HPBB

get the biggest you can afford and have room for the batteries. use this for an example. I have 05 tracker PTX 175 that has the 45# motorguide that is standard on it. It runs ok, but could use more power when in heavy weeds or current. My buddy has the same boat, same year and he decided to put a 82# 24volt Motor guide on his, and it is like night and day. he has no problem in weeds, wind, or current and never has to worry about his batteries running out of power. Now if you realy want to never worry about having enough power. then do what I have done on my other boat. Its a Sea Nymph GLS 176 (17'6" Deep V aluminum boat) I had the room for 3 batteries so I went as big as I could and have a 109# 36 volt Tour series Motorguide . It is great and I have no problem with anything. I can't fit 3 batteries in my tracker so when I can afford a new tm I will be getting a 24 volt Tm 70-82#

With 5000lbs tow cap you should be fine towing just about any bass boat. I know that there are many Jeeps like that towing big runabout boats that weigh alot more than bass boats and they seem to be fine

I have had optima's, delco's,ect. great batteries, also had cheep auto store batteries. all worked, some better than others, but all died sometime. they all do. I run 4 batteries in my boat (36volt TM, and starting battery) I ended up getting everstart MAXX batteries this last time. why? I look at it this way. when I am at a multi-day tournament and I have a battery go down ( they all will at some point) There is always a walmart near by, and almost all are open 24hr a day so i can always get a replaced one. no matter what Time it is. On these last ones, I am on 3 years and they are still going strong

I have no experience with that boat, but my brother has an Alumacraft Trophy V17, It has a walk thru windshield. It is a great boat, not to big and not to small. Easy to tow, and runs great. Great in big water. Have run it in 6 footer up in Erie and never got wet. A pretty fast, his has a 125Merc and will run in the low 50's. Just like you said, this is a great all around boat. Can use it as a family boat, ski boat and fishing boat. Great in shallow water and big water

Both of my boats sit outside 24/7/365 Up here in Pittsburgh Pa, winters can get really cold.I leave the batteries in the boats, I have a BPS xps 5/5/5 charger in my small boat and a Promariner 20sport in my big boat and leave them plugged in all winther( infact when ever the boats are home they stay plugged in 24/7) and have nevr had a problems with batteries sitting over the winter. the plus to this is, if there is a warm day and I want to get out ( and the water isn't hard) the batteries are always ready to go

It could also be any of you lines that run water to and from your live well. I had a leaking problem where my boat would get about 1 1/2 inch of water in it, no matter how long it sat in the water. here the hose off the live well pump would leake just a little and as soon as the water rose above the pump it would stop leaking. took me all summer to figure that out

first off, everybody has their own opinion, and it really comes down to you. If you really like the boat then get it. yes I would always try to get it at the lowest price you can, but boats run different prices in different part of this great country. metal boat aren't real popular down south, but up north they are king. also light wieght, mid range power boats are in high demand right now with the gas prices. and its a LUND, one of the best, if not the best metal boats out there. they do run higher $$ than others. Yes you can get a glass boat for less. maybe he want a metal boat. I know here in western Pa. metal boat are king and at that price it wouldn't stay around long. there are many boats like that with 9.9-25hp for 3-4 K for sale around here

1. Motorguide digital tour ( hands down) 2. anything other than a minkota power drive

thanks for the info guys. that helped out alot. I think I might pass on the GT100, the guy doesn't seem to want to come down in price. also my max hp is 120 so I would rather get a 115 or 120

I have been looking to get a used motor for my boat, old motor blew up. my budgit is low so older motors are what's on my shopping list. I am looking for a Suzuki or Merc, but have trouble finding one. I really don't know much about Johnson V 4 motors. My grandfather has a 88hp V 4, its a early 80's and it seems to always work and no problems. Its reliability is what has pulled me to them. I found a 1993 Johnson GT100. guy wants a little to much for it right now, but am trying to get him in my price range. here are a few questions that I have about Johnson/rude V 4 motors. 1. What is the differance between a crossflow motor and a looper motor? is one better than the other? What is a crossflow? a looper? 2. I have seen the GT series in the bigger V 6 150hp + motors, but this is the first one I have seen in midrange power. Is there a differance between the GT V4 motors and the standard V4's? or is it just a differant sticker on it? any help wold be great. Thank you very much

I would go after the dealer. If that merc did not work after 3 trips they would fix it, so why not the TM. I on the other hand, had no propblem when one of my Motor guide TM's acted up. they changed it right out, it had a 3 year warranty on it

now I do not know if yours is the same. but on my 2005 tracker PTX 175 to pump out the livewell. you need to push the head of the recirqu sprayer in and it opens a valve to pump water out. pull it and it returns to recirqu.

