striperone

I have to agree with everyone here on this. Using a cooler for your livewell is not only cheap to buy and build, you can use it as a cooler if you want ;D It's simple to build, easy to carry and remove from your boat as well. I'm sure it's your best option. Scottie

Way2slow hit the nail on the head in regards to octane. I don't have to add a thing to that post. Fuel Stabilizer. I have owned a bass boats for over 25 years. I had never added stabilizer because I would always run my boat all season long including through the winter months and not once experienced a problem. BUT, one year I didn't take the boat out during the winter, come spring the motor wouldn't run (carburated merc bridgeport) $400.00 in repairs to the gummed up fuel system put me back on the water. Not to mention that my boat was at the repair shop for over a month in the spring. So needless to say I would recommend using the stabilizer.

I live in Maryland and have bought boats from Pa. in the past both new and used. Pa. can not do the department of motor vehicle or the department of natural recourses paper work for you in Maryland. You have to do it yourself. Meaning you personally have to go to the DMV and DNR to pay your taxes and transfer tags and titles etc. If you are buying the boat used, just make sure you have the original documents and that they are filled out correctly and completely, otherwise you will have to make another trip.

The Lowrance merger has been in the works for a long time and it's not been until recently that the law suites created by it have come to head. With a merger or the sale of a company, you cannot just abandon product warranties. Laws protect us from that. Of course if the company folds, that's a different story. Also just because you are a "dealer" of a product doesn't mean that you will get notice of a company's intentions to sell, close or merge. Sometimes you will be the last to know. fishin_fool, Call Lowrance directly. They will give you the PROPER information concerning the repair or replacement of your unit. Lowrance has the best warrantee and replacement agreements around.

There are a number of mods for the Ray motors. Just depends on how far and how fast you want to go. Adding speed will decrease runtime no matter what (unless you are lightning your raft). In other words leaving your partner at the ramp... Add an additional 6 or 12 volts to the battery pack. A sixty volt motor jumped up to 66 or 72 volts. Note: you can't do this with some of Ray's newer outboards, This would be the 48 volt models that use the Briggs and Sratton electric motor. They have had alot of problems with this particular motor and it certainly won't take the abuse of adding voltage. That's if you haven't had problems already? Add Voltage Add timing to the existing motor. Discard the existing electric motor and replace it with a larger one. Change the pitch of the prop.

T_Dot, Don't be fooled by the price of this motor. The 2400.00 is for the price of the powerhead only, and it's only rated at 24volts. At 24volts the motor will NOT produce any amount of speed that justifies it's cost. It would also be much cheaper to buy an edrive. You have to jump this motor up to 48 or 60 volts to get it to go. At this point you will have a very fast motor. Pumping this motor up to 60 volts will increase your amp draw as well. A whopping 130 amps! But it is FAST, and it will beat an unmodified Ray outboard motor (that draw 80amps). This motor, running at 60volts including the Yamaha lower unit cost $7000.00 (NOT including the 10-6volt batteries.)(that's another 800.00) 5200.00 for a Ray. read the last parts of this thread Click Here

Low_Budget_Hookers, The motor is very pricey. Their fastest motor cost around $7000.00 NOT including batteries. It also draws 130amps. It has some very unique features to it like a water cooled motor and controller. I have had the opportunity to ride in a boat powered by this motor and I can say first hand, "its fast" In comparing it to a RAY, there are advantages and disadvantages. A Ray draws 80amps, compared to 130 (both a full tilt boogie) A Ray cost 5300.00 compared to 7000.00. (neither include batteries, an additional 800.00) The reservoir motor includes a factory Yamaha trim and tilt, the Ray does not. The Ray motor produces 270 lbs of thrust. The Reservoir motor does not advertise it's thrust, but I can tell you it is FASTER. Neither of these motors are for everyone. But if you run electric motor only reservoirs, they are a MUST HAVE.

