Any Pelican Bass Raider Owners Out There?

[Murphy S. Law]

19 hours ago, J Francho said:

USCG Rules:

 

The manner in which numbers are to be displayed on vessels is prescribed under Title 33 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 173.27. The basic tenets of the regulation are, the numbers must 1) be painted on or permanently attached to both sides of the forward half of the vessel, 2) be in plain vertical block characters of not less than 3 inches in height, 3) contrast with the color of the background and be distinctly visible and legible, 4) have spaces or hyphens that are equal in width to a letter or number other than "I" or "1" between the letter and number groupings, and 5) read from left to right.

Yep, read that, was just wondering if anyone was using larger than the minimum requirement of 3” on their raiders. I’ve seen one on YouTube that used larger custom printed decals. I believe he goes by “The Mechanical Owl”. He has a lot of great looking mods on his. Thanks.

[J Francho]

Larger than three inches is not less than three inches.

 

As long as it's in block letters and in a contrasting color, it complies.

[kentropy]

I picked up a Minn Kota power center to use with a Minn Kota 45 lb bow mount TM.  The power center has a 60 Amp breaker but the TM requires a 50 amp.  I believe all Minn Kotas below 50 lbs require a 50 Amp breaker but reading through this forum, it seems a lot of people use the 60 amp power center with smaller trolling motors that should require a smaller breaker or fuse.   Is that a problem or is the difference between a 50 vs 60 amp breaker not significant enough to worry about?  Do people add a 50 amp fuse to the box (sad to not use the built in breaker, which was half the reason why I bought the box.)  Thanks 

 

New to forum, read it all

Sportsman Angler 10’

 

[Murphy S. Law]

On 12/23/2018 at 1:09 AM, kentropy said:

I picked up a Minn Kota power center to use with a Minn Kota 45 lb bow mount TM.  The power center has a 60 Amp breaker but the TM requires a 50 amp.  I believe all Minn Kotas below 50 lbs require a 50 Amp breaker but reading through this forum, it seems a lot of people use the 60 amp power center with smaller trolling motors that should require a smaller breaker or fuse.   Is that a problem or is the difference between a 50 vs 60 amp breaker not significant enough to worry about?  Do people add a 50 amp fuse to the box (sad to not use the built in breaker, which was half the reason why I bought the box.)  Thanks 

 

New to forum, read it all

Sportsman Angler 10’

 

I'm no electrician, but I believe the way it works is that you can have more than is needed, just not less. In other words, as long as you have a breaker that is more than the required 50 amps, it should be good. But... if you had a trolling motor that required, say 75 amps, it would keep tripping the 60 amp breaker. I hope that makes sense, and I hope I am right, because I just bought the power center and a minn kota 45lb. trolling motor also. ?

[Bolar]

Well, if your motor calls for 50 amps use that.  If you use a larger breaker, you run the risk of frying your wiring/motor if you pull more than 50 amps.  Don't use a lower amp breaker, you might be tripping it all of the time for no good reason and become frustrated with the situation.  What other people get away with...that should be another thread. 

[Murphy S. Law]

20 hours ago, Bolar said:

Well, if your motor calls for 50 amps use that.  If you use a larger breaker, you run the risk of frying your wiring/motor if you pull more than 50 amps.  Don't use a lower amp breaker, you might be tripping it all of the time for no good reason and become frustrated with the situation.  What other people get away with...that should be another thread. 

Yep, U are correct about the wiring being at risk if you draw more than what the wiring is spec’d for. My research shows that the raider comes with 8g wiring. By Minn Kota specs., that will do for up to 45lb trolling motors. If I remember right, once you use a 50-55lb trolling motor they show using 6g wiring. This is the reason I did not get the 55 myself. And at 45 max amps, I trust the 60 amp breaker, and the 8g wiring that MinnKota specs.

[Murphy S. Law]

Also, I removed the inline fuse that comes with the wiring in the back of the boat. I have heard others say that even though they have a power center with the 60 amp breaker, the inline fuse is rated much lower and if they get into heavy weeds/grass, it burns the fuse up and never allows the 60 amp breaker to do its job, leaving them motor-less. Just food for thought.

