Way2slow

Get you an impact driver. If you have a Harbor Frieght close by, they have them for about $10 http://www.harborfreight.com/impact-screwdriver-set-with-case-37530.html. These are very poor quality but should be able to get your plugs out. Sears and others will have one also but you will pay more for the better quality. They usually have a nylon washer under the heads, but I've seen some with and O-ring. Usually someone has rounded the screw slots on the screw so your screw driver won't hold the edges. If this is the case. I would recommend getting new plugs and seals to go back in. I have seem them so screw up by the wrong screw driver, I've had to drill the the centers and then drill the heads off. Not very much fun when you realize the housing could be junk if you screw up.

All I can say about them lasting three days, if you have had even good Wally world batteries, they would have last five days. Look, I'm not saying they are junk, if they were, they wouldn't still be on the market for as long as they have been. I'm only saying there are better AGM's available now, and they are very expensive for the amount of amp hours they give, or I guess I should say for no more amp hours they give. Now, a properly maintained Wal-Mart battery my still die in two years and may last four, where most any properly maintained AGM will give you five or six, unless you're a pro and charing them a couple of hundred times a year. There are still companies installing them in their commercial equipment that's used and abused heavily every day. I'm sure a lot of that is because of a huge price break they get but if they were pure junk, they still would not use them. However, on a consistant basis, the give up in as few as 12 - 18 months and when I replace them with Deka's, they commonly get twice the life out of those. They use the AGM's because they are in a four - six battery pack that weighs over 200 pounds and has to be lifted out of the equipment to be serviced. This is not practical in some applications to add water to flooded cells so they pretty much have to use the AGM's, plus many times they are not mounted with the tops up.

Not no but hell no!!!. Even a couple of seconds will create tons of heat in the water pump. Seven seconds, I would hate to see what his looks like. Plus it's totally unnecessary, once the intake for the water pump clears the surface, it can't pump. Even the smallest amount of air stops it from pumping. Outboard motors have built in bleed holes that lets all the water drain out if you leave the motor down for a little while. If you are towing it a long distance in below freezing temps after loading it, give it several minutes before you tilt it up to haul, just to be sure it's drained.

In my opinion there are only two essential guages on the console. The number one priority is the Tachometer. Number two priority is the Water Pressure guage. The rest are just nice to have. Like you said, you have a VM in the GPS. If it's wired to the cranking battery, it's showing the same thing as the dash VM just a lot more accurate. Of course, I'm not real sure why you need the JP guage. That's kinda like the trim guage, both of which you can tell just by the feel of the boat/sound of the motor as how they are set. The only time I see either being needed is if you have a bad neck and can't turn your head to see if they are down before punching it on the hole shot.

I was young once also. Got married in 1969, had a good job, built a house, owned three vehicles, and four boats. Living the good life but it only took about three years for me to realize very little of my paycheck was mine anymore, I was working for everybody else. My wife got a job and we devoted every penny we could toward paying off debt. We drove the same vehicles for seven years and I didn't trade any more boats. It took us five years of doing without and accounting for every dime to get out of dept. That was everything but the house and we put everything into paying it off so two years later, we were 100% dept free. I have been debt free ever since. Then we decided to sell everything we had, quite the Maintenance Superintendent job I had making very good money, but working 90 hours a week and join the Air Force as and A1C for $760 a month. Uncle Sam funished us all epense paid, extended vactions to Italy, Germany, Sicily and got paid to travel all over Europe and the US for 22 years. I say that because we had the money, even on an Airman's pay when I first went in and the part time jobs we had over there, to travel, see and do most anything we wanted, I also made rank very fast too, so that helped. Being debt free is the only way to go. You don't have to worry about savings, that becomes automatic. It also leaves you some free money to invest, and generally make a whole lot more than what a dinky savings account pays today.

