The demise of OMC

[Skoontz]

There are going to be numerous reasons for their demise posted, and comming from an OMC family, I was sadened to see their filing for chapter 11 and reorganization under Green Marine, and eventual shift to Bombardier.

By 1965, OMC had the largest die cast aluminum manufacturing plant in the world and employed thousands of people.

Lets step back a bit. Around 1980 give or take, Brunswick, Mercury's parent company began buying boat companies and selling packages with their Mercury engines. By the late 80's, there was an economic shift because of the luxury tax Regan had placed on items such as Ferrari's and boats. It destroyed the small boat builders such as Switzercraft to name one. So, OMC decides to get into the boat building business when all they really needed to do was offer the existing manufacturers to pre-rig for their engines rather than dropping all the badly needed capital on another industry.

Second, you had the enviro knumbskulls pushing cleaner engines, so, oil injected motors were being made. OMC's system at first was very flawed and they ended up replacing alot of blocks that seized. Add the two and you got the beginning of the end.

Any insiders have anything to add, I'm all ears.

[Mark75H]

OMC followed Merc in buying boat companies to sell packages ... even though Merc bought their boats when interest rates were low and OMC paid premium prices for the boat companies and for the money to buy them. Borrowing when interest rates are high ... dumb idea

[Jeff Akers]

OMC, Having the best warranty in the industry (at the time) Lost a ton of $$ on failed powerheads from the VRO Pump and its related worning systems.

By the time they started selling off some of the boat companies and failing to keep the COBRA merger with Volvo Penta, the upper manegment seemed to be looking at saving money in the wrong places. ie enjenering and manufacturing.

We sudenly saw V6 gearcases that were in the past almost bullet proof fail in numbers:confused: . The tooling was out dated and worn out ..They out sourced for a short time with little or no results.....They put the FICHT injected engines on the market way before the bugs got worked out:mad:

It was like an airplane in a tail spin.......and damnd if it didn't crash !

Lets just hope BRP will turn it all around. E-tec is looking pretty good sofar:cool:

P.S. I've worked for the same OMC/BRP dealer for over 23 years. We only sell Evinrude and Johnson Motors......I race with an OMC engine...Go figure;)

[Skoontz]

Jeff:

Were you around OMC long enough to see the 3 year from purchase warranty change to 2 years, then drop to an 18 month, then a year?

During the time they had a 3 year warranty people were running their engines near 8 seasons before they brought them back for the first tune up, so long as they unplugged the fuel line and ran the carb dry. It made me cry to see that stuff happening to what was the best in the business.

As far as Bombradier, if they do what they do with the snowmobiles and wave runners, Johnson/Evinrude will be back on top in no time.

Imagine what would have happened if Ole Evinrude did not get tired of rowing when he brought his then girlfriend back that ice cream.......

[Jeff Akers]

[QUOTE=Skoontz]Jeff:

Were you around OMC long enough to see the 3 year from purchase warranty change to 2 years, then drop to an 18 month, then a year?

QUOTE]


Yes, It was a bad time for OMC...Heck, good luck trying to find an extended warranty at the time also :( I think they went through 3 differant companies in 3 years:eek:

[Roy Hodges]

together with all that's been said, it did not help , that the big shots all gave themselves platinum (more than golden) parachutes , before destroying the corp.

[Jeff Akers]

together with all that's been said, it did not help , that the big shots all gave themselves platinum (more than golden) parachutes , before destroying the corp.

I Agree 100% with the above post!

[Ron Hill]

Ted May got Jack Leek to give me a ride at Havasu, 1966. Fresh out of college and wanting Boat Racing to be the largest motorsports venue in the world, I would have died to do anything to make boat racing bigger and better....

I hung out during the summers around Waukegan and lived part time in the Travel Lodge in Waukegan. I learned a lot about the company. It was OLD SCHOOL for sure: Management and Others....

I remember, like yesterday, (1968) testing a Switzer Wing at Sevard's at Havasu Springs. Ray Nydahl would not put the boat on the trailer until he saw 100 on the Keller....At dark and without enough gas to get back to the trailer, Ray saw that MAGIC number....

After we cleaned up, Ray and I were having a martini in the bar....I asked about the new three cyclinder looper, as I thought this might be the answer for kneeldown racing, especially a replacemnt for the Mark 75-H, which were almost nonexsist and even then.

Ray started telling me about the engine, and dyno readings and what he thought he could do to make the mother whistle...Ray got called on the carpet, in the bar, by an OMC Brass for telling me "CLASSIFIED" information... Hell, I'd just won the Havasu World Champiuonship, and Chicago To Milwaukee, with Ray Nydhal motors, we were testing for Parker....Wasn't I "ONE OF THE BRASS"????

Ray quit OMC soon after Parker.....

Outboard Racing started to "BALLOON" and I thought we'd be as huge as INDY, maybe bigger, and for sure bigger than those "Door Slammers" in NASCAR...

OMC BRASS had a dream, too, of single engines, I dreamed of four engine rigs....At the Galveston 250 Speed Classic, the singles ran first and the fans layed around and yawned...much like they always did at little outboard races.....

Then, the twins and triples came out....Jimmy Merten had this triple Jone with three stackers on the back, he was in line ahead of me going to the launch ramp, when that boat towed by the crowd, they literally attacked the boat...they knocked the fence down but they wanted to see that triple mother...

And see it they did, Jimmy raced everyone's *** off that day and the crowd went wild....I want to say I finished 5, with my twin Jones, after the race, and I was hot as hell, so I walked back from the launch ramp to my pit by walking in the awter to cool off....As the boats, went by the crowd was cheering, when Merten went by they went wild....