[kentropy]

Thanks everyone.  I guess the real question is what happens if you have a 45 ft lb motor that has a max amp rating of 50 A (and has specs that require a 50 amp fuse/breaker) but you use the power center with a built in 60 amp breaker and you get stuck in the weeds so your motor starts to strain and pulls 59 Amps.  Will the motor blow before the 60 Amp breaker on the power center even triggers.     I suspect most people running this setup don’t have an issue because manufacturers build a little wiggle room into their ratings, but I decided to not chance it and returned the power center.  Besides having too high of a rating on the breaker, it’s too tall to fit under the seat easily.  Nice concept but not perfect.  Now I just need warm weather in Ohio to actually test things out on water that won’t kill me if I fall in.  Thanks again

[Hi-Powered Red Neck]

Hello folks I'm new to this group. Like a lot of you, I have a Bass raider 10E. I had been searching for a used one for a number of years. I've gone and looked at a couple that were beat to death and of different makes. I found the one I've got now on Craigslist shortly before Christmas. My wife was nice enough to buy it for me as an early Christmas present. She talked the guy down to $300 and we loaded in my truck. Did I mention all this took place in the rain? I'd post some pics but I'm at work and will be till the 23rd. 

    When I got it, The boat was unmodified. It came with the old style non foldable seats, paddle, mushroom anchor, and most importantly a title. I had a Minn Kota 32lb thrust Trolling motor tucked away in the garage. Let the games begin. Now to be open I have a 17' Bass boat, 25' offshore boat, and I'm a Chief engineer on a 300' offshore supply vessel. You could say boats are my second language. First day home I robbed a battery out of the bass boat, replaced one of the seats with a folding seat I had on the shelf secured the TM to the bow and launched the Raider in my backyard pond. The maiden voyage went fine but I quickly noticed the TM wouldn't clamp tight enough to stay secure, I needed a deck and a bigfoot button. Not a problem. To Lowes I went, I picked up a 3/8" piece of ply wood and had them rip in two pieces. 20" for the "test" Floor and the remainder for general purpose. I also picked up a Trolling motor plug and socket to replace the stock unit. That was a simple install. To remedy the clamping issue I was having I cut a small piece of the left over plywood to the exact size as the front motor mount on the boat. I removed the two screw on the inside and used them to secure the wood. The trolling motor jaws open just wide enough to fit and they bite really well on the wood. Problem solved. I had to go back to work I returned home the day after Christmas. We did our family Christmas the next morning. I got a Garmin 4(something) combo unit. Still not wanting to put holes in the hull I tried mounting the transducer to the tm foot and I mounted the unit on top of the trolling motor, robbing power from the motor. Basically making the Garmin and the motor one neat package. Works great in theory. Not so much in practice. Sitting still it works perfectly, turn on the motor not so good. Ok strike one. Wanting to be able to easily remove the motor the transducer needed to be moved as well. Theres more to the story but this is becoming a book. Stay tuned. To be continued. 

[Cliff Persick]

Hello .I am new to this also. I am interested in getting a two man. Was wandering, is this bass raider 10 e the most popular 2 man for mods?

[Hi-Powered Red Neck]