This is just a question for they guys with newer boats. It all has to do with cap.plate. I know on my two older boats the cap. plate states a max hp. yesterday I was using my father-inlaws 2006 Tracker PTX 175 now in all the books for it and the web site is sayes max HP 75. well on the cap plate there is no max HP. there is a max weight of a outboard. It sayes "this boat is engineered to hold an outboard up to 390LBS max" . What gives? does this mean you can run any hp as long as the weight is less than 390LBS? not thae we are going to put abigger motor on it. It runs a 25hp, beacsue of the hp limited lake. just an obseravtion

"who said im doing it the wrong way? im going to contact the real owner and get it titled in my name. i dont have a cap plate and im almost positive the boat never had one. it still has the vin and everything." you still do not get it. you are doing it the wrong way. you say "I am going to contact the real owner" that should be I am contacting the real owner. and on the cap. plate. all boats have them. IF he gave the boat away and doesn't care, whydidn't he give the title away with it too?

So you will pay him? Ok he wants $5,000. then what are you going to do? Not really trying to give you a hard time, but your not listening. This site have alot of great guys & girls on it and integrity is #1 in most books, so all we want it to see you do this right, not the way your going at it. you still don't understand the "jumping the gun", do you? your talking about putting a consoll and wheel, and cables and everything else in it. then you say "when I have the time I will try to get it registered" dude that should be #1, before you do any more work on it, get it legal. Is there a cap. plate on it? you know max weight, people, HP. If not you will need that to before you get it registered. we are not telling you that your wrong, just going about it the wrong way. we want to see you do it right. remember "integrity" get it regitered first. I'll give you an example. think about this and how it would compare to you. I think it was 3 maybe 4 years ago, at the lake my camp is on,Yough Dam, a very bad storm blew through. during the week, when most people are not there. the next moring my Dad went out fishing and found a boat drifting alone out in the lake. Not knowing who's it was, and if they were even there. He towed it back to our dock. Ran over to a local boat shop. right next to my camp. and told them what he had found. They called the boat and fish commission, ran the #'s and found out who's boat it was. called them and told them what had happen. They were very thankfull, and came down to the lake that evening ( they lived 2 hours away) at picked up the boat. now acording to your story. When he found it floating, He could have given it to somebody, they could have sold it to somebody else. and that person owns it now? think about it. the boat he found? well, it wasn't a small jon, it was a 26-28 foot Crown Line with twin Vortec 350's. just think about that for a while, and do it the right way. It will be better and easier in the end. we are not giving you a hard time to get on you. we just want to see you not get burnt in the end

that has to be way over the max HP and weight limit. I mean with that johnson sitting on the back ( I think those ones weigh wround 120lb) and your weight in the boat you are most likely at or over the max weight of the boat. forget about the extra weight of the decks. put 3 guys in that with the decks and that motor. I'll look for you on the 6 oclock news. did you get it registered yet? I bet that motor is over the max. look out you get stopped out there you looking for trouble. also that is a 20inch (long shaft) motor, you should have been looking for a 15inch short shaft one. If you do get it on the water. I would not go in shallow water with it. you will be hitting everything with that motor hanging down that low. and you stated that "THE GUY IS NOT GETTING IT BACK!" what if the guy you bought it from stole it from this other guy. if it is his and he has the tital and reg. its his. how would you feel if you boat went missing and then you found out a guy had. and said you not getting it back. man I bet this is your first boat? I know its fun, you can't wait to get out there and catch those hogs. but buddy you really jumped the gun. I would have made sure I got it registered and legal before I put any work or $$ into it. you did alot, but all could be for not. If the orginal owner wants it back. there is nothing you can do. also I do not know how the letter of the law works, but you might be charged with "recieving stolden property". get it registered legaly first. it will be better in the long run

see, the best time for watching the ramp is in the fall. at least where my camp is. I have a camp at the Yough Dam, (south Of Pittsburgh Pa, on the Pa/ Maryland borrder) well, my camp is by the main mairena, and there is a date in the fall that all the boat have to be taken off the docks for the winter. we sit on our deck and watch the show. I mean some of these people have had their boats for 10-20 years, but they only take them out once a year. it is the best show going. It never seem sto fail, but some people do the same thing wrong each year. this is just a few things we see. these are the common ones. 1. poeple with pontoon boats, that back their truck in way to deep, then come into the trailer to fast and smash right into the back of the truck. we saw one guy put his pontoon onto of the bed of his truck. 2. leave the outdrive/outboard down and drag it up the ramp. then relize someting is wrong and try to back back down the ramp. I know a freind at a local shop said he repais about 20 outdrive each winter becasue of that. 3. I really don't get this one. they leave the motor running as they pull the boat up the ramp, and some will leave them running for a few minutes as they sit in the parking lot. 4. forget to set th e brake, or leave the truck in reverse. I think I see at least 2-3 truckes a year haveing to get pulled out of water over the hood. 5. takes them 20 30 tries to back down the ramp. people ask to help them, but no. I had one guy that was on the ramp, no lie, for 3 hours one friday, couldn't back the trailer up. I went over and asked if he need help. he yell at me and told me to mind my own buseiness. he never did get it down the ramp. he drove away and the boat sat there till the next day tied to the dock. I don't know who came and got it. it was gone when I came back in from fishing. 6. the fights are classic. watching husbands and wives screem at each other. cause each know how to do it better, when either has no idea what they are doing. and those are the same people that will fight next year.

