Further North

No need to be careful, but you'll get a ton more info if you start a separate topic. I'd be interested in what the replies were.

Do the new units still need to be connected thru the ethernet box? Yes...if you have multiple units. I already had the Ethernet hub, so all I really had to run new wire on was the MEGA transducer. I wound up running new power wires to each unit just because the old wires were 4 years old, and another thing I did this spring was put in a separate battery for my electronics to keep it isolated from everything else...so I was in there anyway...

I just looked at the inventory at my local Ford dealer...they have Escape SE models with the trailer package going for $26K - 27K, while used Escapes are fetching between $17K - $21K... I'm a die-hard "buy used" guy...but $5,000 to get no miles and a longer warranty might have me checking my numbers for overall cost of ownership. ...but then again, if new Escapes are going for $26K in NW WI in October...that's gonna put a hit on the selling price of used ones in pretty short order...

Good stuff...I just updated my 1198 and 798 units this spring to the new Helix G2N technology. I tend to be on about 4-5 year update plan. The two Helix (Non-G2N) strategy would work great on a $1,500 budget.

Probably best to start another topic on this specifically, but yeah. DI is great for knowing exactly what you're sitting on top of. It also - with the G2N models - gives you the ability to see the SI from your other units you've got networked for way less money.

I know you asked sloanzp, but I'll answer too, hope it's helpful. I run a Helix 12 G2N SI "MEGA" unit at my console with a transducer off the back of the boat, and a Helix 10 G2N DI unit at the bow with a transducer on the bottom of the trolling motor. The newer G2N units allow sharing of SI data even if the unit is not SI itself, so I found I could save a ton of money by going to the DI unit up front. The Helix 9 units are significantly less expensive than my 10" and 12" ones. 7" units get a small for this old guy's eyes, particualarly with th emappong ans SI screens.

Yeah, they are. There's a bunch of 2017 Escape SE models with tow packages sitting at my local Ford dealer. Prices look good to me. Yup. Learn to look waaaay further out than when you're driving normally. Yeah, it is. I was extremely skeptical, until I tried it. Dealer didn't quite know how to take it when I showed up with my current rig with the boat hooked up...told him I needed to do a test drive pulling my boat... "I'm not sure we can let you do that?" "OK, I'll find someone who will..." We were pulling the boat down the road 10 minutes later... This time of year is a great time to score a good deal on the vehicle (new and used) if you can swing it

I'm with slonezp on this, and I wish you lived closer so we could spend a few hours on the water so I could show you. The beauty of the full set-up is that while the system takes you from spot to spot...you just fish. Here's an example that illustrates another feature, "Follow the Contour": On a local lake that I fish a fair amount, there's sunken island in a back bay that tends to hold pike and musky starting about this time of year. It comes up to about 4 ft. below the surface and has all kinds of structure and weeds on it. The whole thing is maybe 2 - 3 acres, but the best way to fish it is to work your way around the outside and cast into it from different angles. What I do is tell the system to follow the 9 ft. contour, set the trolling motor at .7 MPH (it also has cruise control)...and I fish. I usually make two circuits, and I won't touch the trolling motor for about a half hour (unless I catch a fish, then I hit the spot lock, nad resume when I've got the fish back in the water. You can do the same thing in a bay, you can follow an offset contour (set yourself up for one cast distance, say 50 feet, off the 10 foot line) and fish an entire bay without having to deal with re-positioning because of wind or current, th emotor will speed up and slow down the prop speed to keep you close to your target speed. For the fish finders, Side Imaging gives you what really amounts to a picture of what the world underwater looks like. Rocks look like rocks, weed lines look like weed lines, fish cribs look like fish cribs,,,sunken boats look like sunken boats... Really helps you focus on productive parts of the lake and skip the places where there's unlikely to be fish. I'm also a Humminbird/Minn Kota user, but I know that Lowrance/Garmin, etc. all make great equipment, as does MotorGuide.

I tow an '05 Crestliner CMV 1850 with a 2014 Ford Escape (SE model, 2.0L, with tow package). That boat is probably around 1,000 lbs. heavier with an average load that what you are proposing to tow. The CMV is an 18 1/2 ft. boat, 8 ft. wide, with a Johnson 140 four stroke (really a Suzuki DF140 with a Johnson logo)on it and it has a 40 gallon fuel tank. I've been towing the CMV for three seasons now including round trips to Canada every year and two or three hour trips closer to home. Zero problems, it works just fine. Make sure you get one with the factory tow package, that is what gets the tow rating up to 3,500 lbs. With an aftermarket hitch, it is only rated at 2,500, IIRC. Also remember to tow in Sport Mode, it makes a huge difference. Mileage wise, I see mid 20s day to day (country roads, mostly), higher 20s on the highway as long I don't have to be the fastest guy on the road, and on the annual trip to Canada I've averaged just above 16 MPG all three years. On that trip, after I fill up with gas in International Falls, the whole rig is probably pushing 3,000 lbs. Pulling the boat at 60 MPH on a flat, level raod, the engine is runnign about 2,000 RPM...I'm amazed every time I do it. BTW, the built in anti-sway is really, really good; I had a deer jump out in front of me this summer in the middle of a curve with zero warning...and I flinched a bit...I could feel the anti-sway kick in right away. Between that and just under 40 years experience pulling trailers, we were nowhere near losing control.

