Mercury Film Archives - 50000 Miles by Outboard (1957)
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2024
- Overview:
The United States Auto Club supervises a test of dependability and durability as two Mercury Mark 75 outboard powered boats endure a 50,000 mile run around Mercury's legendary Lake X in Central Florida!
Background:
E. Carl Kiekhaefer, president of Kiekhaefer Marine (which would become Mercury Marine in 1971), took to the skies of central Florida in 1957 in a small, single-engine plane in search of a site away from prying eyes - and complaining neighbors - where he could secretly test his marine engines day and night. The result of his search, like so many other Kiekhaefer projects, would become the stuff of legends.
From the air, the team spotted 1,400-acre Lake Conlin in a parcel of woods and swampland, inhabited by alligators, snakes and panthers. What better place for a secret test facility? And to throw would-be spies off the trail during purchase negotiations, Kiekhaefer’s team referred to the site only as "Lake X." Much to the delight of boating writers everywhere, the name stuck. Teams of workers from Fond du Lac traveled to Lake X for months at a time to build seawalls, boat launches, work buildings and even a six-room "motel." The crew slept in trailers, ate meals in tents and was under strict orders to reveal nothing regarding activities at the lake.
In time, Lake X would become a temporary home to race teams and boat builders everywhere who sought improved performance by their boats. The six-inch "Dialed in at Lake X" decal was, and remains today, coveted by serious performance boaters. Perhaps the most legendary project at Lake X was the historic "Operation Atlas." To counter criticism aimed at the longevity of his products, Kiekhaefer conceived a non-stop, "around the world" endurance run using two boats powered by Mercury Mark 75 outboards. After 34 days, 11 hours, 47 minutes and 5.4 seconds, the lead boat completed its 4,526th lap of Lake X for a total distance of 25,003 miles. It was followed only minutes later by the second boat, enshrining Operation Atlas as the most exotic of all endurance events in marine history.
I still run a 1966 Merc 650 on a '66 Glaspar avalon, that my dad bought new. We grew up skiing, tubing, knee boarding, and cruising with it. I personally have used this boat and motor every year since 1995. I have done all the maintenance on this motor. With the thousands of hours on this motor, the repairs have been minimal. Lower end seals, impeller, fuel pump diaphragms, ignition parts, and a magneto bearing. Starts in 17 degree (mountain fishing trip) or 100 degree weather.
Thanks for your comment. I believe old tech is much more quality than modern staff.
Watching from Kazakhstan)
the later 3 cyl 65hp then wildly overrated at 70hp before going back down to 50hp decals when the 1980's prop hp ratings came out .... those were literally the worst mercs ever made. as mentioned underpowered and had many ignition and carb issues. i have one in my shop as a curiosity.
What a feat of engineering and human endurance.
Thank you for this UA-cam!
Don't thank UA-cam. Thank Mark.
What a phenomenal achievement for Kiekhafer. Having been born and Fond du Lac and moved to Central Florida as a young man it makes me extremely proud to have followed the history and the legend that this man created. Beer,brats and broads is all a young man needs at least for a little while.
add the Brewers and I’m with ya
Why is it that his name is in front of all these motors??btw
I'm commenting several years later, but I really enjoyed watching this. Can you imagine the safety regulations and harnesses that would have to be worn today if that re-fueling procedure was attempted today ? It probably couldn't be done. Hopping from one boat to the other at 30 MPH...I bet that was a real rush..!! Those men were courageous and tough..!!
you'll know the tank is full when gas starts dumping into the lake
What big handle's lol.
Holy Cow, they are doing everything I was taught not to do !!!
Reminds me of our first boat on Lake Huron. My dad built a “kit boat “ 16 foot cabin cruiser and we had a used mark 75. It was a screamer! The most unusual feature of the engine was it had no neutral. When you moved the single handle from forward to reverse, the engine stopped and you had to hit the starter button again to get it started in reverse. This , made for some very exciting docking maneuvers.. especially when it didn’t fire up in reverse immediately!
That’s amazing. This test is 20 years of hours, but not twenty years of starting and shifting…
Man, what a time to be alive, I can only imagine.
Having been born in 62 I can tell you that it was truly an awesome time to be alive although the black cloud of Kennedy's assassination eventually gave way to better and brighter things and after Jimmy Carter finished his mess when Ronald Reagan came in in 1980 and things really took off and I was 18 years old then it was truly glorious.
