Way2slow

Your options are going to be very limited on TM's with 36" shaft. Two years ago, I had to settle on a X3 because that was the only motor available, I wanted a digital. And I mean the ONLY ONE, not just the only brand. My brother recently purchased a 36" shaft for his jon boat, and he had to get a Minn Kota because that was the only one to be had, and Cabela's only had one of those at the time. So, basically if you can find anyone that has a 36" shaft motor, that's probably going to be the one you have to settle on.

They look great but for me, I wouldn’t have them. Summer sun here in Georgia is going to make that black feel like you’re sitting down in a frying pan after you have been out of one for a while

I guess that explains the logic, at least it makes a lot more sense. Tires should be good on a 2021 trailer, but I would still be replacing the bearings. Four years not knowing how they've been serviced or how the looked the last time they were serviced. It's still going to be one miserable, tiring trip though. Yea, when you have to pay a double with that extra length it bites. I shipped a Chevy 2500HD from south Texas to middle GA and got hit with that but had no choice because it had a bad differential.

Not sure of the logic behind buying that old of a boat that far away, unless they are paying you to haul if off. The old saying goes, live and learn, and pretty sure you will be learning big time on this one. Your main concern, provided the trailer it not rusted out, is going to be tires, bearings and lights. You want to make sure the tires are fairly new, even if they still have good thread on them, dry rot is a major concern if they are more than a couple of years old. If I was going that far to get one, I would either take new ones with me or plan on having those replaced when I got there. Since you probably have no way of knowing what axle is under it, you won't have the option of taking new bearings also, so plan on buying and installing a new set when you get there. DO NOT trust the ones on the trailer to be good, you will be running an extreme risk of one failing on the trip home. Make sure you plan properly. The trip up there is going to be one long, hard day and (that's if you are young) and two days if you don't want to torture yourself. That's only if the weather is good to you, heading North, this time of the year is playing roulette with it. Plan on one day dealing with the tires, wheel bearings and lights. Plan on a minimum of two days for the trip back home. Even if you average 50 mph, and that's not very likely pulling a trailer, that's 16 hours travel time. Then you need to add one more day just for "When S**T happens" if you have to be back for work. On your trip home, stop after the first hour and feel the bearing hubs, make sure they are no more than just a mild warm and both are about the same. Stop one more time after about another hour and feel them again. After that it's a good idea to make a quick feel of them on your normal stops. The only other thing I can think of saying is "Good luck" with your trip, it's going to be long and hard.

Yea, I saw it was an extension cord but just couldn't resist pulling your chain.

Ha, Ha, my pontoon trailer came with one built in. If you consider yourself old at 67, I must be ancient. What's the yellow cord for, so when you can't get in with the steps, you can hook it to you an have someone winch you in?

Back in 1961 my first car was a 1948 Ford I bought for $10. Since I was only 14 and not allowed to drive into town so my canoe stayed on top of it 24/7 except when I was using it. (the great part of being a country boy). I was 18 when I got my first 4WD vehicle, a 1966 Ford Bronco. I have owned a 4WD vehicle ever since. The 66 Bronco got swapped out for a 73 Bronco. In 86 I also bought a 4WD Toyota pickup and traded that for a 93 4WD Toyota. As My boats got bigger, my Bronco was getting some miles on it so I ended up swapping the Bronco for a full size 4WD Chevy truck (still wish I had kept the Bronco). Today, I'm still driving the 93 Toyota, and using a 2500HD Chevy for towing. For my use, I have never seen any since in buying a 2WD truck. I drive in places I wouldn't try to walk. For many years I fished ponds, creeks and rivers there was no convenient access to so I might be driving through the woods and over small trees, across fields and bunches of other places a 2WD would never go. My canoe was a wide 17' aluminum cargo style, so it was a little heavier than comfortable to carry so it got drug through the woods a lot. I always kept the smaller truck because I was a big-time quail hunter and full-size trucks would not go where the smaller, lighter truck would. However, it only takes one 2800-pound bass boat pushing you through a red light on a wet, slick road to learn that smaller, lighter truck ain't worth a darn for towing your bass boat. So, if you ask me, a 4WD truck and a canoe are a great combination for getting in places off the beaten path to fish. I'm not a yak person, tried one, hated it and gave it away. If by yourself in a canoe, just turn it around and use it backwards, that equalizes the weight much better and keeps the nose from sticking up in the air.

I will run TM batteries until their performance starts interfering with my fishing. I also ran Trojan SC225's and it was very common get five years. We used to spend hours chasing schooling bass feeding on shad, spending a lot of time running the TM on high getting to where they would pop up again and it would be several years before I started noticing enough reduction in run time to replace them. However, TM batteries I don't have to be concerned out getting stranded or frying a charging system if they decide to go belly up, so I have no problems with getting my whole nickels worth out of those. Plus, the last 225's I bought were a little over $200 each (haven't check on what they are now if they even still make them) and you are always supposed to replace the set at the same time when connected in series or parallel. That gets out of the class of being cheap like a single cranking battery.

