RobDar

97-98 20' Ranger or Tritons for $7500-8000? I'm from Missouri, show me. no kidding....I have been watching boats for two years now and have never seen a deal like that!!! I would have bought it if I did! Good lord there are folks selling late 80s and early 90's Tracker Alum's for as high a $3000.

My father in law is selling his 97 Javelin with a 225 for $10,000. Dealers told him as high as $12,000. water test...and a visit to the mechanic.

I have never needed four wheel drive. Rear wheel yes, but never four. My van has always done just fine. I suppose that depending on where you are in the country...four wheel might be an advantage. I know of some more rural ramps south of me that I might have some issues launching at if it were to be wet or muddy...but 98% of the ramps I have launched at, and I have launched at some real doozies, my rear wheel drive van has always been just fine. I might go for the V6 though and here is why... first, comfort at expressway speeds. second, lightweight boat or not...you may get comparable gas mileage with the V6 ( when towing) because it will not need to work as hard to perfrom the same labor. Where I used to work the boss had two of the exact same van except one was a V8 and one a V6. The V8 got better gas mileage because it did not have to work as hard and did not run at as high of an RPM to do the same amount of work. third, what if in a few years you get a different boat? what if you come across a good deal or decide you want to upgrade? it is not on your mind right now, but considering that you will likely keep the vehicle a long time...if you are like me, until the wheels fall off, I might consider a V6 so as not to limit future decisions. ...and I do not know about the vehicle you are considering, but when I was looking...the difference between the V6 and the four cylinder was only about 3 miles to the gallon....or just over one gallon, or $3, per hundred miles...not really that big of a difference expense wise.

I bought my marine carpet from Bass pro...I would not call it snag proof by any stretch of the imagination.

OH OH OH!!!!! YES!!!! I think alot of the getting cut off and interupted as you explained in this post...ESPECIALLY on lakes like you described...is that the people who live there really do not like people that do not live there out on "their" lake. I am sad to say my own brother in law, who owns a cabin on a small lake in Michigan, is that way. He is constantly complaining about the "outsiders" fouling up "his" lake that he pays to live on. He is intentionally rude to fisherman and others that he knows come there from other areas. we get that at a few lakes around us as well... I am not aware of a no wake distance limit. I do not remember reading anything about that. I know there is for larger boats...like charter boats...but even it is referred to as a "courtesy distance" as I remember it. I am going to have to get my father in laws books out and look this up now...

between your office carpet and marine... the marine carpets are treated to withstand UV saturation over long term. Most of them are as well actually plastic based rather than fiber based. At the onset you choice will not make much difference...5 years from now it will make a difference. by outdoor we are not talking about the ugly green plastic stuff are we??? we are talking about the UV treated tight weave regular carpet like you would use on a porch or patio right? The outdoor stuff will work, it is treated as for UV as well, but comapring it side to side with the marine stuff...the marine is better quality, a softer pile, and seemed more plyable and workable to me.

ummmm...actually if you were to check with your local DNR there are probably alot more speed limits places than you think there are. I always assumed that there were not speed limits at several of the lakes I fished...come to find out there are speed limits. ( yes I got dinged by DNR one day) They are not posted...but they exist in alot of places. Boating is one of those things, like taxes, where you are responsible to gather necessary information and ignorance of the law is not an excuse. Almost all of the county and town/city lakes near me...northwest Indiana...actually have speed limits...even a few with horse power limits. It is not posted anywhere, but it exists. I am a firm believer that boaters should be licensed. ( ...I know...I know...outrageous right!). I think you should have to get a license just like a car or a motor cycle. There are far too many folks out there on the water that have absolutely no clue what they are doing! They have no idea of the laws, safety equipment, safety practices...none of it! Our local DNR guy told me that 2 out of 3 tickets he gives out are to people who had no idea that there was safety gear required, safety equipment required, saftey rules...yadda yadda yadda. Not that they just did not have the stuff...but had no idea it was required! Just the other day I saw a guy in a ski boat FLYING across the lake...I was doing about 30 and they wizzed by me like I was standing still...his son...who could not have been older than about 7...was driving the boat. If this was a one time thing I would chalk it up to one idiot...but nearly EVERYTIME I go out I see someone ( bass boaters included) do something really stupid or dangerous. Someone mentioned drinking on the boat... I have always treated this just like my car. No booze on my boat! No even allowed in the cooler! I know several guys who wont go fishing with me because I wont let them drink. This is a big problem on the water as far as I am concerned.

