MT's 20' Boat Project

Post by **Misses Livewell** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 11:41 am

and ya better get those blocks soon - i'm gonna need my winter tires back!

Post by **Markus** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 11:46 am

Well if ya need winter tires, just get MT to find an old beat up van for sale. You could buy the whole thing and then transfer the tires to your van.

Post by **SCUBA_STEVE** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 11:59 am

ya whats one more project right

zort

Post by **Canadian Bacon** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 12:02 pm

Markus wrote:Well if ya need winter tires, just get MT to find an old beat up van for sale. You could buy the whole thing and then transfer the tires to your van.

Bill you are sooooooooooo Red Neck!

Post by **M.T. Livewell** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 12:17 pm

Misses Livewell wrote:and ya better get those blocks soon - i'm gonna need my winter tires back!

Oh oh, who woke the dragon?!

MT

Post by **M.T. Livewell** » Sat Oct 08, 2005 9:10 pm

Did some work, but not actually on the 20'er.

As you recall, the old boat I picked up off of Gordo had a MinnKota trolling motor on it.
We'll, today I slapped her on the VIP.
Seems to be working just fine. It's a 42lb thrust with a weedless wedge and autopilot. And, what's neat, is it has a radio controlled foot pedal, so I can steer from anywhere in the boat (in fact I can get a 75' away and still work the trolling motor).

A couple of things ...

1) If anyone has a "co-pilot", can we try it on this motor? Volunteers appreciated.
2) What is the proper way to deploy a MinnKota? I know this is a stupid question, but I have been having a helluva time getting it off the cradle. The motor guide was easy, grab the rope and pull. This one, you have to push the shaft down then carefully lift the motor. I must be doing something wrong.
3) Anyone have any recommendations to fill the holes in the boat from the Motorguide? Of the 4 old holes in the boat, I only managed to recycle one of them for the MinnKota. I had to drill 3 new holes in the boat (make my cry every time

) and now I have 3 x 3/8 inch holes to fill.
I'm not a body filler expert (although I'm sure I will be by the time I'm done the 20'er

). but for now, is there some kind of plastic/ rubber cap I can throw in there? I was considering the soft plastic plugs like they use on car door molding, but I could not find any fat enough to fill the hole.

Will try to get some pics later.

Thanks
M.T. Livewell
(btw, the 20'er is wrapped up in a giant tarp, ready for the winter. Weather pending, I may pull it off and fart around a little, but I don't expect to make too much more progress this fall)

Post by **allan.c** » Sat Oct 08, 2005 10:59 pm

hi bill, i have some epoxy similiar to the west system(two part) with some thickening agents here at home that i need to use up due to shelf life would be happy to stop by and give you a hand with it next week besides i owe you one for the burgers take care allan.c

Post by **skooter** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 5:06 am

M.T. Livewell wrote:Did some work, but not actually on the 20'er.

3) Anyone have any recommendations to fill the holes in the boat from the Motorguide? Of the 4 old holes in the boat, I only managed to recycle one of them for the MinnKota. I had to drill 3 new holes in the boat (make my cry every time ) and now I have 3 x 3/8 inch holes to fill.
I'm not a body filler expert (although I'm sure I will be by the time I'm done the 20'er ). but for now, is there some kind of plastic/ rubber cap I can throw in there? I was considering the soft plastic plugs like they use on car door molding, but I could not find any fat enough to fill the hole.

Will try to get some pics later.

Thanks
M.T. Livewell

Here's what you need MT, ....

I got this whole container left over from my old boat, .....

Unfortunately, .....it won't fit in the floppy, ....or the cd drive....

So I can't email it to ya, .....

It's yours, ....if you can figure out how to get it....

I know Home Depot has some different sized rubber caps, ...in that aisle where all the bolt & screw bins are, ....that might be "neatest" solution, ...no sanding, painting, ...etc, etc...

Good luck.....

skooter

Post by **eye-tracker** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 9:47 am

MT,
I would put marine grade stainless steel screws and bolts in the holes with rubber washers to make it waterproof. If you ever have to put a motorguide back on all you do is remove the screws.