I stopped at the burger stand and was getting a coke and I heard Charlie Strang (OMC) and Gary Garbrecht (MercurY Racing) (Standing behind me)..agreeing to only race single engines, next year......I turned around and said, "Did you guys see the crowd watching the single engine boats??? They were taking naps... Did you see what the crowd did to the fence???? When Mertan went by??? They knocked the sucker down...Fans want to see power...."

I flew home that night and thought seriously about quitting boat racing....Single engines, that totally sucked....

I started racing MOD VP, because the speeds were what I thought I could handle, and I was tired of Mercury and OMC only having a few engines for the "CHOSEN"....I was having dinner with the Chief Engineer of OMC and I asked him if he planned to change the swivel pin on the 235, like I had done, so they would break....Actually, I didn't do it, Tim Soares, did, after Dick Knight's swivel pin broke....I was told they knew of no such problem....But the next year they changed this part, like my dad had told them to do, which was to machine the groove with curves rather than square corners.... Did anyone at OMC ever mention a THANK YOU Ron/Russ Hill????? Or Tim Soares??? (NO!!)

That same night, pre V-8 days, I was explaining what Dick Sherrer was doing with LA. Sleeves....(Guess where the V-8 sleeves came from)??? Also that night, I was told for the next year they could do anything in engineering for the new OMC models as long as it was cheaper....I said, "You're F%$#ING kidding??? OMC will go broke over that kind of thinking."

Not long after than, Yamaha Marine had a little problem with their V-6 motors....(Burning rods)... Ted Zahorski gave me and my dad about six dumpsters of V-6 motors and asked me to ask my dad if he saw why they failed....My dad sanded the rods thinner on a surface place and the needles did not fail on our Yamaha Mod VP (Not enough room between the crank and the rod for oil to get through, especailly at idle of 100:1 oil).... My dad told Ted, Ted told Yamaha...My dad got a letter from Yamaha and they wanted a bill for his time....

Two different compaines, two different management styles...

OMC built a race V-8 with an even fire crankshaft that still makes you have chills when you hear them...But they made JOHN Q. PUBLIC's V-8 sound like a V-4 TURD, because of the firing order...I've forgotten, and I knew, but HONDA MOTORS spent millions of dollars making their little "PUSSY CAT" motor sound like a muscle car when you drive it....

All this before the Green Group...Roger Penske was going to buy OMC, and the Green Group thought they'd make him pay more. (They bumped the stock a hundred million, and Roger was quoted as saying I have the hundred million, but I want to put it in machinery and design, not STOCK!!!!) When Roger walked away, anyone in their right mind knew OMC was in trouble.

I sent Roger Penske a letter asking him to run for President of the USA, and then added when he took control of OMC to call me.....Just an FYI!!!!

Here's a picture of the First Outboard to ever lead the Parker 9 Hour. The boat was owned by Mac McConnell, Jimbo's dad, and my dad. Freddy Hauenstein and drove together... The Life Line Jacket I had on, was the first Life Line every worn by an outboarder....Rod Zapf, my dad, Ted May and myself, worked all winter on this boat, if you look closely, you can see air traps on the sponsons, copyed from Berghauer's,, Bob Oakner's, round sponson Sid Craft....This is a DeSilva hull....we lead 118 boats, and was later told by OMC brass, if you put enough power on anything it will go fast......But this was after they paid Mac and my dad $10,000 for the boat, becasue Merccury wanted it...

I'm not looking for credit...but no other OMC boat lead Parker that year....

[Michael J Gwaltney]

There are going to be numerous reasons for their demise posted, and comming from an OMC family, I was sadened to see their filing for chapter 11 and reorganization under Green Marine, and eventual shift to Bombardier.

By 1965, OMC had the largest die cast aluminum manufacturing plant in the world and employed thousands of people.

Lets step back a bit. Around 1980 give or take, Brunswick, Mercury's parent company began buying boat companies and selling packages with their Mercury engines. By the late 80's, there was an economic shift because of the luxury tax Regan had placed on items such as Ferrari's and boats. It destroyed the small boat builders such as Switzercraft to name one. So, OMC decides to get into the boat building business when all they really needed to do was offer the existing manufacturers to pre-rig for their engines rather than dropping all the badly needed capital on another industry.

Second, you had the enviro knumbskulls pushing cleaner engines, so, oil injected motors were being made. OMC's system at first was very flawed and they ended up replacing alot of blocks that seized. Add the two and you got the beginning of the end.

Any insiders have anything to add, I'm all ears.
Another "point" was moving manufacturing plants to the south. Loss of plants in IL & WI in the late seventies caused utiltiies and operating costs to skyrocket. Poor communication between one town mayor and company officials, fueled a decision to leave generations of workers behind. The ramifications of this "point" could fill a book.

Mercury had simular challenges, but received support from the community to stay. They decided to keep a skilled workforce, but convert to more automated equipment and offer training. Quote I recall: "In ten years, you will still have a job, but higher wages will go to trained workers.

Two top quality companies with different solutions. Go figure

[Andrew 4CE]

Interception!

Sorry to deviate here, but, Ron, your stories and ideas are great! When you going to write a book!? (Or do you have one I don't know of?)

If I was American I'd vote Hill for president... haha.

Back to your regularily scheduled thread...

[Mark75H]

Sorry to deviate here, but, Ron, your stories and ideas are great! When you going to write a book!? (Or do you have one I don't know of?)

BRF is Ron's book. Welcome to the new media ...

[John (Taylor) Gabrowski]

Andrew! If we sent lyin Brain Mulroney there and brought Ronnie Regan here, we could at least enjoy his movies while Brian in exchange down south would have hastened the sale of the USA sooner to the Saudies etc.!!! LOL! We kep our turkey and tossed him and his outa office where Ronnie got to retire in California with a happy grinn on his face. Those 2 would have seen OMC and Merc merge???????? into one super company??? :)

[Skoontz]

With respect to the town of Waukegan and supporting OMC, I'll add this. Having done many very high end projects in neighboring Highland Park and Banockburn, there is a strong yuppie movement to take back all the industrialized and extremely valuable north llake shore properties. So, follow the trail of money and you'll see why the town council gave little to no support for OMC's moves when they occured. That factory sits/sat pon some of the most valuable real estate on the lake.

