jbuchanan

I know this thread is a tad old, but I was searching about Ultrex and 16' john boat opinions. I too am looking to upgrade TM. I am looking to go from my 12v MK Terrova to a 24v MK 80lb Ultrex. I was wonder if OP did the upgrade and how it has been going or any other's experiences. I too am tad concerned of the overall room it will take up or if it will be somewhat similar to the Terrova footprint. Obviously the Ultrex is going to be bigger but a lot or not as much as one would think. I believe my Terrova is 45" shaft and the Ultrex I am eying is a 52". Reason I am more interested in 52" is I can swap it to bigger boat down the road if I upgrade boats in future. I know the additional battery weight is also a concern. Right now I am running a Group 31 AGM for TM and Group 27 Wet for starting/electronics. With the boat only being 16' would Group 27s be sufficient for the Ultrex or should I look at min Group 29s. I am not one to worry about speed. I have run 3 batteries in it before (2 in parallel to help TM last longer), sat the back in down a little but boat ran fairly well. I do have a 60hp Merc 4s pushing this boat. Any suggestions / experiences / advice is more than welcome Thanks in advance

I agree with the responses on upgrading to 24v system for your boat. As well buying new batteries dedicated to trolling motor from same manufacturer and age. Check the current wire gauge running to your trolling motor plug as well as the plug specs. Being a bass boat it might be pre-wired already to push a 24v setup, but that all depends on the model TM you are looking to install they all seem to have different electric draws at wot. Not sure your current 12v TM model but some of them 12v TMs pull more amps than a 24v from what I have researched. Bigger the wire gauge (lower awg is bigger gauge) the less power loss from battery to trolling motor. Another idea might be to move the current TM battery to be used for your cranking battery depending on the draw the outboard needs. Many of the deep cycle batteries now a days are dual purpose bats. Might be an idea if you are running a good deal of electronics thru your cranking battery.

All: I know this thread is a little old, but I am looking to add livescope to my rig. Currently I have two older model Gamins on my boat. I have a Ecomap 93sv at the helm and a Ecomap 73dv at the bow. I know these are the older versions and are not the plus units. I need to link both so I can share waypoints. The bow graph runs through the built in transducer on the Minn Kota Terrova TM which isn't ideal seeing you can only see 2D. Having waypoints sharing would be an improvement as I can locate from helm, mark and setup from front. Now to the bigger question. What graph should I lean more towards for the livescope. I am torn between the GPSMAP 1222 or the Ultra 102/106. If you recommend the 102/106 is 102 just as good seeing I wouldn't need additional mapping the 106 provides (I believe that is the only difference in the 102 vs 106). I have a smaller boat (16' Lowe aluminum). Would the 12" be a tad too big for the smaller boat as there might not be enough room to mount with the already 7" graph up there and the TM? I know the ultra's are touchscreens which I miss. I am trying to stick around the max of $3500 ideally. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as reading thru this thread has been very helpful. Thanks in advance, Jake