I wish I could have seen it.. was it a X3 or X5 BMW? I bet it was a X3 ( the smaller one)(I have hear they suck) I know the X5 with the V8 can tow really good. a guy I work with has one, a 2006, and he tows a large covered car trailer with it, and it has rear leveling suspention so it doesn't sag at all. has no problem towing it at all

take it and get it redone, if not fixed I would get a new tire. also did you use fix-a-flat in it? If you did get a new tire now. a few years ago I was going on a long trip and ran over some glass from a crash that had happen. well, as the trailer sat at camp for a week the tires went flat. there not being a tire store close by. I used fix-a-flat on them to get them useable again. well, about 200 miles into the trip home both tires exploded, yes not just blown, but exploded and ripped the fenders off the trailer

you can hook 2 lowrance's up, or 2 Humminbird's up, but not together. you can run them at the same time, but they can not share info.

great boat. and the speed your getting is great. when you add the TM it will help with some weight on the nose to bring her down. don't move your stuff just yet. get a set of dole-finns for the motor. They are an easy solution to help you plane faster. a set of dole-finns. they work wonders and will help out greatly. I have a Starcraft almost like yours, with a 15 merc. and with my 300lbs butt in it, 2 batteries and 6 gal gas, all in the back. she would take a year to plane out. added the dole-finns and she jumps right up on plane. as for the TM. that's a tough call. I myself hate the power steer ones, have one on my small boat and can't wait to get rid of it. I would go to cable steer. for my style of fishing the cable steer is fast reacting and helps me. the power steer just seems to slow and always a step behind what I want to be doing. that is just my opinion.

first off try the easiest. 1. change the spark plugs, you could have fouled one. 2. make sure that you primer bulb is staying hard. If it get soft there could be air getting in to the line. If the case, replace the fuel line and bulb 3. make sure you are getting spark to all your cylinders. REMEMBER the 115-125 HP Merc/Mariner 4 cyliner motors only run on 2 cylinders under ( I think its 1,200RPM,) I also think its the bottom two cylinder that it runs on, so you will have to get the RPM's up to check that. 4. clean your fuel filter. If all those fail to help your problem. I would have it checked out by a Merc shop. and get the carbs cleaned, rebuilt. The last thing you want to do is hurt the powerhead

sounds like the trailer is to deep. also if you can power load it like said do it. one hint. Don't know how big of a guy you are, but when I use my father in law's PTX 175 ( I am around 300lbs)I have to sit in the middle seat when putting it on the trailer this keeps it straight on the trailer

don't use them. so when I fish your wanter I'll catch them on traps. just cause they are old doesn't mean they don't work. and I don't know what somepeople are talking about the paint coming off. I have traps that are old that have caught many many bass, been bounched of rocks and have some scars and some paint that is worn off ( but so are my Lucky Craft LVR's). but they have last way more than one fish. also the one that the paint has be worn off are not "chrome" under neath they are just white.

I know they are not removed when charging with a multi bank charger. I use 2 of them. why I said that is so he is sure that each batttery is fully charged when using one "portable" single bank charger. in your reply you said use 3 different portable chargers. when diong that I wouldn't remove the jumpers either. But since the guy said he didn't want to spend money, and he had a 12 volt set up before. I figured he only had one 12 volt charger. so I was saying to pull the jumpers when only using one charger. I figured that if he didn't want to spend the $$ on a 3 bank charger he wouldn't want to spend the $$$ on 2 more 12 volt chargers. if you are charging only one battery at a time, and as you said " Current will only flow between the positive and negative connections of a charger." will any of your power travel from the pos term of battery 1 ,through the jumper ,to the neg term of battery2?( which doesn't have a charger on it) I was thinking this might cause battery one not to get a "full"charge. since there is not a charger on battery 2. disconecting the jumper would insure that the battery get a full charge. If I am wrong sorry.