# Finally getting a new (to me) tin boat, a 1436



## Hydrilla (Sep 13, 2009)

At risk of jinxing myself by posting about it before I've picked it up, I'm going to write about the boat I am scheduled to pick up Friday. I'm so excited that I've gotta tell somebody  I do plan on using it as a little bass rig, so I'll put a deck on the front and a bow mounted TM, at least. I know all about the CG on a boat this size, and I know it's borderline too narrow, so I'll make sure to do a lot of planning before just slapping a deck on it. I haven't had a boat since I got out of tournament fishing in '02 (health reasons) and got rid of my Skeeter ZX225. Hey, the fish won't know the difference! I will use this thread to post my progress. In the mean time, here's the boat, and my new fishing partner, Shelby. She is a 5 month old Corgi mix that I've had since the beginning of the Summer.


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## hamar507 (Sep 13, 2009)

Nice looking boat, the dog looks good too. Best of luck


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## Sureshot (Sep 13, 2009)

Good looking boat, and seems that you have a good partner to get the work done! Looks like you have a lot of work ahead, as do i. Keep us updated with some pictures.


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## Hydrilla (Sep 15, 2009)

Thanks y'all! MAN, Friday is taking a looong time to get here! I am more excited about getting this boat than I was most of the high dollar fiberglass rigs I've owned. Maybe it's because I've gone so long without a boat and without doing much fishing. Come on, Friday!! :LOL2:


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## poolie (Sep 15, 2009)

Congrats on getting back into fishing. Tin boats are lots of fun  and you've got a great starting point. 

There's just nothing cuter than a big ol set of Corgi ears.


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## cyberflexx (Sep 15, 2009)

That is a nice looking boat.. Is that a COX tilt trailer? Looks alot like mine.

I know what you mean about being excited. I have a Ranger 519VX in the garage and when I converted my jon, I was more anxious to take it out than the big one. Mainly because there are a few lakes that are 10hp near where I live and I have never really fished them from a boat.


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## Hydrilla (Sep 15, 2009)

Yeah Corgis rule 8) 

Not sure if it's a Cox trailer or not, I haven't seen it in person. I'll know by Friday. My fear has been that the guy will sell it out from under me since he listed it for so cheap, but he has reassured me he will not. [-o< Even had an offer for more money, and when he turned it down, the guy complimented him for sticking to his word. 

I'm reading through pages and pages of this forum trying to determine how I want to do my conversion. I don't think I want to use wood at all, I want to use aluminum for both the framing and deck, maybe carpeted diamond plate or something. I am going to keep it very simple with maybe a compartment or two in the front and that's it. As to a livewell, I'm just going to use a removable cooler with an aerator. The idea of doing the deck framing is a little intimidating, I'm not sure how to go about it, really. Or how to find relatively inexpensive materials. It might call for finding someone local to me that will help out for pizza, cold beverages, and a few fishing trips. :mrgreen: 

Oh and I plan to use a 24v Motorguide TM and a 9.9hp outboard, or maybe a 15 if it's rated for it. 2 batteries only though. Not sure about a recessed pedal or not.

Yeah I'm rambling, I guess that's part of being excited.


EDIT: OK, after seeing how much aluminum sheets cost, maybe I'll do aluminum framing and a plywood deck. Geesh that stuff is more expensive than I thought!


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## Hydrilla (Sep 17, 2009)

Here's my last question before posting that "I've picked up the boat, here are some more pics!", lol. Has anyone seen a transom like this? Does this look like some custom job, or is there any chance it could be stock? I've never seen a stock one go up that much higher than the top of the stern itself. Not a clear picture at all, I know.


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## huntinfool (Sep 17, 2009)

First off congrats on the new tin. 

Second that transom is built up like that to put a long shaft on your short transom. Most that I have ever seen are aftermarket jobs. So If I had to guess (and I am) I would think it is not stock.

Keep taking pics and keep us posted on the build.

Good luck.


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## lowlight (Sep 17, 2009)

Congrats on your new boat. I like it. Definately looks like a custom job. Can't wait to see what you have in mind for this nice looking boat.


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## Hydrilla (Sep 17, 2009)

Thanks y'all. The guy has continued to turn down offers from people and says he will stick to his word to sell it to me, so by this time tomorrow, I should have it hooked up to my truck and on the way home. I will post higher rez pics once I get it home.

The first step of my conversion will start Saturday morning, and that step is taking it out fishing. (BTW thanks everyone for the tip to stand on the benches to check the stability.) I'm not going to make the same mistake I did with a tri-hull to bass boat conversion project I started a year or two ago. If I had taken that boat out first, I would have realized that it was not a good candidate to be a good bass boat. By the time I would have finished with new stringers, floor, raised decks, etc, I would have had as much money in it as it would've taken to buy an actual bass boat, and still not done as good of a job being a bass boat. Lesson learned, not any money lost really, just a lot of wasted time.

If there are any other newbs out here reading this, I recommend making sure you spend some time out on your boat if possible, to determine if it will meet your needs or not. I have some ideas about what I want to do, but I won't decide until I've fished in it a few times at least.


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## Hydrilla (Sep 17, 2009)

Here's kind of a rough MS Paint drawing of the layout I'd like to consider. Crude drawing but it makes it easier for me to see what I want to do.


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## Hydrilla (Sep 18, 2009)

Well for once nothing fell thru and I was able to get the boat today. I think it could end up a nice rig. Cosmetically it needs some attention which I knew, but it seems really sound, and a good deal considering boat, trailer and (transom mounted) TM was $450 total. Here are a couple of pics I took this afternoon on my camera phone, I'll post more tomorrow after the maiden voyage. The boat looks better in person than in these pics. 


The trailer is configured a little weird and I'll want to change it eventually to have a traditional setup with front to back bunks, etc. It tows a little quirky and bouncy. I didn't realize how much paint was gone from the boat, especially on the inside, so that kind of helps me decide whether or not to strip it to bare metal. I dig the baitwell in the middle bench, it has a plug in the bottom of it and the lid latches really well. Based on that, I want to find a way to still have access to it after adding casting decks.

OK I'm heading outside to start scraping some of that nasty glue and green "astroturf" :LOL2:


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## CRAPPIE_SLAYER (Sep 18, 2009)

Good lookin' buy


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## Hydrilla (Sep 18, 2009)

This picture I took makes it very clear what is wrong with the trailer setup. The boat is angled up like a rocketship about to take off. I think it will be a simple fix- get rid of the carpeted board running perpendicular across the back, get rid of the perpendicular "paddle" type boards up front that are causing the boat to sit up so high, add a traditional pair of carpeted bunks, and possibly a carpeted support board up near the front if necessary. Here's the pic that makes it obvious what is wrong.

P.S. Y'all please let me know if I'm wearing out my welcome by posting so much about this, and I'll cut back. I'm a newbie and don't want to be considered spam


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## jasonr95 (Sep 19, 2009)

great looking rig, looking forward to seeing more.


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## huntinfool (Sep 19, 2009)

No, your not posting too much, so keep them coming. 

Yes, your trailer needs some serious attention. One thing of note, your bow eye should be below the roller on the bow stand. That way in the event of a rear end collision the boat would not travel too far forward. As it stands now it could travel quite a ways. Plus it will help it to stay down and not bounce so much (at least up front). The bunks look like they could be redone. I've never been a fan of the front board like that one is. I would set it up more traditional with bunks underneath and some sort of side guide. Good luck and keep the pics coming.


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## Hydrilla (Sep 19, 2009)

Huntinfool, thanks. Before I called it a night, I realized that those front supports are crooked as heck. The picture is not an illusion. They are on adjustable slides, and one is probably 6" higher than the other. Not only will adjusting these make the boat sit straight on the trailer, but they can both come down quite a bit more, so my hope is that I'll be able to get the bow eye below the roller. If so, that will buy me some time and I won't have to fix the trailer right away. I will still convert it though, no doubt about it.

I hit both bolts with a liberal amount of PB Blaster before I went to bed, so I'm hoping to break them loose this morning before I go fishing.

Also, I found out the boat is made by Sylvan Marine out of Indiana.


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## Hydrilla (Sep 19, 2009)

The trailer is completely fixed and the boat sits on it 1000% better. For once, every single bolt succumbed to PB blaster and a breaker bar, normally you get at least one stubborn one! The boat is no longer sitting crooked on the trailer, and the bow eye is now under the roller. The front support boards are in their lowest position, and supporting the front of the boat. I'll need to put regular bunks on this trailer before I get an outboard, since the last foot or so of the boat is unsupported, and I don't want the dreaded "hook". OK NOW it's time to go fishing!

EDIT: Well I *could* just slide the bow tie support, etc (whatever it's called) more forward on the trailer, since the tongue is probably long enough for at least a 16' boat. Then the hull won't be hanging off the back.


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## huntinfool (Sep 19, 2009)

If you have the room then Yes I would move the boat forward, however when you do this the front supports might not work where they are and will need to be moved also. Plus depending on what kind of vehicle you have you may or may not be able to open the tailgate/back door. 

Looking at the pics I think you would ahve a problem moving the boat forward on the front bunks, if you have any weight in the front. As it stands now that you don't have any weight forward then you should be fine. But once you do start putting some weight up there they will have to be changed. 

Hope your trip went well. I wanted to go today real bad, but the weather channel said it was going to be real windy.


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## poolie (Sep 19, 2009)

That's great the guy honored his word and held the boat. I had my fingers crossed for you. You got a steal there. I like the layout you have planned and look forward to seeing all of the progress as you transform the boat.

You're far from wearing out your welcome. We love seeing this stuff 

PS: Do consider moving your front seat back a little. You'd be surprised how quickly the front gets crowded.


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## Hydrilla (Sep 19, 2009)

OK, the maiden voyage was a success, in that neither I or my dog fell in the water, the boat didn't sink, and I caught "a" fish- a giant ~8" bass, lol. We had a good time though, I spent a lot of time just getting used to the boat, and making sure Shelby was too. My little transom mount trolling motor does just fine, it's a 34 lb thrust model. That's encouraging since I won't be able to rush out and buy the bow mount one I want anytime in the near future. 

For the first hour, I thought to myself, there's no way I'm going to put a casting deck on this thing. But after a while I got used to it, and even spent some time fishing while standing on the center bench. It seems a little tippy to me when you are standing up and walking, or sitting back down, but once you're there, it does pretty well. I think for smaller reservoirs or fishing the creeks of larger ones will be fine. Anywhere that there is significant boat traffic, forget it. Although I'd probably say that about this boat in general, standing or sitting. Oh and by the way I'm 6' even, and 200 lbs. Your mileage may vary.

The boat didn't leak that I know of, although I'm not positive. By the end of a 4 hour fishing trip, I had probably 1/3 cup of water in the back, and the only place I could see it coming from was around the plug. I think it's possible that either I didn't have the plug in tight enough, or I need to fix the plug hole. At any rate, that's a pretty minimal amount of water coming in.

When I got home, I spent some time ripping the outdoor carpet off the center bench, and scraping that *&$#@! carpet glue off. I got to the point that I needed the livewell hatch off, so I drilled the rivets out and removed it without too much trouble. I'm thinking about finding someone to weld the plug hole shut in the livewell (baitwell, really) and converting it to dry storage.

Huntinfool, thanks for the advice about the trailer. I think even if I moved the front supports forward a foot, I would still not have an issue with my vehicle hitting the trailer. It has a really long tongue for a trailer this size. Good point about needing to move the front supports, I will keep checking all the trailer supports every time I change anything.

Poolie, thanks, and HECK YEAH I will be moving the front seat further back!! After today, I realized that my diagram had the seat WAY too far forward. I'm an avid jig fisherman and like to be as "up front" as I can, but in this boat, I'll have the seat as close to the middle bench as I can. It's a small enough boat that I will be plenty close to the front and sides. I will be doing something different with the front compartment(s) as well. I think my drawing is not close to being scale, and I won't have enough room for one big compartment.


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## FishingBuds (Sep 19, 2009)

Congrats on the boat, I have one myself and its worked out well so far. You'll have some fun with it


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## huntinfool (Sep 20, 2009)

Now that I see the trailer with out the boat on it, if it were mine here is what I would do.