Bruce424 Out of the three boats you mentioned, myself personally would lean toward the Classic XL. Price wise it is mid pack when you look at the standard package with the motors they offer before paying extra for upgrading. If you were to go apple to apples on motor size the XL would be cheaper out of the three. I would strongly suggest get the largest motor the boat can handle. If you are light on motor any extra gear or people you add in boat will dramatically effect its performance on smaller boats. I think the 40hp and 50hp motors are very similar and most might recommend the 40hp anyways because i believe it is a much more common motor. A couple other major factors to consider with the XL over the others is the overall width, beam width and length difference than the other two. The XL is wider and longer which in turn will make for a much more comfortable outing on the lake and allows for more gear weight. The wider the boat the more stable it will be when you are standing up fishing. Smaller al boats can get pushed around easily in the lightest amount of wind and a narrow boat makes it even harder to keep balance when fighting getting blown around. Another positive is the thickness of aluminum (hull material) over the Pro 160. You will bang the boat on rocks and timber at some point of time and you will want as thick of hull material as possible. I do like the Grizzly's as well due to ruggedness. Myself I prefer no carpet because fishing in rain or getting deck wet is going to happen and wet carpet doesn't smell great in garage esp over time as boat get used more and more. Not to mention no carpet makes cleaning a breeze. If you are on a specific budget the Grizzly might not be for you unless you can find a used one. The reason i state that is you will have to equip it with trolling motor, fish finder and etc. Though it is nice to do it yourself because you get what you want. The XL is also coming with a break away tongue to make storage in almost any standard garage work. I would strongly suggest visiting a local Bass Pro and crawl around on each of these model of boats. Everyone is different and fits different people's needs/wants. If you look around on used market you can sometimes find great deals on these size/types of boats. Sometimes they are tough to find because they are in general to rest of boating world more economic to afford and people tend not to unload them as quickly. I personally have had a 16' jon boat with kitted 9.9hp (due to local lake restrictions) was a great boat for smaller local lakes and now have a 16' john boat with 60hp 4s and love it. Feel free to hit me up with any additional questions and I will be more than happy to help. Good luck and stay safe out there. I also assume you have read and been following this forum topic? This thread is awesome and these guys have come up with some ingenuous affordable upgrades and tricks to trick out these johnnies. I love following this thread.

Mako makes a 15' skiff. Below is link the 2020 15' skiff but they also have a 2019 model as well that you might be able to get slightly cheaper https://www.makoboats.com/boat/?boat=5009

Just because your state might not require boat insurance the lakes that you boat on may require it. Like everyone else mentioned it is just good practice to have regardless if required or not. It is too cheap not to have it.

Nice additions. Good choices.

Recently moved up to DFW area (Midlothian), I know this is a bass fishing forum but I am looking to start stock freezer with some gills and crappie. Wondering if anyone knows of good lakes around DFW.

I would go with the HDS Gen 3. The touch screen option is rather nice but you also have the normal button functions as well. The other plus is you can link other units to the Gen 3 and share info

Did you check out this graph at Bass Pro? https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/Garmin-EchoMAP-93SV-CHIRP-Fishfinder-and-Chartplotter-with-LakeVu-HD-Maps It includes maps. $100 over the $500 you mentioned but it is a 9" screen instead of 7". I am in the market for a new graph myself and would ideally like to stick around same price range you mentioned. I just would like to have a 9" at console and eventually go after a similar size for front of boat next year. Just not in budget to get two right at moment.

Noticed what seems to be a pretty solid deal on this FF at Bass Pro. I was thinking about picking up this unit for a temporary graph on console and possibly purchasing one of the Plus models come next year and moving the regular chirp to bow and installing plus model on console. Question(s): Does anyone know if one can link the regular EchoMap to a plus version and just utilize one transducer? Thanks in advance.

Thanks for heads up. I just purchased one myself this morning

From my past experience the registration numbers are issued by the state in which you register. I am not sure if you can request specific numbers like auto license plates. Once registration is processed they will send you paperwork back with your registration numbers

@PECothanks for the insight. I did like the Triton 179s too but just knew they wouldn't work. Would love to have FG again. No worries on scaring me because I am thinking I will most likely have to look closer at the Crestliner Storm 1700s. Which appear to be a pretty solid backup option. If money wasn't the issue I would go after the Bass Cat Margay. Appears BassCat does take the customers in consideration and offers custom trailers to accommodate people in similar situations as me..... I had a Basscat Jaguar years back and them things are beasts. They handle rough water better than most. I put them right up there with Rangers on handling rough water.

@PECo I hear you on the builders not putting itself in the shoes of the customer. My issue with going to dealer is the closest one is 100 miles from me. I am notorious for bringing a tape measure with me when I look at boats. I am hoping I can get some good responses on here that will help in either checking these models off the shortlist or not. Before I buy this time, I will make sure next boat fits the garage. No way do I want to pay storage fees anymore.