bishoptf

Really would like everyones thoughts on single axle vs dual axle trailers. I know the pros and cons for the most part, easier to move single, dual axle peace of mind on trailing etc. Need to really decide if single is good enough.

I think if I have this right I just need the basic Chirp model Quest Ultrex and the basic Chirp Helix at the Bow if I am going to go with mega 360. Then at the console I should get the DI/SI unit that will do both and if I want DI at the bow I should be able to use the transducer from the other unit. Not sure I will need DI at the bow, will probably end up adding Garmin FFS at the bow and have 360 and FFS and just use the bird for waypoints and DI/SI at the console. I think that is how it should work but will send an email to Humminbird and see what they say.

Yeah I need to shoot an email off to Minn Kota but my understanding if you get the Mega 360 that will override your built in side scan. I think I just need the basic Ultrex if I am going to add Mega 360 and that will save some money but I need get verification on that.

I have it listed on facebook with a video but still need to do it for craigslist. I think I have decided on which way to go for the new boat just would like to sell this one first.

I think I know the answer but Mega 360 is an add on for the ultrex, from what I see you can get the ultrex with down/side but not 360 which if you want is in addition to. What I was thinking was instead of getting the down/side version get the US2 version which doesnt have anything and then add mega 360 to that. Have down/side imaging at the console only, thoughts?

Here's my update, if I go with my brain I would go with the Lund 1875 Pro V Bass, if I go with my heart it would be a Skeeter zxr19. Some my find this offensive but I kind of look at it this way, I would compare the lund to when I had a mini van, before kids I swore I would never own one, have a couple of kids and man mini vans make traveling with kids a whole lot easier plus they carry a bunch of stuff. The drove fine for the most part not the fastest but made everything easier with the kids. Now the skeeter would be like a sporty car not necessarily a lambo but a low ends sports car, gets where you want pretty fast, can't carry near as much as the van but looks and drives nice. So if money was no option I maybe would have more than one boat but thats not going to happen. Pretty close to calling it and the Lund 1875 Pro V Bass is the leader and just makes more sense. I wish it was longer like 19 and half but the 2075 is to big. Also wish the back deck was a little bigger than what it is but that is a trade off with the jump seats which I think is nice to have if you want to take out a couple of folks on the lake etc. I think the pro's out weigh the cons, will pretty much allow me to fish ANY lake in the midwest and the south and not really have to worry about the conditions being to much for the boat. I don't plan to go out in bad weather but there are some lakes that boat traffic can be a real pain, loz, kentucky etc. I'd just like to have a boat that while it's still a concern the Lund will handle those things a lot better and still be a nice platform to fish nice from. The 19ft Skeeter is a nice boat but it's just not going to handle the rougher stuff the same, it may be a wet ride in the Lund but your going to get where you want to be in it. If I could swing a 21ft bassboat then it may be a little more equal but even then I think the 18ft Lund may still be the better boat to be in vs the traditional 21ft bass boat, just my opinion. Thats where I am at currently, if someone would come buy my old boat I would then purchase the Lund. The other downside is the Lund is actually more expensive then the Skeeters I have been looking at or about the same cost but with more and better electronics. Thats pretty crazy that a Tin boat is more expensive than its glass counter part but it is what it is. One other thing is I kind of wanted a dual axle trailer since I will be driving some distances, kind of like the piece of mind having 4 tires vs 2 but almost all the 1875's come on a single axle trailer, its much lighter than the glass boats and it's not needed from a handling standpoint, just me kind of wanting extra tires on the road. I know I could order one with the dual axle trailer but does that make any sense for an 18ft boat? Thanks everyone for the comments, just thought I would post an update.

I have it listed on facebook, craigslist is really not what it used to be imho. Pretty sure a dealer is not going to give me anything for it but might as well ask, lol.

Yeah I get it, I probably have some stuff I keep good records of what I do but how many receipts I have is another issue. I have had the boat since 2010, rebuilt the engine in 2014. I know they don't know me from Adam but I can tell ya anything about the boat and when and what I have done to it. If you saw my boat you could tell I take care of things but it's not like it's worth a ton of money, the optimax on the back of it will turn off a lot of folks that know anything about boats. The only selling point is the trailer and boat itself is in really nice shape, clean and functional. The engine may be fine also but you have to keep those injectors happy, I sent them off every three years to Burcato to have them clean them and I think thats about as good as you can do. Its on my lift and I continue to run it and fish out of it, always in a covered slip on my lift. If the boat had better rod and storage I would re-power it but being a fish and ski, rod storage stinks to say the least.

