite boats we built, enjoy it!:)

Bosco,
Great to see you post!!! E-mail your info, Blue Skies!!! Robbie & Chris

Thanks Bosco and nice to meet you. Out of curiosity what was your contribution to the build?

Looking forward to this!!

Thanks John, hope all is well!

So I acquired the boat in April and am just now getting around to putting it in the water, what they hell have I been doing? As I stated earlier I had another boat at the time and knew once I got involved with the Powerplay I would neglect everything else. I took care of my springtime honey do's, prepared the Formula for sale and was able to sell it in 30 days. I them focused on another little (literally) project. 33' plus my crew cab Duramax is about all my neighborhood and driveway will stand before I start cutting across lawns to make turns. So I worked up an idea for an alternate means of moving my trailer in and out when I want to work on the boat. This prevents me from having to unhook it from the truck when I need to make a run to pick up something. So after looking on the internet at several options I decided to build my own trailer mover.

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It took a couple of weeks of nights and weekends and two different frames to get this far. I used two separate 12v motors with independent controls so I can steer it. I can't believe I didn't do this 20 years ago. My boat sits on the side of the house, back about 60' from my garage, behind a gate that I have to keep opening and closing. Now I just pull it out in front of the garage, do my chores and put it back (exactly where I want it) when done. This winter I'll rework some things and build a cover over it so I can leave it outside with a solar charger hooked up to the batteries.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to accomplish my main goal of unhooking in the street and backing in with the mover because my drive way is on an incline where it meets the street and the weight of the boat will try to flip the mover on its side when I turn it perpendicular to the trailer to make a hard turn. I haven't given up on the main goal but it's now a side project for later. Will update this at a later date.

Now for the boat. For the last several weeks I've been addressing a number of knick/knack items, bad battery, leaking water pump, leaking drive trim lines, leaking tire valve stems, cover modifications to completely cover the boat because unfortunately it has to live outdoors and most importantly getting the thing on plane quickly and easily. I have resolved some of these issues and have things in motion for all of the others. Will provide details on all of these soon.

Stay tuned...

I did a Poker Run in 2001 with Pedal Pusher and the X-Muscle Powerplay. Cool boats.

Took the boat our for a third time this past weekend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4iLz6vAVDw

I got to about 83 mph at approx 4700 and got into some chine walk so I decided to leave well enough alone for the time being and pulled back. Other than not getting on plane worth a $#!+, the rest of the ride went well.


Stay tuned...

Modified existing cover to protect sides. Work done by West Wind Sails in Mandeville, LA. Pretty good workmanship and done in one day, that was the amazing part. Cost for labor was $790. I purchased Sunbrella Plus fabric from Ebay for $18.95 a linear yard at the time, it's now $14.95 which is a screaming deal if anyone needs fabric. Link below:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SUNBRELLA-PL...-/272301542311

The fabric is is 80" wide so I ordered 42' and cut it in half to do each side. The Sunbrella Plus doesn't come in purple, the black in my opinion is a nice contrast. it should also hide the black lines that form from dirt washing down off the top of the cover when it rains.

Years ago I had problems propping up a cover to my liking so my solution was exercise balls. They are $7 at Walmart. In this case I only need on to keep the rain water from puddling. It sits between the front bolsters and makes a nice rounded support that doesn't exert excessive pressure in one spot on the cover.

A last minute idea I had was to come up with something to keep the sun off the transom. I had a flap installed that could be rolled up if need to do maintenance or what ever.

Overall I thought the finished product came out nice and should do a good job of preserving the goods for years to come. Unfortunately I don;t have indoor storage so this will hopefully serve as the next best thing.

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Stay tuned...

I wondered how much of an issue getting on plane was with this boat. That answers my question. I'm sure you'll sort it out, Jason. :)

Congrats, that is a cool boat for sure! Was the name originally derived from a cycling background? I always assumed it was pedal as in gas pedal. Sounded better than "throttle lever pusher". LOL

Is the boat still set up to run close to 100mph?