I would get two 2x4's ( unless those are 4x4's on the trailer now)and wrap them in carpet and run them long ways from the front to the back and through bolt them to the rails on the trailer frame. That looks like all that would need to be done. ( is the center brace over the axle flush with the frame of the trailer? I would attach it there too.) If it isn't then I would brace it there. It would be simple and would work good. Plus when I mounted them I would make sure that the bunks were on the outside of the strakes so it would kinda lock the boat in. That way when you loaded the boat on the trailer it would lock in, in the front and not drift.

At least that is what I would do.

Keep the mod pics coming.


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## Hydrilla (Sep 20, 2009)

Thanks FishingBuds, I've read through your project before, and you have done some awesome work! 

Huntinfool, I appreciate the advice about the trailer. That's what I want to do with it, but didn't know exactly how to go about it. 

I had another fun day of fishing, although only one fish today as well. At least this one was around a pound and a half. I'm thankful to have a boat, but nothing motivates me more to do this project than sitting down fishing, with no backrest, using a transom mount trolling motor. On a breezy day like today, you can't make it through a whole cast without having to stop and bump the trolling motor handle. Boat did well again, and I'm getting much more used to it, as is my dog.


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## huntinfool (Sep 20, 2009)

Our bow season opens on Oct. 3 and I hope to be in the woods. I'm hunting public this year so this weekend I am scouting again. I don't know when i will get a chance to take the boat out again, but If i don't see a chance in the future I will try and take some pics of my trailer and show you what I did. It is very simple. I don't have any adjustments to my bunks and If I want to i can take the bunks off and put down plywood and it is a utility trailer. (I built it that way).

Keep up the good work.


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## Hydrilla (Sep 21, 2009)

I appreciate it a lot.

I have created a sort of project file in Excel to track what I have done and what I want to do. I'd use MS project, but that might be overkill for what I want to do, I really just want to track the tasks I'd like to do, how much I project that they will cost, how much they actually cost, etc. I hate being limited by $$ with a project like this, it can make getting any momentum going pretty difficult. 

I am considering selling a motorcycle to fund this project. I have an older Vulcan 1500 that I've had a long time and have enjoyed a ton, but now that I have a big touring bike as my daily "commuter car", the Vulcan has become more of just a toy. It's not worth a fortune, but it is a nice bike, and it would easily fund this boat project, and buy me a handfull of rods and reels (which I have very few of anymore) to boot. Decisions, decisions...

In the mean time, the cheap stuff I can probably do pretty soon would be the trailer mods, and some paint stripping. I have lots I can read here that will help me decide what method I should use. I cringe when I read about it taking someone 30 hours to strip their boat, but if that's what it takes... as long as I get to take fishing breaks inbetween


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## huntinfool (Sep 22, 2009)

I hear ya. If I had something to sell to help fund this it would make it much easier. That way i would have the money I needed for every project and just get them done. But I don't so I just get them done as I can. I had already started on my boat and was way past the 1/2 way point when I found this website. I didn't flip my boat over and sand it down and put steelflex or what ever on the bottom of mine. So I will have to take the motor off and battery and fuel take out and then i shoudl be able to flip it and do that...I just can't decide if I really want to do it or not.


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## Hydrilla (Sep 23, 2009)

I am tempted to do the Steel Flex thing too, but right now I'm leaning toward regular paint. For one thing, it's already getting close to the lower temps that I'm reading isn't that great for using this stuff, and I don't want to wait until May before it gets up to 80 degrees again to paint the boat.

I was wondering how you guys would solve my problem of where to put the gas tank. I am still planning the layout, and it's obvious to me that a 6 gallon won't fit in the very back, like in my drawing. It's just too small of an area. I don't want it laying out, so it will have to go under something. I'm not keen on the idea of cutting out the rear bench and re-bracing it, but would you go that route in order to make a rear deck big enough for the gas tank to go under? If I did cut the bench out, I would probably have the rear deck come forward one more rib, leaving 2 visible in the center of the boat. I'd probably leave the sides of the bench so I could use them to connect some cross supports.


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## FishingBuds (Sep 23, 2009)

Looking good  

I had the same problem on the 6gl tank, after several trials I ended up going down to a 3gl tank that fits just fine in the back transom. But, now all I do is go to electric lakes #-o


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## Hydrilla (Sep 27, 2009)

I accomplished a couple of things this weekend. First, after 2 full days of fishing out of the boat, with 2 different buddies instead of just me and my dog, I made the decision about what kind of floor/deck I want to do with this boat. Yesterday the guy that went with me had a real hard time while standing. He lost his balance a lot, and actually fell a couple of times. I only slightly lost my balance a couple of times, and only as a result of the front of the boat pitching around from my friend dancing the huck-a-buck. Today was a different story. Similar body of water, similar waves/wakes, etc but the guy that went with me today didn't lose his balance once, and neither did I. We stood the entire day, very often fishing while standing on top of the benches. Based on this, I'm going forward with my plans to deck the boat. I'm only going the height of the benches, not all the way to the top. I know it can still be tippy but I think it will be fine.

Second, I brought some stripper home (paint stripper, keep it out the gutter), took the boat off the trailer and flipped it over, and started working on removing some paint. I tried the saran wrap trick with limited success. I haven't had time to scrape it all but it looks like the stripper is going to remove around 75% of the paint. I found a spot of JB Weld on the bottom of the boat that isn't on a rivet, so it has to be a hole repair- I'll have to add that to the list of things to fix correctly. 

Also, and here's something you guys can help with, it looks like the splashwell has a badly dented area that looks to be caused by a battery bouncing around. When you look at the boat from the bottom, it's obviously bent out in that area. Should I worry about this if it's not leaking? What would be the fix? I'm attaching a pic of the dented area, and of the side of my boat covered in saran wrap.


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## shizzy77 (Sep 28, 2009)

depending on how many different layers of paint you have, you may need to repeat the stripper/saran wrap process. It seems many times that the top layer is a cheap rattle can job and that seems to soak up all the stripper and bubble up right away. the first layer is usually a factory paint and it seems to be tougher requiring you to scrape off the first round, reapply the stripper and saran wrap and let it sit longer.


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## Rat (Sep 28, 2009)

Hydrilla said:


> Also, and here's something you guys can help with, it looks like the splashwell has a badly dented area that looks to be caused by a battery bouncing around. When you look at the boat from the bottom, it's obviously bent out in that area. Should I worry about this if it's not leaking? What would be the fix? I'm attaching a pic of the dented area, and of the side of my boat covered in saran wrap.



The dent is on the planing surface and *could* cause some porpoising. I say *could* because it doesn't look that bad. A dent that is like that is called rocker, even though rocker usually describes a condition where there is a noticeable bulge outward all the way across the bottom of the hull from port to starboard. A small area like this may or may not cause problems and it's not that easy to fix. You can try using a dead blow hammer and a dolly to work it out but you will probably find that the metal has significant expansion. In that case the spot will pop inward creating a hook. You could probably take up the extra material in the strakes, this would deform the side of the strakes a little bit, but not effect the performance as much (or at all) as hook or rocker. 

This small area will cause aeration of the water leaving the hull as well; so I would not mount a sonar transducer near it or you will get bubbles across the beam leading to crappy readings while on plane. It's hard enough to find clear water on a riveted hull anyway. 

I would leave it and test it before I attempted to fix it if I were you. If it causes significant performance problems then I would look into getting it fixed. At that point I would recommend cutting it out and patching it with a new piece. 

Good weight distribution and a Dol-Fin will proly correct any performance problems created by this small rocker. 

In the future tho use a piece of wood to absorb the shock and distribute the weight of the battery; don't set it right on the hull bottom. But I bet you have already figured that out.


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## Hydrilla (Sep 28, 2009)

shizzy77, it does look like some of the paint that is being a little stubborn may be original paint. I'll stick with it.

Rat, thanks for all that info. I'm not interested in trying to fix it other than cutting out that section and getting a new piece welded in. The boat was like that when I got it, I've not used a board, but I only put the battery in there when I get to the lake, and since I'm electric only at the moment, I doubt I've made it any worse. Good point about the board though, and the transducer concerns.


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## Hydrilla (Sep 30, 2009)

The paint stripper still hasn't worked that great, even after a couple applications, so I decided to go with a wire wheel. I first tried one on my drill (not a cordless), a 3" wire wheel, and I felt like I was stripping a battleship with a Dremel. Not to mention the difficulty of trying to control the drill while dealing with the torque of it. I went back out and got a 5" wire wheel for my grinder, and it has done much much better- it's easier to control and it is making faster work of the paint. I hope to finish removing the paint this weekend. I know that I'll have to sand it again before I use primer because of the oxidation, no worries. I'll post a pic by Saturday at the latest.


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## huntinfool (Oct 1, 2009)

Keep up the good work.


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## Hydrilla (Oct 1, 2009)

If anyone here is in the NC Triad/Triangle area and can weld aluminum, or if anyone knows/can recommend someone that welds aluminum in/near the Greensboro/Burlington area, please let me know. I have a few things that I'd like to get done, and can't spend a fortune. I want to get the livewell hole sealed off, I have a couple spots that need fixed (one has JB Weld on it), and I may need to get a small section cut out and a piece welded in where the previous owner's battery beat it up pretty good.

I called a welder I found on Google that's not far from my house and he said he'd look at it but it depends on the thickness of the aluminum on whether or not he can do it. Are some of the thinner jons difficult to weld? I'd rather go with someone from here, or someone that is recommended at least.


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## Hydrilla (Oct 3, 2009)

I got the rest of the paint off the outside of the boat today. I gave the paint stripper another shot, and it worked like a charm. The only thing I did different is apply it a good bit more liberally this time, and I didn't wait as long to get the paint off. I learned that it doesn't pay to be stingy with this stuff, just schlop it on there. 

After I was done, I flipped the boat over on some sawhorses, and filled it with water up to the top of the ribs. Not a single drop of water after 30 minutes. Bummer, I had my Sharpie all ready and everything  I still have the one spot that had a bad JB Weld patch that I need to fix, but it's toward the front and close to not being under the waterline. I'll go over the transom bolts/rivets with some marine sealant and call it a day, I guess. I got some self-etching primer tonight but I've run out of time so it will have to be another day. Danged family fun day tomorrow, no more boat work this weekend!! :evil: :mrgreen: 

Here's a pic of the boat with the paint removed. You can kind of see where I used the wire wheel, and where I used the stripper.

I also removed the vertical bow support piece from the trailer and moved it forward enough so the azz end of the boat isn't hanging off the trailer (I do plan on getting an outboard, and that would present a problem). I'll have to see if it's far enough forward that it will hit my tow vehicle now.


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## Hydrilla (Oct 4, 2009)

Forgot to mention, when stripping the paint, I knew something was up right away with the transom support pieces, it looked like there was red rust under the paint. I brought a magnet out, and as I expected, it stuck to them, meaning they are some sort of steel instead of aluminum. Am I right in thinking that they need to go, or does the "nothing but aluminum" deal only apply to bolts and stuff? Either way I think I'm going to take the pieces off, cut the wood down to the same height as the transom, and eventually put an aluminum transom cap on it. Here's an upside down pic of the outside transom support piece, with a magnet stuck on it.

EDIT: We won't be going to meet my extended family like planned today since my wife got sick. Not the way I'd plan it, but I will be able to work on the boat today. More to come later this evening.


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## Hydrilla (Oct 4, 2009)

Just got 'er primered a little bit ago, waiting for it to dry. I used a flexible sanding sponge and a tack cloth, worked great.


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## masterofillusion (Oct 4, 2009)

That hull looks good and straight. By the way I live in concord nc. Looking forward to your progress. I am modding a tin boat also.


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## 1436delta (Oct 4, 2009)

HEY CANT WAIT TO SEE WHAT YOU GOT ON YOUR MIND ? I HAVE A 1995 LOWE 1436L THAT I WANT TO MOD BUT STILL LOOKING FOR I DEALS =D> GOOD LUCK


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## Hydrilla (Oct 5, 2009)

Thanks guys. masterofillusion, let me know if you want to go fish some time, I'm not opposed to making a drive. 

Well I got some painting done tonight- after a base coat last night, now it has 2 coats. It's been raining, and there's a chance of rain all week, so we moved the motorcycles out of the garage and moved the boat in. It will probably need another light coat tomorrow, I'll have to see. I think it is turning out really well so far. If I can pull myself away from the Packers/Vikings game, I may go tinker on the trailer some more.


