Way2slow

The hours and how well it has been maintained and how it was stored (indoors or outdoors) is what I consider more important. Unless you do a test drive and can get it into a dealer and have it checked out, you are buying a pig in a poke, you don't know what you are getting until you start using it.

I'm fairly knowledgeable on batteries, enough so to know the lithium and new technology batteries are the way to go, just not for me. Buying lithium batteries for my RC planes and helicopters is expensive. I would have to win the Power Ball lottery to even consider them for my TM.

Yes, AGM's are easier to maintain, and if you have having to disconnect and remove the batteries just to check levels, then AGM is probably what you need to look at. With that said, I will also say I'm not a fan for the spiral wound AGM's. As for reserve minutes capacity, AGM's are not going to give the RC numbers a good, flooded cell battery will give, however, they should give you a much higher cycle count if properly charged and maintained. As for the RC number, spiral wound batteries normally have the lowest, some a low as 165 minutes for a group 27/29 size battery where a similar size stacked cell AGM will give 200 (similar to a maintenance free flooded cell) and a flooded cell with the service caps will give 225. Also, the spiral wound batteries had a much higher failure rate than the stack celled batteries, back when I was dealing with them on a daily bases. The reason the maintenance free flooded cell has a lower RC number than the one with caps, they reduce the size of the places to make room for more electrolyte. Maintenance free is also a bad name for a battery also, they still require maintenance, keeping the terminals cleaned at least annually. I would suggest, before buying a spiral wound battery, check out the stacked cell AGM's like Deka and other companies make. I'm not saying the Optima is not a good battery, but I think you might find one of the major name brand stack cells give you better numbers.

you can't get them in an equivalent size capacity wise. if you feel that's what you must have, buy two of the biggest ones you can get that will fit in the space you have. Look at the reserve minutes and get the highest number you can.

Too much power! Ain't that like having too much money or a car too fast. If you have it, don't mean you have to use it all the time, but it sure sucks when you need it and don't have it. The miss conception most people have with boats and motors is horse power is for going faster. That's actually completely the wrong way of looking at it. In stock motors, more HP usually means more torque or better yet, more CC's/CI's. That boat has got to get on plane before it can go fast and since boats don't have transmission, getting enough torque developed to hop out of the water is a lot harder than pushing the boat down the lake once it's up and going. It takes torque to get you going, and HP to go faster. Boat might run 100 mph but if it struggles for five minutes or have to have a passenger step to the front of the boat to get on plane, it still totally sucks having to drive it. Your max out the hull for it's rated HP for the power to get up and go, not just because it will go faster. Actually in the 55 years I've owned boats, I've never owned one that I did not over power and that's from my canoe to a 20' bass boat. Shoot, I once had a 15' ProCraft rated for an 85 with a 225 Merc on it. I Need a motor, already had that one so why not. I would take a 17' boat with a 150 on it any day of the week over the same boat with a 50, (provided it ain't against the law where I needed to use it). Same thing with props. That's the only thing that motor uses to transfer it's power to the water yet 95% of boat owners give very little consideration to that fact and put the cheapest, crappiest thing they can get on the motor. Then run over rocks, limps, stumps and everything else, and beat the heck out of it and start asking what's wrong with their motor when it will barely move the boat.

you have be fishing a tournament and that's the only way your going to catch a fish. Any other time it's too aggravating to make it worth effort. I fish to enjoy it, and that's a long way from enjoying it. If I can't fish with my bow pointed into the wind and use my trolling motor to control the way I want to, I move to another point. By the way, fishing windy points where the bait fish are getting pushed into them is about the only time I will fish where the wind is hard enough to blow a 20' 2,500 pounds of bass boat around to the point it's hard to control. However, I have fished points where the wind had white caps big enough to keep blowing the trolling motor out of the water but I was catching some serious numbers and sized fish when doing it. In a light weight, high sided tin boat, you are basically screwed if you need to do anything other than position the boat with the bow directly into the wind.

