keninaz

Yes, as the nearest place is some 45 miles from where the boat is located that I could try it I will just pass on it.

That is what I am leaning towards at this point as it doesn't make any sense to me. Maybe I will just keep looking for another boat.

I am looking at an early 1970s Boston Whaler, a 14' model. But the guy is tell me that recently at 6500' with 4 people on board the boat with a 35 HP motor (about the same year) would not do 10 MPH. He said he suspected the carb needed adjustment but then said he was told that he needed to change prop pitches at altitude which sounds strange to me. Any ideas?

It may well depend on your state. Here I checked and if I don't operated from dusk to sunrise I don't have to have navigation lighting. I have no compartment for fuel either so no fire extinguisher is required. You do have to have something that you can make a noise with other than your voice to get help. I just picked up an old fashioned coach's whistle and I'll keep it on my vest.

WE have many lakes here in the mountains of central AZ that they are patrolled on a regular basis by both Fish and Game and some other LEO types as well. For the $20 annual cost of not having it registered I will just comply with the laws here. I suspect the citation from Fish and Game is a lot higher in price.

In most states I have been in if you have other than sail or man powered watercraft they have to be registered with the state. States rights? Beats me. A simple call or email or perhaps a search of the agency that registers boats in your state may be in order. As they say, ignorance of the law is no excuse and you still pay a fine. I just found out my Minn Kota will be here tomorrow so I guess I had better move along with my mounting plans!

Not a good idea around here anyway. The people at the lakes will call in a boat they see under power without a sticker. I don't know what the fine is and don't really want to find out.

No problem there, I bought the boat new. I guess I have to send it in with the application but I just downloaded that and have not read the instructions on it just yet. $20 a year anyway so that is not bad.

Shortening of the shaft is simple and straight forward. Yes I have seen bass yaks for ideas and a few other sites. I have the motor on order as all they had was a display locally so I will have to see how the factory bracket looks but I am certainly not afraid to make my own.

I have decided to ad a trolling motor to my Ride and decided the basic Minn Kota 30# motor would do find. I am going to stern mount the motor that I will shorten the shaft on. Anyone done one like this on this model that could share some ideas??

I agree, but I am getting older and have a bad back already. I put mine on a low trailer and it worked out quite well for me. My 115x is over 100# with the battery, depth finder and the stuff I have added to it.

Just for information I have a 115X and I weigh in at 232# and stand 6'1" and it's very stable with me in it.

I agree with flyfisher. My yak came with a Scotty and I am not impressed with it but I have been using Ram Mount products for years in other applications so I switched the Scotty out for the Ram. Here is a link to Ram Mounts if you want to look at them. http://www.rammount.com/products/kayakmounts/tabid/95/default.aspx

I never referred to an all season tire except perhaps in my comment about a "snow rated" tire. I am fully familiar with the aggressive style 4 WD tires and their shortcomings. I suspect when you switched out your tires you lost traction but most don't need it all that much anyway. I did own a couple of 4 x 4s in the past used and never used the 4 WD on them. As I stated in my original advice. 4 x 4s have their place and most don't need the increased cost of tires, maintenance of the transfer case and FWD mechanism and such and the increased insurance costs I found when I went to buy a new truck. If you need 4 WD it may be for you, but not for all certainly.

In my experience, and I have owned 4 WD trucks in the past that I bought used, the tires cost some 20-30% more. More rubber I guess, don't know. I also know for a fact that 4 WD drivers make two critical mistakes in driving/maintaining them. First they tend not to want to put fully rated 4 WD tires on when it comes replacement time and they opt for "snow rated" tires and they are simply not the same at all. But the worst mistake they make is that they don't slow down for conditions. I used to drive a tow truck in retirement for a AAA contractor up in WA state and when it snowed we would just go to the known locations where the people would not slow up and wait for them to slide off the road on the outside of the curve and down the slight hill. Then without much movement we collected our fees to pull them back up. We could do that all day long and men were no better than women and we pulled more 4 WD vehicles out than standard front wheel drive cars that are more common today. I guess common sense does not go with the price tag of the 4 WD.

A quick check of any truck manufacturer's website will show and any 1/2 ton PU will tow a boat that will fit into any standard garage. Just look up the weight of the boat on a trailer you are considering and check the tow limits specified by the truck manufacturer. I have done lots of towing of RVs and boats in my life and if you want to be safe just limit yourself to about 80% of the towed weight that they claim. Even at that, I think you will find and a typical 17-18' boat will be well within your safe limits for towing. And previous posters were right, you don't need the additional expense of the heavier duty trucks either. Tires are more costly. Also, I know many that love 4 x 4 trucks but before you buy one (unless you really need a 4 WD) check with your insurance company before you buy one just to see what the difference is in insurance. I did years ago when a dealer offered me the identical truck with 4 WD for $1500 over the price of a 2 WD. I thought it might be better for resale down the road if I had the 4 WD. I called my agent before I bought the truck told me that it would cost me almost $400 a year more for the 4 WD. He further told me that the insurance company figures that if you own a 4 WD that you will get it off road and at risk of damages from collisions with trees and such and it costs the insurance industry more money to repair a 4 WD on average as a result. I certainly did not need 4 WD and needless to say for the difference in insurance per year I did not buy the truck. There is also more maintenance to do on a w WD and the tires cost more money too. Just my thoughts.