Thanks, about the heads up on the rentals will give me something to think about. I know nothing about smallmouths, all I have ever fished for is largemouths. They tried to get small mouths established in one of our small lakes but never happened. I am looking for any and all advice and looked like Stockton was the closest lake to me that would allow me to try to fish for them.

I listed it for 11k, I take care of my stuff and while its not perfect for that age of a boat it's in pretty good shape. Trailer has not seen many miles since in the spring it comes out to the lift and stays on the lift all summer until late fall when I put it away. It's defiantly under-powered for the boat but like I said at the time they had a 115hp limit for the lake so it is what it is kind of thing. Started at 11k and will see how it goes, no rush since I do not have another boat but will see at that price if I get any interests. I would think someone on the lake would be interested since how its setup to charge all the batteries when running but I guess we will see. Thanks for the response. Yeah I tend to do all the work myself, always have. I can give them a list of things that I have done, like last season I had to replace the cable steer, but otherwise its just normal maintenance stuff, outside of the *cough* minor power head rebuild, lol.

I'm just thinking about doing day trips, leave early morning fish the day until 6pm etc and then head back. Still in the figuring things out phase, was hoping it was closer that what it was, all the smallmouth lakes are to the west and South of me. I am in the Wentzville area and wanting to fish some other lakes but everything seems to be a drive especially when wanting to fish for smallmouth. There are smaller rivers and creeks but I do not really have a setup to do those so my thinking Stockton was the closest to me. The other thing would be to find somewhere to stay overnight and string a couple days together, just more things to have to figure out etc. I know once school gets out the lake will be busier so was trying to take a trip down before that happens. I'm going to be retiring over the summer and will have lots more time to do things, but wanted to try to get out to see some of the other lakes and start figuring things out.

Thanks for the reply, few dumb questions if you don't mind. When you are talking Big Sac Arm I assume you are referring to the arm on the west side and the little Sac arm is the one to the east? Which ramps are decent to use, looks like there are options but mapping out looks like going to take me 4 hours to get there, so trying to figure out which ones make more sense depending I guess where I want to fish. Just thought I would ask, I looked at Mutton Creek and appears to be a paid ramp, tried to find how much but could'nt find anything. Just thought I would ask, thanks.

I've never fished many of the lakes in Missouri even though I have lived here for some time and looking to change that. I know Table Rock is supposed to be better smallmouth lake but I have read that Stockton has some also and would be closer. Looking for suggestions for late april/may advice when starting to look at the lake. From reading it appears that the southern or bottom of the lakes tend to be better for smallmouth. Anyone have any advice in regards to general locations etc would be great, thanks.

Yup understand, no one is having any great financing right now that I can see. Lots had some stuff up through end of March but haven't seen anything come out. Via my local bank I am already approved for a certain amount, I am at a point where I can pay cash or a combination etc., but I agree have to keep all of those things in perspective. One thing that I like about a 2 year old boat is the upgrades, if they have already added shallow water anchors or graph upgrades etc., might be able to find something cheaper. Leaving all my options open and just trying to find what I think is the best bang for my buck kind of thing...

One of the issues that I am having which is normal is I see some units that I would be interested in but they have them priced much higher than I believe they should be. I mean if I can purchase a 23 model for the same price brand new, well a 2021 even with low hours shouldn't be selling for the same price at least I my mind. I know things have been pretty crazy past few years but I think things have kind of settled down. I know some folks get offended when you offer them much less than what they have stated, just going to keep looking and see what comes along. There are plenty of 20ft boats and larger out there, just fewer of the 19's for sure. Basspro has boating centers and a website but trying to actually talk to someone in another location has been a major pain, they have some boats that I would be interested in but trying to find out what all the options are and out the door price has been interesting to say the least, lol. I did make one decision last night, I am going to run lithiums for sure, I plan on running a 24v setup and planning on going with 4 batteries, 1 starter that will be traditional LeadAcid, 1 House dedicated to the graphs and 2 for the trolling motors. I may not need the house battery but I see lots of folks doing things that way. Will be running one of these - https://smartshoremarine.com/products/trollbridge-12x24-for-lithium-batteries and if I want to go with the additional house battery then I will add this to the mix also - https://smartshoremarine.com/products/battery-combiner-100-for-lithium-batteries I have this setup in my current boat and was one of the first when they came out back in 2010-2011, works awesome and has never let me down. On my current lake I have a community slip with my lift but no access to shore power, this unit charges all your batteries when the main engine is running, as long as you do some running you should stay topped off since the alternators usually throw out a good bit of amperage.

Just for fun here are some old pics...

Yeah Im still fishing out of it, runs fine...but it is what it is. We have a lift on the lake and when it warms up which was March this year the boat is already on the lift, will continue to fish out of it until is sells and or I get a new boat.