If you really want to get into how long a battery last in term of years, there are way too many variables that determine that with any degree of accuracy. First off, battery life is not measured in time, it's measured in cycle counts, how many times it can be discharged and charged. A major factor in that is going to be how the battery is made and what alloys were used. Cheap batteries have cheaply made plates, quality batteries have a much better and more alloy in them. The next is going to be how the battery is used and maintained. Cranking batteries are not designed to be discharged. Their plates are designed to give a high surge of current over a short period. Letting one discharge very much greatly reduces its cycle count. How the battery is maintained has a huge effect on how long the battery lives. A good maintainer is a must for batteries not regularly used, regular use is needed. Letting one sit for long durations on a maintainer is not that good for the battery. While it does need to be on a maintainer, they still need to be cycled regularly. A top-of-the-line maintainer will actually cycle the battery periodically. They say with age comes wisdom, well when it comes to batteries, I've learned they are too cheap for the grief and misery they can cause. I buy the biggest, top of the line batteries that will fit where I need it to do, but I don't care who's brand I buy, three years, maybe four is it's still testing near100%, is all I will run a cranking battery. They come out and go in the golf cart (it's a gas model) the welder or just a spare battery sitting around, but it' does not stay where I have to depend on it.

Where did you mount the trolling motor? I have a 24’ Bentley fishing model and the fence and gate as you call it, is behind the two pedestal fishing seat so you have an open deck up front. I mounted my two TM batteries in the back with the cranking battery. I installed blind nuts under the front deck and a quick connect so it only takes a minute to remove and install the TM when I don’t want it in the way. Mine came with a large live well up front. I use a 9” Garmin on a swivel mount up front with the Xducer on the TM so I see what’s under me and not 24’ behind me. I have a 7” that’s mounted on the console with the Xducer on the back for navigation.

I never run a cranking battery more than four years and usually replace them at three. They can cause too many problems when they get weak. Burned out charging systems are a common problem with a weak battery.

Not sure what M-Y your merc is but my 2006 90 have a very simple valve that just connects to the throttle linkage so you might want to see about checking that first. Also understand, if you are getting an alarm for no oil, if yours has the oil tank under the cowling they are bad about the sensors coming loose and causing the alarm, but still be oiling. So, if you are basing the no oil on the engine alarm, let me make a suggesting. Before running it again, premix your gas and oil at a 50:1 ratio in the gas tank. Make sure there is oil in the oil tank and with the motor trimmed down, mark the oil level with a marker. The next time you use it, it's going to smoke a lot more because if the oil injection is working, it's going to be double oiling the motor (not going to hurt anything) and when you are done for the day, check the oil level in the oil tank, it the oil is still at the mark you made on the tank, the oil injection is probably not working. If the oil level is below the mark you made on the tank, the oil injection is working, and you just have a bad sensor. If it's in the tank as mentioned, they can be glued back with a good grade of CA glue (super glue). You might want to do this for the next couple of trips, marking it each time just to make sure it's a faulty sensor. Just remember, premix the gas in the tank before you do anything else. It's a whole lot safer to double oil one while trouble shooting it than taking a chance on it really not be oiling.

Many of the props today use and adapter so they can make one prop fit several motors. If the movement is just where it's moving on that adapter, I wouldn't be too concerned. If however, it's the actual prop shaft moving back and forth in the lower unit, then I would be getting concerned. There should be not movement of the prop shaft in the LU other than rotational, unless it was made in China, then all bets are off on how it's made.

That's all that motor had new. When OMC first started making detuned motors for the low octane gas, they didn't have the modern electronics today's motors have, they just chopped hell out of the compression. You also have to remember, boat owners are bad about leaving gas in the tanks for months and months and still try to run it, so they had to allow for that junk gas also. The main thing you want to look for is the variation between the highest and lowest reading between cylinders. A warmed up, good motor is going to be no more than 5%. When it starts getting close to 10%, the motor is getting close to the end of its life cycle. Also, a leak down test is a whole lot better and more accurate than a compression test. Doing a compression test, you only want to let it hit six times per cylinder to get a fair assessment, and make sure it's the same number of hits for each or the readings are not going to give you the proper comparison. Just cranking it until it shows the max it will show on the gauge is not a good test either because you are not getting a accurate indication of the blowby it has. That's why a leak down test is better, it measures the blowby, which is the true wear indicator for the rings and cylinders. Also make sure you understand what the GT stood for on OMC engines. GAS THURSTY. There is no such thing as fuel economy with those old cross flows, and at full throttle, they love that stuff. One other note, everybody knows a fisherman won't tell a lie, but I would want to see my own test of the engine just to be sure.