TD's the man! On an electric only boat, and if you can carry the weight (?) His setup is the best way to go... Every displacement hull, bass boats, jon boats etc. has a theoretical hull speed. In order to go faster then this theoretical speed you would need enough horsepower to be able to lift the boat up on plane. If you calculate this most boats equal about 5 to 6mph. Here in Maryland where there is mostly Electric Only lakes, this theoretical speed is exceeded by most that run the Electric outboards such as a Ray etc. We have displacement hulls that will run almost 10mph with fishing gear... Scottie Too Hottie

Tinkerr, Running a 9.9 just allows you to run a bigger prop. You said you have bought a new motor. What horsepower and who is it make by? Another thing you should consider is changing out those old solenoids for a pulse width speed controller. You will not only extend your run time but will have a full variable speed capabilities as well. No more jerky take offs or speed changes either. Standard lower horse powered outboards use either a 1.7:1 or 2.0:1 gear ratio. The newer Yamaha High torque motor uses 2.9:1. Remember that efficiently is gained dramatically by running a relatively big prop at lower speeds. As TD has pointed out you may have to change your "love joy connectors" to match any spline or diameter differences between the motor and the lower unit shaft. If you live in Maryland, Grainger has them. You can buy them individually or in pairs. It is also built on the Yamaha's lower unit. I have a Ray Electric Outboard after many years of building my own. This one has some good specs, but it's not yet proven in longevity or maintenance free as with the Ray's. Scottie Too Hottie

Tinkerr, somehow I missed your post? Changing up to a larger prop should prove to be faster in your circumstance. Your best bet would be to run a 9.9 lower unit. They can be hard to find around here especially at a reasonable cost. You need to remember that a the best Electric powered outboards run a big prop turned at relatively lower rpms. (lower then the gas motor you are discarding) This will give you the best speed while still maintaining a reasonable amp draw / runtime. In just about all situations, the faster you go the more you will pay. This is true for not only the money spent, but in your runtimes as well. So keep that in mind when your making changes. Are you running solenoids to control the motors speed or a PWM (pulse width modulation) controller? If you can find one (?) the new 9.9 Yamaha High torque lower unit would serve you perfectly. It's now the electric motor builders lower unit of choice. It's gearing and prop is much better suited for this application, and it's not available with either a merc or johnson.

Hotfoots have their pro's and con's. For safety normally yes. If you were to come out of the boat the throttle would drop back down to idle. But the boat would still be in gear and idling around with no one on board. If you were wearing your safety leash when you were thrown from the boat the motor would have shut off completely so there isn't any advantage here unless you don't wear the leash anyway. In rough water you can sometimes have a hard time maintaining a consistent speed as when your bouncing around so is your foot, so is your throttle. It is also less tiring to use the shifter for speed control vs a hotfoot for long runs down the lake or river. You will still have your "gear shifter" when running a hotfoot. Your throttle cable will be removed from it (and from the boat motor) and discarded. You will need a longer throttle cable for the new installation, because it will now need to be longer to reach the hotfoot pedal. Operation of it is similar to your car. Your shifter to go forward and reverse, your hotfoot for the gas. Remember you still don't have brakes! Installation is fairly simple if your the least bit mechanically inclined. A word of warning! Be extremely careful about running the screws through the hotfoot down into the floor. If your screws are too long the WILL go down through your HULL as well as the floor. Personally, I like the hotfoot, but it isn't for everyone...

Evidently it was a drug runners boat that was confiscated on the english channel. Supposedly it is Extremely fast...and I would have no doubts about it. It looks like something Yamaha would put together as a sales ploy. But then Merc would come out and say it only takes half those motors to go that fast if you were running our motors...

Well....it will but it won't, it's a displacement thing. Don't use the spray insulation that is used for your house to fill holes and the such. This type of foam is known as open cell and it will wick and hold water. If it gets wet it will add weight to your boat, never dry out and cause fungus growth. What you are looking for is "closed cell foam". Be warned it is more expensive and as far as I know it only comes in a two part "pourable" version, (not sprayed out of a can).

I don't think anyone could have summed it up better than Way2slow has... No need to ask anything else just read his last post...