Thanks. The original owner has a bicycle shop, hence the name. The boat was originally set up to run 100 and both the 1st and 2nd owners tell me that it did with the original set up which was drives turning in and no drive spacers. I believe that the 2nd owner added 2" spacers to help it get on plane and the third owner changed rotation both to help getting on plane. I don't think it made much difference because that is the main problem with the boat. And it doesn't currently run 100. It is my understanding that the props are the same ones that ran 100 so I plan to remove the spacers, test, change rotation, test and then decide what to do with the props regarding planing. I will post results.

hey Jason
this is john ,,brains bud with the no agenda 33 PP
where were the motors trimmed at to the k planes when u were getting the chine walk over 80
as in video sure looks like the boat was bow down or bow steering causing the walk
I know brians boat when I drive it
,,,,,,,,,,over 70 pull up the planes and trim up a descent amount to get bow up,,,,,,,,,,,
and in ur case to learn the boat ,when starts chine walking lightly pull back throttles till walk stops
then trim up a bump on motors and ease back in throttles
to see how much more motor trim to get bow up
to ride more on back of boat ,,,,,,
to learn where the boat likes to ride

My 33 with #4's used to chine walk over 80 if I was trimmed to far in. Get to like 70, pull the tabs all the way up and trim the drives out until it porpoises then trim down one click at a time until it stops. When you have it set like that mash the throttle to the dash and see what it does. It should run well with everything set like that.

Thanks John, Brian called Kevin and told him the same thing. I've had previous experiences with over trimming leading to chine walking so I was probably conservative on the trim position thinking I would add additional trim once I reached speed stop increasing. Perhaps I just need to be in a better position before I go for it.I do know that the props were worked for drives with no spacer and the previous owner added 2" spacers trying to get it to plane. I was thinking this may have something to do with it for that fact that the 4 blades by being deeper are getting a better bite and adding additional stern lift from what they were intended to to do. I'm assuming that the closer to the surface you get the less leverage the prop has and the less it will lift the stern or the bow and simply just try to go forward.Also, I would say the tabs were sightly up, I can try raising them up as well.

I found some old notes from the second owner who noted the drives should by in position 5 for top speed.From the video it looks like I was at 3. Assuming the indicators cables are clamped in the same location from when the notes were taken you're probably on to something. In any cases it's an easy enough thing to try and I appreciate the input.

302, did you have side by side 4's or staggered? Thanks for the input!

Side by side on extension boxes but no notch. Boat also had no cabin so it was pretty light in the nose.

Congrats on the boat, very cool Gizmo you have to move the boat around, did you make it ?

Thanks 33, yes from scratch. As with anything hindsight is 20/20 so I'll be tweaking some things later in the year when the weather forces me inside. I'll take better pics of the refined version in case any one else wants to try something similar.

no problem on the input,,,,,
my little 27 with trips is a wicked little ***** on excelleration and top speed
and kept moving motors up till the transom settled and was riding where I wanted it to be
with cleaver props also
2 different boats but same principal
so yes props will be surfacing to where they want to be and lift transom a bit more
that gives the bow less lift
as why I described trimming up a in baby steps to learn what it likes
as me and other said can use tabs for smoother ride below 70
but around that mph pull em up
then trim up a tad and roll in throttles
if starts to walk and bow still planted
back out some trim more and back in
trying to find the sweet spot once the hull airs out
and 70-75 on is where most hulls air out
u don't want to trim out whil under throttle and walking as hull is already out of shape
want it to be cruising and when decide to make a power pass, to pre set everything and drive through smoothly

also im bringing the Excalibur to the patriot and sun buns poker runs in aug
so looking forward to see u and boat there
brian will have the pp and hopefully the skater also

Forgot about the Patriot. I got 2 get busy, hope I can get props resolved by then....

A little maintenance over the weekend, decided to change oil and take a look in the filters: Engines have hoses connected to the bottom of the pans with a 1/4" MPT that is capped. Unfortunately they're not routed to the drain plugs so they can drain by gravity so I had to pump the oil out:

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Whenever I decide to pull the engines I'll connect the hoses to the drain plugs with a stainless fishing leader, worked real good on a previous boat.

The oil filters are mounted horizontal so that was a pain in the ass, have to poke holes in the filter and drain into a bucket before unscrewing. Oil was dark, 10 quarts per engine. Wix filters were clean, oil in bottom of filter was pretty clean with just a very, very slight amount of very, very fine shiny/metallic particles, no flakes. Not over concerned at this point, will change filters again in a couple of weeks and compare

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Installed new WIx filters, p/n 51060, may use the racing filter next time for increased flow. Refilled with 20 quarts of M1-15W/50. Purchased from Walmart in 5 quart jugs, by far the best pricing ($22 for 5 quarts)

Have a 1976 P&D 24 this is the fishing deck not the speedboat type. Owned for 30 years and had the smoothest ride of boats in it class