Let me just say I apologize for bringing the subject up. I really could care less how you handle your canoe and sorry I suggested something different. After all, who am I to suggest something when my only experience has been fifty years of paddling them and jon boats. I got my canoe when I was 13 and haven't been in it for the past 15 years so that leaves almost 50 years between those two, so I guess there's no way I would have the experience to suggest anything about them. Mine came with a magic paddle, so I that's what I used. They are great fishing vessels, enjoy it.

Not talking about using the J stroke. I've never done that either, too much wasted energy. Using the proper size canoe paddle, you just learn the proper angle to hold the paddle as you go through the stroke and maybe give it a little twist at the end. Get it right and you can go left, right or straight without changing sides of the boat. I found it took a lot less effort than switch sides and could paddle almost as one hard stroking side to side. Now, there is a big difference between true canoe paddle and a boat paddle. For non-running water like lake/ponds etc, I always preferred a long blade. Understand, I didn't specify you had to be sitting in the seat, just in the canoe, and no it's not impossible to barrel role one if it will float full of water. You sit in the middle under the center cross brace, raise your legs up and wedge yourself in with your thighs, if you roll over you use the paddle to complete the role and bring it back up. Yes, it will be full of water but you are still in it and can paddle to the bank or bail it out. I learned this trick back when I was a teenager (many, many years ago) from a friend that lived on a section of river that had fast moving and white water we had to go through to get to the better fishing. We strapped everything in the canoe and sat in the bottom, braced in with our thighs to go through that white water section. Out of a couple dozen trips, I actually had to do it twice. It is a lot harder to upright than kayak and takes some pretty good upper body strength.

Let's test your canoe paddling skills. Do you paddle from just one side of the canoe most the time and just change sides when in a pinch and need to make a hard move, or do paddle by constantly switching from left to right? If you paddle from just one side, my hats off to you for actually learning how to paddle one. Can you barrel role one while in it. I can but that's something I've a couple of other people be able to do. I guess I should rephrase that, "that's something I could do" when probably 30 years younger. Now, I won't even sit my butt in mine, and it's cargo canoe, bigger and much wider than yours.

Before painting the bottom, remember, the fish are in the water looking up at the sky, so darker colors are much more visible to them than lighter colors. Fishing shallow waters, darker colors tend to spook them much more easily than light gray, light blue or white would.

Most of how fast you can get a reading depends on proper setup and how fast the processor is in the LCD unit. A skimmer Xducer on the back of the transom set at the perfect depth and angle is a must. If the depth it's cutting the water is wrong, it's going to get aeration (bubbles passing under it). In my Javelin I ran an in dash, Lowrance Gen1 HDS-5 on it's own skimmer Xducer. I could fairly reliably get depth readings (that's depth only) up to approximately 45mph. Faster than that and the processor was too slow. My in dash flasher I had in it before installing the HDS-5 would work at 60 mph. The HDS 5 would read depth at faster speeds but you started getting interruptions in the readout. Even with everything mounted perfect, the processor speed in the unit is the main determining factor. Some units have a flasher mode that processes faster than the chart mode and will read at faster speeds

Don't get me wrong, it will make a wonderful fishing platform. If the money is not a problem, get it, you and your kids will thoroughly enjoy it. Ya'll will really appreciate the size. I had an 18'6" before the 20' and it got small really quick with me, my dad and granddaughter fishing from it. I used mine for 15 years and still had to think long and hard about selling it, even after it sat sometimes a year or more between uses for the past few years. At 75, and no fishing partner, fishing trips were just not that enjoyable anymore. I still have my jon boat and it has only been used a couple of times since I sold my bass boat. Someone mentioned a deep sided boat with the kids, I never felt mine was unsafe even in the choppiest water with white caps, it was very stable and rode like a dream in rough water. I will mention, you being a newbie to boats, especially one like that. That will be in the neighborhood of an 80mph boat and can turn deadly really quick. Being new to boats and trying to drive it 80mph ain't nothing like getting in your car and driving 80mph. Think of it like having never driven a race car and then trying to drive an Indy car in a race.

Sounds like you are like most of us and want a really nice boat. I guess if you can afford that kind of boat, you are not worried about the operating costs and the fact it takes a full-size pickup to safely tow it. One of the main reasons I sold my 20' with a 225 (that was paid for) was the main lake I liked to fish "Clarks Hill" was 90 miles and between the gas for the boat and truck it was costing me $100+ dollars just for gas. Even if you do one of those near lifetime payment plans where there is no possible way to never not to be upside down on the loan, the payments are not half the cost of actually owning and operating the boat. That's why so many of them get repo'd, the owner can't afford to pay thousands of dollars between its value and what they owe on it, just to get rid of it. The old saying goes, "the bigger the boat, the bigger the hole if makes in the water to throw money in" so if you have any reservations about getting that size boat, you might want to give serious considerations to something smaller.

