Yankee_Bassman

This is probably like are blondes better than redheads.....the only thing I know is my neighbor bought a new boat last Spring, and he is on his third Lowrance sonar/gps unit, and is very disatisfied with Lowrance.....I think he spent well over 1,000. bucks on it....color, expandable modules, the whole deal.

May the force be with you, grasshopper.....now that you're committed (to the project, at least), you might want to pick up a book called "Runabout Renovation" by Jim Anderson.....there's a good section in there about replacing your own transom.....you can find it on Amazon.com, for about $12.00, and it's well worth it.

Up here in New England, snakes aren't a threat, so I don't need a gun for them. I go to the lake to get out of the city ( where I have a permit to carry)....I'm by no means anti-gun, but...when the day comes I feel the need to carry a gun on the water for personal protection, I'll cash everything in and retreat to a monastery in the Alps...... I encountered a few poisonous snakes in and around the water when I lived in Virginia....I always found that if they didn't move away from me first, a quiet retreat was the better part of valor.....I'm a good shot, but that's a pretty small target for a handgun, especially since they make my whole body quake like Jell-O. One of the few things I don't miss about living down South...

mjbfsh07: Where and what is that store in NH of which you speak? Is it Northern Bass by any chance?

BASSWEST1: I read and replied to your other post regarding maintenance before I read this one. You absolutely need to get the boat surveyed before you buy it. That fiberglass transom has a wood core. If water has been able to get in there, and from your description it has, there is an EXCELLENT chance the core is rotted. Transom replacement is big bucks, and even if you can do it yourself, it's a nasty, lengthy job. It can't be safely fixed by putting a new metal plate or other type reinforcement on it. The transom is still supporting the reinforcement, and if the core rots, the only thing supporting the plate and the motor is two very thin skins of fiberglass. Do yourself a huge favor, and get a pro to look at it before you buy.

I think it's unlikely that a newer bass boat will break up that way, given the structural design of todays boats. It's possible in theory that improperly cured resins or some other material defect could cause hull failure, but I suspect it would be more likely to be "hooking" of the hull, or cracking gelcoat, rather than the hull splitting open.

Buy a Clymer or Seloc manual for the motor you have. There'll be a section on general routine maintenance and winterizing. It will also walk you through repairs from the most basic to tearing down the powerhead. How old is the motor? When was the last time the impeller was replaced? How about the lower unit gear oil? Plugs? What kind of shape is the fuel line in? There are a million things to check and maintain. The best time to check is before you buy. I recommend taking the boat to a reputable tech, or having a buddy who really knows motors and boats look it over, and having it checked out before you plunk down your cash to the seller. Having repairs done at a service center adds up fast to big money. Another reason to be able to do your own is down time. Around here in the summer, you can wait 6-8 weeks just to get the boat seen, especially if you didn't buy it from the dealer you're taking it to. Not trying to scare you, just sharing knowledge gained the hard (and expensive) way.

I paid 7600. for a 1995 Nitro Fish n Ski with a 115 Merc on it last Spring. I bought it from a neighbor, so I knew the boat and the service on it pretty well. The interior needs complete reupholstery, but since I can do it myself, it didn't bother me. I was more concerned with the soundness of the hull and the motor. It also had a brand new power trim unit, and a newer 67 lb. trolling motor. I shopped hard for a year before buying this one, and I found that the NADA values are consistently low up here in New England, where there are always plenty of boats on the market. I bought when I did because while I was sure I could eventually find a better deal, time was going by, and I knew this boat's history. That said, have you pointed out the NADA value to the seller? I'd insist on having a survey done on the boat by a qualified shop, preferably one different from where he gets his serviced. Good luck.

Up until this year, I fished in New Hampshire out of a 12' Gamefisher aluminum V-hull, with a 9.9 'rude. I had a trolling motor beside it on the stern for many years, but it gave up the ghost. I had running lights and a bilge pump, but no electronics. I had a ton of fun, and caught plenty of bass out of that boat. This year, I bought a used Nitro Fish n Ski. I fished a lot more, a LOT more, and caught more fish this summer than in the last 5 years combined. No question I wish I had done it sooner, but I'll never regret the hours I spent on the water in that V-hull, just like I'll never regret the hours I spent bank and dock fishing before I got my first boat. Bottom line, I guess, is if you like to fish, you'll find a way to do it and enjoy it, dreaming of the day you can move up a bit in equipment. Once you move up, you soon get "foot-itis", a disease which compels you to immediately begin thinking about the next bigger boat you want, and what it will have different from what you currently own. I understand from friends that death is the only known cure for "foot-itis".