First and foremost, with that old style hull, almost all money spent will not be recovered if you ever decide to sell it, so you can kiss a whole bunch of time and money goodby. The first thing you need to do is make sure the transom and floors are solid. If there are any soft spots, it's extremely labor intensive to replace either or both and thousands of dollars to have it done by a professional. It also requires a little experience replacing the floor because the cap usually has to come off and if the hull is not properly supported, you can totally ruin the whole boat. Next is the condition of the motor, if it needs rebuilt and being that old, it would probably be cheaper and better to replace it. Even if everything is in great shape and all you want to do is paint the cap, you need to use something like Awlgrip products, https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/search.do?refineType=1&sub_attr_name=Brand&refineValue=Awlgrip&page=GRID&engine=adwords&keyword=awlgripkw&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3eSd58_41gIVywOGCh0u3gmnEAAYASAAEgLxdPD_BwE and you will see even that's going to be expensive. If you use automotive type paints, they don't stick and small chips grow the silver dollar size sections of paint flaking off. Funny thing is, that looks almost identical to and old boat my daddy bought used back in 1967, had a white mercury motor about 40/45hp.

Probably work pretty good for trolling, but going to be h**l trying to fish in the back of most coves when you want to cast.

Mercury runs something like a dual ignition system. The stator has a high speed and low speed winding and you could have a stator giving problems or one of the trigger modules. Either way, sound like you new to you motor has just gotten a lot more expensive because both off these problems require a competent mechanic to check them. If the motor gets on plane fine, there is not much you can do in your driveway, other than just take the shotgun approach and start throwing parts at it. It's going to require a way to load the engine, like a dino or test wheel in a test tank, neither of which many people keep laying around their house.

Sounds like my son, if you don't say what "he" wants to hear, he keeps keeps making arguments until he gets the response he wants. That's why, when he ask, I respond once and when he comes back with his comments, my next response is "what ever, it's yours, you can do what ever you want with it" As for my personal experience. Enough to know what I'm doing and able to do anything I want to do to one, as long as it's my own personal boat.

Yes, they work, actually quite well for helping one get on plane. I don't care for the big whale tale ones. The SE Sport is more along the lines of what I prefer. As for reducing speed, if the motor is properly set, there should not be any reduction in speed. With the two motors I use them on, my boat will run 81+ mph with or without the SE Sport 300 on it. Now, if your motor is too low on the transom and is letting the hydrofoil run cutting in the water when on plane, then it will probably reduce your speed some.

What size charger? After 48 hours, almost any size charger should have charged the batteries. Sounds like you probably have a bad battery. If it's a battery with caps, check the water and feel the battery. If battery is warm, you need to turn it off. If not, check the voltage with a voltmeter across the battery terminals before you turn it off. You should have at least 13.7-14.4 volts if the charger is working properly. If in doubt about the charger, switch the charger cables between the batteries and see if the bank that shows ready will charge the one that's not. Most likely that battery has either gotten hot or is junk or is both.

I think it depends on the hull and motor. I personally have never seen an advantage with the couple of four blades I've tried over the years. Actually, I've always run custom tuned performance props and the few four blades I have tried didn't hold a candle to the three blades I run. As mentioned, to get the most bang for the buck, install a Sport SE200 hydrofoil. I think the 200 is the size a 50 runs. That's absolutely the best money you can spend if hole shot is an issue. I run the SE300 on my 300+hp hotrod motors, not because I need it, but because my 20' Javelin literally leaps out of the water like a drag boat with them.

By the time my granddaughter was 11 she was driving the truck from the house to the ramp, backing the boat in the water, and either parking the truck after launching or driving the boat to the dock after launching while I parked the truck. One of the benefits of being a south GA country girl and having a grandpa that believes kids can do most anything adults can do if given the opportunity. At six years old, she was already pretty good with a Shimano Curado and at 21 now, can outshoot almost any man that's dumb enough to challenge her. When my kids and grand kids came along, I always furnished the with good equipment, even when they were still very young. I didn't see any since in giving them the opportunity to do something and hand them that cheap kids junk to try and do it with. When she was seven, she caught a 10 pound 2 ounce bass, walking a Spook (it's nice to have friends with very good private ponds), couldn't you see her trying to land that with one of those $5 Walmart things.

