nick76

Nice project, make sure she is water tight before you get into fabrication. You will have plenty of fun on both the build and the use of it.

you have a PM.

I would tend to stay away from using regular ply and thompson's water seal. If you cannot find marine grade ply then you an substitue regular pressure treated ply for it. Make sure the ply is dry before you use it and if you are worried about water seal it with some fiberglass mat and some resin. Make sure it is dry before you seal it! Thompson's waterseal is a joke, don't waste you money.

With a tingling sensation it is more than likely a pinched nerve somewhere. It may be in the arm itself or in your neck. You may be able to get it to loosen just by stretching out more. If not then you probably should go see a doctor.

Be careful with those cortisone shots. I have had a couple of friends who used to play baseball end up needing major shoulder surgery because of cortisone shots. They make you feel great, they allow you use continue to use your arms and such......but they also allow the damage to continue until it comes to a grinding halt. Short term use is fine, but long term these things are not the answer. Both of my friends had promising careers in the Major Leagues (baseball), until the shoulders just plain gave out.

For the most part you are right, but a skeletal problem can also lead to a muscle problem as well. I have been through 4 or 5 knee doctors who all wanted to do surgery (before they seen an MRI), got the MRI and now nobody wants to do surgery. They have all sent me to do physical therapy with no real results. They have all said it was in my head and even had one accuse me of asking for drugs (I can prescribe my own medications of I wanted them, do not need another doctor to get me my meds if that was the case). I went to my chiropractor....she found that one of the bones in my leg was rotated about 20 degrees from where it should be. She adjusted it, adjusted my foot (it was out from compensating for my knee) and I have had no pain for the last 4 months. I was in pain about a 6 or 7 out of 10 everyday before that. I used to think they were voodoo witch doctors.....and some of them are, but if you find a good one that will listen and do what is right then you should feel better. Best of Luck!!

Just a thought. I know a while back I was having some shoulder and neck problems, not from an injury but from the work I do. I cannot change my line of work, but needed some help to keep me out of pain. I went to the doctor and he actually told me to go see a chiropractor. I thought he was full of crap, but after going for the lst two years I feel great. I can tell when I overdo it at work, but for the most part I feel 10x better. I also had a problem with my hips and knees hurting after fishing for long periods at a time. My chiropractor also has taken care of that. Just thought it was worth mentioning.

you might want to try a dental office that does not use digital x-rays. The old film packets have a lead liner in them. Most offices get little or no money for the stuff and might be willing to part with it.

Might want to try and look for Piano Hinges. They are usually flush mount and come in varying lengths.

Sorry about that, Wayne P. you are correct. Installed on the positive side of the battery. I was in the middle of a conversation with the wife.

I agree that you should seek to get some medical advice. There are all kinds of docs to see. I have had knee problems for years and this leads to my lower back hurting occassionally. I have been to 5 different doctors, 6 bouts of physical therapy, and finally a chiropractor. After 3 MRI's, they still could not find the problem. My last PT told me that I was compensating and causing more damage to my body because of how I walked, he helped to correct it. My Chiropractor adjusted my knee and now I am pain free. I too have kidney stones and man can they hurt. There are multiple reasons for back pain, you should definitely get it checked out.

It may not be just the battery. I had a brand new trolling motor and battery, could not keep a charge for more than 5 or 6 hours out on the lake. I ended up rewiring the thing with new heavier gauge wire and installed an in-line ciruit breaker. Mine came with 12 gauge wire and an in-line fuse of 35 amps. My TM would over heat and blow the fuse, changed it out with 10 gauge wire (figured it out using a chart by the mfg with the distance of the run) and installed the circuit breaker, now it lasts 4-5 trips out on one charge and charges must faster as well. P.S. like a few others have said, if your TM is not capable of running in 24V mode then do not hook the batteried together, it will damage it.

Wow, what a lucky gesture on Big M's part. Talk about a guy who is willing to give more than a little of his knowledge. Glad he is here to share.

With a 14 foot boat are you mounting this TM on the bow or on the transom? If you are mounting on the bow you could always move the deep cycle battery to the bow so you have shorter runs. This will allow you to use 10 gauge wire for the runs. You will place the circuit breaker on the negative wire, I placed mine about a foot from the battery terminal. Make sure you get some of the heat shrink wrap for the wire connections and seal it up good. Water is not a good thing. I also found that after upgrading my wire and changing out the fuse for a circuit breaker my battery lasted a lot longer. BTW, you have a PM.

There are a lot of factors here. You will need the lenght of the run from the battery, the max draw from the motor, and a chart to determine the size wire for that draw. 8 or 10 gauge will do most of the runs in your boat. When I had mine installed the placed an inline fuse (35amp) on the negative side. I found after 2 seasons that this fuse would get warm over long periods of use and actually blew a few. I read my manual and the max draw was around 45-50 amps, so I replaced with an in-line circuit breaker made for marine use. It has an auto reset feature. Costs more than an in-line fuse, but worth the money and trouble.

You are well on your way. You have outlined what you are looking for, but not you are going to have to seach your area to find if that is available. I bought a new aluminum Mirrocraft 15 footer with a small motor on it. Paid way more than that, but you can find some great deals right now. Beware.....make sure the motor is in running condition, make sure you see it run.......You can always add a trolling motor later and a fish finder.....chances are you will not find the boat you want with the fish finder that you want!! I started basic and have added more and more as I had the money to do. Keep your eyes open, search the local papers, drive around, and check out any boat places in your area.....sometimes they have a small board with boats for sale. Good luck.

Every morning I take my two older kids to school, and every morning I have the conversation with them about being too lazy to clean off your car. Well.....last week one of them high schoolers, who doesn't know how to clean off his truck, dang near side swiped me. I had to drive up in the ditch just to get out of the way. I think my kids learned the lessen I tell them every day when I turned around drove into the other parking lot where this kid parks and followed him into the school. If you could have seen his face when the prinicipal made him come out and apologize for his carelessness. He then revoked his parking pass for the rest of the semester. My daughter is almost 16 and boy can she ever clean a car off good. Just plain laziness.

I don't remember where it was I read it, but I believe it was fabric softner sheets will work. I believe they said to use softner sheets in all the areas a mouse would get to whilt it was coverd. Might be worth a try.

Thanks Dan, I know exactly what you are talking about. My wife is a hobby lobby freak so I have tons of that crafty stuff laying about. How about teh eyes.....what you using there? BTW.....your lures look great. Can't wait to see what you catch.

I am in the process of buying my 11 year old the stuff to paint baits with. He thinks he is addicted after showing him some of these baits. He would like to know how you get that scala pattern on th bait. I am assuming a stencil of come sort?