Thanks, guys.....upholstery over the winter, carpet as soon as the snow melts enough to get near the boat....

Thanks, Ben...after reading your post, that old carpet doesn't really look all that bad....well, yeah, it does....how the heck do you find out what weight carpet is in there now? Take it to a carpet store? This stuff has a thin vinyl backing on it.....it peeled down easily up under the console, where I had to peel it to expose the nuts holding the backrests in the bow to remove them for re-upholstering. (Fish 'n' Ski). I don't know how easy it will peel where it's been exposed to the sun for ten years.

I'm going to be reupholstering the seats in my 1995 Nitro F/S. The carpet is disgusting as well, with a lot of mold and mildew under the driver/passenger seats. Has anyone replaced their own carpet? How hard is removing the old stuff? What about taking it off the hatch covers? Any problems with getting the correct thickness, so the hatches still close tightly? (The carpet rolls over the edges, and also covers the undersides of the aluminum hatch covers.) I would think laying it on the decks and sole would be fairly straightforward, but the hatches have got me nervous....any advice?

My guess is you wind up with a gas-guzzling motor, and one less friend......

C-rigging lizards is the only thing I use the 3X for... like you, rogue, I like the way the float up off the salad on the bottom of my lake.....

I watched BASS-TECH last week, and they did over an Olathe firefighter's garage......was that you, or the other guy that lives there?

Help me, O Lord, for my boat is so small and your sea is so big......or something like that..

Geez....and I was going to rip the guy off and apply for a patent.....

My ride from work takes me right beside a cove in Boston Harbor. Sitting stuck in traffic today, I saw a pretty neat home-made rig to get a boat into the water. Guy had a jon-boat, about 12' long. Looked like fiberglass. It was in his pickup bed hanging out about 2' over the tailgate. He had a bracket clamped to the transom; it was obviously home-made...it had two C clamps that appeared to be welded to some steel channel. The channel came down the transom, and ended in a bracket below the bottom of the boat. A wheel about the size of a wheelbarrow tire was attached to the bracket. I watched him pull the boat straight out the tail gate almost all the way, lowering the wheel to the ground. He walked back, picked up the bow, and wheeled the boat over the rip rap to the water's edge. He went back to the truck and got oars and some gear and headed back to the boat. Presumably, if you had a motor, you coud get the boat to the water, unclamp the wheel bracket, and clamp on your small O/B. Pretty neat, and no dragging the boat. LBH, I was reminded of your post about the Rhino coming off the bottom of your boat because you have to drag it to launch it.

Just curious...other than pre-mixing fuel, why do you think a 4 stroke is easier to maintain than a 2 stroke?

Tohatsu O/B's are made by Nissan Marine...they make a good car, hopefully the marine stuff will be as good. Back in the day when Chrysler made O/B's, the government made them divest the marine operations to get the auto side bailed out. Marine was the only Chrysler division making money. I've got an 85 HP Force from 1986 on my bowrider family boat, which is exactly the same tooling and casing as the '85 Chrysler, and it's still running strong with minimum repairs. The OB wars are going to get interesting; from what I've read, the competition to lock in boat mfg's to hang one brand of OB on their transoms is pretty fierce. It will be interesting to see who is left standing at the end of the day. Meanwhile: Advantage: lower costs to consumers .... Disadvantage: less/no choice in OB brand when you're buying a boat package from a particular manufacturer.

Great picture....sorry I missed that post.....anybody else notice that the bass don't seem to be the only ones storing some serious calories for the winter? Baitmonkey ain't around 'cuz he's afraid he'd be in the pot......by the way, I look exactly like my avatar, so you really don't need a picture....

LBH: Here's a link to a website belonging to a disabled angler. Pgs. 15 and 23 are of interest regarding your question. You may find some tips you can give the kids for the future, or you may be able to reach the web author and query him directly. I don't know him, I found the site surfing one day. My wife is a therapist, and I saved it for her for patients who fished before accident/illness/injury. http://www.100megspop3.com/oldvalkyry/index.html

I catch and release for several reasons: it helps sustain the population in the lake I fish, I hate to clean fish almost as much as I hate to eat it, and if I had to rely on eating the fish I caught to stay alive, I'd have starved to death 25 years ago...... By the way, there are plenty of folks who fish for other species up my way who practice catch and release also...trout, striped bass, bluefish, shark, to name a few......

Alligators? How far south in Rhode Island do you live?

Wish I read this Friday instead of tonight.....