It depends on the battery and the type vent system it runs. Gel and AGM's will not spill out even if left upside down because there is no free liquid in them to leak out. Some flooded cell batteries can tip over and not spill unless left in that position for a while, some will leak acid out as soon as they are tipped. The ones that have caps on them that let you add water are more subject to leak than the sealed batteries, maintenance free batteries. Many of the sealed batteries run a VRLA vent system that helps eliminate spills if the battery is tipped over for short times.

If you are only wanting one motor, the gas might not be the way you want to go. There are great for getting you to and from where you want to fish, but unless you just plan to anchor and fish one spot when you get there, they are not worth a darn for moving around casting, and sitting at the bow and using a short paddle in one hand while holding rod in other gets very old, very quick. Plus you have the problem with local laws that forbid gas motors in water shed ponds and a lot of smaller lakes. Plus a lot of land owners don't want gas motors in their private ponds. The other side of the situation, an electric TM is great for easing around casting, but if fishing larger lakes, the batteries run time getting you to and from where you might want to fish can get to be a problem. However you don't have the restrictions with an electric motor you have with gas motors on small lakes. So, in the ideal world, you would want both, a small gas motor. As for small gas motors, on a 12ft jon, you will want between a 3 and 5hp. Also, unless you are good with engines, stick with one of the major brand name, Mercury, Johnson, Honda, Yamaha and not one that's very old unless it's in like new condition. You start getting into the off brands, even if brand new, parts and dependability can become a major problem after a couple of years. Yes, you can buy a brand new off brand Chinese built motor cheaper than you can buy a good used, Mercury or Johnson, but I would take the Merc or Johnson any day of the week over the off brand.

That's why I keep a 25 foot winch strap/rope in my boat with hooks on both ends. Hook one end in the eye when you take the winch strap out, the other end on the back of the trailer, making sure you rout it back in a way it doesn't hang on the trailer. Launch the boat and pull the trailer forward some and it brings the boat back with it. Just don't forget the boat is hooked to it and try going to park the trailer, that would create a bad day.

To check the maintenance voltage, leave the charger on the battery and wait at least 24 hours after it has gone in the maintenance mode. When the battery charger first goes into the maintenance mode, the residual voltage of the battery is going to be too high to accurately check it. That's why I say wait two or three days. Then all you do is use a DVM and read the voltage across the two terminals while the charger is on and in the maintenance mode. I should not by any higher than 13.4VDC Use the charger in the Automatic mode if leaving it on the battery. Actually, leave it there all the time, just in case you forget to disconnect it when done if you don't want to use the maintenance mode. If you don't won't to use the maintenance mode that's fine. It's safer not to on many chargers anyway. Every six to eight weeks, connect the charger to the battery in automatic and leave it for a couple of hours. Take it back off when it shows it has gone into the maintenance mode. Just don't forget to top it off at least every couple of months

years ago, I tried one of those 15' plastic canoe's from Academy, because it was very light and easy to move around. I might have gone 100 yards before I was totally convinced that was not for me and it went back to Academy. My boat of choice for a pond hopper is my 1232 medium weight jon, or my 13' Gheenoe. If I have to drag it around, the jon does better because it's only about 90 pounds, the Gheenoe is about 130. Never have had an interest in a yak.

Now, this is funny. Back in 2012 when this thread was started, I posted on here about my brother calling me and telling me my canoe was missing from the pond, Well, he just called me told me he has my canoe. He was at the peoples house that have land next to ours and saw my canoe next to a shed (that old green, wide bottom, square back this is pretty easy to recognize}. He asked if that wasn't the canoe from our pond and the guy says "oh yea, his son borrowed it and just hasn't taken it back". Five years later, he just borrowed it and he hasn't taken it back????.

