HPBB

A cool transmission is a happy transmission, so yes it would be a good idea, can't hurt.

Don't think you will have a problem. My Uncle Bob, ok not really my uncle, but we call him uncle Bob has been pulling a 24 foot pontoon from Pittsburgh, Pa. to just west of Ottawa Ontario about 1,200-1,300 mile round trip. Every year since 1991, it runs duel axil trailer, but they are 8inch wheels and tires (they are the really wide tires you seen on pontoon trailer,) but they still are only on 8inch rims. He sets the cruise at 72mph and has never had any bearing problems. He does repack them every two years.

yes, FLW is letting them lock up the Allegheny more than Bass did, It really wasn't BASS as much as it was Pa Fish and Boat commission rules. in 2005 the pool above lock 3 was a 15inch min pool so even if you caught fish that were legal in other pools (12 in min) you could not even have them in your live well when pass through pool 3. this shut off anybody from going up the Allegheny this is why BASS did not let them go up north. now that pool is a 12 inch min. however: FLW is not letting them lock down the Mon as much, only one lock and only to the mouth of the Yough river. really didn't understand that one :-/ FyI the mon has more LM than the other rivers.

the proof is that the fishing is BETTER now than in 2005. also there are some factors working in their favor this year. trust me I live on those rivers and the fishing is better now than in 2005.

3 boats. I did have one set that I transfered from boat to boat. but as I upgraded stuff the big boat got the new stuff and the smaller boats got the old stuff, so now each have their own equipment.

"sheer pin" take the prop off and check it. if not do what cart7t said.

leave the Beer at home also when the sign said "road ends at water" it really means it.

I have a 109# and yes, best I have ever used, just my 2cents

I would take it somewhere else. One shop had my boat for 4 months and never fixed it. I ended up picking it up one day and another shop fixed it in a week

I run an MG 109# and I use a TM straps from "ROD SAVER" there are two straps one goes around the shaft by the motor and the other goes by the head of the TM. It works great. I had a TM get ripped off on Erie so I now make sure I have the TM secured

From experience, I would have to say NO! Go bigger. I have a 17'6' Sea Nymph GLS 175, Deep V Alum. With a 75hp. When I bought it she had a 36#. That TM sucked way to small. I moved up to a 55# and hated that TM still to small. Didn't have the power to deal with the style of fishing I do, (I am on the TM all day and fish a lot over current and heavy weeds, also the wind does blow the boat around alot) also even with 2 batteries would not last a whole tournament day. So when that TM was ripped off the boat at Erie. It was time for a new TM. Time to move up. I thought of a 24 volt TM in the 70-80# range. I already was carrying 3 batteries so I went big (ok a bit over board) to a 36volt 109# motor and it is the best thing ever. Heavy wind, heavy current. Heavy weeds, even long long days on the water are no problem now. That being said a 109# way be too much, but I would really think about a 24 volt in the #70+ range. Now bigger is better in TMs. get the biggest you can afford and carry the batteries. I also have a Tracker PTX 175 (17'6') with a 25hp on it has a 45# tm and its ok. But in heavy weeds it sucks. I am planning on moving up to an 82# TM. I can only carry 2 TM batteries so a 24-volt is the biggest I can get.

TP!!!!

same here boat keys never leave the boat. trailer lock keys on my truck keys. so when I unlock the trailer I need the keys to move the truck I can't leave them on the bumper. I do this now because I did the same thing you did years ago years ago

I would say cable all the way. I fish erie alot and my MK powerdrive was way to slow. Since I moved to a cable steer it is way better. Also its hard to secure a power drive in rough water. I had one of mine go from stow to running position while running 6 foot waves. ripped that motor right off the boat, and to the bottom of erie. as for what brand. that is a personal choice. I ran MK for years and had to many problems with them. I run Motor guides now.however I run Tour series TMs that are out of your $500 price range. I do have a MK PD on my small boat and can't wait to get a new cable steer TM for it. One more thing if your looking for a new TM and you have the room for two batteries i would highly suggest looking at getting a 24 volt TM. If you don't want to go much past #55 than a #65-70 would be great. the 24volt Tm just runs so much better than a 12 volt. And fishing erie and dealing with that wind up there the more power you have the better. I run a 109# 36 volt on my boat and love it.