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## CRAPPIE_SLAYER (Oct 6, 2009)

Paint is lookin' smooth. Keep up the great work.


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## masterofillusion (Oct 6, 2009)

Hydrilla that sounds good to me. I am always ready to fish. The boat looks nice, good job. =D> By the way are you an auto painter by trade?


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## Hydrilla (Oct 6, 2009)

Thanks again guys. masterofillusion- nah, I'm a computer guy that wishes I was something more interesting :roll: But hey it pays the bills I guess.


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## Hydrilla (Oct 10, 2009)

I spent every night this week plus all day today de-rusting my trailer, and getting it ready to paint. I got a good coat of primer on it tonight, and will paint it next Saturday. I used the Rustoleum rust converter stuff as primer, and I think it will turn out good. I'm going to use regular Rustoleum in a rattle can for paint, gloss black as the color. Here's me taking a McBreak this afternoon, courtesy of my wife, as well as a pic of the trailer just after a coat of primer.


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## ncfishin (Oct 10, 2009)

i'm in nc also. Sanford, northeast of rockingham. !viva! el ROCK. Nice job on your build. i'm fishing mine in cape fear mostly. want to take it out on shearan harris. That is the crappie central. lights at night, and a big cooler.


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## Hydrilla (Oct 10, 2009)

Man, I'm jealous. I've only been to Harris once, in fact it was out of this jon boat using TM only. I love grass fishing (guess you can tell by my name), what a great lake. I will have to get down there to try to catch some of those slab crappie.


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## Hydrilla (Oct 15, 2009)

This weekend is going to be a big one for my build. My birthday is next week, so I'm treating myself  I plan to get as far as I can with the trailer, and if I have time, start on the inside of the boat, including painting what areas I plan on painting (don't see a point in painting the whole inside if I'm going to have a lot of it covered), building the frame, deck and floor, and maybe even working on the carpet. I know I probably won't get through all of that but I will probably buy most of the materials. 

(By the way, if you are planning on buying outdoor carpet from Lowe's or Home Depot, I'd do it now. Lowe's told me that once they sell what they have, they won't be getting anymore until Spring.)

I'm not really sure how much carpet I need for my 1436. I am going to carpet the front deck (middle bench to bow), the middle floor (adding wood floor to bottom of the boat), and possibly the top of the rear bench, in case my passenger wants to cast from up there. I may have 1 or 2 small compartments in the front, but I'm not sure. I'm going to use the same carpet for my bunks, which will most likely be a pair of ~9' 2x4s. 

I am going to use pop rivets for the deck framing. I remember a post about 2 different sizes of aluminum rivets, I'll have to go re-read that and see what I can come up with. Also I remember reading something about using stainless bolts/nuts to attach the frame to the boat, again I'll have to re-read the archived posts. Setting up the layout of the framing it is an intimidating task to me, being honest. I've studied all the different methods people have used, and I'm still not clear how I'm going to do it. I need to keep costs down, but I want a strong structure that will work well with a 1/2" plywood deck.


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## Hydrilla (Oct 15, 2009)

Well, so much for my build weekend, it's not gonna happen. I got a call tonight from a buddy wanting me to go fish a 2 day tournament on Kerr Lake this Saturday and Sunday, it's a tough job but you should help a buddy out if he needs it :wink: Should be a fun time to fish out of a big glass boat again, and on one of my favorite lakes, too. Oh well, the project will have to wait.


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## bluecat (Oct 16, 2009)

congrats on new boat. i have a1436 that i just got done modifying.i built front and back decks.that gave me lots of storage,and keeps my stuff hidin from sticky fingers.it is very stable.me and my girlfriend both stood on the same side and it barely tilted. i will post pics soon as i get it painted.


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## cathunter21 (Oct 16, 2009)

im no trying to knock on yall, but i received a 1436 from my grandfather after he passed away and i just dont incredibly like it, i will never get rid of it considering the sentimental value, but i painted, floored carpeted it, and put storage under the seats (this is very handy). i am a college student so my budget is very small, but as soon as i join the workforce (3-4 years, wish it was sooner) i will definately purchase a wider boat. with just me it is fine but with two people it is like walking in quicksand, every step has to be accounted for. but i can get places many cant get so it has it plusses and minuses. it is a very thin metal though so this may make a differince


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## CRAPPIE_SLAYER (Oct 19, 2009)

Ahh the sacrifices we make. Giving up working on the boat to fish :mrgreen: . I remember reading to post about the rivet sizes. Think they said 3/16" for anything structural, and 1/8" for decking and such. Again, I'm just going off memory. Thanks for the tip on buying the carpet now. Home depot has what I'm lookin' for, so I guess I'll have to make a trip over shortly.


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## Hydrilla (Oct 22, 2009)

I'm back after a sidetrack to the trailer forum for help with resolving my hub/axle issue. Turns out my axle has very short, non-standard spindles that dont come close to being able to fit standard hubs. After a lot of research, I bit the bullet and bought a new axle. I went with a galvanized axle from Northern Tool. It is a little longer than my old one, so that creates a fender issue, but other than that it is going to work out well. I used the Reliable brand hubs that Northern Tool sells for about $30, and I recommend them as a good value for the money. If you get these, go ahead and plan on getting some Bearing Buddies, because the cheap tin dust caps are very difficult to get on. I put Bearing Buddies on tonight and they go on really easy and they look really sharp. I've used them on other boats and know they work great. 

So I have 2 remaining issues to work through with the trailer, before I continue with the boat. I think with the fenders I'll just cut off the old ones, and get someone to weld on some wider ones, like these- https://www.northerntool.com/webapp...omer driven-_-Recently Viewed-_-Category Page I measured, and 8 1/2" wide fenders like this will clear the outside of my tires, even with the longer axles. Dang it, I wish I knew how to weld.

The other issue is the trailer bunks, like I've mentioned a few times. I am thinking about U-bolts and some sort of L brackets on the sides of my 2x4s, but after searching through Lowe's and Home Depot, I haven't found anything that looks like it would work well. I am now considering ordering a set of brackets that are made specifically for trailer bunks. That in itself will require some research, as there seems to be a number of different types. 

Here is a pic of how the trailer looks now, except that the pic doesn't show the Bearing Buddies.


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## Hydrilla (Oct 31, 2009)

It's been slow going lately, but I got the new fenders welded on today. I'm going to try to finish the trailer this weekend.


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## dtwarrow (Oct 31, 2009)

Looks good. I'd be interested to see how you attach the bunks. Gotta do that myself...


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## Hydrilla (Nov 1, 2009)

Got the bunk boards measured/mocked up and attached, now they are back off and I'm getting ready to seal them with Thompsons and Liquid Nails on the ends. I tried to overengineer this part of things, because of not wanting to drill holes in the tube cross pieces in the center and rear, but the cost/time involved in doing brackets or something wasn't worth it. I ended up using wood to metal self tapping outdoor screws, and they work great. The center and rear cross pieces are the same height, but the front C channel piece of the trailer is higher, so when the boards are resting on the front and rear, they aren't touching in the center. This was easily solved by putting a 1x4 under the bunks in the center, screwing them into the trailer, and screwing the bunk boards into the 1x4. KISS applies here I guess. 

Here's a pic. They look close together, but they are just inside the outside strakes on my 1436, which from what I read is where you want them.


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## Okielawman28 (Nov 1, 2009)

What kinda primer and paint did you use. I am fixing to re do an old boat, and I am trying to decide on what kind of paint and primer to use. 

Thanks

Chris


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## Hydrilla (Nov 1, 2009)

I just used Rustoleum self-etching primer on the boat, and Rustoleum rust converter for the trailer. For trailer paint I'm just going to use regular Rustoleum spray bombs. For the outisde of the boat, regular Rustoleum brushed on.

Tonight I got the rest of the trailer primered, and I got the bunk boards coated with Thompson's. Tomorrow I'll treat the ends of the boards with Liquid Nails, and wait for everything to dry. Can't wait to finish this trailer so I can get back to working on the boat.


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## jasper60103 (Nov 1, 2009)

It looks great.
Thanks for the tip on Rustoleum rust converter. I think I may use it on my trailer next summer.
About how may cans did it take to cover?

jasper


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## Hydrilla (Nov 1, 2009)

Thanks. I think it took 3-4 cans. Yeah if you have any rust at all, that stuff is what you want to use. You just gotta make sure the rust scale or any lose stuff is gone. The cup stype wire wheel on my grinder has been the best tool I've found for doing this. It's aggressive, but I think it would be difficult to do any damage.



jasper60103 said:


> It looks great.
> Thanks for the tip on Rustoleum rust converter. I think I may use it on my trailer next summer.
> About how may cans did it take to cover?
> 
> jasper


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## jasper60103 (Nov 1, 2009)

Great, this is good info. I think I need to pick up some tools then. I don't even own a grinder. Is this the type attachment you're referring to? If so what size did you use or recommend? Thanks.

https://www.coastaltool.com/a/milwaukee/grinder_45.htm 

edit: You think a grinder attachment for a power drill will get the job done?



Hydrilla said:


> Thanks. I think it took 3-4 cans. Yeah if you have any rust at all, that stuff is what you want to use. You just gotta make sure the rust scale or any lose stuff is gone. The cup stype wire wheel on my grinder has been the best tool I've found for doing this. It's aggressive, but I think it would be difficult to do any damage.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## Hydrilla (Nov 1, 2009)

That's exactly what I was talking about, especially the first 2 on the page. I think the ones that go with a drill would be just fine. I have a less aggressive one for my drill, and it worked, although I felt like the torque was more manageable with my grinder. Maybe I wasn't using the drill right. If you get a grinder, I think the 5" size is the most useful, IMHO. Also I don't think it pays for a hobbyist to spend a bunch of money on a grinder. The cheapies at Harbor Freight or even Lowes or Home Depot are just fine for most stuff.


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## jasper60103 (Nov 1, 2009)

yea, I can imagine how a drill w/grinder may want to run away from you.
I have some surface rust, but I don't think it should be too bad. 
Then again, it may be worth buying a grinder if it will make the job
go easier and quicker.
Thanks again for the info. 



Hydrilla said:


> That's exactly what I was talking about, especially the first 2 on the page. I think the ones that go with a drill would be just fine. I have a less aggressive one for my drill, and it worked, although I felt like the torque was more manageable with my grinder. Maybe I wasn't using the drill right. If you get a grinder, I think the 5" size is the most useful, IMHO. Also I don't think it pays for a hobbyist to spend a bunch of money on a grinder. The cheapies at Harbor Freight or even Lowes or Home Depot are just fine for most stuff.


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## danmyersmn (Nov 2, 2009)

That trailer is looking great. I think that you will be very happy with the route you took. Its hard to look at options when you have to double and triple the $ you planned to spend on fixing one part. But when its done and you look back you know you made the right choice by going with quality and proper parts instead of trying to hack something together. I know I always do!


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## Hydrilla (Nov 4, 2009)

'Preciate it Dan.

Here's a pic of the trailer painted, I will probably add a 2nd coat tonight, as well as carpet the bunks now that the Liquid Nails is dry on the ends.


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## Hydrilla (Nov 4, 2009)

I carpeted my bunks tonight, they turned out great. I made a mistake and carpeted one of them upside down, however- this means the holes I pre-drilled will no longer line up. I think this will be more of a pain in the rear than anything. Since I cut the boards a little long, I can just move them both closer to the front by about an inch, and re-drill the holes in the bunks. If anyone has any tips on lining up the holes in the trailer with where I need to drill in the bunks, let me know.


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## danmyersmn (Nov 5, 2009)

Hydrilla said:


> That's exactly what I was talking about, especially the first 2 on the page. I think the ones that go with a drill would be just fine. I have a less aggressive one for my drill, and it worked, although I felt like the torque was more manageable with my grinder. Maybe I wasn't using the drill right. If you get a grinder, I think the 5" size is the most useful, IMHO. Also I don't think it pays for a hobbyist to spend a bunch of money on a grinder. The cheapies at Harbor Freight or even Lowes or Home Depot are just fine for most stuff.




If you use a cup brush on a drill it will do one of three things.

First if it is a cordless you will drain the battery down extremely quickly and will be waiting on it all day long.