Yes, it will work but I have seen several of them destroy batteries because the float/maintenance voltage was too high. My son learned first hand with one, even after I told him to be sure to check the float voltage after a coupe of days of being on it when he first bought it. He didn't and four months later his battery was junk. It was a Walmart battery so they gave him a new one for free, four months later it was junk again. He called and asked me what's going on with their batteries, and I asked if he checked the float voltage, "NO". Again they gave him another battery, after three days of it being on the charger he checked the float voltage, 13.9 VDC. 13.4 is the absolute max you want to run flooded cell batteries on a maintenance charge, I keep mine at the 13.17 VCD on the chargers I can adjust and never over 13.2 on any charger. He took the charger back and made them give him a new one, that one was 13.3, good enough. A lot of the plants I used to go in, the maintenance shops had those, and I found a number of them that were way too high. I'm not saying it's a bad charger, get a good one and them seem to work great, just check it and make sure you have a good one. I have two of their Ship & Shore (or something like that) that were my dads and they work great, but they are also a little more expensive than the shown.

Now, if I just knew 10% of what I know about boats, cars, electronics etc, about building the dam wood fired brick oven I'm knee deep in building. How many wood fired oven experts do we have. Another one of my brain fart ideas that started off thinking I could do it for a couple hundreds dollars. Ha, Ha, I just spent twice that much on stuff to build the stand it's going on.

Thanks, The Battery Tender is a maintainer, it's not a charger. I personally prefer the Battery Minder, it has a pot in it that you can adjust the float voltage and have about a 1/2 dozen of them. I have five vehicles for just me and my wife, plus lawn mowers, gas air compressor, gas welder and a coupe batteries for portable TMs. If it wasn't for the maintainers, I would have a full time job just keeping batteries topped off. Don't hold me to it but I think both companies have gone to making 10 amp chargers but I think they were well over $100. Which is still cheap because my stand alone chargers were two to four times that. One word of advise, anything you use to maintain the batteries needs checked/adjusted for the battery. The ideal float voltage for most true deep cycle batteries is 13.17 VDC. Cranking batteries can be 13.2 to 13.3. AGM batteries should be 13.4 VDC. So many of the cheaper charger/maintainers I see can have a float voltage as high as 13.7 VDC. This will burn up and also make them loose lots of water while stored. I'm not going into brands but the one pictured above is one of the worst about having too high of a float voltage. So, what I'm saying, if you want to take care of your battery, a couple of days after it has been on the charger and has gone into the float mode (if your charger has a float mode) take a good DVM and check it for no more than 13.2 for TM batteries and 13.4 for AGM's and cranking batteries. If it's off, see if it's adjustable, or go looking for another charger/maintainer. Also, not all good chargers use a float voltage, several top brands cycle the charger on at a certain point of discharge and off when fully charged. Also the $7 things Harbor Freight sells are usually too low of voltage, I checked several of those and they are usually below 13 volts. I have modified several of those for the proper voltage, but then they usually burn out in a couple of months.

All batteries self discharge, depending on the alloy used, some much faster than others. The cheaper batteries like Walmarts usually need to be topped off every four to six weeks. Some of the better batteries every six to twelve weeks. The main thing is never let a battery sit when it's only at 80-85%. At that level is when the plates start to sulfate and if allowed to get a heavy coat of sulfur crystal on them, you can pretty much start writing it off. Some of the modern chargers have a high frequency maintenance mode that will take light sulfation off and help prevent it from developing, but once it gets too heavy, caustic soda is about the only thing that's going to get it, and that ain't something you should even think about trying yourself. Actually, if you do a little research, you will find sulfation is the cause of about 85% of dead batteries turned in. So called reconditioned batteries are normally just used, dead batteries that has gone through the caustic soda process and new electrolyte added. One other bit of gee wiz into. Always check that little date sticker on the battery. That's the year and month the battery was stocked in the store. If it's several months old, you may be buying a damaged battery right off the shelf. Also, unless stranded and it's critical, never buy batteries at the lake side marina or any place that does not have a regular turnover of batteries. That sticker is not the manufacturing date, that's a coded number hid on the battery, it's only the date that was delivered to that location. That's usually applies to most all battery retailers.

I agree, a 22 or 23 inch is what I would think that boat should turn. I would suggest taking a serious look at the motor, starting with a leak down test or find someone that has a good dino and knows how to use it and check the hp. The thing about a 6 cylinder two stroke, the can be down a cylinder and a lot of people can't tell.