Peace
This was a great video to see how the inline 6 tower was a motor that even now couldn't have a true competitor. I've owned 2 mercs, the boat they took turns on was a 1973 19' Sportcraft cuddy cabin which weighed in at approximately 1400 lbs and the first motor was a '73 Merc 800, 80 hp and while running perfectly for 10+ years it was a little underpowered. Which meant it was running about 4500rpm for a decent cruise speed, wide open was a hair under 34mph at 5200rpm. After selling that I went for the 6 cylinder tower at 90hp, being a detuned version of the 115hp and the 150hp towers. The speed difference was only a couple of mph but the biggest difference between the 4 cylinder 80hp and the 6 cylinder 90hp was the torque the 90 had, topping 36mph at 5500rpm. Both were great motors as when the boat was filled with people where the 80 took longer to plane the 90 popped it right up. Great motors, especially the 90hp tower. Just wanted to share my experience with Mercury motors. BTW, a friend of mine had pretty much the same boat with an evinrude 85hp v-4, my 80 was ever so slightly faster, pulling away slowly, now that could mean 1 of 2 things; either Mercury underrated the 80 or that evinrude overrated the 85.
Dominick Sforza Mercury didn’t make an 80hp in 73, they had an 85. The 80hp was a 72 or earlier and the 80hp came back in 78. 73-77 was an 85. The speed difference between an 90 in line 6 and a 150 in line was well over 10-12 mph or more (depending on boat) and the 115 well over 5mph.
Awesome video. I bet those drivers were deaf after 4 hours sitting right next to the engine.
Man that was gold. Thank you so much for sharing.
Very cool....I'm a mechanic in Brazil and an outboard motor enthusiast.
My house backs up to the Lake X Ranch. Mercury has starting testing their engines out there again after over a ten year hiatus. It is one of the most beautiful places in Central Florida, and still far from any dense development. The lake is surrounded by a 10,000 acre ranch, and it’s owner leased the lake and facilities to Mercury. The owner passed away and the property is held in a foundation that keeps it from being developed. The facility is old and seen better days, but is still very cool. You must be let in the entrance through a guard shack and gate, and the entire 10,000 acre ranch has a 10 foot chain link fence with barbed wire around the ENTIRE property. Can’t imagine what it cost in fence alone to maintain security.
😎
I did some work out there years ago in the early 90's
My grandpa works for Mercury Marine from the sixties all the way up into the mid nineties when he passed away. To the mid nineties. We Would ride out to Is lake X to look at the deer all the time.
By contrast, 97% of all Harleys ever made are still on the road. Only 3% reported to have made it back home.
Yep there junk !!
i love videos like this. i wish they would do another test like this maybe with a 60 mercury 4 stroke now in a bass tracker pro 175 or something close to that and see how they hold up today.
I love my 2000 Mercury 150 2 stroke saltwater series great motor
I bought 2 1997 black max 175hp for $1,200 bucks, one was blown i put the other back together, man that thing sounded wicked, sounded like an Indy car, i ended up selling that motor for $1,800 made a little profit, I still have the other, it's the counter rotating one, well at least the lower unit is, i bought them cause i was going to convert my inboard to outboards but never did, this is all so cool.
WOW what a great video, it really makes me feel good about Mercury 115-HP Tower of Power L6.
Those kiekhaefer motors were indestructible. Had two of them handed down to me. Dropped one off a dock, pulled it out, let it sit for a night and fired it right back up. Had sand all over inside it. Ran the thing hard until it got stolen a few years ago. Miss that thing. Handsome motor imo.
I would have liked to hear what the before and after compression test numbers were.
Them Old Mercury 2-stroke triples aren't no f****** joke man I got one of my boat they're fast as hell still out produce just about anything that's out on the water today pound for pound cubic inch for cubic inch there's still one of the baddest Motors out there
They could brung that cowling back any time
Keikhaefer super hurricane 18 horse is what I still run !
In Australia where we mostly boat on fresh water. Mercury whilst powerfull have always been called " black death" due to corrosion. Omc were the pick for long life. Now its Yamaha
Back when products were made to last for ever not for more money
We had a 16’ Dixie boat when I was a kid with a 58A Mercury Engine. I think it was a 58 hp. We would pull 5 people skiing behind it.
my dad had 2 mercury outboards 1 9.8 bought new in 1964 and used in commercial fishing on local rivers it ran flawless with no problems other regular service it was traded in 1985 for a 1978 20 hp ,that motor hauled our 14 ft fishing boat at about 30 mph and got good fuel economy
wish i could find another 20 or 25!
