# Princecraft Yukon 15



## TheLastCall (Nov 21, 2017)

Hey everybody

Recently got a new to me Princecraft Yukon 15 with a 15 hp Mercury 4 stroke and a ez loader trailer.

My plan for this boat is to make it a fishing boat for max 2 adult or 1 adult and 2 kids. I also plan to potentially down the road use it for hunting / duck hunting. The boat will never be used in salt water. Only on inland lakes / ponds and slow moving river, lakes will never be more than a few km long and max 1 km wide. I don’t live on a lake so it has to be trailered, and it will be stored in a garage. I know a flat bottom / mod v boat would be best for this type of water but the boat was free. Given to me by my father, he had it at his house on the lake and sold the house so gave me his boat.

So I’m hoping some of you can help me out with my plans and hopefully prevent me from making too many mistakes.

When I searched for a yukon 15 build I didn’t see one.so I figured I could maybe help out the next guy.

Boat hull condition: no leaks. Boat was kept in the water for 6 months of the year in a shallow cove on a lake. The bottom is tea stained, no scratches. The transom is solid no soft spots. Somebody tried to mount a transducer to it and then change their mind so 3 bolts on the bottom of transom. Looks like somebody filled in a hole (above waterline) that was drilled to run wires through the transom, the aluminum is pulling away from the repair leaving a small gap between aluminum and wood in transom. A small nick on the transom you can see the wood inside. (Above waterline). Inside the hull paint is worn at some spot but not bad at all.

Motor condition: looks almost new. My father said it starts first pull but in the spring it took a few try’s and didn’t run smoothly but fixed itself. A few sings on the prop but nothing significant.

Trailer condition: looks good no rust. Galvanized steel.lights work. 

So my first plan is to do the maintenance on the motor and trailer and fix the small problems with the hull. This way I know the boat and all is good to go before I start my project.

I sort of cheated and wrote this post after I already started the maintenance. I’ll catch everybody up where I’m at on my next post.











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## TheLastCall (Nov 21, 2017)

So the maintenance has been fairly uneventful but I’ll go through it anyway if I missed something let me know but I did everything in the manual.

So I stayed by checking the fuel tank, Sludge... I emptied the fuel tank rinsed out, put handful of clean rocks in with a bottle of sea foam. Shook the hell out of that empties tank again. Rinsed tank, let it dry. Partially fill with fuel and marine sta-nil. Drained fuel line. Hooked it all back up so I can start on motor maintenance. 

Next I started the motor with muffs on. Good strong clean water through the “pee stream” so no concern with the impeller or thermostat. Let run for 5 minutes to flush out the old fuel. Fog the motor with fogging oil till it dies. Pull spark plug fog cylinders put new spark plugs in. Change motor oil and filter. Oil looked clean no grit when ran between fingers. Change bottom end oil, same as motor oil. Grease all grease nipples wipe all old grease off. Remove prop, lubricated prop shaft, put prop back on. 3 in 1 oil cables and all pivot/friction points. Check tension on timing belt. Make sure anodes are still good. And then just clean and take off the boat and store upright on rack. 

There are wires attached to motor from battery for the electric start. The wire are at least 15 ft long and the battery sits 2 ft away from the motor. To bad the wires are just too short to relocate the battery to the bow. So I think I’ll end up shortening the wires before the spring. The battery that was in the boat is done, it’s actually 10 years old. The battery box just sat against the transom. I’m thinking I’ll relocate it to under a seat, to save on floor space and clean things up. The fish finder was wired directly to the battery with no fuse. I’ll be adding a fuse box to clean thing up and wire it properly. Currently there is only a fish finder but I plan on adding nav lights and such later down the road.

Onto the hull, well transom. I removed the 3 bolts that somebody put in after removing a transducer. I replaced them with stainless steel bolts nuts and washer. I used 3m 5200 along the holes and compressed it with the bolts and the sealed the bolts with 5200.

For the hole that was filled with what looked like epoxy that was separated from the aluminum. I started with a wire wheel to clean up around it. Next I took the dremel and shaved some of the epoxy out. I can see the wood in the transom I cleaned it up to make sure there was no rot. Good to go, next I sealed it off with 5200. I did the same with a few other screw holes and the nick on the transom.

Next I pulled all the seats to see if there was foam and in what condition it was. The first seat I pulled was one of the rear seats. The plywood under the plastic seat cover was molded and felt wet. Same thing with all the seat so I let the plywood dry out for a week or so the I sanded off the mold. I then sealed it with water sealer. As for the foam the front 2 seats were not rotten. The back seats had water sitting on top of the foam with mold. I removed the foam and replaced it on one side, the other I’ll likely put my battery in with a fuse panel. The foam that would have been in that seat I actually relocated to the middle seat so I lost no flotation.

Onto the trailer. Took apart the wheel bearing replace all races, bearings and seals. 

I think I covered all the maintenance and small repairs. So now I have a solid base to start my project.


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## Weldorthemagnificent (Nov 21, 2017)

For ideas I would look no further than the prince craft website. Check out the dl series boats, specifically the resorter and the Yukon dl. 


