Team_Dougherty

I would recommend against it. They add to the structural integrity of the hull.

Not as cheap as making your own. But, More useful in my opinion. http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=883&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults

My suggestion would be to keep the prop at least 6" below the surface. If not, It should be low enough so it does not suck air.

It should. But like that example above, It will take time. I would only use a small solar panel as a way to keep a fully charged battery charged. You need a bigger unit, 10 amps or more, to make a good charger. The amount of sunlight available to charge a battery is limited.

Nope. You do it all the time in your car.

Your math is correct. The amount of amps you will need to charge a battery that is 50% charged depends on the size of the battery and how fast you want to charge it. For example: a 105 AH battery 50% charged needs 52.5 AH put into it to it to be fully charged. So to charge it in an hour you will need to put 52.5 amps into it. A 7 amps it will take 7.5 hours to charge it. If you can put 10 amps into it you can charge it in 5.25 hours. Do you get the relationship of battery power? Batteries are rated in AMP Hours Or AH. That is the amount of power they can hold. The two most common ones are 75AH or 105AH. If you draw a 10 amp load from a 105 AH battery it will provide approx 10.5 hours of power. If you draw 5 amps from it, it will provide 21 hours of power. these number are approximate and can change with the amount of current. Now to charge the battery it is the same but backwards. If you draw 10 amp from that 105 amp hour battery for 5 hours you used 50 amp hours. the battery is about 50% charged. If you use a 10 amp charger it will take 5 hours to charge it to full. If you have a 5 amp charger it will take twice as long, or 10 hours. You did not mention in your original post how big your electric motor is. Lets assume it is 30 Pounds of thrust. A general rule of thumb is 1 amp of power draw per pound of thrust. So, If you run your motor for 30 minutes to your favorite spot. you just used 15 AH from your battery. That solar panel puts out one amp so it would take 15 hours to recharge that battery after just a 1/2 hour run. Now, add lights and electronics you will see how futile it will be to use solar panels to charge the battery or batteries. Hope this helps

If you want to charge your batteries in remote locations use one of these. http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/ModelDetail.asp?ModelName=eu2000i The 12v circuit can put out 8 amps. Or, you can power an on board charger using the 120v outlet. http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=74190&hvarDept=200&hvarClassCode=3&hvarSubCode=4&hvarTarget=browse&cmid=PP_P0_2&cmCat=CROSSSELL with the that combo you can keep your batteries topped off all day and night, as long as you have fuel. Those hondas are very quit you can run it with out most people knowing.

A long time. That solar panel is designed to keep a fully charged battery charged. At 15w in full sunlight it will produce about 1 amp of current. If you have a 105 amp hour battery that is 75% discharged it would take 25-30 hours to bring the battery up to full charge. That is in full sun. On cloudy days it will produce less, at night none.

Since I switched to LED lights I do not unplug them. When I had bulbs I did. The bulbs would get hot from the brake lights being on and when they hit the cold water they shattered. LEDs do not get hot.

If your motor uses resisters to control speed this will work. If it has the maximizer in it this procedure will blow the electronics.

I used to have a Fishin' Buddy II. It was good for what it was I really liked it. My wife got me the Fishin' Buddy 4200 for xmas 2006. I have to say it is great. It had all the functions of a non portable unit. I would recommend it to any one. http://www.cannondownriggers.com/site/html/htmlsite/bl/4200.htm

I agree with most of the posters here. I only have a 25HP motor on my boat and I use a transom saver. With the motor in it's towing position the torque on the transom would be a lot. For the low cost of the transom saver it is worth it. Plus, the motor is farther off of the ground than it is when I use the motor's tilt lock.

here is a good place to learn about batteries. www.batteryfaq.org

you will need one of these switches. http://www.lei-extras.com/store/search.asp?SearchType=Category&Category=Transducer+Switch+Boxes

I used to have an old trailer as well the had coil springs and shocks. Maybe the coil springs needed shocks. I would be interested to see what others think about shocks on a trailer. check this site out. http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/rv-wheel-covers/trailer-shocks.htm

here is my "big" water boat a 16' Crestliner Angler Series with 25HP Mariner Outboard. This is a small water and electric motor only boat. It is a 12' polyethylene V bottom

Hitch hight is based on your trailer. You should get a draw bar that will keep your trailer as close to level as possible. A little high on the front is OK. You do not want to be lower on the front. I have two draw bars, one for the pop-up the other for the boat. just so they are level when I tow them.

I leave my Trolling motor mounted on the boat in an unheated barn over the winter. Never had any ill effects. There is really nothing in a trolling motor that will be affected by the cold. Unless, There is water trapped in it from a leaky seal.

Keep us up to date on your purchase.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=41694 http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=30905 I would get the 2000 LB one.

$800.00. Ouch. Check out this thread. http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1128355468

The winch and jack DID NOT come with the trailer. I had "extras" that I used on the trailer. You can buy them from harbor or northern when you order the trailer.

Here in PA a fishing license is good for 13 months. Jan 1 to Dec 31 of the current year and the December of the previous year. So you can buy a 2007 license on Dec 1, 2006 and it will be good until Dec 31, 2007. http://sites.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/Fish_Boat/faqlice.htm#4 A resident license is $22.00, $9.00 for a trout stamp, $9.00 for a lake Erie permit. if you buy both it is only $15.00. http://sites.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/Fish_Boat/faqlice.htm#3

A generally accepted rule of thumb for fuel consumption for a two cycle outboard is 10% of the HP,in gallons, per hour a WOT. So your 90 HP outboard would consume 9 gallons per hour at WOT.

I just purchased this for my trolling motor. It has a circuit breaker and battery gauge built in. I also has a breaker for accessories. http://www.minnkotamotors.com/products/batteries/detail.asp?pg=powercenter http://www.boatersworld.com/product/369634514.htm