Owned/Operater for Ben Minor Marine Service in Parsons, Kansas since 1979.

I am a certified mechanic on Mercury, Mariner, Chrysler-Force, Johnson, and Evinrude. I was an avid tournament fisherman on the BassCat team for many years, and a former boat racer. Before that, I was a drag racer and motocross racer. As you can see, fast machines and their repair have always been a part of my life.

When I started tournament fishing in the early seventies I bought my first bass boat, a 16' 8" Hydra-Sport with a 200 Mercury. This was a fun boat, but it would go as fast side-ways as it would go straight ahead. When my motor broke, I got my first experience with outboard repair technicians. The normal situation was to take it in three or four times before it was fixed correctly. I noticed the repair bills were outrageous, and I seemed to be paying for the technician to guess what was wrong and then experiment by "throwing parts at it".

In the 70's in Southeast Kansas, there were very few marine repair service centers and even fewer that did quality work. One day when I was having motor problems, I decided that since the local outboard "mechanics" had not ever been able to repair it correctly the first time anyway, that I would try to fix it myself. My background as a hobby mechanic on cars and motorcycles gave me enough confidence to tackle the job and the outcome was successful. I properly diagnosed the problem and fixed it on the first try.

Not long after my initial experience of fixing my own outboard, one of my fishing friends, who was having the same experience with the local service centers, decided to bring his outboard to me and I repaired it for him. He told his friends who also told their friends, and my fishing hobby turned into a full time business of outboard motor repair.

Like most mechanics, I will not give information over the phone because that is giving away knowledge it has taken years to gain, and it is simply not a good business practice. It would be like someone expecting a doctor or lawyer to answer a medical or legal question with a phone call. However, I will provide diagnostic information over the phone to customers and/or prospective customers. Click here to find out how to get the information you need to repair your own motor.

Industry Certifications and Training:
Initial Marine Technician Certification from Mercury Training School Fond du Lac, WS in 1982 and Johnson/Evinrude Training School in 1999.
Re-certification every two-three years since 1982, the latest one being November 2006.

General Education:
Graduated from Parsons High School 1967
Graduated from Pittsburg State University in 1976 with Bachelors Degree in Economics and Political Science.