Way2slow

I guess I just live in a different world or don't have the money to throw away some do. I just prefer to diagnose/find the causes of problems and see what it takes to repair what I know to be a problem rather than spend a lot of time and money throwing parts at one. I'm with the OP, if I was going to go through the trouble and expense of replacing the helm and cable, I would convert to hydraulic steering. The last three boats I've had were hydraulic, the current one came with it, the other two I converted to it to get rid of the cable. Even if I was going back with a new cable system, I would upgrade to dual cable, and hydraulic is not that much more than a good, dual cable system, but as I say, "different strokes for different folks".

Know what you are looking at with an AR, cheap ones are cheap for a reason. S&W M&P 15 is ok, metal lower and upper receiver groups, chrome lined barrel, dust cover etc, things you want, but while I own one, I would not recommend it to a beginner. Now, the sport does not have all these features. They are very limited on upgrades and almost no barrel swaps, a beginner usually wants to start changing things as soon as they get one. As mentioned, you should look at building one, it will be cheaper in the long run, and doing the research will help learn more about it. Too many of the bought ones are proprietary parts.

Well, I think 5 shot, 1/2" groups @ 100 yards look ugly, but I seldom shoot that close any way. Normally @ 400', I like to see them no larger than the1.5" range. My main shooters are a 223, and a couple 260s. Then there are the 6.5x284, and 7mm soley built to punch small groups at 1,000', these are not rifles you want to carry very far. Both of these are built on BAT actions, all others are custom built on blue printed 700 actions. I usually use either Krieger or Shilen barrels These are just a couple, I have 32 rifles and shotguns, and five pistols. I've been reloading and shooting since the mid 60's so I have developed a fondness for rifles that will stick a bullet up a gnat's a** at 500 yards. I guess I should mention, I also build my own so I don't pay those high cost of custom builds. Notice I said I build my OWN, not other peoples. The actions are squared and reamed to .705" with PT&G .703 bolts in them with .062" lite firing pins The barrel threads are squared and centered in the action The lugs are squared and lapped I use early Remington actions and triggers I take down and rework. All PT&G steel bottom metal Every thing is properly pillar post bedded and all work is done with the utmost precision and they will shoot extremely well, with the loads I build, and I know how to shoot them. 500 yards, 223 Yellow dot was 2" This was one at 500 I shot two to check elevation and adjusted on 223 with different scope, shot one adjusted one more time and shot three. There was a black dot where the three are at. Like I said, don't shoot much 100 but this was a 5 from 260 @ 100 I have some five shot, one hole groups but they always cause a stink if I post them.

It's nice with any boat. Most people just don't on smaller boats because of the expense. However, 2" of free is extreme and I would be finding the cause of that. You probably have single cable steering which will usually have a little, Start slowly rocking the steering wheel, then starting at it, start following it back tightening/repairing each point that has play.

if its a single axle, I would use 215's. If tandem axle use 205's

If you want to stand and fish in a jon, don't get a 32" or 36" wide, unless you don't mind taking a dunk from time to time. A 1442 is the smallest I would want, and the 1448 would make a much better platform for standing while casting.. However, for your budget, you will have to be shopping for a used one. Just the boat without a trailer (and you will need a trailer for one that size) will cost you more than your budget. Even used, you probably won't get one with a motor worth having.

First let me clarify my term and use of power loading. I almost never go full throttle to push the boat on the trailer, that's not good for boat, motor or ramp. I rarely go past half throttle and that's just a quick burst to push it that last foot or so. With about 2500 pounds of boat, motor and gear, you don't won't to be doing much winching. The thing I do on some of the S***ty ramps I have to use, to keep from going full throttle to get the boat all the way on, I get it close, pull the boat out to level ground and then just jam on the brakes a couple times while rolling forward and let the inertia finish loading it for me. Some ramps are so shallow and have such a small grade, you need your vehicle halt way in the lake to get the trailer deep enough to load without using full power, Since I don't like walking in the water and never learned to walk on the water, I have to get creative.