If you use a 1/4" light duty drill you will have much better luck but if you use it none stop for a long period of time and work that cup brush hard you will produce a nice electrical fire smell followed by white smoke. I did the same thing using a harbor freight angle grinder taking rust off a '77 powerwagon too so they are not that good of quality either.

If you use a 1/2" heavy duty or impact drill you can work it all day long and it will still have more to give out.

Now, if you go to Home Depot or Lowes and start pricing out Hitachi, or Dewalt or Milwaukee, Makita, etc. Then with those prices in mind you go over to one of the larger PawnAmerica's you will have your choice of Dewalt, Milwaukee, and Porter Cable drills, grinders, sawzalls. Basically if it has a cord and is used in some sort of construction you can find 20 of them for 1/4 of the price of new. 

The battery powered tools are equally cheap. I prefer cords on heavy use items though. I am in my garage, do I need it to be cordless? Drill/screw driver yeah its great for light duty but if it needs to drill something big a cord is better. Something for cutting, grinding, breaking, destroying, exploding? Nope, I would rather have the power over the mobility.


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## Nick Jones (Nov 5, 2009)

Hydrilla said:


> I accomplished a couple of things this weekend. First, after 2 full days of fishing out of the boat, with 2 different buddies instead of just me and my dog, I made the decision about what kind of floor/deck I want to do with this boat. Yesterday the guy that went with me had a real hard time while standing. He lost his balance at least 20-30 times, and actually fell flat on his back 2 or 3 times. I only slightly lost my balance a couple of times, and only as a result of the front of the boat pitching around from my friend dancing the huck-a-buck. Today was a different story. Similar body of water, similar waves/wakes, etc but the guy that went with me today didn't lose his balance once, and neither did I. We stood the entire day, very often fishing while standing on top of the benches. Based on this, I'm going forward with my plans to deck the boat. I'm only going the height of the benches, not all the way to the top. I know it can still be tippy but I think it will be fine.
> 
> Second, I brought some stripper home (paint stripper, keep it out the gutter), took the boat off the trailer and flipped it over, and started working on removing some paint. I tried the saran wrap trick with limited success. I haven't had time to scrape it all but it looks like the stripper is going to remove around 75% of the paint. I found a spot of JB Weld on the bottom of the boat that isn't on a rivet, so it has to be a hole repair- I'll have to add that to the list of things to fix correctly.
> 
> Also, and here's something you guys can help with, it looks like the splashwell has a badly dented area that looks to be caused by a battery bouncing around. When you look at the boat from the bottom, it's obviously bent out in that area. Should I worry about this if it's not leaking? What would be the fix? I'm attaching a pic of the dented area, and of the side of my boat covered in saran wrap.




I just want to say thanks. That plastic wrap idea was the best thing i have ever tried. it worked on my trailer too.


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## Nick Jones (Nov 5, 2009)

Hydrilla said:


> I'm back after a sidetrack to the trailer forum for help with resolving my hub/axle issue. Turns out my axle has very short, non-standard spindles that dont come close to being able to fit standard hubs. After a lot of research, I bit the bullet and bought a new axle. I went with a galvanized axle from Northern Tool. It is a little longer than my old one, so that creates a fender issue, but other than that it is going to work out well. I used the Reliable brand hubs that Northern Tool sells for about $30, and I recommend them as a good value for the money. If you get these, go ahead and plan on getting some Bearing Buddies, because the cheap tin dust caps are very difficult to get on. I put Bearing Buddies on tonight and they go on really easy and they look really sharp. I've used them on other boats and know they work great.
> 
> So I have 2 remaining issues to work through with the trailer, before I continue with the boat. I think with the fenders I'll just cut off the old ones, and get someone to weld on some wider ones, like these- https://www.northerntool.com/webapp...omer driven-_-Recently Viewed-_-Category Page I measured, and 8 1/2" wide fenders like this will clear the outside of my tires, even with the longer axles. Dang it, I wish I knew how to weld.
> 
> ...



I ran into the same problem with my spindles. only thing is only one was too short. I bought two new packed humbs before i noticed it. I just unpacked one of the hubs and repacked one of the old ones. the bad thing is that the rear seal is not flush with the back of the hub. i assume it will last for now but i think after reading your post i will try and replace my axel before summer starts.


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## Brine (Nov 5, 2009)

Hydrilla said:


> 'Preciate it Dan.
> 
> Here's a pic of the trailer painted, I will probably add a 2nd coat tonight, as well as carpet the bunks now that the Liquid Nails is dry on the ends.



First time I've heard of using Liquid Nails on the ends....Are you using it as a sealant?


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## Hydrilla (Nov 5, 2009)

Nick, I'm glad the plastic wrap idea helped, I got the idea from someone else here. It's cool how these tips get passed on from person to person, regardless of who first thought of it. Glad you were able to make your axle work, but as someone else pointed out to me- the peace of mind of being able to go almost anywhere and buy parts in an urgent situation was worth it to me to just buy a new axle and hubs. 

Brine, yep- I used it as a sealant on the ends of the boards. As usual, I also got this idea from someone else here on the forum. Made good sense to me, and the stuff is cheap and easy to work with.


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## dtwarrow (Nov 5, 2009)

awesome. Think I'll try the rustolium primer too. Looks good so far - what color is she gonna be?


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## Hydrilla (Nov 5, 2009)

That tan color is my actual paint, the primer was green.



dtwarrow said:


> awesome. Think I'll try the rustolium primer too. Looks good so far - what color is she gonna be?


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## Hydrilla (Nov 6, 2009)

I got the bunks attached, the wheels back on, and the tongue jack attached before I had to call it quits last night. Tonight I hope to get the boat back rightside up and on the trailer, and finish with the trailer setup. 

I am mainly posting because I got a callback on a quote request for angle aluminum from Somers Sheet Metal Inc in Greensboro NC. As you guys know, angle aluminum at Lowes or Home Depot is not cheap. If I remember right, 1" x 1" x 1/8" x 6' long was somewhere around $18-19. That would add up reeeally quick. These guys quoted me on 1 1/4" x 1 1/4" x 1/8" x 20' for $40, and for whatever reason right now, 1 1/4" x 1 1/4" x 3/16" x 20' they can sell me for $35. That's a serious difference. If you live in central NC, give these guys a call. If you live elsewhere and are thinking about Lowes or Home Depot, I'd say it would be worth your time to spend a while on Google to see what's around your area.


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## Hydrilla (Nov 6, 2009)

I got the boat on the trailer, and I am very happy with how things turned out. The boat sits very level on the trailer as you can see, and the bunks fit just inside the most outside strakes, locking the boat in as you guide it on. I spent the rest of the evening working on preparing the inside of the boat for paint. I'm not going to paint the whole inside, just places not covered by deck/floor.


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## CRAPPIE_SLAYER (Nov 7, 2009)

The whole rig is looking better all the time. Like the tan color that you picked out. Are the painted inside portions gonna be the same color?


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## Hydrilla (Nov 7, 2009)

Thanks man, I'm pretty happy with it. Yep, the inside is gonna be the same color. Would've primered the inside last night but I realized I didn't have any. Dang it  



CRAPPIE_SLAYER said:


> The whole rig is looking better all the time. Like the tan color that you picked out. Are the painted inside portions gonna be the same color?


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## jasper60103 (Nov 7, 2009)

wow, that looks great ! 
Your little fishing buddy seems very pleased as well.


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## danmyersmn (Nov 7, 2009)

looks great!!! Good solid progress. The bunks lined up perfect for you.


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## lcdr frank (Nov 8, 2009)

Had a 1436 Cajun special much like yours, 25 merc short shaft. The wife and I loved it for the bayou. With the motor tilted up 4 in draft. Push poll was great. Wished it had a taller transom.


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## Hydrilla (Nov 8, 2009)

Cool rig, that must've flown with a 25 on it!

I planned for an easy Sunday afternoon of working on the boat, nothing too hard. Of course nothing ever works out as you expect. The two main things I wanted to get done is placing/installing the bow roller/winch stand post, and installing the lights and trailer wiring. Within 5 minutes I realized I had a problem. When I determined where the winch stand needed to go, I found that it would have to go right over a weld where the previous owner had extended the tongue. It was a real beefy weld, and there was no way the winch stand was going over it. So, I had to grind it down on the top and sides, which took quite a long time. After I got that fitted, I realized the bolts wouldn't go through underneath, because of this silly contraption the previous owner added, I'm assuming to prevent the wiring from getting crimped since he had no tongue jack. I'm attaching a old pic of this so you know what I'm talking about. 

After all that, I re-primed and painted the areas I had to grind. I did finally get to the wiring, and that's about all I had energy for today. I won't have much to update until the weekend. I should accomplish a ton this coming weekend, including building my deck frame, and cutting/coating/carpeting my deck and floor.


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## Nick Jones (Nov 9, 2009)

This is my subscription! nice work man! the one thing you learn from redoing these old boats is that people spend more time jacking them up than they do fixing them.

I am ready to see what ideas you have for the inside.


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## Hydrilla (Nov 10, 2009)

I got the winch stand mounted, and finished running the wiring, only to find that I've got a wiring issue. I wasted a good bit of time on it last night and it's not fixed, but I know it can't be anything that major. Even though I made sure where the ground wire goes was clean and clear of paint, I know most problems like this are ground related. Once the remnants of this hurricane blow through, I'll get back out there and figure it out.


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## CRAPPIE_SLAYER (Nov 10, 2009)

Couldn't tell from the pics, but if you have a split trailer it may be causing a ground problem for the lights. When I did mine, all of the lights worked until I hit the brakes, and then they all went out. Did some reading and found it was due to a weak ground. I ended up running a second ground wire from the ground in the front part of my trailer to a spot on the back half. Also found that when I painted the trailer it covered the mounting holes for the lights themselves and it was getting a weak ground there.


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## Hydrilla (Nov 10, 2009)

Wow, thanks! that makes a whole lot of sense. Yeah it is a split trailer as you call it. I've painted the sh*t out of it, too :lol: None of the lights are coming on at all. I have a test light and I think I'm getting the readings I should at the plug, but I'm not positive. The ground wire up front seems ok, yet the lights don't work. Here's something that would probably mean something to a guy that knows more than me about this stuff- When I put the test light probe INSIDE one of the splice connectors near one of the trailer lights, and ground it wherever, not only does my test light come on, but the actual trailer light comes on! :? 



CRAPPIE_SLAYER said:


> Couldn't tell from the pics, but if you have a split trailer it may be causing a ground problem for the lights. When I did mine, all of the lights worked until I hit the brakes, and then they all went out. Did some reading and found it was due to a weak ground. I ended up running a second ground wire from the ground in the front part of my trailer to a spot on the back half. Also found that when I painted the trailer it covered the mounting holes for the lights themselves and it was getting a weak ground there.


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## CRAPPIE_SLAYER (Nov 11, 2009)

I'm no electrical expert, but from everything I've read on trailer wiring 90% of the problems seem to be from a bad / weak ground connection. If you're putting the tester in the connector and then grounding the tester out well, I would think that this is helping to ground out the system allowing the lights to work. Again, I'm just guessing. Hope it works out for you. I know I was starting to get a little frustrated with mine when I was having problems with it :evil: .


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## danmyersmn (Nov 11, 2009)

You can 2 one of two things and either one would probably solve your problem. I assume you have a ground wire that is screwed to the trailer up close to the hitch? I also assume you have your lights grounded by screwing to the trailer back by where they are installed?

You can either run a wire from the screw in the front by the hitch to the screw by one of the lights. That will jump the ground over your hinge in the split and ground all your lights. You would only need to do this to one of them and it should give you a solid ground.

You could also put in a small jumper ground wire that would jump the hinge on the split. Use a sheet metal screw and screw the wire to the trailer on one side of the split and wrap it to the other side of the hinge and do the same thing. Either way you will complete the ground.

Tilt trailers are awesome so its worth getting past the darn wiring problems for when you need to use the tilt. Especially when you decide your going to launch at one spot on a river with a twelve pack of beer and float down fishing smallies. You overshoot your takeout and need to float to the next one only to find you cant get the trailer into the water more then a few inches. OOPPS!! Darn current, or umm beer, or umm, yeah the river..shouldn't of missed the first take out


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## lckstckn2smknbrls (Nov 11, 2009)

When I rewired my trailer I ran a ground wire to each light. So far I've had no issues with my lights.