I can use my MK Terriva 80 on high chasing strippers and schooling bass breaking the surface most of the morning, fish the banks the rest of the day at normal casting speeds and chase them again late afernoon with my flooded cell batteries and still come home with 30 - 40% charge. I have done this many times all day long and never crank the big motor. I can assure you though, if I tried this with any optima Blue Top, I would never happen. Like I said, Reserve Capacity or Ah capaity of a battery is the only thing that determines run time. Being AGM, Gel, Lithium or flooded cell has absolutely nothing to do with run time. Those only affect the way the battery can be used and the life of the battery. A cranking battery with 160 Reserve minutes will run your TM just as long as a deep cycle will the same size. The cranking might only do that 20 or 30 times and it's toast, where a deep cycle with do it several hundred times. The other thing you have to do is match the batteries to you fishing. If your going out and coming back with 80% charge left in your batteries, they are too big, and you can might want to consider using a smaller battery next time. If you're going out and coming back with them below 30%, they are too small.

I would recommend getting a 12 volt BDI (battery disharge indicator and a switch so you can switch it to each battery. That way you can tell if one battery is dropping more than the others, a good indication there's something going wrong with that battery. With one that only reads the total voltage, you can't tell anything about each individual battery. Like this but for three batteries if running a 36 volt system. http://www.basspro.com/Battery-Gauge/product/5197/136656 Here's one from Cabela's that will do all but I think it only reads when you flip the test switch for each battery selected. http://www.cabelas.com/product/Boating/AutoBoat-Batteries-Chargers/Auto-Boat-Battery-Accessories%7C/pc/104794380/c/104698080/sc/104205780/Battery-Gauges/700417.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fboating-auto-boat-batteries-chargers-auto-boat-battery-accessories%2F_%2FN-1102373&WTz_l=SEO%3Bcat104205780 I made my own with Curtis BDI used in industrial lift trucks but I also installed a relay operated by the main power swich to turn it off/on. That way I didn't have to remember to switch the sucker off when I loaded the boat.

Personaly, I would never waste the money on one. If I was wanting a small light weight battery and was not needed a lot of run time, yes the AGM's are ideal, but I would go with a stack cell rather than a spiral wound (like the Optima) East Penn manufactoring, who makes Deka batteries, also makes Bass Pro Shops, check out their's, they are the stacked cell. Now, a little insight on all AGM's, Optima's are AGM batteries. AGM is assorbed glass mat, which means instead of having a free liquid electrolite, they have a thin piece of fiber material between the plates that's holding the electrolite. They can be used upside down, on their side, or on their end with only a small loss in output. Because of the design of AGM batteries, they do not have the Amp Hour capacity for the same size battery in a flooded cell. Check out the highest Ah capacity of the Optima Blue Top 34 and you will see it's only 55Ah and Reserve minutes capacity is 120, and the price is outrageous. Look at the Group 31 for a Trojan or other good flooded cell battery and you will Reserve Capacity: 120 • Capacity (C/20 rate): 55 This is Trojans group 31 AGM http://www.trojanbatteryre.com/PDF/datasheets/31AGM_Trojan_Data_Sheets.pdf Look at a similar Group 31 like the Trojan SSC225 and you will about 120Ah and 225 Reserve capacity for a lot less money. This is about twice the battery as the Optima Blue and less money. It does not matter what kind of battery of it is, the Reserve Capacity or Ah capacity is going to determine how long your trolling motor runs. The construction of the battery has nothing to do with that. AGM's when charged with a good AGM charger will give you a higher cycle count, and the fact they can be installed in any position is about the only good thing they have going. Oh, and they are light, but this is because they don't have the capacity the heavier batteries have.

Not sure I understand the rational about not taking it out of savings. When I make a large purchase, boat, car or whatever, I look what's the cheapest way I can get it and is going to give me the least amount of payback. If I can borrow money cheaper than what I'm making on that same amount of money through interest, investments or what ever, I borrow the money. If the interest is going to cost me more than the money is making me, it makes a whole lot more since to pay cash than to finance, especially if it just sitting in a savings account that's only making 2% and it's gonna cost 7 - 8% to finance. Sounds like my wife pulling out a credit card to pay for something because she didn't want to use her cash, like the credit card is going to be free money.

