Murphy S. Law

Maybe some roll on rhino liner type of coating you find at big box stores?

Photos would be nice. Do you do videos too?

I finally finished re-doing my free harbor freight trailer and was able to take it out for the first time last Friday. What a world of difference unloading and loading!!! A lot easier on my back, and a lot more fishing able to be done by the time saved. The first time I took my raider out, I had my rudder sitting too high in the back, and it really wasn't helping the fish tailing much at all. I re-did the shaft so I could lower it to the proper depth, and I was in a state of disbelief how steady this made it. I was in the river, with 10-12 mph winds at times, lots of hull thumping waves, and it was steady. Of course I got pushed downstream, but with a proper touch of trolling motor speed and direction, she was a dream. I still haven't hooked up my big foot switch yet, and I will post some pics of the trailer soon. I think she's a keeper!

Man... 5 hours? Is that one way?! Nevertheless, that is still a hop skip and jump! Congrats! You earned it. You will enjoy it!

I contemplated getting a 55lb. TM, and for the wiring reason to run the TM in the front, I opted for the 45lb. instead. I did check my raider last night, and it has 8ga wire. If I went with the 55lb., I would have ran 6ga. Nice steal. I get the impression that Pelican may still replace your rub rail if you were still concerned. I have ocd, so little things tend to bug me. But that's just me.?

After seeing your gash in the rub rail, I felt compelled to try and help. I contacted Pelican, and asked how you could get the rub rail replaced, and here is their response... "Good day, Thank you for your interest in the Pelican International products. Please confirm the serial number ZEP, 5#s, a letter and 3#s located towards the back, outside, right hand side along with some photos so we may help with your request. We wold require his name, telephone number and shipping address (not a P.O. Box). Thank you, Linda Chartrand, Customer Experience Agent Pelican International Inc." I would contact them and see what they can do for you.

Total Noob. Here is a youtube vid that I recently found on the troll king. He stands while using it also. I guess the reason my text was large and bold, is that I copied the title of the youtube vid and pasted here. That must have locked me in that font. Anyway...?

Hey Topkick, I am in the process of building my hf trailer for my raider. What boards did you use for the bunks? Looks good!

I have a 7” pedestal on mine, and I am 5’9”. My feet don’t sit flat on the floor, but with the deck in front of me, it’s quite comfortable. Also, if you are facing sideways casting, it is comfortable also with your feet on the sides. I’m still getting used to it. Also, for the Bigfoot switch, how and where are you guys mounting the switch?

I haven't installed my bigfoot switch yet. Have you had a chance to really try it out?

So far, 10-50 acres, and calmer fingers of the Savannah River down here. Congrats on the new toy.

Thanks for the wheelie advice. I would have probably found that out the hard way!

I have come to the humbling conclusion that I am too old to load and unload my raider into my Chevy Silverado bed. Actually, it is doable, but I don't want to have to keep unloading and reloading everything out of the raider just to be able to manage the task. I want to keep everything loaded to fish so I can pull up, put in water, fish, dock, get boat, and leave. So I have located an old harbor freight 4x8 trailer that I actually got for free. I am in the middle of updating everything on it to use for my raider. So far I have replaced the existing wheels/tires with new ones that I also got for free due to a recall hf has on them, and I have dismantled the frame from the axle, and removed the old plywood. I am now about 60% finished with grinding the old chipping paint and rust off so I can paint it black. I am also installing new led lights and wiring, and replacing plywood and carpeting. The local tag office will inspect it when finished, and tag/register it as a "homemade trailer". I can't wait to have it all come together, because I love this little boat, but I hate the loading/unloading process. Then again... maybe I'm just lazy.?

Just food for thought, the academy sports that I purchased my bass raider from has not received any new bass raiders in store. They have, however placed one of the what looks like a pelican predator boat in the display space instead. Also, it looks like online, academy is still selling the bass raider, but have increased the price from $599.99 to $639.99.

Note, if I was to start over on the paddle and gaff mounts, I would use something different than the yak gear plastic ones here. They are too tight, they are not durable enough to properly tighten to the boat without cracking the mount itself, and were the biggest pita! I give them a 1 star for poor material/design. But once you drill the holes in your raider, it’s kind of too late to change mounts without doing something with the open holes. I ended up using rubber well nuts, but had to drill out the mount’s holes to fit larger bolts through. Again, BIG pita! They are really made for through hull where you can reach inside to apply nuts.