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## Hydrilla (Nov 11, 2009)

Awesome tips. Based on what you guys are saying, again it's very obvious to me I'm not getting a good ground, especially since I can ground one of the trailer lights with the test light probe, and the light comes on. That tells me almost certainly that the back half of the trailer, and/or the lights themselves aren't being grounded correctly. Y'all probably just saved me a bunch of time, thanks.


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## Hydrilla (Nov 11, 2009)

Man, you guys rule. Shelby the fishing dog and I went out in the cold, wind and rain for nary 10 minutes and got the wiring problem licked. All it took was unscrewing the lights, and scraping a little bit of paint so the star washers and nuts made good contact. Bingo! Lights on.


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## CRAPPIE_SLAYER (Nov 12, 2009)

Way to go man! Glad to hear everything worked out for you.


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## Hydrilla (Nov 12, 2009)

I'm trying to make the best of some crappy weather, and work on planning my front deck support structure. I don't visualize things really well, I do better with drawings, even crude ones if they work. In this case, I decided to use some online graph paper- I did a search for free online graph paper, and found a link to a bunch of pdf files of different kinds. I just did a screen capture of a section of one, copied it to MS Paint, and started drawing based on the dimensions I took of the front half of my boat. As you can see, it turned out well. I used the scale 1 square = 1 inch. This isn't filled out yet, I just thought someone might benefit from this idea.

I know this is only 2 dimensional and of limited value in the case of planning deck support structure, but I still find it helpful. It would be a big help I would think in the planning of decks, flooring, compartments, etc.

EDIT: I did a side view one too, and no doubt it will at least help me estimate how much aluminum angle I need, at least. The "bumps" in the side view drawing are the ribs.


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## Doug (Nov 13, 2009)

8) Thanks for the info., I had not tried to use any online graph paper before but that seems very useful. I know what you mean about the weather it's been raining here for 3 days straight but that will just put more water in some of my area's I fish  .


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## Hydrilla (Nov 14, 2009)

Today was a total bust, I didn't get anything done so far. I have jumped through a bunch of hoops to get the boat registered, and now today I found out I'm still missing a step. I have paperwork saying the guy I bought it from purchased it from another guy and never registered it. Cool except the guy he bought it from wasn't the last guy who registered the boat, it was the guy before him. If it wasn't for my wife I would have listed it (boat only, not trailer) on Craigslist today. But she is in contact with a lady who works at a tackle shop and knows how things operate in the mystical land of Raleigh, and they both swear they can and will see it through. Based on that, I bought my aluminum angle and plywood tonight, and I'll probably work until I'm too tired tonight. Good grief, it's just a folded up piece of tin, it's not like it's a gun receiver or anything.


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## lckstckn2smknbrls (Nov 14, 2009)

Judge Judy will tell you not to spend any money on anything you don't actually own.


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## Hydrilla (Nov 16, 2009)

I was overreacting, I've been on with the wildlife commision today and it's no big deal to get taken care of. My wife is handling it since she works at home.

I am almost finished with my front deck frame, it's just short a couple/few vertical legs in the middle. It probably took me a lot longer than it did most of you, it took a good bit of time just to wrap my brain around what I wanted to do. Once I got going, it got easier. I will say it helped me to mock up part of it with cardboard to help me visualize what I was doing. It's already stable enough that when I grab one of the sides and shake it, the whole boat moves, and that's all that moves. Here's a pic. The pedestal base is just sitting there, it's not attached. I'm going to add 2 more vertical supports to the middle, and 1 more to the center rear of the frame. I may also add a flat piece across the top toward the front, just to stabilize it a little more yet.

EDIT: I forgot to mention, instead of the deck going from bench to bench, it will sit on the middle bench and run up to the bottom of the front bench, or whatever the raised front part is called. That's what the angle of the middle bench is, I didn't see any other way to do it. That's totally fine with me, I'll add a small deck piece to the front, put a trolling motor mount on one side (extending it out further if necessary), and a fishfinder on the other side. I can't see needing to walk around that close to the bow too much anyway.


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## danmyersmn (Nov 16, 2009)

I think that deck is going to work out great.




Hydrilla said:


> It probably took me a lot longer than it did most of you, it took a good bit of time just to wrap my brain around what I wanted to do. Once I got going, it got easier.



I bet if you factor in all the time I have spent standing at the side of my boat staring into it plotting things in my brain I have you beat in amount of time per accomplishment.


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## CRAPPIE_SLAYER (Nov 16, 2009)

Hydrilla said:


> It probably took me a lot longer than it did most of you, it took a good bit of time just to wrap my brain around what I wanted to do. Once I got going, it got easier.



I bet if you factor in all the time I have spent standing at the side of my boat staring into it plotting things in my brain I have you beat in amount of time per accomplishment. [/quote]

With you guys on this one. Definitly spent lots of time just staring and planning.


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## Hydrilla (Nov 17, 2009)

Thanks guys, glad to hear I'm not the only one  I finished the front deck tonight. It is solid as stone, and everything is on the same plane, with no twist to it whatsoever. I'm sure there are better designs, but for my first effort I'm pretty proud of it. It really is solid as stone, and you can't get it to move at all. Here are a few pics.

I'm also attaching a pic of a gas tank I picked up. Kind of funny because I don't even have an outboard yet. My dilemma is that I don't have enough room for a 6 gallon because of the transom support being in the way. I found this 3.2 gallon at Gander Mountain, and it fits perfectly. Figured I would go ahead and pick it up in case I decide to deck the back end of the boat.

Tomorrow night I'm going to take tons of measurements and work on cutting out my front deck wood. One thing I need to do is figure out if I can live with a slight gap at the rear of the front deck, and if not, how do I deal with it. The center bench where the deck will start, up to half a foot or so forward of the bench, is wider than my plywood by about an inch at the most, and gradually getting less wide of course. Would this gap bother you guys?


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## CRAPPIE_SLAYER (Nov 17, 2009)

Lookin' great man! =D> Wonderd if you might be able to give me the length, width, height, and bolt spacing of the seat base you have. Would like to use the same ones you have, but would like to be able to lay out the framing before hand.


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## Hydrilla (Nov 17, 2009)

Yeah man, no prob- I'll do that when I get home tonight. It's the standard Attwood one that Walmart sells.


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## CRAPPIE_SLAYER (Nov 17, 2009)

Thanks man. You don't know what you paid for them do you? I didn't look at walmart yet, but flipped through the BPS catalog and I thenk they were like $20 for the springfield ones.


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## Hydrilla (Nov 17, 2009)

I can't remember but it was less than that I think.


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## Hydrilla (Nov 17, 2009)

By not building this frame so the deck rests on the middle bench as well as the front ledge, I think I've created a problem for myself. Instead of the deck frame being just support, without the deck going up on the front ledge, the frame in this case becomes much more 'load bearing' the way I see it. I'm wondering if a solution would be to include some sort of brackets that might help transfer some of that load bearing to the front ledge. Your thoughts on this would be appreciated. Here's kind of what I was thinking about, except not just in that one place obviously.


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## danmyersmn (Nov 17, 2009)

Hydrilla said:


> By not building this frame so the deck rests on the middle bench as well as the front ledge, I think I've created a problem for myself. Instead of the deck frame being just support, without the deck going up on the front ledge, the frame in this case becomes much more 'load bearing' the way I see it. I'm wondering if a solution would be to include some sort of brackets that might help transfer some of that load bearing to the front ledge. Your thoughts on this would be appreciated. Here's kind of what I was thinking about, except not just in that one place obviously.




Take two pieces of angle and rivet them together with the backs together so that they form a T Then you can use the right side of the T and rivet it to the bottom of the front seat. The left side of the T would support the front of the decking. It looks like the level lines up for a perfect fit like that?


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## Hydrilla (Nov 17, 2009)

Yessir, everything hits the same point on the bottom of the ledge, within probably 1/16". I think I can picture what you are saying. I'll have to make a drawing after lunch, makes it easier for me to visualize.


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## Nick Jones (Nov 17, 2009)

It looks great man! I must warn you to put it in the water with some kind of temporary deck on it before permanently attaching it. I did one this way and it was too high for my 36 inch bottom.


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## Cheeseball (Nov 17, 2009)

Hydrilla said:


> ne thing I need to do is figure out if I can live with a slight gap at the rear of the front deck, and if not, how do I deal with it. The center bench where the deck will start, up to half a foot or so forward of the bench, is wider than my plywood by about an inch at the most, and gradually getting less wide of course. Would this gap bother you guys?



I must say that would bother me. Maybe you could shim the gaps with i piece of pine or some other material you could shape to fit the gap.


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## Hydrilla (Nov 18, 2009)

Yeah, I was thinking about some sort of shim. I build mandolins so I have a good bit of scrap wood and stuff. 

I got the front lip support thing built last night, problem solved. It's a very sturdy support, gives me a lot more peace of mind.

CRAPPIE_SLAYER, the packaging on my seat base says 7" x 7" but I measured it anyway, and it's just barely shy of 6 7/8" x 6 7/8". I tried to measure the hole you need for the bottom, but it's kind of hard to do since it has small flares around the hole underneath. Hopefully this picture will help what I said make sense.


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## CRAPPIE_SLAYER (Nov 18, 2009)

Thanks man!


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## Hydrilla (Nov 19, 2009)

Rivet info- I had this question before I did my riveting, so maybe someone else might be wondering the same thing. If you buy rivets from Lowes, the 3/16" aluminum rivets, long size is what I used and they worked out well. The medium length may have worked but I can't see a downside to the long ones. Connecting 2 pieces of 1/8" angle aluminum was no problem, and I'm sure it would do 3 if you needed it to. Oh, and pay the extra $5 for the rivet gun that rotates 360 degrees, it's worth it.


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## Nick Jones (Nov 19, 2009)

ok! i need to see some progress on this boat! lol :lol:


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## Hydrilla (Nov 19, 2009)

Hopefully cutting/fitting plywood tonight 8) I was going to last night but my son called from Army AIT training so talking to him bumped the boat down in the priority list


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## Hydrilla (Nov 20, 2009)

I got my front deck measured and cut out last night, and it couldn't have gone better. I spent a lot of time measuring the width of the boat every 3", and was real careful about measuring the centerline of the plywood and trying to be accurate as possible with the width measurements, and it really paid off. After doing a little trimming to account for the ribs, I measured and cut the hole for my seat base, based on the location of my center frame supports. I then coated the edge of the plywood all the way around with liquid nails, before running out of time for the evening.

The gap on the sides toward the rear is because the plywood is 48" wide and the boat at that point is almost 50' wide.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I climbed up on the deck (carefully because I know when it's on the trailer, it's not good to put a bunch of weight on the boat) and found that the whole piece of plywood sets evenly on the framing, and everything is very sturdy, even all the way up front. I think adding that lip up front was a great decision for me.


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## danmyersmn (Nov 20, 2009)

all sorts of room for casting with that deck!


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## CRAPPIE_SLAYER (Nov 20, 2009)

Nice work!


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## Hydrilla (Nov 23, 2009)

Thanks guys!

The registration process just took a hilarious turn, turns out I had the paperwork I needed all along. The guy I bought the boat from is friends with the last registered owner. My seller never registered the boat in his name, and he gave me the correct notarized form saying that he was not the last registered owner but so-and-so is. Based on the boat numbers, what had me so spun up a couple weeks ago was that the wildlife commision was telling me that so-and-so was NOT the last registered owner, and I had to contact the guy who did register it last, blah blah blah. Turns out that so-and-so IS the last registered owner, and a single digit in the registration number was transposed incorrectly by somebody who must have inhaled too many spray bomb fumes  :roll: :mrgreen: 

All this over nothing. Since the boat was never titled and wasn't required to be titled, I have everything I need to get it registered. Go figure.


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## Hydrilla (Nov 23, 2009)

Fitting the floor for the middle section of the boat was one of the easiest things I've done so far, mostly because the dimensions were virtually square. It was still a little time consuming because of the cutouts for the ribs which I didn't pre-cut, and had to cut each side several times until everything fit. I'll do the liquid nails tonight, one side with Thompsons tomorrow night, etc. 