[Michael J Gwaltney]

With respect to the town of Waukegan and supporting OMC, I'll add this. Having done many very high end projects in neighboring Highland Park and Banockburn, there is a strong yuppie movement to take back all the industrialized and extremely valuable north llake shore properties. So, follow the trail of money and you'll see why the town council gave little to no support for OMC's moves when they occured. That factory sits/sat pon some of the most valuable real estate on the lake.
Several years ago lakefront factory property was sold to Waukegan for One Dollar. Plans for a Casino and land developement did not happen.

In the last twenty years many long time residents were forced to move out. Declining property values has erroded the tax base. Looks like another demise of a city from lack of communication.

[Roy Hodges]

I think there might have been a lot of communication - and most or all of it - B.S. - everybody wanting to get
rich , on somebody else's money . (yeh, i am sort of bitter , the way o m c went down the tubes )

[Skoontz]

That is a plain shame Michael, but in real estate, everything runs full circle, eventually. I have many fond memories of riding in dad's '53and '68 Chevy trucks pulling a trailer loaded with motors. In those days, I got to see "Mr. Epple" in his office, because my childhood wishes were to be the service manager of Johnson when I grew up. Lemme ask you, is Gordy still around from Waukegan marine or did they go by the wayside when OMC took a dump?

Then there were the returns of my dad from OMC service school. He enjoyed the week up there and really learned alot that he passed along. I know of dozens of folks who lost their jobs at OMC when it dumped, and the scenario reminds me alot of Aurora, Illinois. They had Barber-Greene,
Austin-Western, Thor tool, and Caterpillar, before Cat added robots to several buildings. All but Cat are gone, the interior of the town turned to monkey sputum, and it sounds like that is what happened to Waukegan.

I'm thinking the land transfer may have been altered by the EPA findings in the lake, claims of Mercury and all kinds of self rightuos liberal garbage were supposed to be in there from the plant, and I'm betting then from what you dsay the environmental issues may have made the sale of the land undoable for man investors.

I also take ANYTHING the EPA finds with a grain of salt, because we all know how they manipulate their numbers to prove their cases. Need I mention the small engine and two stroke scare, when the geniouses could not make their claim that small engines create 10% of the worlds air pollution...So, they factored engines under 100 HP into the equation to get the numbers they needed. I will also add, the engine in one of my Cat D-3 dozers is 93 HP, and I might ask if ANYONE would consider that a small engine....

Sorry, sidetracking here...I do know OMC had that environmental issue looming overhead in the late 80's through the 90's.

[Roy Hodges]

I can certainly unnerstan how the lake might have got "Mercury poisoning " , but there's no such thing as "O M C poisoning " . !!! and thas a fack, JACK !

[Skoontz]

Roy:

They got some flipp'in genious claiming all the skeet shot from the Chicago Rod and Gun club that has dropped into the lake over 75 years is polluting it....Same geniouses down here in boob job central claim that placing dirt on a city street while we work pollutes the ocean...Turns out when San Diego designed it's infrastructure in the 30's of the last century they never installed water treatment plants and dirt residue is said to kill fish....Everyone knows the ocean floor has no dirt on it right? LOL

Sidetracking again....In an old piece of litterature called Johnson's Jottings, it said that by 1965 OMC was the largest aluminum die cast factory in the world. It listed all their star drivers from Lou Epple, to Jack Maypole, to

Johnny Sanders and Geoff Briggs. It makes me cry everytime I hear a sotry because it brings back alot of memories, which hopefuly will never die because of alot of folks in this forum.

[Ron Hill]

I had a good friend that owned a boat shop out in the desert. When he opened the shop, he opened a trailer park across the street. Because the trailer park and boat shop were in BF Egypt, he decided to install a gas pump, because frequently, he was so far from town a man couldn't get gas...

About 30 years later, the EPA NAZIS came by and asked him where his permit was to have a gas pump??? He said he didn't need no stinking permit....Well, the EPA "DUDE" thought he did.. and said he'd be back...Well, my friend, not one to really trust or like the GOVERNMENT, dug up his gas pump and gas tank...But he was smart enough to take pictures of where he dug it up...


He moved the tank and pump over to the right about 40 feet....The EPA "DUDE" showed up and asked where his permit was to take out the gas pump???

He said, "Well Gaul Dang, I didn't have a permit to put it in the ground, I didn't think I needed a permit to take it out of the ground...."

Well, the EPA "DUDE" said he'd be back.....

Well they came back and made my friend dig down six feet to see if his tank, which had been moved 40 feet, had leaked...Sure enough, they were sure that "Sucker" had leaked..and they required him to dig 12 feet below the surface...

Damn, 12 feet down, and they couldn't find anything...so, they told him to "WATCH IT".....

Forty miles out in the desert, a 200 gallon tank.....if the sucker leaked all 200 gallons what would it have hurt???

Master Oil....I'd like an EPA report from you....

ADD: Santa Barbara has so much oil under it, it leaks on to the shore...but the environmental wackos, don't want drilling there...Anyone besides me ever think that environmental wackos may be financed by the ARABS????

One car, with a closed garage door, will kill you in 20 minutes....but a two stroke outboard is bad for AMERICA???? Let's all move to China and get a job.

[Skoontz]

I got a better one for ya Ron.

