Flatfish

KUBassmaster like the way you did your's, what about boxing the end's of that support under your deck and adding a lockable hatch for some secure storage. Get her ready for the Gardner Classic.

I sure every major city has a rubber supply co.(conveyor belting,hoses, tubing) here in KC it's Hanna Rubber. They have or can order just about anything rubber, vinyl, leather, tubing or hoses. Let your fingers do the walking.

I have a 99 Sonoma 2.2/ 5speed, 2001 3500 Dually Dodge 360/ 5speed, 84 CJ7 Jeep 4.2/ 4speed, all ready willing and capable of pulling the boat. If I want a sun burned head I take the Jeep.

Mudpuppy is right, peening is the quickest and cheapest way to go, the rivets are loose in their holes and peening simply swells them up. 2 guys can do a 14' boat in a hour, and they won't leak. Different story if the rivet is damages, then it needs to be replaced, but you can buy a box of a hundred for about $5. Did a couple john's 14-15 yrs. ago and they still don't leak.

A friend of mine and myself also used the sheet's of Styrofoam under our decking, his cut's were made with a serrated knife and he had minor problems with the edges not being smooth and little pieces of the insulation coming off. Just a agervation was all it was, so when I did mine I used an electric carving knife and took a shop towel with a little lacquer thinner on it and rubbed the cut edges, that kinda melted the styrofoam and sealed it. No mess in the bottom of the boat.

Man I am confused, last year was my first year of retirement from racing, first year not getting my Nascar license in about 20 yrs, before that USAC, IMCA, and Allied Auto Racing around the St. Louis area. When I started there wasn't any power steering, car's were set up to handle and turn, not for ease of driving, you had to muscle them around, now power steering, soft springs, lot's of travel in the suspension, seats that fit the driver (not out of a truck), window net's, head & neck restraint's, I wasn't an Athlete, I was a Race Car Driver, I retired after finally realizing that concrete walls were actually harder than my head. I have taken up Bass Fishing, to relax, to enjoy the piece and quiet, no stress, watch all the animals move around the lake when the sun comes up. Now you want to call me a Athlete again, jeeeees, what are you going to call me if I take up Knitting, never mind I don't really want to know. Move over Rosie.

Mine did the same thing and when I replaced the switch all was OK, not as much the electrical part of the switch as it was the rubber boot gave up. where the boot contacts the part of the switch that you step down on, on the foot control, is hollow and literally cuts the boot. When I replaced my switch I filled that cavity with silicone (RTV) and that spread the load out, has worked great for the last 3 years.

Nice boat, and if you take LBH's advice to put floors in get some styrofoam insulation and put between the bottom of the baot and the new floor. A little extra flotation and noise deadener. Good luck and be safe.

Only if Chaney is close by.

A lot of the over the road trucks have the Auto-Reset breakers in them, maybe a Truck Stop would be convient. They will have 2 #10 posts (Threaded) on then, just a matter of wiring them in on the power wire.

A little off the topic but on some of the trailers that I built I got a spare spindle and hub welded it to the trailer and mounter the spare to it. That way I had a complete package all ready to go in case the worse happened.

Break Dancing and Yelling on the deck of a Bass Boat, kinda over the edge isn't it, Well unexpected anyway. If nothing else he has got us to pay more attention. Attention sells and he is in the selling business, I am's sure his sponsors enjoy it all. Comparing Ike to Ali, well no doubt they have both rattled their gums to the point of annoyance, but both have proven time and time again they can back it up.

A lot of the boat rental places have 6hp Johnson or Evinrudes on 16' V's. I have a 8hp that I have put on my 16' Jon and it does all right, just don't be in a big hurry.

And check your prop to see if you have fishing line wrapped arount the shaft, that would cause excess drag. 30 amp seems low for a TM, what does the manufacturer recommend?????

Bassin, "Yes Dear I'am only reading the articles not looking at the pictures" "O" wait that the other mag.