Yeah I'm really picky about stuff and keep things in nice shape, the glass is really good shape, along with the carpet etc. The major drawback of the boat would be the 115 optimax, in 2010 our local lakes had a HP rating and it was 115hp, it was a lame requirement but it was what it was and that is what is on the boat. Since then they have raised it to 150hp and I was looking at re-powering but just decided that it made more sense to get a boat dedicated to fishing vs the fish and ski which had no rod storage etc. I am not a fan of optimax engines they are complicated beasts and were driven by EPA and not what they normally would have done. In 2015 I had to rebuild the power head when one of the injectors leaned out and melted one of my pistons, I then learned the lesson that you should have your injectors (2 per cylinder) serviced every few years, lol. When I rebuilt it I replaced a lot of stuff and it runs fine but I am not a fan of the engines at all. When looking at used boats when I see an Opti or an Etec I just sigh, since there are some decent boats but I want nothing to do with either one. I included a picture of my piston and what happens when an air or fuel injector leans out

Starting the process of listing my older Ranger fish and ski and can take pics and all that but not sure where to start from a price stand point. Just no idea what its really worth, I take care of my stuff and the boat and trailer is in good condition but it is an 2005 and has an optimax on it so.... I can provide more details but when looking online for others out there I see a big delta in pricing etc....just thought I would ask, thanks.

The flip side is I could do Force and garmin at bow and console and then do a bird on the bow dedicated to 360. Lots of ways to do things. Never have been a fan of Lowrance, I have a older bird with side imaging right now but really for down and side imaging it probably does not make much of an difference, that and mapping way points etc. Just thought i would get some feedback about folks current setups and what they like and dislike etc...if they had to do it over what they may do differently. I try to stay away from using the "Best" term since thats subjective to who is using and what they value the most etc...

Yeah that was what I was leaning towards since I want 360, have a bird on the bow and console netoworked and allow 360 on the bow and then if I want to do FFS then do garmin for that at the bow. Still a toss up whether to go with powerpoles or raptor for the shallow water anchor part. If I go with raptors then I could access them via the bird head units. I have heard good things about the force TM though but leaning towards the ultrex now that its brushless.

I have another thread that I am looking to purchase new/used Bassboat. One of the reasons I would prefer to go used is being able to get possible a low hour boat but that had been already setup with most of the electronics and possible save some money. Other option is to find a 23 discounted and build it up from scratch, so looking for some suggestions on TM pros and cons along with FFS and traditional SI/DI setups. Here is what I think I would like for the bow, Brushless TM with spot lock, Mega 360, Helix 10 and Garmin live scope (not sure on size etc). At the console at least a 10" DI/SI networked with the bow unit. At the back would like some kind of poles not sure if raptors or power poles or talons for that matter but thinking raptors or power poles. I know I have read some grumblings about the older Ultrex and spot lock not always working properly, the newer quest units are nice that you can run either 24v or 36v with only having to add an additional battery. Just looking for opinions since I know a lot of this is subjective but trying to figure out what would be a good combination, thanks.

Yeah understand, I think the 20's are just 2 big, not sure I could get it to fit in my garage even side to side and I have a midsize truck plus I am a *cough* older guy and not getting older and not sure I am going to be able to muscle the 19 around in the garage. What is interesting about the Tritons that I see online at basspro is they have no electronics, would allow me to set that up the way that I want vs getting some helix 7's etc that some of the others have. These are 23's and they have had them for a long time, will be interesting to see at some point I assume they will want to part ways with them. My one concern with the triton is will white river continue to produce them or at some point will they fold up shop. Thanks for all the suggestions etc, going to start another thread about electronic options...

No one shoot me but you don't hear much about triton these days, I do see some out there, looking at the 19 trx patriot anyone have any opinion on them? Build quality etc, my guess would be better than a nitro but maybe not as good as skeeter, or phoenix. Just wondering how they ride an if anyone has any opinion on them etc, thanks.

Yup understand and I am leaning towards the 19's, they either come with a 200 or 225. The 18's are just so much cheaper and I like cheaper, lol. Funny I can find lots of 18's and 20's for sale, not many 19's though. Actually find a lot more of the 20's and up, again I'm not a tournament fisherman etc, if it takes me 5 min longer to get somewhere etc, no big deal. Honestly I am running a 18 Ranger 180 v/s with a 115 optimax, anything is going to be light years better than what I currently have. I just saw more 18's out there and looking at the dimensions had me thinking, my current preference is to go with a 19' boat, not crazy about the dual axle trailer but understand that its better for towing etc. Still not sure what boat and trailer will be for a 19ft boat and dual axle trailer, I think it will be around 3500 but still a guess.