Flatfish

You are no different than any other 17 yr. old, you have the wants and no fund's, How does that old proverb go, "Patience Grasshopper" it will all come together sooner or later. Get that education.

If you have the foam insulation even with the rib's then the floor should have plenty of support .100 thousants thick aluminum should be plenty thick enough either screwed or Pop Riveted to the ribs, that is what I used, notches it around the ribs almost to the boat sides, and filled all the gaps with the spray foam insulation and trimmed excess with a utility knife. I got some waterproof carpet glue from a carpet dealer (Lowes or Home Depot's glue just didn't do good) and glued carpet right to the aluminum, been down for 4 yrs.

Usually the cross members are 14gauge box tubing, that is thin for the stress of the motor on it. Weld it up and either plate it with 3/8"flat bar on the leading edge or back the cross member up with another piece of box tubing.

Might want to get a box of Baking Soda and sprinkle around the boat, let sit for awhile then rinse out to neautralize any acid that might have leaked. Probally not a problem but better safe than sorry.

That is what I was told but not on mine, you have to turn the key off after applying the parking brake for the lights to go off, but when you release the parking brake they come back on. That is exactly why I like to pull my boat with my 84 CJ-7 pull the light switch half way out, parking lights, all the way out, head lights, step on the button on the floor high or low beam. The only draw back is the soft top, don't rain as hard inside just twice as long.

Yes it's necessary, it makes it a lot easier to find your boat when you forget to put the plug in. That foam isn't there to allow you to carry more weight, it's there in case you have some type of accident your boat won't SINK. Well at least not completely. And to answer your other question you can put extra foam in. When I put the floor in my boat I used the styrofoam sheets between the ribs, then the floor and decks, behind the driver's and passenger seats I installed small compartments (from Cabelas) for tackle and packed small pieces of the styrofoam around them, held in place with spray foam insulation, this not only helped with noise, but helped keep the floor ridgid and one of the compartments serves as a cooler (if using one of the compartments as a cooler install a drain hose before sealing it down with spray foam).

I used to get upset with the headlight deal also until I got my Sonoma, the headlights are on all the time. At night the only way to turn them off at the ramp is to turn the vehicle off, set the parking brake then start it back up, when you release the parking brake the lights come back on. It does make it difficult to back down the ramp with other people's lights on.

Let's not try to hard to cure this dreaded disease, I have heard from a very reliable source there is going to be a Senko Masters Classic this fall. Ike has already committed to this and said"If one of my fish dies, I am going to stand on my head on my trolling motor and yell while eating a bag of #222". I don't want to miss this.

I hear you about Ks. wind, mine is a 16' with a 40# Motor Guide and does great up to 15mph wind, but leaves a lot to be desired over that, if I had it to do over it would be at least 60# but probally 80 + and a Variable Speed Control then you could take advantage of the calm day's.

Make sure to wear rubber gloves when messing with MEK, it will absorb thru your skin and heads right for your liver. Nasty stuff, it melts plastic and especially styrofoam coffee cups. Guys at work would put a drop in your coffee and before you can move your hand the bottom of the cup was gone.

Move the battery to the back of the boat, As was stated above a 3" move is a bunch, I adjusted my boat back 3" and got a sway right off. I have about 150lb of tongue weight mainly because I extended the tongue and used heavyier tubing, It does help my light truck get up the rame withouit spinning the tires.

Picked up a pack of letters and no's from Cabelas for the registration no's on my boat, well had these extras left over. Not being the wasteful type came up with the name for my boat "Fish Buster".

It's a very sick feeling in your stomach when you see a wheel/tire passing you, gosh that look's familar, then you notice the sparks from the trailer.

Close enough to get the second limb on the nearest tree, well it seem's that way somestime. Seriously it depends on water clarity and the type of bait I'am using, if they are tight along the bank a lot of times I'll run parellel and just a few feet off the bank. That work's well if you are alone, but not good for a back boater.

Forget the 4T and call a Auto Parts Store and ask for a LM 11949, standard bearing #, the race should have a # stamped on it also. Called O-Reilly and they had it on the shelf for $5.29 race extra

Also has a lot to do with mass, the upper end of a lake will be shallower and will warm up quicker, but will also cool quicker. So what you have to do is stay on the lake and fish it all.