Since both sides of my front deck will be done tomorrow, I may even start on carpet for it tomorrow. I debated how I was going to do the hole for the seat base- should I just razor knife the carpet at the edge of the hole, or just make an "X" cut and fold the flaps down into the hole. Since I cut the hole slightly big, I'm going to go with the X cut. Not sure if cutting it flush at the hole could cause the carpet to fray around the edges and eventually creep out from under the seat base, but I don't want to take that chance.


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## danmyersmn (Nov 24, 2009)

The way I have seen them done in the past is to cut like an X that you suggested but instead of just the X doing more then just two cuts. Kind of like cutting a pizza I suppose. I would guess a seat post hole maybe 4-5 cuts should be enough, then just wrap them over the edge and glue down. Maybe throw a stable or two in to hold until the glue sets then pull the staples back out. 

The downside to doing that is that you need to cut a bigger hole to fit the carpet. Since the carpet is going to be under the seat base the seat base would keep it from fraying and coming back up and the screws/toggles holding the base down will also help keep the carpet from pulling away from the hole. I might just cut use some good strong glue around the hole and glue it down. Once the glue is set then cut it around the hole.


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## Hydrilla (Nov 24, 2009)

Dan, good point about the asterisk cut vs the x cut on the carpet. I'm still undecided. I still need to decide exactly where my TM plug will go, where my fishfinder wiring will run, etc. I expect to get a TON done during the long weekend, as I only have obligations on Thursday.

On a good note, I put my registration woes behind me today at lunch- got my temporary registration and should have the real deal in the mail in a week or so. =D> =D> =D> =D>


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## Hydrilla (Nov 24, 2009)

I didn't feel like messing with the deck or the floor tonight so I primered the inside of the boat. I did most of the boat except the middle and front floor because they won't be visible. 

If you wonder why I have open holes in the transom, I noticed tonight that I had some non-stainless nuts and bolts. I'll have to re-paint part of the back of the boat, but it's worth it to not have problems to deal with in the future. With the bolts out, I checked the transom wood and it is rock solid- no rot at all. I'm not surprised since the boat is only a 94, I just found out from the wildlife commision.

Sorry for the slow progress lately, I'll have a lot to update this weekend. Some of you amaze me with what you are able to accomplish in short periods of time.


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## Waterwings (Nov 25, 2009)

Nice work! When I carpeted my boat I didn't want to remove the seat baseplates, so I just laid the carpet down and trimmed around the perimeter of the baseplate. I haven't had any problems with fraying of the edges since it's been done. I don't have a close-up, but here's a couple of pics:


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## jsharp (Nov 25, 2009)

water wings i love your boat did you build your deck yourself or was your boat built like that i want the front of mine like that but cant figure out how to build it


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## Waterwings (Nov 25, 2009)

Appreciate the compliment  . As I seem to be getting lazier the older I get, this rig came decked from the factory with sheetmetal flooring. Saved a lot of time and anguish on my part. I fished it twice I think before I carpeted it, but that dang sheetmetal gets hots real quick on a sunny day! Here's a pic from the Lowe website of the boat showing the factory flooring and the hinged rear deck insert.


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## Hydrilla (Nov 25, 2009)

I consider that the ultimate tin boat, really. Yours looks fantastic. I was pretty sure your decks were factory. Very cool rig.


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## Hydrilla (Nov 28, 2009)

I'm getting a lot done, and there is lots more weekend to go. I now have a bow mount foot controlled TM, and a fish finder. I bought the BPS Prowler 45 lb thrust, it has variable speed vs 5 speed (big deal to me), and is only 12V which I think is fine for this boat, since I'm not setting my rig up as electric only. For my fishfinder I bought an Eagle Fishmark 480, it has a 60 degree cone transducer and built in temperature, 480x480 resolution. I'm mounting it on the TM and it will be my only sonar for now. The best part is I got it on clearance for $149 at Gander Mountain. 

I got the front deck carpeted today, as well as the middle floor. When I say "I", what I mean is, "my wife and I". Man has she been a big help and support in all this. Back to work, more later.


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## azfish (Nov 28, 2009)

Man, great job on the boat Hydrilla. It is looking great, keep up all that good work this weekend. My long weekend to work on my boat will be next weekend. Hopefully I can get half the amount done that you have and I'll be happy.


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## CTAngler481 (Dec 2, 2009)

I've been following along lots of good advice from you! Keep the pics coming!!


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## Hydrilla (Dec 2, 2009)

Thanks a lot guys, I appreciate it a lot!

I've made some steady progress, some of what I'm doing now is pretty time consuming. The fishfinder is mounted and wired up, except for the transducer- it is waiting to be hooked up to the trolling motor. I built a support in the very back for the battery tray to sit on, so it doesn't damage the boat as I drive down the road. I designed and built my trolling motor bracket/support/whateveryouwanttocallit, and last night I attached the trolling motor mount to it. I think it's a sturdy and useable design. That whole assembly is just sitting on the boat right now, but you can tell in the pics how it will line up once it is bolted down. When the TM is in the water, the shaft will be about 3 1/2" from the front lip of the boat, so it has room to break away if I hit anything.

Here are a couple of pics. Again, the TM bracket isn't attached to the boat, but the TM mount is attached to the bracket. I didn't have to drill any holes to run the fishfinder cables, the front lip that supports the deck doesn't go all the way to the side, so there's enough of a gap to run the cables where I have them. No risk of anything getting crimped.


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## jsharp (Dec 2, 2009)

i like it looks good i need to figure out how to mount mine to my boat


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## jasper60103 (Dec 3, 2009)

Very nice and coming together as planned. No pics with the pooch, eh? :LOL2:


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## Hydrilla (Dec 3, 2009)

Not yet, she's a little scared of all the loud noises involved with this stuff  

However I didn't notice this stowaway when I was taking pics of the trolling motor bracket :roll: The pic is kind of dark and so is the cat but you can see her if you look.



jasper60103 said:


> Very nice and coming together as planned. No pics with the pooch, eh? :LOL2:


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## jasper60103 (Dec 3, 2009)

after a fishing trip, my dad always leaves a small dead fish or two (like carp, etc.) on the boat and the cats always come by at night for supper. I imagine yours was disappointed.


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## hamar507 (Dec 3, 2009)

I've followed your progress throughout this modification. Great Job. Do you have a ball park $$ figure of what you have invested in the project? I could not imagine the hours invested. You ended up with something to be proud of though.


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## Doug (Dec 3, 2009)

Hydrilla,

The work looks great. Something to be proud of. Now it's time to put it on the water for a test run with all the new stuff.


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## azfish (Dec 3, 2009)

I agree great work. Hopefully this weekend I can make some progress on mine.


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## Hydrilla (Dec 9, 2009)

Got the inside painted, all coats. It is looking good. I'm going to give it a couple of days to dry, then all I have left is wiring the TM/plug, attaching the transducer, and then attaching the TM bracket, seat pedestal base, deck and floor. I fully intend to finish everything Saturday, and if it gets in the upper 40s like they are calling for, I may try to dunk it in the lake that's just a few miles from the house.


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## cyberflexx (Dec 9, 2009)

Great Job!


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## RBuffordTJ (Dec 9, 2009)

Way to go man, looking real good


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## Hydrilla (Dec 9, 2009)

Hamar507, to answer your question- I do have an idea, as I have been keeping track of the project cost in a spreadsheet, the best I can anyway. I will put that information here once I am done, there are still some blank fields I need to populate.

I can say that it's more than I expected it would be, and I don't even have an outboard motor yet. Part of it is I think that when you do a project for a first time, working on something you aren't familiar with, you tend to spend more money than if you've done it before. Why? I think because when you are experienced, you tend to plan better, you don't buy extra of this or that, or pay Lowes/Home Depot prices for stuff if you don't have to. I have made many late night trips to Lowes for things I didn't account for or have enough of. (Tip about buying stuff at Lowes- MAKE SURE you provide your phone number when you check out, they really can do lookups based on your phone number, and can process returns with no receipts with no problem at all!). I think next time, I will be able to plan over 90% of the build before I raise a hand to pick up the first tool. 

Even with good planning, I say you should take your original estimate and add a good percentage of cost to it. I don't think you really save money doing things like this yourself versus buying a pre-built or pre-rigged boat. What you can gain is peace of mind in knowing that you did something right, as well as taylored to meet your needs. Not to mention the pride in the end result. OK, let me get off my soap box and back to my day job :mrgreen: 



hamar507 said:


> I've followed your progress throughout this modification. Great Job. Do you have a ball park $$ figure of what you have invested in the project? I could not imagine the hours invested. You ended up with something to be proud of though.


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## Hydrilla (Dec 9, 2009)

The paint is completely dry, so I put everything back in the boat to see how it would look. I'm not going to get anymore actual work done until Saturday. It's cool to see how she's going to look though.


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## jasper60103 (Dec 9, 2009)

nice, very nice. Good job!


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## USSWormy (Dec 10, 2009)

Great work! I know you are going to be very happy...... =D> =D>


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## danmyersmn (Dec 10, 2009)

nice job. its nice to be so close to done! My rig is on hold as I await a possible relocation. If I end up moving I am going to have to stick my rig into storage until fully transition and then retrieve it. So its sitting waiting on me now. I have done projects like this in the past. I try not to think about what the cost is.  If I have some $ to spend I do, if not, I wait. Add it up? no way!


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## RBuffordTJ (Dec 10, 2009)

Looks great man!


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## Hydrilla (Dec 13, 2009)

I'm pretty much done as of today! There are a few little things I'll be doing, but I could hit the water tomorrow if I wasn't working. 

Here's a summary of what I did this weekend to finish up. First thing yesterday morning, I took the boat to a local welder, and he sealed off the hole that goes to the small livewell that I won't be using. That gives me a lot of peace of mind that I had it done right instead of using some type of band-aid method. The livewell is under my deck and not being used, and I hated the idea of something failing and not knowing about it. 

There wasn't all that much else, but as usual things took longer than expected. I took a lot of time to run my trolling motor wiring, drill the hole and mount the trolling motor plug, secure the trolling motor bracket, and run the transducer. I used zip ties to run the transducer on the trolling motor, with electrical tape underneath each one, and then I used electrical tape to secure it to the trolling motor cable. After this stuff, I carefully measured and drilled the holes for my pedestal seat base, and thankfully all 6 holes went through both wood and the aluminum frame underneath the deck, so the pedestal base is VERY secure. Then I screwed the decks and floor to the boat, added a rod strap, and really that was about it. 

All I really want to do is replace the inline fuse I installed for the trolling motor with a Bussmann manual reset circuit breaker, as recommended by some of the folks on this forum. I hate the fuse holder I have, it's very obviously not a good choice for this application. Also I plan to get an outboard sometime in the next couple of months, the boat is rated for 15hp but I think I'll be happy with a 9.9hp. 

This has been a very fun and educational project. I know I will do another in the next few years, maybe sooner. My next boat will be at least an all welded 1448, and actually I'd love to get a 16-17 footer. I don't regret going away from my original idea which was adding compartments and other bells and whistles. I scaled the project back to be what I felt was reasonable based on my ability and experience (or lack thereof). I'm sure my next one will be different/more elaborate, but by then I will have spent a lot of time fishing out of a tin boat. I have bass fished for many years, but all of my experience to date has been out of big glass boats (my first boat was 18' with a 150hp). In this economy, I am thankful to have a tin boat versus a big rig. I think I can catch just as many fish and have just as much fun, if not more. Will this boat be too tippy with the way I've built it? I can't say. I did fish while standing on the front bench and it was fine, and I figure if I have a butt seat to lean against while standing, that can only help. Will there be enough room? 90% of the time it will be just me and my dog, so yeah- there's plenty of room. 

I will post some more pictures once I get her out of the garage during daylight, which may not be until around Christmas. Sorry that these pics look almost just like my last update/mock up pics.

Also I'm attaching a "before" pic so you can see the difference between now and almost 3 months ago when I started.


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## Brine (Dec 13, 2009)

Great work man. Just add fish!

Think you may fish with any of the jon boat clubs in NC?


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## Waterwings (Dec 13, 2009)

Lookin' good! Go catch some fish! 8)


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## Hydrilla (Dec 14, 2009)

Thanks guys! Brine, I may fish a jon boat club, if I can find one that isn't electric only. I'm sure that's fun, but I plan on using an outboard, and would want to fish a club that uses them, at least on the lakes that allow it. If there isn't one, maybe I could start one.