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## TheLastCall (Nov 21, 2017)

I looked at the resorter design. I like the front casting deck. 

I want to keep the middle seat of the Yukon for seating for my boys.

So the design I think I’ll come up with will be a mix of both. Or a platform that can be partially removed.


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## TheLastCall (Nov 21, 2017)

Time to start on my project. I’m trying to do all the work as cheap as possible but I still want to do it properly. I plan on spreading the project over a few fishing seasons, the reason being I want to use the boat and then I can spread the cost out.

Here is what I plan for this season:
- Relocate battery
- Replace battery
- Add proper fuse box
- Add on board charger
- Add bilge pump
- Add transom plate
- Make storage compartment between front seat an bow
- Maybe make removable casting deck between middle seat and front seat
- Add pedestal chair 
- Add rod holders
- Add transom saver
- Buy boating accessories (anchor, safety kit...)

And then let the fishing season begin. I want to run the boat once it’s all modified for season 1 and see if changes will have to be made. I might consider adding hydrofoils to the outboard the help control bow lift but I’ll have to see first.

Season 2
- fix or make adjustments from season 1
- New fish finder
- add trolling motor, bow or stern I’m undecided 
- Add 2nd battery deep cycle
- Add nav light? Might not if I don’t use the boat at night / reduced visibility.
- Change trailer lights to LED
- Strip the hull completely sand, prime, paint.

And finally enjoy what will be basically a new boat.




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## TheLastCall (Nov 21, 2017)

In the next few days I plan on doing the electrical. 

This is where I am most uncertain. 

Here is a picture of what I’ll be doing. I’ll also be adding drip loops between everything. The fuse box will be put in some sort of waterproof container. And then everything will be placed under a seat in the boat. I’ll be adding a hatch to the seat so I have access to it all. 

Let me know if you think I’m missing anything.










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## TheLastCall (Nov 25, 2017)

Got all my materials to do the electrical. I’ll be starting in the next few days. I’ll make sure to take pictures of my progress.





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## TheLastCall (Dec 1, 2017)

Just to give a quick update. Progress has been slow. My 2 boys have been sick and my 2 year old has been insisting to help me with this project. So I’ve spent more time working with him than doing work on the boat.

Anyway we managed to cut the seat out and install the hatch. On the inside I planned on making a panel to put along the side of the seat it was going to be spaced about 1 inch away from the aluminum. I planned on having the charger and fuse panel on one side and running my wires in the void of the panel. This meant drilling the board. 

So I got it all done, sealed the wood, installed in the boat, charger and fuse panel in place , all drilled ready to wire. I stepped back to admire my work and then realized it looked like a piece of Swiss cheese. There were to many holes and I felt that it would be the most likely spots for the wood to rot.

So I didn’t like my work. I took it all apart got rid of that piece of wood and now I’m going to restart.

So new plan is to bolt the wood pice directly to the aluminumno gap. Obviously I’ll seal the wood first and then mount everything to the board and just run the wires on the board.

Does anybody see a problem with my new plan or have a better ideal. Keep in mind I’m trying to do this on a small budget.




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## TheLastCall (Jan 13, 2018)

It’s been awhile since I posted any follow ups, because I haven’t had a chance to do any work on the boat.

Santa was good to me and got me a Garmin Striker 5cv, and a few fishing / boat accessories.

Today was the first day I got to get back to working on the boat. Last post I mentioned my electrical panel was a complete fail. It has since been redone.






The panel is wood that I painted with diluted oil based paint and a few coats of plain oil based paint.






The panel fits under what use to be a seat it will be bolted to the side of the inside seat. The battery fits next to it.






I installed a hatch on the seat so I can have access to it all. The fish finder/ gps will be mounted next to the hatch.






With the hatch closed the entire electrical panel / battery is covered and protected from the element.the panel is also suspended off the deck of the boat. For the electric panel or any electrical component to become submerged, there would have to be 8 to 10 inches of water in the boat. At that point I’m not just taking on water I’m sinking.

Next will be running the wires and installing rod holders, boat cleat and finally installing the deck.






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## TheLastCall (Jan 16, 2018)

Got to go out to the garage today for an hour to do a bit more work on the boat. 

Didn’t get much done, it was too cold to work without gloves.

Anyway onto what got done. 

I installed 4 scotty rod holders. 2 of them I installed in the oar locks. I added a extra nut to the screw so I don’t have to worry about it loosening up, while trailering. The other 2 I installed on the stern corner plates.

I put them there for convenience (Didn’t have to drill into the hull) they are a good setup for trolling, and I can adjust them so rod tips are away from my kids reach.









I can’t say enough about the scotty rod holders. I have them on my kayak too, they are solid.

The boat didn’t have a bow cleat so I wanted to install one. I went with a zig zag cleat it will only be used for the anchor. The boat won’t be anchored over night or unattended, so I’m not worried about the rope slipping a bit. 

I installed it as far forward as possible. (Where the nav lights typically go) the nav lights I’m going to install will be recessed in the bow.