My uncle was a golf course builder and his company existed since 1881 before he stopped work in 1999. At his shop was the last of the underground tanks, a 500 gallon gas tank (most of his were diesel). So, EPA comes along gives him all this BS about it had to be removed and they gave them a list of licensed tank removal companies in Illinois. These morons wanted $10,000 to remove the tank, which had not had fuel in it since 1967. So I hook up with my other uncle who is the chief of the St. Charles fire department. He turns me on to the state fire marshall who, issues permits to become a licensed under ground tank remover. $200.00 later and a stack of paper only a college professor would love, I was licensed and certifed to remove undergound tanks. So, I tugged an excavtor over there, dug around the thing, and yanked it. The firemarshall comes out to check to see if there was contamination, jumps down into the hole, takes his hand, grabs a load of dirt, and a big whiff later he says, no contamination, fill'er back in.

What a freeken sham!


As far as Santa Barbara and drillling.....Oh no not that, if you do that the liberoids will run out of Birkenstocks and have to go shoeless......

[Roy Hodges]

I had a good friend that owned a boat shop out in the desert. When he opened the shop, he opened a trailer park across the street. Because the trailer park and boat shop were in BF Egypt, he decided to install a gas pump, because frequently, he was so far from town a man couldn't get gas...

About 30 years later, the EPA NAZIS came by and asked him where his permit was to have a gas pump??? He said he didn't need no stinking permit....Well, the EPA "DUDE" thought he did.. and said he'd be back...Well, my friend, not one to really trust or like the GOVERNMENT, dug up his gas pump and gas tank...But he was smart enough to take pictures of where he dug it up...


He moved the tank and pump over to the right about 40 feet....The EPA "DUDE" showed up and asked where his permit was to take out the gas pump???

He said, "Well Gaul Dang, I didn't have a permit to put it in the ground, I didn't think I needed a permit to take it out of the ground...."

Well, the EPA "DUDE" said he'd be back.....

Well they came back and made my friend dig down six feet to see if his tank, which had been moved 40 feet, had leaked...Sure enough, they were sure that "Sucker" had leaked..and they required him to dig 12 feet below the surface...

Damn, 12 feet down, and they couldn't find anything...so, they told him to "WATCH IT".....

Forty miles out in the desert, a 200 gallon tank.....if the sucker leaked all 200 gallons what would it have hurt???

Master Oil....I'd like an EPA report from you....

ADD: Santa Barbara has so much oil under it, it leaks on to the shore...but the environmental wackos, don't want drilling there...Anyone besides me ever think that environmental wackos may be financed by the ARABS????

One car, with a closed garage door, will kill you in 20 minutes....but a two stroke outboard is bad for AMERICA???? Let's all move to China and get a job.
well, i really don't wanna move to china & getta job, i already retired ; ( retard ?) I remember in the "way back machine" that Carl& co. at lake X in the late 50's or early 60's , did a check on outboard polution . results = ZILCH !
and i actually believe their findings . I am NOT a Mercury fan (read...BRUNSWICK ) but i did believe that . Lets face it , whats right is right , whats wrong is wrong , & i am a
MODERATE . I hate far wrong or the far lefts , they are both full of s**t. ( they are both equally vicious )

[Skoontz]

Powerboat magazine did an article in 1969 or 70 about the effects of pollution from two stroke boats.

Basically it said that it would require 77 boats in an acre of waterspace to even make close to the claims of the whoa is me hugg a tree whackopaths.

it showed a full page picture with that many boats in an acre to demonstrate. Lately the chain of lakes in McHenry just might have that many...3 deep around Blarney's island and no freeken wake zones everywhere....:(:(:(

[Roy Hodges]

I have never unnerstood these "no wake zones" . That mean you gotta be "asleep , going through it ? ". why can't these jerks realize that some boats , the faster they go , the LESS wake it produces ?(planing boats ) . take a hydro , fer instance . At 5 mph , it makes quite a wake . At 50 mph , hardly a ripple , or am I dreaming ? It seems to me that these rules must have been dreamed up in some ones' sleep , back in about 1790 ?

[Roy Hodges]

I don't have a crystal ball, so i don't know how well BOMBARDIER will suceed , but they have my best wishes . Go, Evinrude !!!

[Michael J Gwaltney]

That is a plain shame Michael, but in real estate, everything runs full circle, eventually. I have many fond memories of riding in dad's '53and '68 Chevy trucks pulling a trailer loaded with motors. In those days, I got to see "Mr. Epple" in his office, because my childhood wishes were to be the service manager of Johnson when I grew up. Lemme ask you, is Gordy still around from Waukegan marine or did they go by the wayside when OMC took a dump?

Then there were the returns of my dad from OMC service school. He enjoyed the week up there and really learned alot that he passed along. I know of dozens of folks who lost their jobs at OMC when it dumped, and the scenario reminds me alot of Aurora, Illinois. They had Barber-Greene,
Austin-Western, Thor tool, and Caterpillar, before Cat added robots to several buildings. All but Cat are gone, the interior of the town turned to monkey sputum, and it sounds like that is what happened to Waukegan.

I'm thinking the land transfer may have been altered by the EPA findings in the lake, claims of Mercury and all kinds of self rightuos liberal garbage were supposed to be in there from the plant, and I'm betting then from what you dsay the environmental issues may have made the sale of the land undoable for man investors.

I also take ANYTHING the EPA finds with a grain of salt, because we all know how they manipulate their numbers to prove their cases. Need I mention the small engine and two stroke scare, when the geniouses could not make their claim that small engines create 10% of the worlds air pollution...So, they factored engines under 100 HP into the equation to get the numbers they needed. I will also add, the engine in one of my Cat D-3 dozers is 93 HP, and I might ask if ANYONE would consider that a small engine....

Sorry, sidetracking here...I do know OMC had that environmental issue looming overhead in the late 80's through the 90's.