Always power load if possible. As for debris building up on ramp to the point it could be a concern, on a paved/concrete ramp, I doubt that would ever happen. The main lake I fish can change levels by 10 to 13 feet during dry seasons and I've never seen a buildup on the ramp. Now, you can and will get things that the prop can suck up and put small nicks in the leading edge of your prop, especially on shallower ramps. I have a couple custom tuned, go fast props I will not power load with because of that. If you happen to be using a dirt ramp, then I would avoid power loading, that lets the motor suck up all kinds of crud and will wreck a ramp fairly quickly. That's when you just want to get a running start and let the boat slide up on the trailer far enough that you only have to winch it the last foot or so, and if you are good, it will hit the rest dead center without ramming the crap out of it. As mentioned above, the real trick to power loading is paying attention to just how deep the trailer is. I watch my fenders and when the water is at just the right point on the finder, I know it only takes a slight bump on the throttle to push it to the center rest. If it's a steep, deep ramp, then how far the finder is under water.

You can use a boat registered in one state and any other state if it's just for a trip. If the boat stays in a state more than six months out of the year, they usually require that boat be registered in that state. I have five boats registered in GA, because they stay here most of the time, and two boats registered in Texas because they stay there all the time.

Been giving it some serious thought and as bad as I've been wanting one, I think I'm going to have to keep on wanting a little while longer. What's involved in getting that one to my house is a major task, and then looking at it closely, the stringers look rotten, I'm sure the transom would be and all that wood in the front would have to be replaced to put it back like I want it. Basically, every piece of wood in it will have to be replaced. Been there, done that on my other one and it's a lot of work, plus with the cost of fiberglass now, expensive. I just can't justify to myself spending $1,000 on getting it here and restoring a boat that would probably be worth less than $500 when it was restored. If it was in GA or a lot closer, I would get it, but that being 500 miles away and getting it here is a show stopper for me..

Is this a boat you are trying to buy? If so and the decal on the side of the boat is all that's available, you can consider it junk because you can't do anything with it. The VIN would have to be run and the registered owner would have to be contacted or legal paper work done as to why they couldn't be. If you are looking, keep on looking if that's the best they have.

I doubt any state would allow that. You will have to have the paperwork to prove legal ownership.

Will do

Ok, if you don't mind going through this much trouble. Let me give it some serious thought and see what I can work out with the seller, if it's still available. I do want one, but all this effort on both our parts and probably $500 out of pocket for a $100 boat is kind of stretching it. Then I have to completely gut it, and replace all that crap they've done to it. That's probably another $500, which that I had planned on no matter what I found, but the big expense of getting this one more than doubles what I was looking to spend.

There are a few problems we would have to work out. It may be 2-3 months before I'm able to drive, and especially for several hours, Right now I can't even grip a steering wheel 10 minutes without having to constantly swap hands and I don't know what it's going to be like after they take that bone out of the base of my thumb. Would you have a place out of your way you could store it for that long? The next problem is it's not that light (200-300 pounds) and too wide to fit between the wheel wells in the bed of your truck, if you are still driving the HD. If you happen to have a tool box across the front of the bed, without a trailer, it's going to be a royal pain in the a** for you to get.

Thanks, I greatly appreciate it but I can't take advantage of that one right now. That's is the boat, a butchered mess of what's left to it but 500 miles, 1,000 round trip, might be a bit more than I can do right now, and it looks like it's going to be a while before I could make it. I'm having cataract surgery in my right eye Monday, and the following week they are doing surgery on my left hand to take a bone out at the thumb so hopefully my thumb won't throb with pain and be functional again. That's going to have my hand and arm (also going into the elbow to fix a nerve) in a full cast for a month and then the physical therapy afterwards. I noticed Ski213 made a suggestion he might be able to help get one from KY. Maybe he will see this and I can see what he's talking about.

$20 for parts and one hour labor???? Not sure what part the world you live in, but it's not any place I'm familiar with. Most places in my part of the world want in the neighborhood of $100 plus or minus some, just for an hours labor. Justbass11. Going by your descriptions, I get the impression you are not extremely versed on outboard motors. If you are not very mechanically inclined, you can screw up way more dollars worth of stuff on one trying to do stuff yourself than you could ever hope to save. I hate to say it, but you have to have deep pockets to take an outboard motor to the shop for repair, but that can still be cheaper than attempting to repair it yourself and screw things up, or spend a bunch of money just throwing parts at it, and none of it being the cause of your problem.

personally, I wouldn't have it. Heavy and looks like it would be almost like standing in a canoe trying to fish.