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## Brine (Dec 14, 2009)

Here are the ones I know of, although I'm sure some if not all are electric only. 

Bassbusters out of Sanford with 30 members
JBFC of Raleigh with 15 members
Shallow River of Robbins with 15 members

The guys in GA have been trying to setup a regional jon boat tournament between AL,NC, and GA. It would be hard to get me off these electric only lakes. I've gotten spoiled not dealing with pleasure boaters, and jet skis the past 2 years. Then again, we fish a few State Parks that allow less than 10hp outboards, and now those lakes feel like "big water". LOL


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## Hydrilla (Dec 14, 2009)

Thanks for the club info, I'll check them out! No doubt I love our local electric only lakes, and I'm sure I'll spend a lot of time on them during the peak jetski season. I just like the idea of a 9.9 club like they have in Northern VA where I used to live.


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## Hydrilla (Dec 26, 2009)

I took my boat out today for the first time since finishing the build. I think my expectations were as they should be, and I was not disappointed. First of all it floats, with no leaks- the total water taken in after 4 hours of fishing was about 1/2 a teaspoon, maybe less, just weeping around the plug hole. The trolling motor and sonar worked as they should. My biggest concern of course was standing on the front deck and running the trolling motor/fishing. I can tell that the boat is going to work out fine for me, if I use some common sense. Having a flat floor with no ribs is a big help, and walking from that to the front deck, as long as I move fairly slowly, is no big deal. Once I'm up there and running the trolling motor, it's stable enough that I forget that I'm on a small jon boat and am able to concentrate on fishing, which is what I hoped would be the case.

The Prowler 45 is plenty of TM for this boat. It's 45 lbs of thrust and only 12v but again, it's plenty. I would say it moves close to as fast as my last Skeeter that had a 109 lb 36v Motorguide. The Eagle Fishmark 480 is just fine too, it tells me plenty.

So again to summarize, if you are thinking about a 1436 because that is the most boat you can afford, I think it can be a good boat for you, depending on your size, balance, type of water you fish, etc. I think it will help once I get a pedestal pole and butt seat, so I have something to lean on in case I lose my balance. 

Here is an 'on the water' pic at Lake Mackintosh where I fished today. No fish caught yet (44 degree muddy water), but I'm sure it won't take long 8)


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## 1436delta (Dec 26, 2009)

HEY MAN IT REALLY LOOKS GOOD IN THE WATER =D>


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## Waterwings (Dec 26, 2009)

Boat looks good! 8) . That pic would make a nice screensaver!


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## FishingBuds (Dec 26, 2009)

Yea it turned out great! nice job


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## 1436delta (Dec 26, 2009)

WHERE IS THE BIG OUTBOARD ON THAT RIG :wink:


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## Hydrilla (Dec 26, 2009)

Thanks guys! Yeah, I hope to have an outboard on there soon. I have a 200hp Yammie that I'm gonna hang off the back, I just need to beef up the transom a little bit and get a good jackplate :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: 



1436delta said:


> WHERE IS THE BIG OUTBOARD ON THAT RIG :wink:


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## albright1695 (Dec 27, 2009)

The boat looks great.Bad time to take it out for maiden voyage though.I thought about heading to Mac saturday myself to crappie fish but I talked myself out of it.But anyway the boat looks great,Iwill get up with ya soon sbout possibly forming a club.Later!!


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## jasper60103 (Dec 27, 2009)

Hydrilla said:


> ...
> 
> Here is an 'on the water' pic at Lake Mackintosh where I fished today. No fish caught yet (44 degree muddy water), but I'm sure it won't take long 8)



Well, count your blessings. 18 degrees in Minneapolis, icy water. LOL! :LOL2: 

The rig looks great. Nice job!


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## 1436delta (Dec 27, 2009)

HEY HYDRILLA DO U HAVE OUTBOARD ? IF U DONT WHAT ARE U THINKING ?


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## Hydrilla (Dec 27, 2009)

I won't complain about 44 degree water again, I promise! :LOL2: Heck, I fished a hot hole lake today (Belews) and 64 degree water, and still didn't catch any fish, not even a dink! :roll: Still an awesome weekend.

1436delta, I don't have an outboard yet, but I plan to get one by February at the latest. I'll post about it here when I do. I plan to get either a 9.9 or a 15hp (max rating), depending on what deal I find. I will buy used, and I'd love to find a Tohatsu/Nissan or Yammie, but I know that's a tough thing to do since people don't really sell them much. I would be ok with a nice Merc or Johnson/Evinrude as well. Regardless of brand, I'm not interested in anything older than a 90s era motor.


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## Hydrilla (Dec 27, 2009)

***Something of note that I forgot to add, regarding the BPS Prowler trolling motors. This applies to the bow mount models, I can't say if it applies to the transom mount ones or not- I would assume they are the same. Even though they are made by another company- I think it's a Chinese company, I can't remember, Motorguide props CAN be used on these motors. This is a big deal, because the props made for these motors are very thin and flimsy, not something you would want to trust around anything but wide open water. I hope this helps someone someday, if they do a search on Prowler trolling motors made for Bass Pro Shops.

EDIT: About the motor in general, the 45 lb 12v bow mount model is a decent buy for the money I think. It's not what I call a great TM, but for about $325, to get a variable speed TM, I think it's a good motor for a jon boat. It is quiet and seems sturdy.


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## danmyersmn (Dec 28, 2009)

That rig looks great on the water. Now you need to get some fish slime into the carpet!


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## Doug (Dec 28, 2009)

Boat looks great!! It's nice to know it feels stable to you, now like you said, go catch so some fish and get it all fishy.

Doug


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## ericshayes (Dec 29, 2009)

how much does that trolling motor weigh? Thanks


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## Hydrilla (Dec 29, 2009)

Not really sure but it feels comparable to a typical Motorguide, let's say a Brute 767 model for example. I'm guessing 20-25 lbs including the pedal? Sorry, not much help.



ericshayes said:


> how much does that trolling motor weigh? Thanks


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## ericshayes (Dec 29, 2009)

Can you still buy them? I was at bps recently and didn't see them.


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## Hydrilla (Dec 29, 2009)

They had them at the Charlotte BPS right before Christmas, I don't know if they still have them or not. They have never been on the website, or at least not since I've been checking them out. I was told it was an item they just started carrying this year, so maybe they just haven't been really added to the inventory. Or maybe they have been discontinued. I wish I knew more about these TMs. I'm not sure where you live, but it wouldn't hurt to call Charlotte BPS and ask if they still have the bow mount Prowlers.



ericshayes said:


> Can you still buy them? I was at bps recently and didn't see them.


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## ericshayes (Dec 29, 2009)

I was at the concord bps.


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## Nick Jones (Jan 21, 2010)

looks good man! I bought a house during christmas so i had to put my tinboats.net on hold for a while.

so when you getting another one? lol


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## Hydrilla (Jan 21, 2010)

I hear ya man. Ain't no tellin! I need to wait a while or I'll be in the doghouse :lol:


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## jw2 (Jan 21, 2010)

Wow man! Your boat looks great! Really inspires me to work hard on mine! Good job!


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## MeanMouth (Jan 22, 2010)

Great looking boat and trailer. Your hard work and extra effort really makes the boat unique; you can tell the boat was constructed with quality =D> 

For the boat, what was the top color called and from whom?
For the trailer, I know you hit it with rustoleum rust converter. Did you use something else for topcoat?


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## Hydrilla (Jan 22, 2010)

Thanks again y'all. MeanMouth, the boat paint is Krylon Color Creations, you can get it at Walmart for about $7/quart. Even though I used it all over the outside, I would recommend something more resilliant as bottom paint. You can find opinions that latex enamel isn't good for tin boat paint at all, but it seems fine to me so far, especially using self-etching primer under it. The color according to Krylon is Khaki. You can get it in both a quart container, and a spray can, which I used a little bit of for hard to reach places.

I used regular old gloss black Rustoleum rattle cans for the trailer, and it turned out well I think. When I do another boat, I really hope to have some spray equipment, you sure do go through a lot of paint using rattle cans, it gets danged expensive.


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## MeanMouth (Jan 22, 2010)

Hydrilla said:


> Thanks again y'all. MeanMouth, the boat paint is Krylon Color Creations, you can get it at Walmart for about $7/quart. Even though I used it all over the outside, I would recommend something more resilliant as bottom paint. You can find opinions that latex enamel isn't good for tin boat paint at all, but it seems fine to me so far, especially using self-etching primer under it. The color according to Krylon is Khaki. You can get it in both a quart container, and a spray can, which I used a little bit of for hard to reach places.
> 
> I used regular old gloss black Rustoleum rattle cans for the trailer, and it turned out well I think. When I do another boat, I really hope to have some spray equipment, you sure do go through a lot of paint using rattle cans, it gets danged expensive.


Thanks for the reply Hydrilla. Kudos again to you and your project. Looks awesome!


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## Hydrilla (Jan 23, 2010)

The search for a motor is over, I got a 2000 model 15hp Tohatsu! It is in fantastic shape, starts on the first pull every time, and purrs like a kitten. "Almost" sounds like a 4 stroke to me even though it isn't. 

Here are a couple of pics 8) Yes there is a piece of pitchfork strapped to the lower unit, used as a deflection plate. I'm also including a pic of the 15' long 42" wide Polar Kraft boat and trailer that came with the deal! Too bad I can't keep this boat too, it's already been vetoed by "the boss".


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## jigster60 (Jan 23, 2010)

That should do the trick for yas...Glad ya found what ya wanted....The pitchfork idea looks like one of my redneck inventions :LOL2: .....Hope ya get lots of good service outta the motor........JIGGY


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## jasper60103 (Jan 23, 2010)

_Here are a couple of pics 8) Yes there is a piece of pitchfork strapped to the lower unit, used as a deflection plate. I'm also including a pic of the 15' long 42" wide Polar Kraft boat and trailer that came with the deal! Too bad I can't keep this boat too, it's already been vetoed by "the boss"._

Nice looking motor.
The best deals seems to be on a complete rig sometimes. I've been tempted many times. Tell the boss how much money saved and an extra boat will keep you out trouble.  Think the boss will let you mod it first?


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## Hydrilla (Jan 23, 2010)

Jiggy, I can send you my pitchfork if'n you want :LOL2: I'm not using it anymore. Maybe you could patent it and sell it to Bass Pro!

jasper60103, I wish but nah- I can't keep it even to mod it. Boat is already posted for sale here and elsewhere 


EDIT: I forgot to mention, I took my 1436 out today, and with me, a 250 lb friend and too much gear, it ran 20.5 mph on the gps. I bet I could get close to 25 by myself. Great running motor, fun little boat.


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## Hydrilla (Jan 25, 2010)

Here's my boat with the motor on it, not a very good pic but anyway it looks real sharp. 

P.S. I already sold the boat and trailer that came with the motor :shock:


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## danmyersmn (Jan 25, 2010)

ooh, that pitchfork looks dangerous with your motor propped up. Don't slip and fall in it!


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## jigster60 (Jan 25, 2010)

Thats one Sweet lil outfit ya got there man>>>>>>.>.JIGGY


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## Brine (Jan 25, 2010)

Boat looks great Hydrilla. How did it do getting on and off the trailer?


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## Hydrilla (Jan 25, 2010)

Thanks Jiggy, I'm enjoying it so far.

Brine, it does ok except this weekend reminded me I need to add some guides, because the wind gets me crooked pretty easily. Figured that's what you were probably getting at, and you're right :LOL2: That and a livewell are the next (and last) orders of business.


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## Brine (Jan 25, 2010)

Well....I was just wondering if having the outboard makes it that much easier to load if you can power-load the boat up on to the bunks without needing trailer guides as much, as opposed to guys like me who have to load the boat with a trolling motor only most of the time. BTW, if you're getting any of the wind we've had the past couple days...it's been brutal.


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## Hydrilla (Jan 25, 2010)

I hear ya. Yeah having an outboard makes it a little bit easier, but I still really need some guides. I got the front on no problem, and with the wind, the back end was pretty far off, I had to reach over the side and pull it back to the center.


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## Gordy52 (Jan 26, 2010)

nice boat. we also have a full blooded corgi man does he shed. i like the camo.