Many dealers made a point to visit Waukegan Marine while in Waukegan. When a part was not available they knew to call Gordy Smith, an encyclopedia of the parts business.

During the Formula One V-8 era Gordy cleared out his service shop and parking lot for several days to enable crews to prepare for races in the midwest.

Gordy Smith ran the store until his death in February 1998. The inventory and equipment was sold. Only the "Waukegan Marine" painted on the building remains.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Ron---I could write about EPA and all the other state and federal agencies I have worked with for a month and still not cover all the falsities, lies, manufactured claims and hypocritical positions. Don't get me wrong. I was one of the early environmentalists going back to the Santa Barbara oil spill in 1968 or 69. There was and has been a lot of good from many of the regulations. However, there is now an agenda the likes of which has grown all powerful. What they do in front of the camera is not what goes on behind the scenes. Seen it with my own eyes, and my own rubber protected feet.

There is pollution occurring right now because the agencies that grant sites cannot overcome politics so waste is accumulating, being bootlegged or placed in less desirable locations that could be resulting in very slow pollution right now. (such as a landfill surrounded by rice fields. How smart is that?) If you don't believe me, I've got aerials to prove it.

Also you got a question for one of the agencies that they can't look up in a book, forget it. They can't give you an answer. They will sit on it for a year then give you a call and say, "what did you do with that stuff?" And if you're a representative with lot's of time in congress, you can call someone to haul off leaking drums of hazardous waste from your property and just get rid of it. If you tell him that you have to get samples, MSDS's, and take it to a licensed disposal, you never get a call back, and nothing ever happened. There were never any drums on that congressman's property.

I'm glad I don't have to deal with that stuff anymore. We spent so much money to get screwed time and time again that it makes me mad just to think about it. Trying to do the right thing when you deal with a bunch of power hungry politicians, beauracrats and phony environmentalists with an agenda, and a liberal news media, you will never succeed. Got to go to work, and its hot and now I'm HOT:mad: ;) Thanks guys for letting me vent:D

[John (Taylor) Gabrowski]

Your clarity of vision and facts about what is going on is refreshing. What your seeing is an old adage, Get Rich At Any Cost Today - For Tommorow You May Die! Another one is that we are mortgaging our childrens future with what we did in the past. Don't get Hot and Angry, Get Very Cold and Get Even!

[Skoontz]

Michael:

Sorry to here about Gordy. He told me at my dad's funeral that the boating industry lost a great one, and not knowing Gordy had passed so long ago, I know now that one of the best passed. He was the guy who got me any weird thing I needed for my projects that I could never afford to buy new.

As I look back at all the marinas that have fallen by the wayside over the years, it's sad. The times I had along the river growing up are what every kid should have.

[Skoontz]

1903 - Johnson Brothers (Lou, Harry and Clarence) of Indiana build their first two-cycle inboard marine engine.
1907 - Wisconsin resident Ole Evinrude invents the outboard motor, a single-cylinder 1 1/2-horsepower engine for row boats. He considers it a gadget, but his wife realizes its potential and begins pushing marketing efforts.

1909 - Evinrude forms Evinrude Motor Corp. in Waukegan.

1929 - Evinrude Motor Corp. merges with the Elto and Lockwood motor corporations to form Outboard Motors Corp.

1936 - Evinrude's son, Ralph, along with co-founder S.F. Briggs, buys the Johnson Motor Corp. and the Outboard Marine and Manufacturing Corp. is born. the name is shortened to Outboard Marine Corp. in 1956.

1936-1982 - Under Ralph's leadership as president and chairman, the firm expands both its marine line and ventured into non- marine items such as Lawn-Boy power mowers, Ryan turf-care equipment and Cushman industrial vehicles. He retires in 1982.

October 1978 - OMC hits its high-water mark in terms of Waukegan employees with a workforce of 4,000.

September 1983- New plants constructed in Calhoun, GA and Burnsville & Spruce Pine, NC

July 1988 - OMC announces record sales and earnings for the third quarter of its fiscal year, with earnings up 21 percent and sales up 18 percent over the previous year.

August 1989 - Third quarter earnings plunge for OMC amidst a major decline in boating industry sales. Bad weather is initially blamed as the culprit in the boat sales slump, but it turns out to be the beginning of a recession. OMC reports a third-quarter net income of $6.8 million, down 75 percent from 1988.

March 1991 - OMC management, hit by a downturn in the recreational marine industry since the spring of 1989, says it hopes to emerge stronger once the recession ends. Meanwhile, the corporation reduces its salaried employees by 16 percent and cuts back on its manufacturing workforce wherever necessary. OMC eventually loses $84.3 million in 1991.

July 1993 - OMC announces another round of restructuring, which would reduces its worldwide workforce by 400, including 20 white- collar jobs at its Waukegan headquarters.

November 1995 - Strong demand for Johnson and Evinrude outboard engines fuels a 14 percent sales increase in fiscal 1995 for OMC, the company announces.

February 1997 - Citing continued softness in retail sales, OMC announces it is cutting back on production of both boats and engines.

September 1997 - OMC purchased by Greenmarine Holdings... David D. Jones is named President and Chief Executive Officer. The new owners of OMC, Greenmarine Acquisition Corp. of New York, announces they will take the Waukegan-based company private in the near future. OMC had lost $450 million from 1990 through 1996.

January 1998 - Following waves of layoffs, OMC's Waukegan workforce is down to 1,300.

April 1998 - OMC unveils a New Marine Company at THE LAUNCH. OMC announces it will trim its overall worldwide workforce by another 200 jobs. It eliminated 340 jobs earlier in the year, as well.

September 1998 - OMC announces it will lay off 911 workers and close its Waukegan and Milwaukee manufacturing facilities over a two-year period as a cost-saving measure. The operations at both locations are to be incorporated into the company's facilities in Calhoun, Ga., Burnsville, N.C. and Mexico.

