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just got a new boat- need help- ideas


jwmiller33

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Ok so I just purchased my first boat last month! It is a 1980 something 16 ft Lund (S-16 Delux). It has a 20 hp Mercury. I am going to have about 6 weeks after my internship gets over (March 14) until fishing opener to work on it everyday and fix it up and get it ready for opener. No work, no school, just several trips to Gander, Menards, and Fleet Farm to get everything I need. This boat needs a lot of work to get into the condition I want it in.

Here are some pictures of the boat.. you could call them the "before pictures"... I got the boat for $1,000, which I think is a great deal. There was a divorce, and the wife got the boat JUST so her X husband couldn't get it, then she turned around and sold it on C-list to me for a great deal!

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Ok, so here is a list of everything I am planning on doing to it. Everybody out there who has a boat, throw in some suggestions of things I should add to make the fishing experience as good as possible, whether it be like lights or cup holders or whatever you suggest! Here is a list of things I am going to do to it:

- Fish finder/GPS combo, mounted in the back next to the driver's seat.

-Wire up a bow and stern light, wiring thru gunnel.

-Going to add either 2 or 4 12 in strip LED lights so you can see in the boat when you are landing fish and what not in the dark

-Getting a transom mount MinnKota trolling motor

-Bought a $20 marine compass, mounting it in the back of boat on one of the wooden benches. In case the GPS ever stops working or you run out of battery and are on a lake your not familiar with, I like having the backup of having the second compass, just in case.

-I am going to strip out all of that old wood and buy new wood, stain it, and put it in, along with getting 2 nice red and silver seats from FleetFarm to match my boat color.

-Going to get one of those like 40 or 50 inch rulers you can stick on the side of your boat so its easy to quickly measure fish and get them in the water fast.

-i'm going to get the clamps for the stern light for when its not in use

anybody have any suggestions of accessories to add?

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cabelas makes some clamp on ones that go on the side. thats what i will be getting. i would also repaint the boat since it looks like the trailer has alreadly been redone. paints pretty cheap if you have the tools and ambition.

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i know. i really want to paint it but i just dont want to go thru all the work of doing it. i think that is going to be my project for next year.

cabelas makes clamp on rod holders? are they very strudy? do they work well? they just clamp on on the side of the boat/gunnel?

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That's a nice setup for the price. Sad that anyone wins when another dude's boat is held hostage.

I'd roll it over and power wash the crud off. You could flip the seat boards over and have a pretty good surface to reseal with some sanding. A lot of other things make sense as you're doing them like making a battery or fish box work in the center split bench.

You might want to consider a pvc or some such pipe to run wires along the lower rivet line to get bow and stern lights.

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yea there plenty sturdy and they just clamp on the side, look on cabelas HSOforum. ive used them on my uncles boat and will be getting some for mine this year. i got a boat similar to yours. 1990 16ft lund pro pike thats been coverted into a duck boat also. i basiclly redid the whole thing. painting it wasnt that hard a good afternoon and you should be able to spray the first coat of paint. but its up to you. BTW you should change your profile picture lol wink

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congrats,

did about the same thing with my first boat. i also added plywood flooring and covered everything with outdoor carpeting. make sure the motor gets a go through by someone knowledgable. it would suck to have a great looking rowboat. have fun with your new boat!

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I got a very cheap boat in Feb 09 and had a blast in the garage getting her all set up. Fish Lectronics had factory refurbished 50 lb Enduras for $180. I picked one of those up a few weeks ago.

The trailer looks nice!

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Instead of 12 in LED lights, and since you'll be at Cabela's anyway, buy the 6 foot LED strip. It's only like 15 bucks, and will more than be enough for your boat. I'm putting some into my Crestliner before soft water hits. They run on a battery that you can hardwire in, since you'll need one for your fishfinder anyway.

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ok guys, i went into paint and drew up what i am going to be doing...

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i have a question.. i am planning to have a 12V battery in that middle compartment there. will i be able to run the bow and stern light, the trolling motor, depth/fish finder, 2 interior 12 inch LED lights all on the one battery???

if i do have all those hooked up to my battery, how do i wire all that stuff? i know someone said i should use a switch for the lights, i want to have all 4 lights wired into one switch, either on or off for all of the lights. do i need to have a switch for the trolling motor and depth finder?

how do i hook all of these things up to the battery? is 1 battery sufficient for this amount of needed energy?

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the trolling motor already has a switch on it for on/off .1 thing for sure you need to use fuses for what you are planning and i would not rely on just 1 batt. keep electronics sept. from trolling for 1 thing . if you use the trollmotor alot it will kill the lights in notime so get a fuse panel, some of the newer 1's have swithches already built on them so check them out. the length/ gauge of wire is also going to play a factor. for the light 12-16 gauge wire will do fine.you dont want to use no solid wire like that is used in the house.more like whats on the trl.lights. for the troll keep the batt. close to it and use a large/gauge wire but this also depends on what trol motor u have and what type,transom mounted or foot control.i have mounted bout type on the bow of the types of boatseven the transom mounted 1's just take apart the head and spend it around. if you need more help just howller

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ok so for the trolling motor, its a 30lb thrust minnkota, and that is going to be running off of a 12V deep cycle marine battery... what kind of battery should I get for the lights and GPS/fish finder? can i get a smaller/cheaper battery since it will jsut be used for the bow and stern light, 2 LED lights, and the GPS/fishfinder?

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i would also get a bilge pump. i got one in mine and for when it gets went its nice to get all the water outa the boat, my floor is about 3inchs high from the bottom of the boat but you still have all that water sluashing around. or if you happen to forget to put the plug in wink

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If battery space is an issue, think about using one of those small 12v batteries that come with a Vex. I have one for my Eagle finder on my 14' glass Lund john-boat and it goes forever on one charge. Also, if you have to pull and haul batteries for recharging, it's a lot easier than lugging one of those deep cycles around. If you go with a small manual bilge pump, you can run it off that too (unless the water's up to the gunnels). Neither of those draws much juice

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JW, I'd be surprised if those would be enough juice to power things for long...maybe they're stronger than I think. I used to use a motorcycle battery (in my canoe) for strictly lights and I could go 1 (all) night, so...

I really think unless you're going to be running lights frequently all night that 1 good size deep cycle will do it all, no problem. Thats all I ever used. Seems to me those LED lights use less juice too.

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traveler- so your saying 1 12 V deep cycle battery will be enough to power the trolling motor AND lights? the lights will not be used a lot or for extended periods of time.. maybe just like a hr or two for after dark fishing if i am on a hot bite or just using for when it gets dark out and driving back to the boat launch...

Or should I get one battery just for the trolling motor and one battery just for the lights and GPS?

traveler, you can shoot me an email or give me your address? i wanna shoot you an email so we can make plans to meet up when i am in duluth on the third week of march

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Dtro-are you talking 1 battery just for the lights? or for the trolling motor AND lights?

like i said, i wont be using the lights ALL the time.. maybe an hr here or 2 hrs there. i dont do a lot of night fishing but iwth the new boat and lights, i will be tempted ot try it out now and then. GPS/fish finder will always be on tho.

1 batt? or 2?

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One battery will be plenty, unless you plan on trolling all day with the trolling motor set at the highest speed. Get a good deep cycle (Interstate makes a good battery) and take care of it.

You should be good.

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