Texas is actually pretty easy if it's old enough not to have a VIN number. I have a 12' jon I registered in Texas. This was an old boat I bought boat from a guy and didn't even get a bill of sale. I told the game wardens it was just an old boat I used on my private pond in GA for many years and brought out there to fish the Resaca's with my son, and since we would be using a TM on it, I needed to get it registered. I took the boat to their office, they looked at it, and I got it registered.

Different states have different rules that apply. You need to check with your State Game and Fish and see how you go about doing it. Older boats that don't have VIN numbers, some just require an affidavit from the person selling it. If it has a VIN, then it can get a lot harder. When VIN numbers are on it, To save you a lot of trouble and possibly money, make the person that has it get a title. That's the only sure you can title it.

That's a sales person that apparently doesn't know a dam thing about batteries or is so full of s**t, he has to poke his head up out of it to breath. Don't waste your money on a manual charger, all you will do is forget it's on, and fry your battery. Put your money in a good 10-15 amp, logic controlled charger that has a maintenance cycle you can leave the battery connected to 24/7. Now, when I say a "good" charger, understand, you most likely WILL NOT find a "good" 10-15 charger for under $100 unless someone has one hellava deal going on them. I'm not talking about one you go to Wal-Mart and buy off their shelf for $50 or so. The number one killer of batteries is sulfating, and no charger made is going to revive the battery once it gets heavily sulfated. Some of the newer chargers have a high frequency, maintenance mode that will remove light sulfate, and helps prevent it from forming, but once it has gotten established. the battery has to be flushed with caustic soda to remove it, and that is not something the average sane person would want to do without the skills and equipment to do it. That's what companies that sell reconditioned batteries do. The second most popular way to kill a battery is charging it with a cheap charger, and improperly charging them. Brand new batteries will sulfate it left sitting on the shelf without keeping maintenance charges on them, and is a very common problem in places that don't have a high rate of turnover on their batteries. A battery will start to sulfate when it self discharges to below about 80% charge level, and that's pretty quick on most of your cheaper batteries (six to eight weeks) with the lead compounds they use. A six month old battery on the shelf can be pure junk if it has sat all that time without a maintenance charge, and no slow charging, fast charging or any other kind of charging is going to bring it back to life.

Unless things have changed rather recently, East Penn Mfg makes BPS batteries and has for years. This I know for 100% fact. One of their warehouse/distribution centers was one of my customers and for years I've gone in there and seen pallets full of BPS batteries because BPS also has a distribution center here.

Since you are not having to load and unload if from the bed of a truck, I would definitely get the 14". That extra two feet is worth a whole lot more than the few dollars extra in room and stability. While a 30# TM will get you around, if it's a very large lake and you get much wind you might have problems. If funds permit, I would also look at getting at least a 45#. Also, no matter what you get, it will pay you to get a variable speed motor and not one of those with 4/5/6 selectable speeds. I know the price tag bites but you will find they are well worth those extra dollars. As long a you keep the speed about 1/2 way or less, they will give you a whole lot more run time, and with electric only, run time is critical. If you try to run a TM on high, none of them are going to give you a very long fishing trip.

The function of all gauges should run off the accessory side of the ignition switch. Power to everything else should come off the POWER switch Instrument lights should operate off the Nav light switch. Now if you do a lot of night fishing, you may want to look at adding a dimmer to them. Any lights inside the boat should have a separate, dedicated switch. These can be powered through the NAV light switch so they only come on if NAV lights are on or you can power them off the main POWER switch so they can be turned on any time the power is on Storage box lights should also be on a separate, dedicated switch powered from the main POWER switch.

First, I wouldn't do anything else until you check is your compression gauge, because if it's accurate, you need to start by replacing/rebuilding the power head, don't waste time or money throwing other stuff at it until it has a whole lot more compression than that. If that is the true compression, I would think it would be hard to start also, but definitely would be way down on power. Also, on a two stroke, make sure the carburetor butterflies are open when doing a compression test. It can't make compression if it can't get air. A good fresh engine, will give you 125psi across the board, with an accurate gauge.