Interesting. I first ran into Paul at Water Tower Marine, Fox Lake ab... read more Interesting. I first ran into Paul at Water Tower Marine, Fox Lake about 6 years ago with poorly running Honda BF50A Outboard, due I supposed, to stale gas. Paul suggested the carbs needed to be rebuilt which I would typically do, but after discussion, it made sense to have it done. The bill was in the $350 range and I swear the motor never ran so smooth! What a diff. A year ago, I hunted Paul up again (now at DS Marine)to do the impeller. Again the work was done as agreed and made a big difference. The only issue I had was a noise under the fly wheel cover which turned out to be a razor blade left on the fly wheel, not good but easy to fix for a gear head. We never discussed water testing. Then, last July we ran into a terrific gale on Lake Winnebago in our trailer-able sail boat. For four hours the Honda kept us running at four knots in six to eight foot seas literally saving our lives. You bet, I gave Paul a call to thank him!
By far the best mechanic I have ever seen. His labor rate is significa... read more By far the best mechanic I have ever seen. His labor rate is significantly cheaper than any of the big marinas in town, $30hr cheaper, and he really knows what he is doing. Clean shop, great service, and he stands by his work.
For those that like the short version. They will lie cheat and steal f... read more For those that like the short version. They will lie cheat and steal from you. Stay away. RIP OFF!! For those that need more confirmation read on. I brought these guys my outdrive to look at because it would not go in to reverse. This is the same problem I had 2 seasons earlier and they supposedly repared. Paul calls and says it is not related and needs gears and some of same work again and qoutes $3500. I must pay $1000.00 in advance to special order parts. I authorize work and give deposit over phone. They call and say work completed on outdrive and they water tested boat and it works great. When he called I had remembered that the trim gauge was not working and asked Paul to check. He said he would but I first had to pay the balance on first repair. So I gave him remaining $2500.00 due over phone. Paul calls back days later and says need solenoid for trim gauge it is $330.00 part plus labor and has to be special ordered and would take a week or so to get, It was week before memorial day so I said ok I will pick up boat pay for part and bring boat back to have solenoid put in after it is in. I went with a friend who also has had his boat there for 4 months and they still have not fixed it. He was happy to go with me so he could check up on his progress. I went and payed $330.00 cash to person behind desk as instructed by Paul to order part and was given a receipt for the cash payment for the part. I was also given the repair bill I had paid previosly over the phone. I drove boat to ramp and put in water and started up boat.After motor started I could hear motor knocking. A knocking that was never there before.I shut off motor after running for maybe a minute to check oil. I could see and hear water coming out the side of the engine block and filling the boat with water. The plug on the side of motor was broken and leaking badly. So if Paul water tested boat how did he not overheat it if its water cooled engine and its pumping right out of block. WHich is why my