I financed one once because it was 0% interest. Years ago, Visa sent me a card that was interest free on the initial cash advance, up to $15,000. I called them and verified the terms of the card. Under the terms of the card, After the initial cash advance, anything I used the card for would be at 18% interest and nothing I paid on the card balance would be applied to those purchases until after the initial cash advance was paid off. I had them send me $15,000 to buy the boat and never used the card again. Not exactly what they wanted, so about two years later, they sent me a notice that they were going to start adding interest and if I didn't agree to that, the account would be closed. I notified them I didn't agree to them charging interest and to close the account. Then they sent my a payment schedule to pay off the balance, still interest free though. They bugged the hell out of me every couple of months after that with all kinds of different plans, trying to get me to agree to adding interest. I used their free money for four years, laughing my butt off the whole time. Even today, I will use anybody's money over my own if it's free. However, what I've seen some of these dealers offering to sell a boat, no wonder so many people are begging some fool to take over the payments or go to the auction as repo's.

Oh how well I know the fuel bite. My 4WD 350,chevy pickup gets about 15 - 16 without the boat behind it. It's hard to wanna tear a perfectly good engine down but with today's fuel prices, I'm getting tired of feeding the thing, it stays parked weeks the time. That's why I went to the farm in the Toyota. I've been giving serious consideration to changing cams, reworking the whole top of the engine and installing a better exhaust system. It's just all that usually cost more than the gain in milage you get. Yea, it greatly increases performance, but so far, I haven't found the trick to making those 19th centry technology engines the US insist on using, to getting great gas milage. At least they are finally starting to wake up and smell the roses, after going broke trying to push that crap down our throats while the rest of the world was making modern, high tech engines capable of giving good milage.

I'm fixing up my old 93 Toyota 4WD Pickup, with the four cylinder 22RE engine for my 15 year old granddaughter. I recently rebuilt the engine where my son had run it hot and pretty much fried it a couple of years ago. Picked up another engine for the block so I had basically two engines. I decided to do a lot of port work since I had a spare head, intake and exhaust manifold if things didn't go as planed. I port matched all matteing surfaces in the whole intake and exhaust track, cleaned and deburred the whole system with 80 grit on the intake and 400 grit on the exhaust. I also did a lot of work in the valve pockets, smoothing out sharp edges and cleaning up the flow there. All cleanup work was to increase velocity, I did nothing to make any ports or passages larger. I did a three angle valve job on valves and seats. Did a lot of cleanup in the exhaust manifold also. The truck did have noticably more power/torque, even my granddauther has commented on how much more power it has when she's driving. The motor rolled 1,000 miles today on the way to the farm. On the way I filled it up with gas so I could check the gas milage for the first time and see how all my port work affected the milage. On the way back, I filled it up again and with all the running around I had to do, I drove 164 miles and that was staying on it, in town, in the woods and highway, no babying it for max milage, and thinking as long as it got at least 20 I would be happy. Both times I filled it at the same pump, facing the same direction until gas was running out both times, and it took 5.24 gallons. That's over 31 mpg for a 4WD pickup. That's totally unreal, the truck only got 22 - 24 mpg when it was new. I think my port work turned out better than I ever expected. Next test is on the interstate at 75 - 78 mph and see what it does then. That was two lane roads at 65 along with some stop and go city driving. That's also with the original injectors and oxygen sensors. By the way, I'm no stranger to porting either and have a very good flow bench, I did my first set of heads in 1964 and I've been doing my own porting for all my race and street engines and boat motors ever since, so I at least knew a little about what I was doing. I'm just flabergasted the results turned out as good as it did. Over 31 mpg from a 93 4WD Toyota pickup, that still blows my mind. Hell, if I had thought it would have made that much difference, I would have pulled it off when it was new and done it then.