Next I worked on the motor wiring for a bit. When I got it the negative and positive wire were separate. It just lead to a 10 ft of tangled wires.






So I straightened them out put them in a monofilament wire loom. So when I put it all back together it should be a lot cleaner.






The last thing I did was to add hydrofoils to the motor. One of the problems I had with the boat was bow rise when accelerating. I use to put about 100lbs of sand in the bow to keep it down but with the work Im doing the boat I didn’t want to have to do that.






The install was straight forward. Line up drill and bolt. My bots are too long so I’m going to replace them with shorter ones. I’ll probably use 3m 4000 in and around the bolt holes to keep water out and minimize the contact of aluminum to stainless steel bolts.

That’s all I manage to get done before my fingers started hurting from the cold.


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## hct4all (Jan 16, 2018)

Looks great so far


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## Weldorthemagnificent (Jan 17, 2018)

Looks like the doel fin stabilizer. I used one on a 20hp/14’ boat. Worked great. 


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## TheLastCall (Jan 17, 2018)

It’s a Sea Sense hydrofoil. It’s seems vey well made and was fairly cheap on Amazon. My only complaint is there was no hardware in the box when there should have been, not really a bid deal stainless steel bolts are easy to come by. 

I’ll keep everybody posted on how it performs once I get the boat in the water. It will be a few more months away, winter has a good hold on here the ice won’t go away for at least 6 to 8 weeks.


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## TheLastCall (Jan 17, 2018)

Picked up a new battery for the boat today. Went with a group24 agm battery. Found it at costco comes with a 3 year replacement warranty. It cost 20$ more than a regular battery from most competitors, most warranty only cover 1 year.

I think I lucked out. Now I really have to get the electrical done on the boat.


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## .Mike (Jan 19, 2018)

TheLastCall said:


> I installed 4 scotty rod holders. 2 of them I installed in the oar locks. I added a extra nut to the screw so I don’t have to worry about it loosening up, while trailering. The other 2 I installed on the stern corner plates.
> 
> I put them there for convenience (Didn’t have to drill into the hull) they are a good setup for trolling, and I can adjust them so rod tips are away from my kids reach.
> 
> ...



Very nice! I am considering the exact same setup. Thank you for posting pictures of the oar lock mounts. I think it sealed the deal for me.

I think I am going to order a 4-pack w/ bases, and the oar lock mounts. I'll put two mounts on the corner plates, like yours. I plan to mount two more to the transom without drilling, piggybacking on the transom handle bolts. That way, I can have two rods on the transom and two in the oar locks when in _wife mode_. When I'm alone, I can swap the rod holders from the oar lock mounts to the transom mounts, and have easy access to all of my rods.

Looks like that boat is going to be a lot of fun!


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## ProduceMan (Jan 19, 2018)

A tip I got from this sight, use heat-shrink tube on your foil's bolts.


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## TheLastCall (Jun 17, 2018)

So it’s been a while since I’ve had the opportunity to update my build.

I’ve been away for work for the last 4 1/2 months. Work keeps getting in the way of my hobbies.

I got the electrical panel sorted out and put back in. It’s raised off the bottom on the boat by almost 3 inches so even if I do get water in the boat I don’t worry about it. 

All the benches are back in, for now.

I got a Garmin Striker 5cv to put in the boat. To mount the transducer I used a 1 inch cutting board bolted on the transom. Worked amazing. Now I can move or add transducers as needed without drilling new holes. I mounted the unit across for where I sit ( I don’t care for it there more on that later)

So I got the motor back on the boat, went to start it and ... nothing. I ended up having to rebuild the carburetor, old fuel gelled in it.

So I’ve had it out a few time now and figured out what I like and why needs to change, I’ll start with the likes;

- the hydrofoil, it has cut my bow rise by more than half. The boat gets up on plane really fast and it will stay on plane at 1/2 throttle.

- the scotty mount on the stern are great for keeping rods away from the kids, and clears up space in the boat

- the new battery location and securing fuel tank. Again it cleared clutter in the bottom of the boat. I also put it opposite to where I sit so it evened out the weight.

Now for the dislikes;

- fish finder location. I find I’m looking down at it more then I should so I’ll be moving it to one of the oar locks so it’s closer to me when fishing from the front and up a little when moving.

- fish finder. Don’t get me wrong I love the unit and it’s great quality but the gps function is useless to me the lakes here are all fairly small and generally I fish the same lake over and over so I know where things are and don’t need a gps.

- no storage. All my gear is kept in milk crates so it’s easy to move around but I want something more permanent so I don’t have to move it around.

- I need a trolling motor. Where I fish smaller lake running my outboard is like a siren for the fish. And the lakes here are all shallow ( 25 ft deepest), I’m usually fishing in less than 5 ft of water. Running a trolling motor will save my outboard.


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## TheLastCall (Jun 17, 2018)

So here is the plan for the future, when I get more funds. The boat is very stable so I’m not concerned about the raised deck. I might add a seat near the bot but I’m still undecided.






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