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## Hydrilla (Mar 31, 2010)

I was posting tonight to give some feedback about my Prowler trolling motor (that I no longer have, thank goodness), but while I'm here I may as well post about my trailer guides. I borrowed the ladder stabilizer idea, and man did it work great! I can't believe how easy it is to trailer my boat now. In the pic it looks like they are touching the boat, but I have about 3/4" of space on each side. If anyone is considering this method, I say go for it- can't beat it for about $25.

OK so the Prowler bow mount trolling motor- just say no. This past Saturday was about the 5th or 6th time I had it out since I bought it new at BPS in Concord NC. I went with it because it was $329.99 and the only motor in it's price range with variable speed. By last weekend, the electrical issues were unbearable. When you step on the button, the motor would start, but would never stop when you let go. While in this continuous mode that wasn't supposed to be, you could turn the dial up to go faster, but you couldn't turn it down. The only way to go slower or to stop is to turn the switch to the off position. Similar problems when the switch was in the continuous position- you could turn it up but not down. 

Simple fix? Maybe. Maybe it's just a switch or something. However there is only one way to get repairs done- send it to BPS rod and reel repair department, and kiss your Spring goodbye. No thanks. Fortunately they let me return the motor, and tonight I picked up a 46 lb Motorguide with a 36" shaft and a 360 flex Gator mount. It's much lighter overall, which is good for my small rig. I know Minn Kota makes a fine trolling motor too, and I can tell this motor as well as the Minn Kota in this price range wouldn't be good for a big gofast bass boat, but I think it will do fine for me. Oh, and by the way, I asked the guy in the marine department if many of the Prowlers come back, and he turned to me and said "They ALL come back." The bow mounted one can't be found anywhere, but I would recommend staying away from even the transom mounted ones. These are not made by Motorguide like some have said, they are made in China. OK, enough rambling, good night all


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## Hydrilla (Mar 31, 2010)

Oh, and I am finally getting used to this smallboat fishing thing and am catching a few fish, I was starting to worry :LOL2: Here's a couple perty 2 - 2 1/2 lb fish from last weekend.


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## UtahBassKicker (Mar 31, 2010)

Hydrilla said:


> I was posting tonight to give some feedback about my Prowler trolling motor (that I no longer have, thank goodness), but while I'm here I may as well post about my trailer guides. I borrowed the ladder stabilizer idea, and man did it work great! I can't believe how easy it is to trailer my boat now. In the pic it looks like they are touching the boat, but I have about 3/4" of space on each side. If anyone is considering this method, I say go for it- can't beat it for about $25.
> 
> OK so the Prowler bow mount trolling motor- just say no. This past Saturday was about the 5th or 6th time I had it out since I bought it new at BPS in Concord NC. I went with it because it was $329.99 and the only motor in it's price range with variable speed. By last weekend, the electrical issues were unbearable. When you step on the button, the motor would start, but would never stop when you let go. While in this continuous mode that wasn't supposed to be, you could turn the dial up to go faster, but you couldn't turn it down. The only way to go slower or to stop is to turn the switch to the off position. Similar problems when the switch was in the continuous position- you could turn it up but not down.
> 
> Simple fix? Maybe. Maybe it's just a switch or something. However there is only one way to get repairs done- send it to BPS rod and reel repair department, and kiss your Spring goodbye. No thanks. Fortunately they let me return the motor, and tonight I picked up a 46 lb Motorguide with a 36" shaft and a 360 flex Gator mount. It's much lighter overall, which is good for my small rig. I know Minn Kota makes a fine trolling motor too, and I can tell this motor as well as the Minn Kota in this price range wouldn't be good for a big gofast bass boat, but I think it will do fine for me. Oh, and by the way, I asked the guy in the marine department if many of the Prowlers come back, and he turned to me and said "They ALL come back." The bow mounted one can't be found anywhere, but I would recommend staying away from even the transom mounted ones. These are not made by Motorguide like some have said, they are made in China. OK, enough rambling, good night all



Could you go over the ladder stabilizer idea for me? I've been looking for some trailer guides but everything is running from $65-$100. If I could do it for $25, that would be awesome. What do I need to get and where do I get it? Thanks.


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## Hydrilla (Mar 31, 2010)

I did mine based on this, it's a method/link that has been posted here before- 

https://www.widgetsailor.com/owners/greg/guides.html

Basically you cut the thing in half, get some U bolts and attach it to your trailer, slip some 2" PVC over the top with a cap on each side, attach each piece with a screw so they don't fly off/float off, and that's about it. $25 may be a little low if you have to get U-bolts, $30 is probably more like it, but still- that's a lot better than paying $100+. Also, lots of people that have these mount their tail lights toward the top of the PVC, to improve visibility in traffic, and to avoid dunking your lights in the water every time you go to the lake.


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## Lawdog (Mar 31, 2010)

I'm pretty new to boating and brand new to modding. I gotta say you've done some really nice work. I'd love to see more pics, from a side perspective, of your trailer guides. 

Enjoy the fishing!


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## UtahBassKicker (Mar 31, 2010)

Hydrilla said:


> I did mine based on this, it's a method/link that has been posted here before-
> 
> https://www.widgetsailor.com/owners/greg/guides.html
> 
> Basically you cut the thing in half, get some U bolts and attach it to your trailer, slip some 2" PVC over the top with a cap on each side, attach each piece with a screw so they don't fly off/float off, and that's about it. $25 may be a little low if you have to get U-bolts, $30 is probably more like it, but still- that's a lot better than paying $100+. Also, lots of people that have these mount their tail lights toward the top of the PVC, to improve visibility in traffic, and to avoid dunking your lights in the water every time you go to the lake.



Thanks for the info. That looks like a pretty easy (and inexpensive) fix for trailer guides. I saw on the link you provided that that guy said he used the u-bolts that came with the stabilizer to attach to the trailer, did your stabilizer come with mounting hardware or did you use something different? Thanks again.


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## Hydrilla (Mar 31, 2010)

It does come with mounting hardware, and you may be able to use those U bolts if you mount it to the sides of your trailer. I couldn't get that to work on mine, I think it was a clearance issue, so I tried first bolting it to the cross member (which would require pretty huge U bolts) and ended up bolting them to the super heavy duty taillight mounts that were welded on my trailer. Not sure this would be a good idea unless your trailer, like mine, has very thick steel here. Bottom line is, buy the stabilizer, and figure out how to make it work. You'll be able to.

Oh and Lawdog, thanks- I'll try to take some pics of the side of the trailer soon.

Hydrilla


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## ming (Apr 2, 2010)

Hi Hydrilla 
I am new here, learn a lot, got guts to do this by myself, right now I am looking for a boat I can work with, I saw you choose Tahatsu, I have a friend's friend has a 1990 tahatsu 30 hp, I took look it once, the guy only use it first year 3 times, and put in the original box, looks like brand new, he want sell it for $1600(canadian), as friends I can get a bit better deal, can you tell me it is good deal?


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## Hydrilla (Apr 2, 2010)

Sounds like an OK deal considering the year. I wouldn't consider it a steal, but many motors from around that year go for $800-1200, and aren't in as good shape. Tohatsu/Nissan, Honda and Yamaha seem to hold their value well. It seems to vary quite a bit depending on the region. Stuff seems more expensive here than I see in some other states, when I see listings. If it's worth it to you and it checks out to be a good motor, then I say go for it. 

I will recommend that you get as close to maxing out the horsepower for whatever boat you get, as you are able. My boat is rated for a 15 and that's what I have. It is fast and planes quickly, even with two 200+ lb guys and too much gear. If I had a 9.9, that might not be the case, I think. 

By the way, welcome!


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## ober51 (Apr 2, 2010)

ming said:


> Hi Hydrilla
> I am new here, learn a lot, got guts to do this by myself, right now I am looking for a boat I can work with, I saw you choose Tahatsu, I have a friend's friend has a 1990 tahatsu 30 hp, I took look it once, the guy only use it first year 3 times, and put in the original box, looks like brand new, he want sell it for $1600(canadian), as friends I can get a bit better deal, can you tell me it is good deal?



Last year I bought a 1991 25 HP Tohatsu short shaft that runs like a top for $250. Of course, it doesn't look brand new, but definitely looks good enough at this point. Just letting you know as a point of reference - and it was through Ebay, not some, "I got it from an old man deal."


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## Brine (Apr 2, 2010)

Trailer guides look sharp, and it sounds like they do the job well.

Sorry to hear about the Prowler, but glad BPS took it back. 

Did you ever get a livewell rigged up?


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## ming (Apr 2, 2010)

thanks for all you guys, the reason I am interesting this motor is I thought find a good motor is a lot harder than find a boat, I am new here also new with boat, I do not know how check a motor, so the new one would be the best choice for me, I am looking a deep v boat 14' to 15', most of them maximum horsepower around 30, so I will try to make a deal, when I find boat I will post all the detail here, hopelly get you guys help and may help somebody new like me


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## Hydrilla (Apr 6, 2010)

Thanks! Yep, I got a 75 gallon cooler rigged up with a typical bilge pump, hose and PVC pipe with holes in it setup. It works well, but after this past weekend I'm wondering if I shouldn't have gone with a bigger one. If you get a good sack of fish going, it can fill up pretty quick.




Brine said:


> Trailer guides look sharp, and it sounds like they do the job well.
> 
> Sorry to hear about the Prowler, but glad BPS took it back.
> 
> Did you ever get a livewell rigged up?




EDIT: Ming, no doubt about it, there will be lots of folks here willing and able to help you once you get going. Just be as detailed in your posts as possible, and post pictures! Including some pictures will no doubt increase the number of replies to your questions.


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## Hydrilla (Jul 8, 2010)

Hi all, it's been a while. Need an idea to reinforce my trolling motor bracket. The design is fine still but I need to secure it to the port side top rail. I thought the wood to wood L-brackets securing the right side of it to the deck, plus the nut/bolt and screw up front would be enough, but it's not. 

The torque of the TM has pulled the screw loose, and it is going to put too much pressure on my remaining nut/bolt and L-brackets. The side resting on the top rail actually raises off the top rail when the TM is on a higher setting. Ideas on how to cleanly secure this bracket to the top rail would be appreciated.

EDIT: Not that it matters, but I have a Motorguide on the boat now, not this POS Prowler seen in the pics.

Albright1695, I expect a reply STAT! :mrgreen:


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## Troutman3000 (Jul 8, 2010)

Any way to attach it to the gunnels?


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## Brine (Jul 8, 2010)

run another vertical on the other side and attach like you did the first one???


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## Hydrilla (Jul 22, 2010)

I ended up doing something along these lines, and it worked great. That thing is solid as stone now, what a difference. Thanks y'all.



Brine said:


> run another vertical on the other side and attach like you did the first one???


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## Hydrilla (Apr 11, 2011)

I haven't visited this thread in a while, but I thought I would post an update since I don't have this boat anymore. I lost my job last Fall (again!) and since I wanted a larger boat anyway, it was the first thing I put up for sale. I sold it to a semi-retired couple that live in a community that has a private lake with slips that you keep the boats in full time. The HP limit for the lake is 15, so my boat is perfect for them. They bought it so they could take their grandkids out fishing, in addition to them using it for their own fun. 

I couldn't be happier about who the boat went to. They didn't know much about boats at all, so I delivered the boat a good distance to their lake (no tow hitch on their vehicle), put it in the water for them, and went over EVERYTHING possible that I could think of- trolling motor operation, outboard care, etc. As I went over the boat itself, it made me proud to describe the workmanship and see their reactions. It made me even more glad that I did this build the best I could with the resources I had.

To summarize my experience with this boat, I have no regrets. It is a great bass boat for 2,000 acre lakes or less, and it is fine to stand up on for someone with reasonable balance. It turns out that I am more interested in fishing some of the larger lakes in the area as well, and my little 1436 was of course not ideal for that. I appreciate all the help and feedback I got while building this boat, it is easily one of the most fun projects I've ever taken on.

This Friday I pick up my new (to me) little fiberglass bass boat. However, I know for a fact that this little Sylvan will not be my last tin boat! My next one may be even smaller, something like a car-topper that is good for farm ponds and stuff. 

I haven't been, and won't be on the conversions board or too many of the others right now, but please come visit us at the CNCBA forum here on tinboats.net


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## fender66 (Apr 11, 2011)

Well there you go....let the fun begin. Oh wait...looks like it already has. Congrats!


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