Most top brands use 12 months as their shelf life The date you are seeing is most likly the date it was delivered by the warehouse, not the manufactoring date. That is usually hidden in a string of numbers and letters around the edge and you need the manufactors code to determine it. If the sticker (like Wal-Mart) and many other use, or the date stamped in it like your's, is more than a few months old, don't buy it, make them check stock for a newer date. Batteries self discharge on the shelf just like they do in you boat and should be toped off every month or so. That does not happen once they are delivered and a lot of the wearhouse don't do it either so it may have been months since it has seen a charger. Therefor, you are buying a brand new battery that could already be significantly sulphated. It will test withing specs, but nothing near what it would when new. They over build them to allow for this so they will have a shelf life, but who wants a battery that's only 75% of what it was when new, I don't. For instance, a 550CCA battery can test at 500CCA and still be sold to you as a good new battery because it's within tolerance, but before it sat on the shelf for months, it may have tested and 780CCA. I will never buy a battery that's several months old. Well, I only buy from the distributor and are friends, so I don't have to worry about that so let me say "you" should never buy one several months old. Never buy from a small retailer like you're small volume boat dealers, marina's etc. Only buy from high volume retailers than have the capability to keep their stock rotated. One additional note, be leary of stickers. Some not so honest wearhouses will pick a battery up from one place because it's been sitting there a long time and stock it in another location, pulling the date sticker off that's several months old and putting a current one on and that retailer would never know the difference. I have been in one of the import wearhouses and seen them doing this several times. by the way, I haven't check in a while but most manufactors would give you the date code. Some use to have it on their websites.

The standard pratice around here is to have the motor down, the trailer too shallow because they're scared they're gonna get their feet wet, they ease up to the trailer until the boat is touching the bunks and then it takes balls to the wall on the throttle to get it to the stop. Some even hold it their while their partner sinches the winch down. I've seem some that couldn't get it to the stop under full power and have to back their trailer a little deeper. That was what I thought they meant by power loading. If I'm by myself at my normal lake, I usually don't even use the big motor. I park at the dock next to the ramp, get the truck and back it down and just use the TM. A couple of turns on the winch and the bow is lifted up and locked in place.

I drive on my trailer, use the motor to get it to the bow stop but not sure you would call it power loading. When you see all the nicks and dings you get in your prop by rocks and crap sucked off the ramp, you learn how to get the trailer positioned properly, trim the motor up, use the right speed coming onto the trailer and just a little power to the motor to get it to the stop. My props cost me close to $900 and sometimes months to get by the time I buy the prop, ship it to be tuned and pay to have it tuned, and several hundred just to get them repaired after they get to many of those little dings in them. I don't like getting the leading edge chiped all up by the trash off the ramp. By the way, it don't take but a few of those dings on the leading edge to slow you down several miles per hour. I've seen mine drop from 78 mph to 72 just because of several small dings in the leading edge, even after using a stone to dress the off. Put another fresh, refinished prop on and it's back to 78 mph.

I use and recommend the Anderson SB50 connectors. They are about as good as you can get and very affordable. Check the amp rating on that connector, I seriously doubt it's 50 amps and 50 amps is the minimum size connector you want to use. There are a number you can get, but you will pay a hellava lot more and some are not as good and very few are better, if any.

That old of a boat, basically and unknown model, being a 20 foot boat with no motor, and a first boat. All I can say you are leaving yourself open for a whole lot of headaches. It's very hard to check a transome without out motor hanging on it, let alone everything else that needs to be checked. I sure hope it's one steal of a deal, and even at that, since you know little about boats, you still may regret the day you take it home. Boats with motor generally cost a lot less than trying to put one together by buying them seperate. If it has the controls, you will have to find a motor that matches them or you will have to find one that has the controls and install them. I've been messing with boats for over 45 years and I'm still extremely cautious about buying one without the motor. Like I said, it has to be a real steal for me to even consider it, and I know how to thoroughly check them out. One other thing, you do realize a 20 foot boats needs approximately a 200 hp motor.