One thing to remember is that most cars even though they have a "tow capacity" and say they can tow. They are not designed to tow alot. were as trucks/SUVs are designed to tow. The suspension of most cars just cannot take the abuse of a trailer even one that has a low weight. I know a lot of guys tow with cars, but next time you at a crowed boat launch look around, how many cars do you see with a trailer on them? Not many if any. I'll give you and example. In the late 80's early 90's my dad towed a 15-foot V hull (boat/trailer) package weighed around 1,000-1,200 lbs. not very heavy. We had an Oldsmobile 88, a big car, front drive with a supercharged 3.8L V6, 240HP. car had a 3000lbs tow capacity. 3 times what we towed. The rear suspension just could not handle it and it would break ball joints and struts all the time. I ended up buying a 1988 GMC S-15, 4 banger 105hp and a five speed. Towed that boat and a few others and never had any problem. If you are going to tow alot or an alot of weight a truck or truck based SUV is the only way to go. A small to mid sized V-6 powered Truck or SUV will tow a 17-foot metal boat great.

I had an a Lowrance 350A and it did the same thing all the time, un-till I had to put it on a different battery. Now my Humminbirds never had that problem

move to CA. never. don't want to deal with all the carzy stuff and the taxes. yes Pa has high taxes, but CA is a joke. All those fees that greatoutdoors payed was for tranfering it and those walk in places rip people off and charge way to much. after that she will be paying $6 a year for a trailer and I think $24 for 2 year reg. on the boat

no. I had a 6hp johnson and a 12 foot starcaft and even with one person in it it will not plane it out. just not enought power

AAA doesn't do boat reg. atleast in Pa they don't

switch station. i did that for a few years, its gets old. I like to have two units better

Nice!!!! now get another one and get the interlink and they can share all the info its great. I have a Matrix 87c and a 787c and they are great

I caught all mine on senko's in less than 4 foot of water. My wife got a few on tubes, but senko's were what was working the most. and yes they are one their beds big time.

Pabassin, did you do any good up there? I was up there Saturday. Got on the water about 5pm and fished till dark. I caught about 30 and my wife caught about 20. No real big ones. Most 14-15 inches long fun to catch. Biggest was 19. Did see some big fish, but couldn't get them to bite. Saw hundreds of fish they were everywhere. But so were the fisherman. I have been going up to PIB on Memorial day weekend for 20 years and I have never seen that many people fishing, I have never seen that many boats any time up there. I would say there were a few hundred boats out there in the bay. At one point I counted 52 boats in Misery bay. Those fish got pounded; I think that was why I could get any big ones to bite. I wonder how many boats were out there mid day?

I have a 2005 tracker PT175 with a Merc 25hp 2 stroke and its a great boat. (no wood). fishes great also easy to tow. I would go with the PT 170 over the P16. the 16 has a different hull. I know the 17 has the "revolution hull" the same as my 175 and it rides nice. really nice. the Pro 16 is based on a jon ( flat bottom) hull. also the pt170 is only a few inches longer, but over 11 inches wider. that will make the 170 feel alot bigger that the 16. I did not like trackers, but I only had fished out of older ones. Then in 2005 I went half with my father-in-law on this boat. I was a bit concerned about it, but after getting it. I made a good choice. Infact a few guys I fish with ( in my club and not) that weren't really happy with trackers in the past. Like this boat alot. two even have bought them

have one question. what graph would you use the most? most guys put the better graph at the dash and a lesser one at the bow. don't you spend more time fishing than driving? why wouldn't you want to be looking at the better graph more? I did this why when I moved up to better DF's I put the better one at the bow. then when I bought a nother good DF I put that one at the dash. I would just rather look at the better df the most. Just one man's thinking.