Two is great, depending on how you fish. What features are you looking for? SI on a decent sized screen is going to be tough in that price range. PS: Forgot to congratulate you on the boat. You're gonna love it!

Not trying to talk you into anything, but having the fish finders linked to the trolling motor changed the way I fish. A Terrova/Ulterra/Ultrex will make a big difference on its own...but linking the fish finders and trolling motors really lets you spend your time fishing instead of screwing around with boat control. On the Ulterra, You'd probably be fine with an 80# unit, I run a 112 on my 1850 Crestliner. Love it even though some people say it's overkill. I have several friends with 80# Terrovas on boats similar to yours in size, they work OK. They are all walleye guys though, they don't spend the day moving around after bass. On the fish finer(s) is that $1,000 for one unit or two, or each?

Interesting project! Thanks for the info.

It's only a "hassle" when you set it up the first time, and it'll eliminate frustration every time after that when it does what you want it to do and you don't wind up frustrated and PO'd because you wasted you money on a 55# thrust twelve vote model... ...and it's not that much of a hassle to set up a 3 battery system. IMO, you will wind up disappointed and frustrated with that set up and wind up feeling you wasted your money. Bingo on the "...big sail...". I know folks with multi-species boats who went cheap with 12 and 24 volt set-ups and get booted all over the lake by the wind...and multi-species boats are much less of a "sail" than a pontoon... Absolutely agree on the "...get the biggest you can." While a 24 volt may fit the need, for me it's like choosing between riding a bike to work or driving a car. Both meet the need, one does it in a way that it's less likely to fail to meet expectations... Understatement of the month... It was about this time of year last year when I towed a gentleman with a pontoon full of dead batteries to the dock. "Unhappy" doesn't quite capture his state of mind as he tried to paddle that big girl across a windy bay...

You're clearly a Bubba-ist. Off to the re-education camps with you!

Pontoon boats are gonna get pushed all over the place by the wind...a 25' pontoon more than most. Go long shaft & as much thrust as you can afford. If it were me I'd go 60", 36 volts.

Curious what your source is on this? ...it'd be a poor choice in markets where there's no Bass Pro within a few hundred miles... I wouldn't jump to any conclusions...it's not unusual to see a sell down when the actual transaction is taking place. Company A wants to maximize cash before the actual sale, but isn't replenishing stock and Company B doesn't have the pipeline open yet...

THat's where I'd put it too. I don't have Lowrance, so can't comment on them other than to say everyone I know who has them likes them. I can tell you that the Humminbird 12 MEGA SI resolution is crazy good and works great.

A few thoughts... If your sponsor is G. Loomis...I'd try to make sure I had a few on my boat. Bass X rods, while great, are at the lower end of the St Croix line. With a 50% discount, your dollars go a lot further on the G. Loomis side of the equation...For $250, you'll get a $500 G. Loomis...but only a $250 St. Croix...I'm not the smartest guy on the block...but that looks to me like an opportunity to get into some very nice rods that I could sell at a slight profit if it turned out I didn't care for them. I've got more St. Croix rods than Loomis, both are great. Go big, or go home....IMO.

You're not far from me...I have three smallies over 6 lbs. in the area, best largemouth is about 4 1/2.

Not if you price it right...keep in mind it was $4,000 less to start with...that opens up the market of potential buyers quite a bit...it'll see just fine assuming it's not beat to pieces. It's actually less than actual results as I wanted to stay conservative on my estimates...and I am anything but an aggressive investor. I'm squarely in the moderate risk category, have been all my life.

but...there's no need to replace those electronics as soon as the new stuff comes out. Your $4K still sits with your money guy for at least 4 years (about where I update) and you'll till have way more than the difference tucked in your pocket... If your electronics suit how you fish, there's not even really any reason to update them until they break. There's a lot of folks still running 10, 12, 15 year old boats with the electronics the dealer hung on them when they were new...I know that for a fact, I stripped a lot of them off and sold them on Craigslist so I could put my newer stuff on boats I've bought... My neighbor has an exceptionally nice 21 foot Crestliner with a 225 Verado on it (he's a Walleye guy). It was new in 2005. He had it outfitted with the best electronics money could buy when it was new, and with the exception of a new trolling motor, it's got everything it came with. He still catches a ton of fish.

I was gonna say that...but it seems to make some people crabby when I do that. I buy my boats with OPM, to fish out of. I don't worry about resale value...

Rick, you'll be fine as is. Don't sweat the folks who worry too much, and just remember to get the TM out of the water before you try to get up on plane. If you keep your head in the game you'll be fine. I've run hours like this....never had a problem.