I ran for many years with just the gps before sidescan came along but to answer your question, if I was going to spend the money for sidescan, I would add the few dollars more for gps.

I hope you're not talking letting them sit after using them, sometimes days, use them again and do this until you think they are discharged and then charge them. If this is the case, you have probably ruined them. A battery MUST be charged within a reasonable time after use, and no more than 24 hours after use. Maintenance mode is the float mode that charger goes into when it has fully charged the battery. Parallel is when a cable is connected across both negative and both positive post on the battery. That way you are using both batteries at the same time.

It's about half the size of what's recommended. 12 amp would the ideal, 10 amp would be good, six amp is the absolute minimum you will want to charge them at. You will get longer run time if you run both batteries in parallel rather then running one down and then changing. Are you charging them as soon as you come in? Are you letting them charge until the charger goes into the maintenance mode? Get you a good hydrometer with a floating bulb (not one of those with little beads in it), charge them until charger goes into maintenance mode, disconnect charger and let them sit 24 hours and then take a hydrometer reading of each cell. Those batteries will show 1.280 if they are in good condition.

Well, he said he was using AGM, not sure that charger even has a GEL mode, anyway, that would not create and immediate problem if he did. Gel batteries charge at a couple of tenths lower voltage than AGM's and the float voltageis a couple of tenths different. Actually, AGM's do not charge the same as flooded cell batteries. All three batteries have different max charge voltages and different float volatages. Each only being a couple of tenths but over time, these coupe of tenth's will damage the battery. Flooded cell batteries seem to withstand the most abuse by improper charging the longest, the newer AGM's have gotten more tolerant than they used to be and gel's are still very picky about how you charge them.

let the charger do what it does best, charge the battery. The logic card in it will take care of all that stuff for you. Set the charger on six amps, AGM mode, connect the battery to it a leave it alone. If you have a DVM, check the voltage the next day after the charger has gone into the float mode. If it's very close to 13.4 VDC then leave it.

What are you charging it with? I hope it's a voltage controlled charger that has an AGM mode. I have to assume you picked that battery because you were concerned about the weight. If you run your TM on high that battery is only going to give you about 45 minutes or less run time, so be very conservative with your speed settings.

I guess I've been doing my redneck engineering too long. I don't think there's such a thing as a TOTALED boat trailer. One nice thing about metal, it can be bent, heated and rebent, welded, cut and rewelded. A tourch and a BFH will get it back in shape, a welder and little reinforcement steel will make it stronger than new. I guess folk in Arkansas don't know how to build anything with nothing. Us old redneck GA boys been having to do that all our lives.

You have two different situations here, one is falling in friggid water, the other the boarding ladder. If you have never praticed survival in friggid water and fall in, there's a good chance a boarding ladder is not going to do you any good if by yourself. The common reaction for most people when they hit frigged water is a sudden, deep inhale. If you go in head first, you may have just drowned yourself or panic to the point you are totally disfunctional. Add some bulky, cold weather gear that just soaked up about 100 pounds of water, unless you happen to fall in right beside the ladder, you probably would not get to it. I make it a point every few years to dive my warm, dry butt in water about 45 degrees (about as cold as it gets in my area) just to keep in practice with proper survival techniques for frigid water. Hell no, it's not fun and my granddaughter hates me for a week when I make her practice also, but if you've never been it and think it's just another dip in the lake, you are in for a big surprise, possibly a deadly surprise. One note, do this with a partner that's staying dry and a safefy line secured to you. This is also not recommended recommeded for people with a heart condition. The shock to the body is bruttal and people have had heart attacks when then fell in frigid water. I've been staying in practice with this since my first cold weather survival school in the military back in 1981. My first time was a real awakening.