I think you will like the trolley when you first use it. I just made mine using rail clips that came with the boat a some UV resistant line I had laying around. I found ring the right size at the local hardware store and that is about all I needed. The only problem that I ran into using the rails was at the attachment point was high at each end of the yak and I have to make sure that when I get into the boat that I don't trap the anchor trolley ropes under the elevated seat. I don't know which kit you bought but a lot of the kits I saw for sale involves drilling the hull and I just did not want to do that.

I have had my Ride 115X out of few times now and really like it and the elevated seat like you got. Very comfortable. I have also noticed that many of the standard cheaper round bottomed yaks I see on the lake the same days I am out are affected by the wind much more than I am. I did however choose to move my FF to the rail closer to me for access and like it there. I also put a set of wires on the battery to lead out the hold where the stock mount for the FF was so that I don't have to remove the console/battery/transducer assembly to charge the battery. I also added a homebrew anchor trolley system on my 115 for use with the anchor and I really like it too. I can place the anchor point from the front to the rear of the boat with it. Anytime you own a boat it's constantly evolving and I have owned many in the past but this is my first kayak.

Well I am 6' 1' and hit the scales at 235#. I have the Ride 115X with the elevated optional aircore seat and I am quite comfortable in the boat for extended periods of time. I also had fusion surgery on my low back December 2013 so I have a bit of stiffness left from that. I don't find the wind a particular problem with the Wilderness Ride hull. The triple hull seems to track well and with my weight and the outfitted 100# of kayak weight it sits in the water deep enough to stay in place.

In the past I have owned several larger powerboats and I don't remember having problems with the anchor lines tingling all the time. I now have a small kayak that I fish from and the rope I have that is only some 50 foot long will not stop tingling on me. The rope I have is plenty to hold the kayak with the small anchor but I seem to spend a lot of time untangling it. So what type of rope should I be using? Is there a special type of rope?

I did order the quick release bracket for the FF and a sliding ball mount for the rail as well so I will have the option of mounting it there too. I may however decide just to use the 2.5" mount that comes with the quick release and short double pivot ball and mount it even closer to me. At least this solves my one real gripe about this particular boat. You would think that on a kayak that the average guy is going to use something just like this 4.3" display and if you mount it to the console it's going to be quite a distance from you. Just so you know.

Yes I just got information from Ram Mounts as the newer HDI is not shown in the charts just yet. But it takes the same quick release as the other series 4s do. The disappointing thing to me is that even if I mount it on the back side of the sonar console provided the longest double socket mount that Ram makes is the Ram-B-201U 6" and at 6" I am not sure it will be close enough to view and manage menus and screens still. I may have to trail the wiring out of the console and use the 1" rail mount ball or just mount it in the hull material itself back closer to my position. I may even go for a flexible style 18" mount that they make. Still doing research to make sure I get what I need at this point needless to say.

I recently purchased the Wilderness Ride 115 X. For those that don't know this kayak it comes with a built-in sonar console that does make mounting of the transducer very easy. The battery sits inside, the transducer sits on the bottom a the FF on top and it all removes very easy all in one piece. Another option I purchased is the elevated Air Core Seat that I really like. t does weigh 15# but it's very comfortable. But one of the shortcomings of this boat to me is that my brand-new Lowrance Elite-4X HDI sonar/fishfinder is too far out of reach when mounted as suggested at the rear of the sonar console which is removable. The FF is too far forward and although I am 6 foot tall with long arms I cannot reach the controls on the FF sitting in the seat. And needless to say the FF screen that comes with this fishfinder is also a bit small to view at that distance. On an overcast day the fish displayed on the screen are a bit hard to make out the depth readings and symbols. Frankly, if I had to do this again I would not have bought t the 115X, I would have bought the standard Ride115 and added the options required to turn this into the angler style for fishing . Only the 115X comes with the console however and without the console in place you would have a rectangular hole in the hull that the transducer sits in on the bottom of the console. Yes you would have to find an alternative mount for the FF and a location to put the little seven amp hour battery but at least you would be able to pick the location where the fishfinder went so would be visible and accessible to the kayaker. Overall I like the right 115 but I did find on the maiden that aggressive paddling results in a little wobble in the tracking but that is to be expected I guess on 11.5 foot boat. I will move the FF to make it accessible for menu changes and viewing but I think the console just sits too far forward in my opinion. I found the stability of the hull on the Ride 115 to be outstanding and overall I think it's a nice kayak. Also keep in mind that the boat itself without a seat still weighs in at just over 70 pounds. And in my case with the FF, battery and console installed you have nearly 100# to handle. Bui think the weight and the hull design add to the stability of the kayak so that is a trade-off.