Livewells?

[fishface5]

I have a 14' lund. I want to put a livewell in the middle bench seat. anybody have any ideas as to what will fit in there for the tank? I'll have to double check the mesurements but I think they are about 11"x12"x30". I have no flat floor, and I think I'm going to put the intake and drain holes straight throught he hull in the middle seat area. (So there are no hoses or wires exposed.) I'm thinking of haveing it's own battery too. either locator, or smaller deep cycle. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[BDR]

Fishface- I don't think that putting intake on bottom would be a wise option. Give any speed and water will rush in over flowing your well. I would think of a way to box-in hoses and elect wires.

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When the fish are bitin don't get out of the boat!

Brian Rogers

[fishface5]

What about some kind of one way valve, or putting it up higher on the hull so that when I'm moving it's out of the water? Thanks for the warning though, I wouldn't have thaught about that.

[BDR]

fishface- My response should not have said it will not work. I dont even know if water would rush in the intake or not. But that seems to make sense that it would. I'm sure someone who has done this will respond shortly. Good luck

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When the fish are bitin don't get out of the boat!

Brian Rogers

[PerchJerker]

In addition to what you called "intake and drain holes" in your original post, you need to have an overflow outlet, which has to remain above the waterline. It allows you to keep running your aereator to keep your bait and fish fresh, and the overflow goes back in the lake, not in the boat.

I put a homemade livewell in one of my boats several years ago. Used a cooler which fit in the space. Livewell pump mounted through the transom of the boat. I put a tee-connector in the pump hose right behind the livewell. 1 end of the pump hose went to a fitting in the bottom of the livewell, the other end of the pump hose went to a spray bar mounted at the top of the livewell. I had a small rubber plug which fit in the fitting in the bottom of the livewell.

If the plug was in, the livewell would fill and aereate through the spray bar. If the plug was out, the livewell would fill through the fitting. If the plug was out and the pump wasn't running, the livewell would drain through the pump in the back of the boat. I also put an overflow out the side of the boat.

The whole setup worked really good. The biggest problem was that the fitting was not exactly in the bottom of the livewell, so I couldn't get the last little bit of water to drain out. I'd use a garden hose to spray fresh water in there, then use a sponge to clean out the water that was left so it didn't get fishy smelling.

More advice - if you're going to let minnows swim loose in there, you need to cover the overflow and drain holes so they don't get in those fittings.

If you don't want hoses to run on the bottom of the boat, can you hide them under or along the top edge of the gunnell?

Good luck. Hope this helps.

[This message has been edited by PerchJerker (edited 03-20-2004).]

[Surface Tension]

First determine the water level in the livewell. You'll have an outlet at that location that will go through the side of the boat using a tru hull fitting above the water level. The fitting on the bottom of the livewell will be used for filling and draining the livewell. You want to go through the bottom of the boat under the seat. Not the best for a couple reasons. One is you'll be putting a tru hull fitting that could snag on a rock or be dragged along the bottom. The fitting will cause a disturbance in the water flow under the boat, that could effect your prop and transducer. Also your pump has to be below the water line to keep it primed. It cant pump water up to it. Going through the transom is best for the inlet/drain line and this would be were you would mount the pump.

The livewell in the seat is certainly do-able. If your taking out any flotation it'll be wise to add more where every you can.

[fishface5]

Thanks guys. I'm convinced through the transom is the best way to go. I still need to find somthing that will fit in between the seats, for the tank. I think maybe the cabelas one may work. I still have to measure though.

[Steve Bakken]

As far as where to run the hoses, where we usually install them is along the sidewall of the hull. Up under the gunwhale won't work because the overflow hose can't be above the water level in the livewell or else the water will overflow out of the top of the livewell. Along the floor sucks for obvious reasons. What we do is run them under the seat to the side. Then using a hole saw, exit the back side of the seat and route them along the sidewall close to the floor so that everything will drain properly. Run the overflow hole out the side, and run the drain through the tee fitting back into the pump hose if you like or better yet, through it's own hole in the transom.

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Steve @ Bakken's Boat Shop www.bakkensboatshop.com

[soldoncass]

I've got a 14' Lund too, that has a small tank for a livewell, but I don't see any punp or anything to aerate the water. How hard would it be to do that? Thanx

[Surface Tension]

Does the tank have any fittings?

[soldoncass]

It looks like it has a plastc pipe under the flat floor that goes out the transom low. What do you think?Thanx

[soldoncass]

I forgot to mention the plastic hose goes from the transom to the bottom of the tank, under the floor. I put a plug in the botton and fill it with a bucket, then take the plug out to empty it. Thanks

[Surface Tension]

You'd have to put a fitting out the side of the tank at the desired water level and a tru hull fitting out the side of the boat then connected with hose.
A pump would be sliced into the section of hose at the transom. This hose will supply water and drain the tank. The place in your tank that your plugging now you'd replace the plug with a PVC T with both ends capped and small holes drilled on along the bottom of the horizontal part of the T to fill the tank and create a spray. To drain the tank pull the T out and the water will travel back out through the pump and out your transom.

[joshb]

i made a bait/livewell today for my 14' duckboat. used a cheaper 28qt cooler and a bilge pump. works awsome and i can take it in/out of the boat whenever. a good deal for $30. i guess my opinion on a perminent livewell in a 14' is that with so little space, and weight issues, it is nice to be able to pull it out when not needed.

[This message has been edited by joshb (edited 03-21-2004).]

[soldoncass]

Thanks!!! I'll look into that when I get the chance