        Hello again. Lets see I last left off at,  strike one one with depth finder location. I promise I'll post pictures of my build when I get off the ship. However, I did not take any pictures of the Garmin mounted to the trolling motor. It was pretty slick but, as I mentioned before the electrical interference was horrible. So from there I decided to mount the transducer to the back of the hull.  Not wanting to put any screw holes below the water line, I decided I needed to install a mounting block. The back of the pontoons are rounder so simply gorilla glueing a piece of wood to the back would be a bit more complicated. No problem, I broke out the grinder. I cut a 6" pieces of 5/4 deck board that I had on hand and started sanding it to fit. I used a 36 grit flapper wheel on an angle grinder. A spindle sander would have been ideal but.... I don't have one. It took a bit of time but I managed fit the block fairly well to the shape of the hull. Next a liberal amount of Gorilla glue and I slapped it on the hull. I used Electrical tape to secure it in place till the glue dried. Duct tape would have probably been better, but I had electrical tape on hand. Once it was dry I simply screwed the bracket to the block and mounted the transducer, leaving the hinge bolt loose enough for the transducer to ratchet freely if it hits something. Transducer mounted, Check. I mounted the unit on the plywood flood and simply ran the wires along the edge of the floor securing them with insulated staples. As I mentioned this floor is the test piece. Once I fish it a few times I'll move things around till I like it. Then I'll worry about wire routing thru and under the floor.

          Another short coming I noticed after leaving the boat out in the rain was the lack of scuppers. Easy fix, road trip to West Marine. I picked up a 3/4" thru hull fitting, 3/4" bait well plug and a Bigfoot switch for the trolling motor. Back home I used a 1" hole saw to cut the hole for the thru hull fitting. I cut it in the molded recessed area in the stern. Ran a bead of 5200 around the fitting and stabbed it in the hole. Next a light bead around the mounting nut and tightened it as much as I could by hand, then one more full turn with pliers. The hull is hollow so I didn't want to over tighten. Once the 5200 sets up its permanent. I bought a plug for the drain just in case water comes in with me in the boat. Im happy to report it does not. I also picked up a cheap battery box from WalMart. I mounted the tie down strap brackets to the plywood in the stern with short brass screws. I mentioned before that I robbed this battery from my bass boat. Its a group 29 battery so its pretty stout as far as weight goes. When sitting empty in the water the battery keeps the stern just a touch lower this lets the new scupper work its magic. No more water in the boat. With out the expense of a bilge pump, automatic float switch, piping ect. 

      The Bigfoot switch was an easy install. I mounted it to the floor with short brass screws and ran the wires along the edge same as the depth finder. Cut and spliced into the negative wire going to the trolling motor plug. I did need to add a short piece, I simply matched the gauge that came stock with the boat. I think it's 10 gauge but I could be mistaken. So far thats all I've done. Once I'm happy with mounting locations I'll proceed with phase two. I will start with a new piece of plywood that I have on hand. Mainly because my first piece soaked overnight in rain water. I may possibly cover it with carpet or the anti fatigue mat from Harbor freight. Oh speaking of Harbor Freight I also built a simple dolly for the boat. But thats for another day. Stay Tuned.

[Bearsfan67205]

Does anyone have any ideas on a rudder for my pelican bass raider ? I would love to set up my troller motor up front instead of in back .  The only problem is without the rudder my boat moves all over the place .

[Hi-Powered Red Neck]

1 hour ago, Bearsfan67205 said:

Does anyone have any ideas on a rudder for my pelican bass raider ? I would love to set up my troller motor up front instead of in back .  The only problem is without the rudder my boat moves all over the place .

Several Ideas in this thread. This is what page 113. I've been reading it for several days now. Lots of good information here. Just start reading. Enjoy.

[Hi-Powered Red Neck]

     Ok gang here's my question. Has anyone taken their Raider or similar style boat in swift current river? I live in Florida so most the rivers in my area are sand bottom. I have the Shoal river near my house. It's a pretty swift very windee river. Theres 2 places to launch on opposite ends of town.  As the crow flies its maybe five miles as the river twists its a 4 to 5 hour journey. I can stage the wife's car at the lower end, launch at the upper end and have her take my truck to the lower landing. I've made the trip several times. Although it's been many years ago in a 13' fiberglass river boat. I wouldn't dream of doing it in my 17' Bass boat. My Pelican on the other hand....That opens a new can of worms. I have a 32lb Minn Kota mounted on the front. I'm seriously considering getting a 55 for the back using it for a rudder and extra power for longer transits. I shouldn't need to worry about battery power the river will do most of the work. Plus its a pretty new 29 series battery I would be using the motor to basically slow my progress and keep outta the snags. I'm sure its stable enough. Not having a gas motor back up is my issue, I guess. 