ummm...what Low Budget Hookers said. flat bottom jon will work fine in inland lakes etc...especially if you are going electric or with a small outboard. as far as stability goes...realistically you probably wont tip over and of the choices, but a flat bottom Jon style boat will be more comfortable to stand and fish in. If you are mindful from the beginning of weight when you do your conversion and try to make material choices that save pounds, you will be adding to the stability of the boat with every pound you save. ...another choice is an old tri hull style boat. I was just out on our local lake and there was a guy with a little 15 fot tri hull he had converted and put decks and storage in...gave it a paint job...came out pretty good.

yes there is a school... it is called your local lake! LOL!

I think motorguide has always kicked off straight in bad water. Both the ones I have had do that...so does the father in laws... If the bracket is cheap on the minnkota...I would find out about failures. If the bracket fails...that can stop a days fishing...a motor turning off straight in bad water will not stop a days fishing.

...this is one of those things I am just not sure about. The wireless ones are a chunk more money than the cable steer...I kind of think of my trolling motor as a utility....I am not sure I would pay the extra money for all the gadgets...but that is me. I think the built in transducers are interesting...but I wonder what happens if there is a problem. these are the questions I would ask myself... Is it like those all in one TV and stereos that if one component goes...you loose the whole deal till it is repaired? If the motor fails will you loose your tranducer till repair...if the tranducer has issues will you loose the motor till repair? Around here I would have to take the motor off, take it somewhere to have it shipped for repair...no one around here repairs that kind of thing... Is the transducer something you can replace yourself? Is the transducer specific to a certian graph? what if you want a different graph later...can you install a new tranducer to match a new graph? What if the tranducer fails during a tourney...is it something I can replace on the fly while on the water? On the wireless part... I would have to ask myself if I would actually use the wireless function... I seriously doubt that I would. Truthfully I would most likely loose that little hand held control in the first week...but I suppose some guys would use it...my father in law probably would. what interferes with the wireless? Will it be like the wifes bluetooth...absolute junk if there is a truck near by or if she starts the car while talking? those are my thoughts

Well...we did not win the tourney yeasterday, but I cannot say it was a bad day by any means. I would say that yesterday we found the "corner piece" for the puzzle. Anyone who has ever done a puzzle knows...you gotta have that corner piece to put the rest together! We have consistantly had our butts whooped by Wooster lake at Potato Creek State Park. It is our "problem lake". ( many of you know what I am talking about with that) We just never seem to do as well there as other places...and yesterday we were still beaten..we were 8/10 of a pound out of a money placement...but it was still a really good day! we fished well. we really did. I think it was one of the only days when we left that we could not really find anything we would have done differently. we always discuss the tourney and our decisions on the way home. what decisions we should or could have made that would have been more successful...yesterday we really felt we had done it right. We were just out fished...which is fine with us. Being out fished and having fished well is better than being out fished because of STUPID decisions. At least I think so. we managed to pull a few out of some really heavy weed cover. we pulled three from the weeds and lost three in the weeds...but 50% in the weeds we were fishing...I am not unhappy about that. it is noce to walk away from a tournament...a winner or not...and know you did the best you could, made good decisions, and caught a few nice fish!

well I am glad I did not go with those hatch cover then. the ones I used work great...as far as weathertight...I remember having the option for bottom boxes thought....but now I do not remember if I was adapting bottoms to go under these lids or if they were actually FOR these lids. If I were to do it again I would definately put bottom under them and I would get on a few of the hunting/gun dog/UKC websites and find one of the guys who build dog boxes for pick up trucks fabricate bottoms to fit the boat.