My father bought a 60 hp Merc in 1959.
It took him 5 years to wear it out with lots of adventures.
I remember surfing in between the breakers on the Westport bar.
Clark Magnuson We had a 60 purchased in 1963. it ran 20 years for us.
20:1 that's a lot of oil
About 320 gallons of oil each for the 50,000 mile run.
@@otm646 no close tolerance there.
"Rugged individualism" , you don't hear that much anymore.........
That's why we don't accomplish much anymore, too many hiding behind others , they call it inclusive teamwork....lmao.
Trump !
I have a participation award.
Ain’t that the truth. I think kids are grown up overprotected and not allowed to learn life lessons. Too much entitlement.
Rugged Individualism would hurt many people's feelings today. Don't hurt them, please.
Motor was so light back then. Two guys just took it off like it was nothing. Try doing that woth a 60 big foot now. Lol
Lots of 2 stokes back those days ran at 16:1
16:30 Check out the "rugged individualist"
13:26 Love the 57 Plymouth Wagon towing the boat!! Thank you!!
And the Willys Overland with the "Mobile Phone"
Funny, I just watched this movie and I have a mid 1974 80hp Thunderbolt and all I have done to it is replace the stator and trigger and the water pumps along the way it still runs as good as the day I got it!
They didn’t make an 80hp in 74, Mercury made an 85hp. They had and 80 in 72 and back and I think they made an 80hp in 78 and forward.
Changing spark plugs confuses me not sure how? Great video!
Impressive!! These people “went for the Gusto”.
I had a couple those old motors, a 1959 6 Cylinder 70 horse it was a beast, the engineering that went into them was amazing the motor did not have reverse, instead the motor started in reverse it had 2 set of points and 2 power coils amazing, if you look closely at the boat you will see the throttle with a button on top the started button, pull it to the center and it killed the motor pull it a little farther back and hit the starter button and it started in reveres awesome motor, mercury is still the best.
Years ago down in the Keys I was on a fishing vessel that was powered by huge three cylinder diesel that they did the same thing with counter-mounted starters so that once you killed it you could start it in reverse though I don't remember what other accoutrements it had being a diesel all it needed was the glow plugs and the fuel injection. It was a pretty interesting vessel.
@@feellucky271 Probably 20 years ago my neighbor up the street had bought a boat, it was a glasstron, well anyway, he was out in his front yard messing with the motor, his idiot neighbor was there with him, they had the 115hp mercury outboard rev up way up and blew it up, so after that it just sat there for weeks, then one day i stopped and asked what he was going to do with it, i ended up Trading some work for it, i pulled it apart they had blown a whole through one of the pistons, so i got the parts fix it and thet thing ran like a top, if i remember right, it was a 1974 115hp 6 cylinder inline mercury outboard, 2stroke engines were and still are some of the toughest engines out there especially the old Mercury's.
Grew up behind Dad's Mark 78 on the. California Delta,local, Resivours & Lakes.. Ain't no johnsen,that's for sure #merc 👈😎👍
Back when the chrome was thick and men were straight!
This should be done again with todays motors.
wolfpackflt670 They can't because the motors won't make it 50k miles.
Right some sensor would go off a degree
@@bassman4201000 Any motor from Japan will.
@@srdjan272able No they won’t. Not all of them.
I luv any older motor sports, this great I live in FL since 1965. Not lake x but I did stay at the holiday inn
This is a crazy test for a motor that runs non-stop non-stop 50,000 miles it's a space motor space technology I'm amazed at how strong the crankshaft and cylinders and pistons are wow amazing that's what's so good about a two stroke engine fill it up with petrol and oil and drive for life
The next tests should of been . Hours of coming out of the hole to plane over and over again . Shutting it down to air temp then restart run back up to cruising temp . Basically how the consumer would be beating on it .
That was all done before the pull tab on beer cans. Must have been hell.
Watching in 2019 and would love to know if one of these boats are still around.
MY Dad was a Mercury dealer in 50-60 and he showed this film back then
Could you imagine finding one of those boxes (@ 10:11) now in the back of an old warehouse....unopened!!
@Duffelbag Drag I know!! Me too!
THAT WAS SlMPLY AMAZlNG. l WlSH ALL THE MAJOR OUTBOARD COMPANlES WOULD ATTEMPT THlS SAME PROJECT/TEST TODAY. l WONDER HOW EACH WOULD FARE TODAY.
