Team_Dougherty

When I had a 25HP on my boat it was easy to take it off to put the 9.8 on. Since I put a 40HP on it it is not so easy to remove since it bolt through the transom. Can you easily take your 20HP and put the 8HP on? Perhaps a come-a-long hooked to tree limb or ceiling joist will help.

I have looked into adding power trim to my 40HP. All you would need to do is to look up on Mercury's website http://www.mercurypartsexpress.com/us/ and see if your motor comes with a power trim option. Look up the part number and see if you can buy it new or used from some where. I have found all the parts, including electrics, for $400.00 to add it to my 40. I just need to order it.

Here are the basics. Take your 8 gauge, Trolling Motor, wire you need a 50 amp fuse or circuit breaker in the circuit then hook it to your trolling motor. If you want you can add a plug and receptacle near the motor. For the rest of your circuits you need a fuse block. Run a 10 gauge wires to the fuse block from the battery. Then run all of your accessories from the fuse block. Use one fuse for each accessory.

On that model using the side view the transducer is pointing 180° away from the display. You can pivot the unit and sweep the are in front of you. When you are using it as a regular fish finder , looking down, the right side of the screen is right under your boat. everything to the left is what was under your boat. The scroll speed and boat speed will determine how long ago it was under your boat. The main thing that determines what you are seeing is the cone angle. That unit has a 20° cone angle so you are only seeing a circle 1/3 of your depth of the bottom. So if you are in 10' of water the circle of the bottom is only 3' in diameter and the circle gets smaller toward the bottom of transducer. Think flashlight. Here is a good read http://www.fishfinder-store.com/howfifiwo.html a better one http://www.lowrance.com/Support/Tips-and-Tutorials/Sonar-Tutorial/

You can put SD card marine maps in any gps that supports them. Navionics is one supplier. GPS like magellan can only read magellan maps. Lowrance, Humminbird and others can read the Navionics. You just have to see what GPS equipment has compatible maps for the area you fish.

Any walmart, kmart or any boat dealer. The tanks are generic you just need to buy the correct connectors for the motor you have. tanks http://www.attwoodmarine.com/products/products.asp?category=5&gtype=1&subtype=1&path=fuel&categoryname=Fuel+and+Motor+Equipment&typename=Portable+Fuel+Tank+and+Fittings&headername=Fuel+and+Motor+Equipment fittings http://www.attwoodmarine.com/products/products.asp?category=5&gtype=1&subtype=3&path=fuel&categoryname=Fuel+and+Motor+Equipment&typename=Portable+Fuel+Tank+and+Fittings&headername=Fuel+and+Motor+Equipment

http://www.rd.com/17452/article17452.html http://www.rverscorner.com/articles/bearing1.html

My drains through a hole in the bottom of the live well through the bottom of the transom. There is an overflow tube the keeps the water at a certain level. When I want to empty it I just unscrew it from the bottom.

I would not take that on the DE river. There are plenty of place on The Schuylkill river where I take my electric only boat. Frankly it is the only kind of boat that will go there. You can try the Linfield ramp, The mont clare ramp, hanover st ramp in pottstown and the tow path ramp in pottstown. There is also the hoy park ramp on the perky that is perfect for that boat. As with any boat know the conditions of the river before you go. if the water is high and fast I do not even take my 40 HP out. In the normal summer flow you would not have a problem is any of the places I mentioned.

I have a hand held I keep in the boat. I only use it when I am on the Delaware River below Trenton, NJ. It is just used to listen to the other larger ships to listen to what they are doing and to call if I need help in the middle of the shipping channel. Other than that no one else where I fish uses one. I have tried to get people to use at gatherings on lakes and stuff.

I do and have for a while. My battery powers my trolling motor and starts my 40HP outboard. The starter draws less current when stating the outboard than my trolling motor on high. Plus it only runs for 5 seconds tops each time I start my outboard. I guess it all depend on how big your outboard is and whether or not it is fuel injected or not.

Google is your friend. I would not be to worried about the age if they where cared for properly. My battery is at least 8 years and it still works fine. But I make sure it if properly maintained. I know it is older but I can not remember when I go it. But I have had it in my current boat since I bought it, the boat, new in 2000. I used in my previous boat but can not remember for how long. The battery is a ACDelco m27mf.

Both batteries in parallel is 128AH. A rule of thumb is that a 36# 12 volt motor will draw 36 amps. That gives you about 3.5 hours of run time on full. Check out page 70 of this pdf. http://www.utrc2.org/publications/assets/13/hybridbus1.pdf It looks like it has the same charging requirements as a AGM battery. If your charger has a AGM setting you should be good. It looks like they used that battery in a Hybrid bus. I think it should handle your trolling motor without a problem.

they are 64 AMP hour. A group 24 marine is about 75 amp Hour. http://www.newark.com/jsp/level5/module.jsp?moduleId=en_US/72409.xml&sku=89C2924

Very nice boat. Should serve you well. I agree with the others a doel-fin should help. you should also look at the RPMs your motor is turning. I had a 25HP on my 16'. When I was by myself i used a 13" pitch prop with a buddy it did not move all that great off the line. So when I went out with two people I used an 11" pitch prop and it made a world of difference. http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1188500161/1#1

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0001390010655a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&QueryText=aluminum+boat+repair&N=4887&Ntk=Products&Ntx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&Ntt=aluminum+boat+repair&noImage=0

I find that 409 works really well on my boat.

Here is my boat trailer with the side guides. I have them adjusted so there is about 1/2" between them and the boat. I have the bunks on the trailer adjusted so they are between the ribs on the bottom of the boat. I back the trailer into the water so the front of the bunk is level with the water. I then just idle in until the keel touches the front roller. Then I just throttle up until the boat touches the winch stand. I then hook up the winch strap to the bow eye and pull out. The angle of the boat sides and the side guides put the boat in the center of the trailer every time. That works very well for my boat trailer combo. I also have those glide sticks on my bunks that help greatly with loading and unloading.

The side guides are your best bet. I am very happy with mine. well worth the $$.

here is previous post about those trailers. http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1128355468

The one piece fins goes on top of the cavitation plate. Or the two piece ones the cavitation plate fits inside of the fin. I have never seen one the hits the anode.

Looks like it moves along nicely and it is not too loud.

It that 20 amps total? then it will only draw approx 2 amps on the 120V side.

A 50 amp charger would only draw around 5 amps on the 120v Side. A 10 amp charger would only draw around 1 amp. you may not need as big, wire size, of a cord as you would think.

It is illegal to use headlights on the water. you can ruin your night vision but more importantly you can blind another boater. Here is PA's take on lights I am sure other states have similar http://www.fish.state.pa.us/boatcrs/03boathandbook/operation5.htm Here is the colregs start with rule 20 http://www.boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/boating/colregs.html Now that does not mean you can not use the occasional hand held or other spot light to look for buoys, other navaids or to help in docking. You just can not run with the headlights on at night like you would in a car. Once it is dark your eyes will adjust and you will be able to see quite well.