pleasure boaters. My apologies if some of you are also pleasure boaters...but I just do not get it. What did you do today bob? I went out and the lake and drove around in circles!!!! How about you Bill? I watched NASCAR on the Tivo!!! nothing can screw up a day of fishing like a guy in a ski boat!

in addition to all the other good suggestions... there is a set screw in the neck on the head that may be loose as well. Take off the cover and look at the metal neck on top of the shaft...there is a set screw facing upwards...if this is loose or coming loose...when you push the pedal all will look normal but the motor will not follow the indicator on the top. You may turn all the way to the left ( and the marker will say you have) but the motor itself will only move half that distance. If it is a motor guide I would would put lock-tite on that screw.

depends on the rivets... the rivets you buy from Home Depot...probably not real impressive...but look around on the net...there are some industrial rivet with some very impressive holding strength. The most important part of rivets is making sure you have the right rivets for the thickness you are riveting. If you are really worried, back up the rivets with some good 2 part epoxy.

well I wish you many years of happy fishing in your "new to you" boat! There is guy in our tourney club who is like the guy you bought that boat from. He says..."it still floats and catches fish!". My work truck was like that when I bought it...It do not think the guy ever cleaned from the day he bought it. I found some of the most disgusting stuff inside...even an old used condom...which aparently means he had a heck of alot more fun at work than I ever did!

PRESSURE WASHERS RULE!!!! between the boat and cleaning up the yard, crates, kennels for the dogs ( we also run a Coonhound rescue)...that thing saves me HOURS AND HOURS a week! It used to take me all day to scrub the paw prints off the screen door and deck...now 5 minutes with the pressure washer!

you have got a myriad of choices in that price range

My wife says I spend too much time...I feel I do not spend enough! LOL! I could not really put a number of minutes on it...but I have found that the boat is exactly the same as my work truck. Put things away...WHERE THEY BELONG ( hoping the wife reads that...hint hint dear!) ...as soon as you are finished with them! So long as I put things away,back where they belong, and take the few minutes it takes to get the major junk out of the boat and weeds off the deck/ trolling motor yadda yadda yadda....the only time I find myself spending maybe an occasional carpet vacum and quick wipe down from time to time.

I have this problem. I am a side arm guy as well. You would not happen to be left handed would you? Stangely enough I was once told that ALOT of lefties natural casting is sidearm. It seems to hold true with the guys I know. Anyway...I have got the spinning overhand down...not as accurate as side arm but is getting there. It really does just take practice and doing it enough times to feel comfortable with it. The BC overhand I still am having problems with. I am told it just takes patience and practice but thus far all I have done is managed to frustrate myself.

I think we have all had these days. Ceph...you are one dedicated guy, staying out there till it is done...Kudo's! ...an old man who fishes our tournament club once gave me what I think is good advice. He told us...on a day very much like the one you explained..."take a breath, you are thinking too much! When the fishing sucks...FISH WHAT YOU KNOW!" I did not really know what he meant by that at first...but I think what he meant was to fish what you are confident with, what you fish well, and fish your GUT instinct. Kind of a go back to basics approach. I cannot say that it has been 100% effective..but my "not a hit" or few hit days are MUCH fewer and further between these days. I cannot say what YOUR basics would be...mine happens to be a Fluke in and around shoreline or just off shore structure and weeds. The wifes is plastics...usually french fries...fished SLOW and patient.

ooops...sorry...Johnson Motor...that what I get for not re-reading what i post and waytoslow you are right it probably would be a good investment... except that while mechanically INCLINED...I have no INCLINATION to be a mechanic.

anyone have a service manual for a 1989 60 horse outboard lying around??? I really do not want to pay $36 just to have a question answered...LOL!

I think you need to get off here and go FISHING! LOL!