Made in AMERICA!!
Only assembled in the USA, they use engines from Japan mainly Suzuki and under 40hp they use Tohatsu. I have a 1961 50 Mercury and its a rebranded Suzuki, all the parts for it say Suzki on them, just Google it, plus I have just seen they are now made in China! shame as they was one of the best outboards ever! :( www.iboats.com/shop/1600-seloc-suzuki-outboards-2-225hp-1988-2003-repair-manual-1-3-cylinder-v4-v6-2-stroke-includes-fuel-injectio.html
Wow ! I did not know this..wow!
Having actually worked there, I was a bit taken back by the total lack of floatation/safety gear back in those days . This was especially noticeable when they jumped from one boat to another during refueling, yikes!. In the modern era, this would have been a major no no.
Thanks Captain Obvious.
Back then we all knew how to swim and we were tougher than we took our legs without complaining or suing anybody just like these motors it's all a bygone Era.
Sad it's gone.
Later, it was revealed the mechanics had found a way to circumvent the seals placed by USAC and had replaced key components including at least one powerhead while Carl Kiekaefer took the USAC officials to lunch in St. Cloud. It is almost certain Kiekaefer didn't know about this. He was known to be quite a hard-ass and it's likely this was done by the crew not to disappoint "The Old Man" as he was known. This was chronicled in his biography "Iron Fist." But still, it was a really cool stunt.
Could you share your source? I thought this was really cool and I'd like to read/watch what you did.
I too would like to see source...
Duncan is full of shit they were watched the whole time and the motor number on the power heads were the same ones! It's all in the Mercury Museum today so you can see it.
Awesome video
Loved this upload.
Did the do the 7000mi spark plug service at a stop or during the run???
Thats an example quality of production, who done the equal endurance test?
6 in line like magic.. what more useful on water 2 or 4t. I dont know why Yamaha now seems to be so popular? every Yamaha have a lot of problems: first is water in gear, next (I sure it planned) problems with piston rings and cylinders with Yamalube in fuel. I am afraid travel up to 60-70 km on "Enduro-40" - and here is 50000m around aworld,.. awesome video, Thanks from Russia!
A good enduro yamaha is reliable in extreme use
Mercury marine, number one on the water
This had to be so fun to do back then.
Go Mercury Marine!
It would interesting if one of the big boys would make a run like this now how it would turn out
The one thing that really sticks out to me is the lack of life jackets.
I would like to see this redone in 2023
The days of honesty n principles of a gone by era gone for ever never to return again actually i only had 3 outboard motors as they where all thirsty all 2 strokes the Mercury classic 50 4 pots in line rebranded 45 HP was by far the best really superbly smooth running the Chrysler 55 LS gave me the most troubles n the Archimedes Penta was good but not as good the the Mercury
Back in American Manufacturing’s Heyday. The best time in America. Following the end of the war in 1945 - 1959 before the crazy 60’s.
Everyone I know who runs Mercury has it in the shop for one thing or another every year. I'm running a 1987 Johnson 90hp V4. I fog the motor when I put it down for the winter. It gets new spark plugs every season and fresh lower unit oil. I t just keeps running and running.
There is a reason they are called "black anchors".
sdvten Great stupid comment!
James Bach Everyone you know who runs a Mercury DOES not have it in the shop. You are a liar and a troll. Your 87 90 Johnson undoubtedly has had a VRO failure as did many with that horrible oil injection system they had.
I still run almost every weekend a 1986 90 hp tower of power for last 13 years been and excellent outboard very little problems only complaint bad fuel mileage shes a thristy ol girl
I like what they said at a minute and 35 seconds mobile phone in 1957
I am sure it was a car phone fitted for the boat...the car phone i phone was invited in 1946
@11:41 Disassembling an engine while smoking a sigarrette 😆
Nice video, thanks for sharing
running 20-1 did you notice the blackened end caps. these engines were running in the best of environment. Unleaded gas in 57?? This is a good promo to proceed the Advertising lies of the the 60's. Like Atomic Wash? Ect.
Had a Merc on a Bayliner, every time something got fixed, something else broke. Spent more time down than running. Had my Yamaha 12 yrs. No down time.
Car phones in '57.....whoaa!!! Big ballers
No quiet quitting here!
I don't care about the outboards, I want that wagon they were transporting them in.