May 1999 - OMC announces it will reduce its management payroll in Waukegan by 200 positions.

February 2000 - In an effort to downsize and move operations to the South and Mexico,OMC begins closures of it's Waukegan and Milwaukee facilities
(DEADLINE-DEC.2000).

December 2000 - OMC reduce's its worldwide workforce by about 6,000 employees, leaving just a handful of its staff, and retained an investment banking firm to evaluate strategic options.
The company said the moves to reduce costs and improve focus on key business segments are necessary to offset softness in the company's operating performance, which resulted primarily from material supplier problems in the engine division along with a recent slow down in the recreational marine market. Layoffs Are Indefinate!
OMC FILES CHAPTER 11 BANKRUPTCY AND IS NOW FOR SALE!

February 2001 - Bombardier Corp. announced that its subsidiary Bombardier Motor Corporation of America and JTC Acquisition LLC have been selected the highest and otherwise best bidders for the assets of Outboard Marine Corporation (OMC) and certain of its affiliates at an auction administered under an order of the Bankruptcy Court of Illinois.
Feb. 9th: Sale of OMC to Bombardier and Genmar approved by US bankruptcy court!

May 2001 - Bombardier announces the beginning of a new era in Evinrude and Johnson Motors. The new headquarters for Evinrude and Johnson Outboards will be in Sturtevant, Wisconsin. Plants in Calhoun, GA., Burnsville, NC. and Waukegan, IL. will be closed and operations will be moved to the new headquarters. Bombardier says they will begin manufacturing outboards in the fall of 2001.

[Mark75H]

Evinrude did not invent the outboard in 1907. Waterman outboards were already in production by 1907 and electric outboards (like trolling motors) were already 25 years old.

Ralph did not have much real control until the mid 1960's when Mr Briggs was getting up in years

[Ron Hill]

Bombardier sure seems to have made a serious turn around in their engines, in what I had forgotten to be a short time...

Thanks, Skoontz, for your history lesson.....amazing how this whole thing played out.....

When Greenmarine bought OMC they didn't really want it, they wanted to make money one their stock...They were convinced Roger "GOD" Penske wanted OMC and would "pony up" another 200 million for OMC....Which the Green Group would have made off the inflated OMC stock...When Roger balked at the "BUMP" in price, he was quoted as saying, "I don't mind spending $200 million, but I want it in machines, not stock."

I often wonder "IF" Roger Penske would have bought OMC....He had stated publicly that "He'd support Boat Racing."

It was at about this time when I had written Roger a letter telling him I wanted him to run for President of the USA...

[Michael J Gwaltney]

Bombardier sure seems to have made a serious turn around in their engines, in what I had forgotten to be a short time...

Thanks, Skoontz, for your history lesson.....amazing how this whole thing played out.....

When Greenmarine bought OMC they didn't really want it, they wanted to make money one their stock...They were convinced Roger "GOD" Penske wanted OMC and would "pony up" another 200 million for OMC....Which the Green Group would have made off the inflated OMC stock...When Roger balked at the "BUMP" in price, he was quoted as saying, "I don't mind spending $200 million, but I want it in machines, not stock."

I often wonder "IF" Roger Penske would have bought OMC....He had stated publicly that "He'd support Boat Racing."

It was at about this time when I had written Roger a letter telling him I wanted him to run for President of the USA...

Hey Ron, for those that haven't heard Bombardier Corporation no longer owns Evinrude Johnson. A couple of years ago private investors including the Bombardier family formed Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP)

BPR purchased original OMC Johnson Evinrude outboards along with Sea Doo, Ski Doo and ATV assets from parent Bombardier Corporation.

BPR reported last week retail sales are up more than 70% over prior year. BPR no longer sells large 4-stroke motors supplied by Suzuki and carbureted 2-strokes for USA are discontinued.

Direct injection 2-strokes, such as the E-TECH have superior running quality, fuel economy, oil injection as well as low emmissions. E-TECH full throttle RPM is not restricted as Ficht models were.

Let's hope we see more direct injected competition in boat racing.

[Ron Hill]

Why is the E-Tec so clean? Seems to me it is basically a two stroke but all the oil is in the crankcase, but how do they oil the rings and such???

Seems to me that it is better than all them cams and valves, and stuff in a four stroke...

What gives? Why does it work? Or how does it work???

Michael J., Jim Nerstrom??? You guys can always tell me how the clock works when I ask what time is it....

[Jeff Akers]

This gives some general info on he subject http://www.evinrude.com/en-US/E-Tec/E-TEC.Advantage/Cleaner.Quieter.htm

There is some good stuff on there website..If you can read between all the sales pitch lingo:rolleyes:

If you get a chance to run one of them do it!...They are amazing engines:cool:

I'm rigging a boat with a 2007 115 E Tec this week. Maybe I'll post some info on it once she's up and running.

[Skoontz]

My personal view is one the environmental mentals won't like. It's all a bunch of crap. Evironmentalists make their cases more often than not by adding and subtracting criteria as necessary to prove the case they need made.

Every statisitc or test they use is proven numerically, and there in comes the lie used, because I can make a case for any side for any arguement using math.

My personal recommendation would be for the environmental mentals to get into a room with an old gas and oil mixed two stroke and time how long it would be until they pass out. Then do the same with with a 4 stroke.

I'm betting they pass out in the same amount of time with either engine. These same morons are the types who move next to a drag strip and begin griping about the noise of the fuel cars running the track every Sunday.

Said all the emotional stuff, before looking at stats saying ficht engines or direct injection pollute less, show me every criteria used to make the results. As with the small engine pollution scare, something will be there or not, that would change the result necessary to create what whoever wanted to prove needed to.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

I have seen it personally in a situation where environmentalists helped put us out of business.