Everlast makes some nice protective head gear, LOL

All the wise cracks out of the way, a friend has a 16 Lund like your Crestliner and it has a 40 on it, mine is a 16 jon with a 25, he walks away from me so bad I have to stick my hand in the water to see if we are moving. A 50 would be even better. I am in the same shape as you as far as motors, I want to step to a 40 or 50 and my boat is a 2003, got a 1988 Merc off a poontoon from a friend for $500 and is great, but before retiring I want a new motor. The boat is great, set up for me I just want to go faster sometimes. $5000 for a motor or $11,500 for a 170 Lowe Stinger with a 50 on it. That extra $6500 will buy a lot of tackle and gas.

I think they refer to it as putting a expensive saddle on a old horse.

I learned to braid lines together from a lineman for a electrical co, a loop braided in the end of a line with a hook/snap on it is the way to go. They are compact and won't ever ever pull loose. A quick search of the net would probally give a diaghram of how to braid the twisted nylon rope, when I do mine I put a piece of 1/2" shrink tubing on the rope3/8", braid a loop, trim the ends, tape the ends with a wrap of electrical tape, slide the shrink tubing up apply heat with a hair dryer and you have a loop that looks professional. I launch my boat about the same as explained without the flat's and skidding tires. Stop before the ramp unhook the winch, remove tie downs, get everything ready, attach the rope to the hook in front of boat ,the other end looped over the post for the winch, back down the ramp into the water until the boat is moving off the trailer, set the parking brake, remove the rope from the winch post and pull the boat to shore or dock, tie off and remove the truck from the ramp. And all of that can be done quicker than typing it. I am never on the ramp longer than 5 min, most of the time around 3. I don't like unnecessary delays and also don't like delaying anyone else,just the way I was raised.

Push down on the switch that starts the motor and listen for a click, that would be the Micro-Switch. If you dont hear that little click get a new switch and replace it $11.00. 2 phillips head screws hold it in place. The switch has a rubber boot that keeps water out of the switch and the boot get's cut or weather checked.

Wider is better for stability, my boat is the Lowe 1652MT and in MHO it is a great boat to start with. Battery placement, well I put mine in front of the center seat, that is almost center of the boat, 1 group 31 normally and it lasts approximately 12 hrs with a 40lb thrust TM running in #1 to #3 speed in a 5 speed unit. When I go to Canada it get's 2 of these batteries and just havent had a problem. Live Well, the middle seat has a live well it it, got all the fittings for 3/4" hose from Cabelas and put a fill pump in the back of the boat and as low as it will go thru the transom. Sometimes if I am on the front deck the inlet will suck air, if I had it to do over it would go thru the bottom of the boat. I removed the drain fitting with the rubber plug and drilled it out and tapped it 3/4"NPT and put a stand pipe in there, so far I rely on my memory to keep it aerriated, a timer is in the future plans. Went to Home Depot and got foam insulation sheets 4' X 8' either 1 1/2" or 2" can't remember and layed it between the cross braces and put the 1/4" plywood screwed to the braces, then built the floor across the seats. Picked up some hatches from Cabelas for storage lockers, worked out real nice and quiet, next thing was to try it out on the fish.

To do this repair without removing the corner braces I would laminate the transom in place. After removing the rotted wood and clean up the area make a template out of poster board of the transom. Use CDX or Marine grade plywood, don't use Treated wood, the new treated lumber will eat the old style fasteners up, if it will eat a tempered screw what do you think it will do to aluminum?? If the transom is 1 1/2" I would use 1/2" plywood and using the template cut 3 pieces 1/8" longer than the template. Cut about 12" off one end of each board and dry fit them to the transom alternating the joints from one side of the boat to the other. Overlapping the joints will make it stronger, when satisfied with the fit, glue it up with waterproof glue (something like Gorilla Glue) Put some wood preservative on the cut edges and that puppy should be good to go for years.

PETA is a PITA

You can always twist the handle to slow down, get the biggest motor allowed. If uncomfortable with the speed slow down and save fuel.