[OCdockskipper]

5 hours ago, Bearsfan67205 said:

Does anyone have any ideas on a rudder for my pelican bass raider ?

I originally carved a piece of Plexiglas & clamped it on to an old trolling motor shaft that I had cut the motor & head unit off.  Later, I ended up using this (https://bullnoseproducts.com/rudder/) on the same TM shaft and it has worked great for years.

[Dirt]

On 1/13/2019 at 11:25 AM, Bearsfan67205 said:

Does anyone have any ideas on a rudder for my pelican bass raider ? I would love to set up my troller motor up front instead of in back .  The only problem is without the rudder my boat moves all over the place .

If you balance enough weight to the rear it won’t need one. An extension handle on the trolling motor will help get your body back further 

On 11/26/2018 at 7:19 AM, Murphy S. Law said:

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I was actually able to start working a little on my new raider. I started with cutting 1/4" luan plywood for the floor. I then cut and fit some anti fatigue mats over that, that I bought at Harbor Freight for $7-8. 1 set came up 1/2 a piece short, so I bought 2 sets, and used the rest in my shop. I will prime/paint the luan for water proofing, and after any/all wiring of future mods is complete, I will velcro or double side tape the flooring to secure. I do want to be able to remove it easily when needed though. Cut width of luan was 20", and cut width for mat was 21".

 

 

That looks great. I’ve wanted to do something like this but nervous wind could get under it during highway trips somehow and fly out. Been thinking of a decent way to secure it

[J Francho]

17 minutes ago, Dirt said:

If you balance enough weight to the rear it won’t need one. An extension handle on the trolling motor will help get your body back further 

That looks great. I’ve wanted to do something like this but nervous wind could get under it during highway trips somehow and fly out. Been thinking of a decent way to secure it

Well nuts would do the trick.

[Dirt]

35 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Well nuts would do the trick.

That’s what I’ve been leaning towards. They’ve been mostly great for everything else I’ve attached on there

[Murphy S. Law]

1 hour ago, Dirt said:

That looks great. I’ve wanted to do something like this but nervous wind could get under it during highway trips somehow and fly out. Been thinking of a decent way to secure it

Thanks. I didn't get around to securing it yet, and after taking the raider out for the first time this past Saturday, I really don't know if I will. I had all of my gear, tackle box, chair strapped upside down, carpeted deck, trolling motor and rudder laying in the floor while riding, and it didn't budge with all that stuff on top of it. I will post more pics of what I have accomplished on it so far soon.

[Murphy S. Law]

Here is my rudder.

[Hi-Powered Red Neck]

3 hours ago, Murphy S. Law said:

Here is my rudder.

Thats a new style trolling motor bracket! Must have been a Motor Guide to give up so soon. Just Kidding, LOL I've been waiting patiently (18years) for my 32lb Minn Kota to die. I really do like the looks of that. I was thinking about buying a new 55lb for the stern and adding a rudder to that. I've noticed if I sit farther back I don't have as many problems with it wandering. I'm in the 270 - 280 lb range, so I can make it pop a wheelie. lol.

[Murphy S. Law]

Yep new bracket. I think it was  $33 on eBay. I couldn’t find a used one. Here is more on my rudder...

[Murphy S. Law]

Replaced bolts with eye bolts to use bungee cord. This keeps the free swinging arm in place if an obstacle is encountered. Also a pic of a pin with a cotter pin to keep the lever latch on the bracket open to allow the rudder to free swing for obstacles.

[Hi-Powered Red Neck]

I like it even better now! Outstanding Idea. What did you use for the shaft? PVC or did a shaft come with the bracket?

[Murphy S. Law]

1 hour ago, Hi-Powered Red Neck said:

I like it even better now! Outstanding Idea. What did you use for the shaft? PVC or did a shaft come with the bracket?

3/4” x 30” metal pipe at Lowe’s in the plumbing section. I believe around $13 for this length.