Going back to the thirties, it was a legal and a regulated practice to dispose of produced saltwater into bays from wells in the vicinity so long as no oil or grease was released. Most of the produced water had approximately the same salinity of the bay. Some a little higher like the Gulf. In the early 90's the State of Texas and City of Corpus Christi made a push to eliminate tidal disposals in Nueces Bay to help in their PR effort that they were losing.

The City of Corpus Christi initially fought water releases from Lake Corpus Christi, but after a little extortion from the feds on grant money their lawyers switched sides. But, they were losing the PR battle against the public. The permit called for 151,000 acre feet per year be released into the bays. There was a huge public outcry. So then they said they "Modified" the release requirments and from now on only 91,000 acre feet needed to be released. What they DIDN'T SAY was that the 60,000 acre feet that had been returning to the bays from industry such as cooling water from refineries and powerplants as well as treated effluent from water treatment plants and stormwater runoff was credited against that 151,000 acre feet. There was absolutely NO CHANGE.

They installed ONE salinity monitor in the Bay and the normal salinity in that vacinity ran around 30 ppt(parts per thousand). So they started reporting the salinty as 30,000 ppm (parts per million) Same thing, but reporting it in ppm sounds much worse doesn't it. I personally checked salinity levels 1/4 mile down from our discharge and it consistenty measured 12,000 ppm. Our discharge averaged 18,000 ppm so by the time it got to where I took measurements, it was already diluted. But then, we were only discharging about 1,000 bbl per day and tides changed bay water twice a day.

The environmentalists were not getting the results they wanted so they installed about a dozen salinity monitors around the bay and after a bunch of PR hype and the so called hypersalinity of Nueces Bay the results started coming in. I didn't know how to use a computer very well back then and I chalked my inability to find the well advertised Texas A&M Blucher Institute studies on my computer. I have looked for them since then and they aren't there. The fact that the results never appeared in the newspaper or TV and you can't pull them up tells me the environmentalists blew hundreds of thousands of dollars on a project that mother nature erased twice a day.

There are many documented cases where environmentalists play with the numbers for desired results. When they go looking for toxic materials in an area they want for themselves and don't find it, they get someone to invent ways to find ever smaller amounts of substances. So now you hear of toxic substances measured in ppb (parts per billion.)

They blamed the oil and gas industry for the Tarpon decline. When we were fighting the environmentalists and anti business agencies in the state I did a lot of research in Austin. At the time we were shut down, all the oil companies in the area were disposing of 60,000 barrels PER MONTH. Back when Ernest Hemminway and Franklin D. Roosevelt were catching Tarpon in the day and spending the night at the Tarpon Inn at Port Aransas, the discharges amounted to 60,000 barrels PER Day. If you just look at cause and effect in a narrow, manipulative way you could conclude that the oil and gas industry caused the demise of Tarpon because they weren't feeding enough produced water into the bays.;) :cool:

Sorry to get off of outboards, but this is first hand evidence of the way those people bend the facts.

[Skoontz]

That EXACTLY what I'm talking about that they do Master Oil.

In the small engine scare, they used media outlets to imply that by running any small engine such as a lawn mower or fishing outboard, you were part of creating 10% of the worlds air pollution. So, having all the engines they claim effected the air, I peeled back a layer or two of the onion and examined what it was they used to make their cases.

In the small engine scare, think about this a minute..... The enviro-mentals claimed 10% of the worlds air pollution was caused by small engines. So, the average family having two cars, even at the tiniest, has an engine 4 times the size of a lawn mower or fishing boat motor. The car runs on average, 2 hours a day during the week. The lawn mower runs an hour a week at best and the outboard may not run all year!!!!!!

10% of the pollution?????? As I looked at this study, I see they could not make this claim on the original whacko push. That's right, they set the criteria THEY felt necessary to create enough sound bite blips that the American people would take notice. So, they began increasing horsepower and cubic inch sizes and adding all those engines into the classification they called "Small Engines" Thier study, the one claiming 10% of the worlds pollution, includes engines under 100 BHP....I have 3 Caterpillar D-3 bulldozers all using an engine of 93 HP...May I ask, would ANYONE call this a small engine?

In this study are engines under 100 HP in the marine applications....Would anyone of sane mind classify a 1000PB Merc, or an X115 OMC, or even a 3 banger SST-60 or even an SST-45 as a SMALL engine???????

That's how they got their numbers. And I'll say it one last time....The average American is too busy, too stupid, does not care enough, or way too lazy to dive into how the enviro-mentals got their numbers, and chose to believe the lie. Offensive at this may sound, I almost got into a fist fight at a Kiwanas meeting when one of the leftus loonies began his spewage and could not support what he believed....

Anyway, like it or not, now that they are here, I'm afraid direct injection is here to stay....

[Master Oil Racing Team]

....you could laugh at them. For instance one time a volcanoe had dark billowing clouds blowing and spewing ashes, gases, and natural products more than 30,000 feet in the air. The REAL SCIENTISTS were explaining how that has a direct and true effect on our atmosphere rather than anything man could make. Al Gore asked how that volcano puke could get all the way to the ozone hole. Well, Al, HOW THE HELL can a pipsqueak freon leak get there if a supercharged blowhole can't do it....Huh?;)

The average American still watches too much CNN.

[Skoontz]

There are two things that would straighten everyone out....Watching 3 hours a day of the 3 stooges will enlighten the mind and broaden the tunnel of vision, so, I declare all politicians watch an hour a day of Moe, Larry, and Curly. Second, all enviro-mentals should hook a set of reins up to the dashboard of a Switzer Hugger powered by a 99 cubic inch 140 HP Johnson.

Then, air the boat out while steering from top the motor. When they get off, once again, they will understand why it is so important to stop wrecking good engines by installing worthless unnecessary crap that costs too much to repair.