I found a 66 Nova four-door station wagon Cherry condition the paint buffed out all the Chrome was still there I bought it for a hundred bucks put a battery in it and drove it home amazing. Down in Zephyrhills about 10-12 years ago.
Incredible.
We had a Mark 75. Seems to be underrated on power. It was very strong. Pulled 5 skiers out of the water at once. I've tried to find a torque spec but no success. Must be a torque monster.
Would like to see any new motor manufacturer do this? Would they show little or no wear.
How cool!
Great video. Thanks
Where can I buy one of these. Fueling up at full speed.
I just want to find one the the original test boats really good looking runabout and would be really cool to put new Mercury power on the back a 60R I think would look so sharp.
They had a mobile phone wow in 1957
Actually it’s a mobeal telephone
And THAT, children, is how we won the war!
Questions?
Ну на Вихре точно столько не осилю. У нас в 57 только начали собирать Москву даже Вихря не было)
Now it it not uncommon for the old omc engines from the 80s and 90s to go 8000+ hours. At 30 mph, that's a quarter million miles!
8000 hours really isn’t impressive. That’s running around the clock for a year.
Any motor will last forever if you never turn it off however this is still very impressive.
Spark plug and distributor changes and head light changes were logged.
6:11 20:1 ratio?!?! Now it's 50:1! Did the oil get better, or emissions stricter? Maybe I should mix my BlackMax 200 2.5L 20:1, lol
Oil got better and materials got better and machining tolerances got tighter.
There is a very good book written about the history of Elmer Carl Kiehaefer
called,,, The Iron Fist
Pegleg Noid I've read Iron Fist myself and it is and excellent biography/ documentary on Kiekhaefer. The guy was light years ahead of his time and an Engineering genuis. Best two stroke outboards engines ever produced bar none.
#Genius
Pegleg Noid
I read the book as well
American ingenuity Mercury and OMC were both good companies that backed their products and were dedicated to quality
Mercury withheld their position but Evinrude made many mistakes. VOVLO< YAMAMA AND DEF HONDA ARE NOW RUNNING THOSE CIRCLES. But yeah we had a lot of great Ingenuity and we are now losing a lot of that in this country. Were depending on other companies for that ingenuity.
Got a 63 Johnson 10 horse that starts first pull every time. Dad has an 82 Mariner 50 (same engine as the Mercury afaik) starts first try every time. You have to appreciate good engineering
Dan Manthe I have a 82 Johnson seahorse 25 horse and a 63 Evinrude lightwin 4 horse. The 4 horse saved me from being stranded 16 miles in the gulf of Mexico. When the flywheel decided to come apart on the 25. I'd trust both of those to take me wherever I wanted on the water.
Ren Höek bet that was a long ride with the 4 hp!
Dan Manthe little over 2 hours. But damn those old engines just purr. Plus wasn't to expensive to repair the 25 horse. Hate to see a new engines flywheel price
Rugged dependability!
Cuz she knowed he had a mercury!
"Gator dead no time to take active action, heard large thump"
If you want the best, settle for nothing less.
Interesting!
Это безумный тест для мотора безастоновочно нон стоп 50 000 миль это космический мотор космические технологии я поражен насколько прочный коленвал и цилинры и поршня у мотора вау потресающе вот чем хорошь двух такный мотор заливай бензин с маслом и ездий хоть всю жизнь
16:20, house trailer? Love the old name.
The guy with the chalkboard is funny... i'm pretty sure they had light powerful radios by then lol
Yeah they had a Mobil phone but no Walkie talkie. Those old 2 strokes were loud too.imagine the bitching and complaining from the public now a days with that noise going all night
The best part is it's in colour.
The quality is not the same now
Qatari Man, I would expect the quality to be much better today.
Qatari Man Mercury Outboards are still great today.
Outboards are more reliable today
You are not lying about that.
Today’s outboard motors will not be even be rebuildable 60 years from now ( too many electronics and plastics).
20:1. anything will last with that ratio
flyguy737 even ignition systems?
Both metallurgy and oil properties have come a long way over the 60 years since this was done. Not a fair comparison.
my outboard is 50:1
K.A.L&company
We ran our Mark 75 at 16:1 back then!
flyguy737 oil has improved leaps and bounds since those days
7 foot waves?
Maybe 7 feet apart?
The Tower of Power.
I'm the proud owner of a 650 thunderbolt four cylinder
Engines and Cars from that time run even today (look in Cuba) but today a Engine or Car cant even survive the first 3 years after Production.....how sad is that....