I've used Lexan to make a few but, in most cases, you end up taking them off rather than installing them. If you use most any of the modern sonars, it's very common to mount one on top of the console, and if you do, it usually requires removing the windshield to make room for it. It's either that or using a swing arm off to the side and a lot of times those are in the way. The reason for Lexan and not plexiglass, Lexan won't break when bending it and with a little skill and heat gun you can make it in most any shape you want. Plexiglass will break in a heartbeat if the temp is not right when bending it. Also note a little too much heat will ruin it, makes bubbles and a foggy spot and not enough heat will make ugly bends. To answer your question, for that old of a boat, I would seriously doubt you will find one that doesn't have to be custom made for it.

How old of a boat? The main think with buying an older boat is how it has been stored. The thing is, it's not 100% fiberglass and most all the older boats have a lot of wood in them and wood rots it left exposed to the elements. Depending on how old, back in the 80's they were putting open cell flotation foam in them. That stuff would get saturated with water and add a lot of weight and cause more wood rot if the boat is left exposed and it was almost impossible to get it dried out without replacing the foam. There are some good, old boats, but there are a whole lot more junk ones than good ones and you really need to know what to look for. Being a novice boat person, try to find a repair facility or someone very knowledgeable of them and see if you could make arrangements for them to make a quick inspection of one if you brought it in and what they would charge. Trust me, that will probably be some of the best money you could spend, I could list a whole host of things I do to check boats, but I have found most people won't follow them. It seems they think all they have to do is look at one and determine if it's good or not. Some are very obviously junk, but those that are not so obvious can be just as big of a piece of junk. Most repair work is cost prohibitive at today's material cost and labor rates.

I don't know much about Mercuries but know a lot about motors. Whether it's safe to do or not is going to depend on the ECM and Mass Air Flow Sensor, if it has one. It's naturally going to increase air flow into the motor, meaning it going to need more fuel to maintain the proper fuel air ratio. If it's basically a dumb system that is preset at the factory and the ECM can't compensate for that increase flow, it's going to make the motor run leaner. This will give it a few more horsepower but will also raise the exhaust gas temperatures, possibly to the point of cause pre detonation (which damages pistons and breaks rings) or even enough to melt the center out of the piston. Neither of which Mercury would cover under warranty because you modified the motor. One cool morning (cool humid air makes more HP) you head out WOT down the lake thinking "man this thing is running good" and suddenly you hear this sickening sound that a melted piston makes, and the motor loses power, it's going to ruin your day. You might think you can just put it back before taking it to the shop, but "ANY" mechanic will know what happened as soon as they pull the head off. With all that said, I'm not saying you can't but without some way of measuring EGT's or fuel air mixture, you are rolling the dice, and you might end up rolling craps. I personally would not want to risk the price of a new power head for a couple more HP.

Here's how I would chase this rabbit. The first thing I would do is get my hands on a battery tester, something like one of these. Amazon.com: TOPDON BT100 Car Battery Tester 12V Load Tester, 100-2000 CCA Automotive Alternator Tester Digital Auto Battery Analyzer Charging Cranking System Tester for Car Truck Motorcycle ATV SUV Boat Yacht : Automotive and check each batteries actual capacity/percent of charge. First check them before using them. Then check them again after using them until they are showing the 12.1 VDC. 12.1 VDC is typically about 30% charge, you want to see if that is what the battery is actually testing at. It's not uncommon to have a bad connection that's creating a voltage drop between the battery and the electronics, causing the electronics to show a lower voltage than the battery actually is. If the batteries are actually at approximately 12.1 volts as the electronics is showing, then you have to look at the batteries, because one or both are bad. Connected in parallel, if one is bad, it's going to pull the other battery down with it, so they have to be checked individually, so disconnect them from parallel and only run on one battery at the time. If you have a load tester, you can just load test each one separately, but without one, you just need to run each one individually. I would not think all the electronics combined would be drawing more that 3 - 5 amps, (without live well pumps running) and just one battery should run that for 20 hours or more. Another thing to consider, just because BPS installed them new, does not mean they were new. If they sat on the shelf for months before getting sold, they could very well have been junk, right from the start. If they have the date stickers on them, see what it shows. One thing, if you are going to own a bass boat, a good battery tester is one of those must have devices if you want to save yourself some headaches. I just noticed they advertise that unit as a LOAD TESTER, that's not exactly correct, so don't know how they call it that. A LOAD TESTER places a very heavy amp load on the battery to see how well it will hold its voltage and how quickly it recovers afterwards. That unit is not going to load a battery.