If the new president of OMC did the about the time they opted into the boat building business, the best outboard motor company the world has ever known would still be the best outboard motor company the world ever knew.

[Ron Hill]

The first thing I learned as a school teacher was how LOW average is....

Here's an example...I drive a V-8 Ford truck to the river, burn 25 gallons of gas both ways, and I use my 2 stroke 15 HP outboard to go fishing for two hours....I burn a 1/2 gallon of gas in the 15....at 50:1 oil mix.....My new four stroke didn't burn any oil????? While I was there I drove to Laughlin twice and Havasu once...Man did that new four stroke cut down on pollution...

YOU ARE SO right ABOUT CNN. I was walking through the Denver airport and CNN was on every channel, I thought Home Land Security would haul me off, as I made such a stink about putting Fox News on at least one TV!!!!

When I stgarted teaching 40 years ago, most in Orange County were Republicans, when I retired two years ago, I was the last Republican in the district...

Spent three days with my 17 year old last weekend, just us, by Sunday, we were lsiting to the radio, and hearing how the average Russian nuclear scientist makes $150 a month, BROC started expalining how the free market worked....but on Thursday night he'd started telling how taxes were good...

Too many CNN watchers for sure!!!

ADD: Glad Evinrude work well and they got great cowlings...

[Tim Chance]

The first thing I learned as a school teacher was how LOW average is....

Here's an example...I drive a V-8 Ford truck to the river, burn 25 gallons of gas both ways, and I use my 2 stroke 15 HP outboard to go fishing for two hours....I burn a 1/2 gallon of gas in the 15....at 50:1 oil mix.....My new four stroke didn't burn any oil????? While I was there I drove to Laughlin twice and Havasu once...Man did that new four stroke cut down on pollution...

YOU ARE SO right ABOUT CNN. I was walking through the Denver airport and CNN was on every channel, I thought Home Land Security would haul me off, as I made such a stink about putting Fox News on at least one TV!!!!

When I stgarted teaching 40 years ago, most in Orange County were Republicans, when I retired two years ago, I was the last Republican in the district...

Spent three days with my 17 year old last weekend, just us, by Sunday, we were lsiting to the radio, and hearing how the average Russian nuclear scientist makes $150 a month, BROC started expalining how the free market worked....but on Thursday night he'd started telling how taxes were good...

Too many CNN watchers for sure!!!

ADD: Glad Evinrude work well and they got great cowlings...

Ron, you and I think alot alike. Here in Saint Louis we have a strong 2-party political system. We have the White Democrats and then we have the opposition, the Black Democrats. Recently Misssouri's voter i.d. law was struck down and I had the following printed on the editorial page of the Post-Dispatch "A Judge just ruled that you don't have to have an i.d. to vote. So, vote early, vote often, vote Democratic, even if you're dead - Tim Chance". A business associate of my wife said to her the next day "I didn't know Tim was a.... 'Republican'." He used his voice for the term "Rebublican" as most would use it to describe oh, a "kitten and puppy killer". Can't wait 'til spring to put one of your props on my Super E.

[mac19f]

Adolf Hitler said it best: A well told lie is infinitely more palatable than the mundane truth.

[Michael J Gwaltney]

Why is the E-Tec so clean? Seems to me it is basically a two stroke but all the oil is in the crankcase, but how do they oil the rings and such???

Seems to me that it is better than all them cams and valves, and stuff in a four stroke...

What gives? Why does it work? Or how does it work???

Michael J., Jim Nerstrom??? You guys can always tell me how the clock works when I ask what time is it....

I didn't even spell it right and you want me to explain "How do it work?" I will say that anyone involved in developement of of 2-stroke Direct Injection discovered sooner or later it's a complete new learning curve. BRP now owns the E-Technology and I need to defer to someone else for detailed explanations.

In perspective, Bombardier's purchase of OMC from bankruptcy was a milestone. To their credit, they didn't just turn on the lights and start building product. To be successful, Johnson and Evinrude product must be better and profitable. Unlike Green Marine, they got it up and running and sold it to BRP. Regardless of views on DI, the right technology wins in the market place.

[Roy Hodges]

Why is the E-Tec so clean? Seems to me it is basically a two stroke but all the oil is in the crankcase, but how do they oil the rings and such???

Seems to me that it is better than all them cams and valves, and stuff in a four stroke...

What gives? Why does it work? Or how does it work???

Michael J., Jim Nerstrom??? You guys can always tell me how the clock works when I ask what time is it....

My thought is - with all the oil (not very much) in the crankcase ,at first, since there is NO gas(fuel) in the crank case -it needs only a small amount(of oil) for lubing the crankshaft, rods , pistons ,rings & with computerized fuel injection, only the correct amount of fuel is allowed into the combustion area - presto- low waste of fuel, very low polution ( of course our all knowing e.p.a. people know better- don't try to confuse them with any FACTS )

[Skoontz]

And, only then can you accurately assess what works.

An engine related case in point. Moronicus the magnificent at the EPA decides removing sufer from diesel fuels will pollute less. So, by a process similar to freeze drying coffee, sulfers are extracted, creating a lower emmision exhaust on test engines in laboratories.

Problem not thought of or even concerned with is this....

Sulfeless fuels create more friction in injection and injector pumps, thus wearing them out in about 1/2 the time as the usual diesel. Diesels need that sulfer for lubrication.

Moronicus the EPA genious did not ever go back and test engines that had 100,000 road miles for pullutants, they simply used new engines in a laboratory condition. As the injection pumps wear and truckers and heavy equipment keeps running, becaause of th additional wear, they pollute more as they are run.

So sorry, another governmental blunder slips through the cracks.

So, lemme see the numbers and the data. Then we'll confirm one way or another what is working.