I have a Lowe 1652MT with decks and console steering all installed by myself, and it is very stable when fishing by my self. I can move all over it and not worry, when some one else is with me it moves around a little, not enough to get tippy but enough to get your attention. Get the widest boat you can afford and you won't reget it later.

DB put's his pant's on just like the rest of ue, maybe you just caught him at a bad time, I had heard stories about Roland Martin and was convinced he was a jerk, but at his seminar this year at the KC Sports Show they just about had to drag him off the stage. He was fired up and didn't want to quit answering question's, then spent about a hour signing autographs. Guess what I'am trying to say is don't be to quick to judge, gime them a fair chance. Only question I have is Where is Orlando Wilson when you need him???????

I have a 40# bow mount on mt Lowe 1652 and have 2 group 31 batteries so I can switch if one goes down, when new each one would last about 10-12 hrs. running on lowest speed and about 2 1/2 hrs on high. The problem with the bigger motors is the slowest speed is to fast to work banks good, always on and off the switch. I have a small solar charger mounted on top of my Merc when we go to Canada and that really extends the run time. I just use my trolling motor when fishing, and getting to and from my spot I use the Merc.

Remove spark plug, insert the gauge, trip the emergency shut down(safety kill switch), open the throttle, crank the motor over, read the gauge, replace the plug and move to the next cylinder. If you don't have the kill switch then just remove all the plug wires. If you want to go a little farther then squirt a few drops of oil in the cylinder after the inital compression test crank the motor over a couple of times and check the compression again and compare the readings, if a significant difference in these readings (between 10-15%) would indicate worn rings

Went to one of his seminars last year at the KC Show and it was very informative, he is one very nice young man. The most impressive part was after the show when he had a question and answer session, my 14 yr. old son asked him a question about rod selection and it became a one on one conversation, he took the time to answer a 14 year old angler's question thoroughly and that impressed me big time. When we left KVD had a couple of new fan's.

http://myjonboat.com/ Lot of information on his site.

Yes a floor is nice, also quietens noise being transferred down. If your concerned with weight go to a metal shop and get .100 thousants thick aluminum sheet. What I did was layed thick styrofoam insulation between the ribs leaving a 3" wide gap down the center(kinda like a gutter down the center), I was lucky because my boat had "V's" running the length of the boat under the crossmembers, but if you drill holes in your braces dont make them to small they will plug up. I prefit every thing and all the edges of the styrofoam were wiped with a shop towel and lacquer thinner to seal them that way little pieces don't plug up your freshly drilled holes. Layed the insulation in place and used spray foam insulation sparingly around it keeping away from the center gap(this stuff expands) layed the floor in and stood on it while either screw or pop rivet it in place. Carpet is nice. Probally not 10lbs heavier and a lot more flotation, not to mention QUIETER.

Do the same thing you guy's do but I drain the lower unit, and fill with new oil. I store mine outside so I open all hatches, remove anything that will freeze, put the cover on tightly, then wrap it with a poly tarp, preferably one with a silver color. Back the trailer tires onto a couple of board's, abd jack it up so the boat is tilted to the rear, don't fprget to pull the plug. ORTHO has a product called "Deer Be Gone" it contains a lot of ammonia and when sprayed around the bottom of the tarp it keep's unwanted varmit's (especially the neighbor's cat) out and away from your boat. I spray it about once a month when stored. Mt problem is I'am Not Ready To Quit Yet.

The only problem I see is it might be to fast to work along a bank on even the slowest speed without constantly reaching to turn it on and off. Might want to look for a foot operated switch for it. Sorry I don't have a link for one, but I bet someone on here has one.

I alway's carry several hand towels, 18"X18" pick them up at Sam's Club for like $10. for 40. Fold them tight and put one in a 1 qt. zip lock bag and into the locker they go. Some of them I put a plastic eyelet in the corner, the kind you get in the craft dept, dont use the brass ones, sounds like you have a sack of marbles in the dryer. In cold weather it's nice to have dry hand's.