You are going to find the turn response of a minn-kota powerdrive unit very slow for bass fishing. The push-pull wire control is better for quick response, but the electronic control is better for trolling.

It is going to take some time on the water for you to learn how to steer with a new bow mount motor, try to think ahead as the motor turns slow and the foot control has no feedback...have fun

BTW I am not a fan of the co-pilot, I like the hard wired cable going to my motor (Simple design with less things to go wrong and other boats in tournaments wont be controlling my motor), I place the foot control on my dash and make steering and speed corrections with my hands while I troll . I only use the autopilot units which make it easy to control the boat. If it was not for the autopilot feature I would go back to a wire push-pull control for better boat control.

I can show you at Quinte how to lift the motor...it is a little trickey to explain in words.

One last trolling tip with your new bow mount is place your big motor into gear, use a strap to hold your steering wheel straight and then steer the boat with you bow mount motor. The big motor produces the thrust and the bow mount controls the left to right movement of the bow.

enjoy your new toy...

-et

Post by **roughrider** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 8:38 pm

I have also had a hard time deploying the powerdrive unit. Any car care products like Armour All coating on the shaft cured my problem.

roughrider

Post by **Wall-I-Guy** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 12:45 am

Hey Bill,

My Minnkota has a small collar just below the power head that must be loosened before deploying the motor...Maybe you do too

Post by **M.T. Livewell** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 10:37 am

Funny story this weekend, well no so funny at all really ...

Firstly, thanks guys. ET, great tips I will consider for sure. And thanks for the offers Allan C and Skooter.

I tried the trolling motor out for the first time on Sunday.
As ET hinted at, the motor turns much SLOWER than the motorguide/ cable system.
However, I gotta tell ya, so far I love it and here is why ...

Much as ET said, you have to plan the course further ahead of time. But the autopilot worked great, even with some winds and waves. I finally got a chance to set the boat in one direction, then jump to the back and tie on new lures without the worry of drifting to nowhere land, it was slick!!!. Not to mention, I spent most of my time on 2 feet instead of trying to balance on 1 with the other on pedal.

Now, the sad story ... that stupid little colar thingy ... pi$$ poor design if you ask me. Was heading back towards the launch, and did not slide the collar down. Doing between 25-30mph, the damn trolling motor slips off the cradle and "deploys"

. I shut her down and actually stall the motor as I jammed it into reverse.
Well, 3 of the 4 bolts let go. And made a freakin mess, chewing up the holes and scratching off a bunch of paint. Was gonna snap a pic, but the camera was a little flakey.
Anyway, had to do some trolling and caught me a nice little 34" pike. Then I tried to snap a pic of NightTroller and Peng of a beauty bass, that didn't turn out either.

Anyway, I managed to get her bolted back down yesterday. Seems fine for now. But now, hell or high water, I gotta do some paint. *sigh*.

Still looking for that clinic on how to launch it properly.

M.T. Livewell

Post by **joco** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 2:52 pm

HI MT LIVWELL

THE same thing happen to me 2 time in the past 3 week,,,,,

i have the same motor then you in front,,,,,and i was driving full speed toke a big wave and bam the motor went up and down in the water,,,,,

twice in 3 outhing,,,,,,now my small electric motor only turn on one side,

,,,,,,,it happen to me one time wit pepinno and one time wit wallyboss,,

it scare me like a lot,,,,,,,,,that thing going down full spead ,,,the boat just want to go a bit on that side,,,,and all the splash frome the motor,,,

entering water at full speed,,,,,,,,,,,

now i am looking for a motor like the one i got for parts,,,,,,,,,

joco

Post by **joco** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 3:02 pm

HI MT LIVWELL

HERE some info for your windshield,,,,,,,,,,,

AT work here we order all kind off lexan frome them great work to,,,,,,,

its call,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,CANUS PLASTICS INC,,,,,,,on lisgar ottawa

phone,,,,,,,,,232-2657

joco

Post by **M.T. Livewell** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 9:04 am

Thanks Joco. I've heard of Canus. I know you can get the stuff at Home Depot, but you need a second mortgage and have to give up your first born.

MT

Fish-Hawk.Net

MT's 20' Boat Project

boat holes

Hard too deploy