Boilerguy's misfit boat

[Eric Wettschreck]

<- <- <- Has an idea now!!! Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

[harvey lee]

Looks like you will be looking at a very nice ride when your finished Eric.

[Eric Wettschreck]

Don't kid yourself Tom, I'm making it "Big guy" accessable, if you know what I mean.

[bassNspear]

are you counting the hrs your putting into the boat?

[Eric Wettschreck]

No, but I'm thinking I should be. This has turned into quite the chore. I knew it was going to take a while, every good job does, but hoochie-mamma I didn't think it would take me this long.

Live and learn.

I really wish a newer boat was in my future, but financially I just can't do it. So, a guys gotta make do with what he has.

[harvey lee]

Let me know when shes ready to float and I'll come down to fish.

[Lowblazah]

No, but I'm thinking I should be.

Trust me...ignorance is bliss in this situation. You dont want to know how much of your time its taking(as you already have a good idea)

At least in my opinion, I certainly didn't want to know exactly how long it took me to finish.

[Eric Wettschreck]

I'm not sure about the amount of time, in hours. From the looks of my garage, I'm thinking I have about 4 cases of PBR invested into this project so far.

[Jack Stasney]

Lookin good Boilerguy. I'm with Lowblaz on the hrs. I'm probably saner since I don't know.

[Eric Wettschreck]

Update from the weekend,

First off, the weather was great here in SW MN. My friend called me up on Saturday morning and told me he totally scored on the crappies Friday evening. Well, with news like that the boat will have to wait a day so I went fishing. I came home to a jobsite foreman that was juuuuuust a little upset with me. I went fishing without Jeffrey and he was reminding me.

Sunday morning came around and I got busy. I got most of my carpeting done, the steering wheel installed, the radio and speakers installed, and a few odds and ends done.

Notice the mess of wires under the console I still have to land to swtiches. I also have to install the interior rope lights, trolling motor, some trim work, and a little buff work on the motor and I'm done. The weather this week has not been so nice for working outside. Hopefully this will blow over and I'll get-er-done soon.

Thanks this go round go to Jeffry for cracking the whip, PBR (naturally), DeWalt tools, Band-Aid bandages (Again), Lawson drill bits, and the Magic Chef pizza oven in the garage.

[Sandmannd]

Looking good so far BG. You are going to have a nice ride when it's done. What kind of rope lights are you using?

[Eric Wettschreck]

I got some 6' LED rope lights (name brand left out) that I'm going to wrap around the inner bow, the starboard side, and above the aft casting deck. All on their own switch. This way, they can stay off most of the time and get turned on if/when a dude needs some light to unhook a fish, tie a knot, or just see what he's doing in the dark.

[harvey lee]

Eric, one thing I added to the boat this spring is an invertor. They are priced pretty decent and a great addition to the boats for numerous items.

[Surface Tension]

Eric I see some copper pipe and a gate valve. I know your a licensed boilerman, are you making your own ethanol on the boat?

Or is that a methane gas capturing system?

[Eric Wettschreck]

is that a methane gas capturing system?

Only when muc is in the boat with me after a chili lunch.

Acutally, it's my livewell drain/fill. And Frank, you're one of the smartest dudes I know, but that's 316 stainless and a ball valve.

An inverter. Interesting. I have one that I use in my fish house and in my vintage RV. it would be no problem to hook it up. I have to ask tho, what do you use an inverter for in a boat???

[harvey lee]

I run air bubblers for my bullheads in the livewell. I can also run lights I have hooked up for filming and my cell phone or any other 110 unit.

[Shack]

I run air bubblers for my bullheads in the livewell. I can also run lights I have hooked up for filming and my cell phone or any other 110 unit.

Dang, I knew I forgot something again at the store today

Look very nice BG, you are doing a great job!

I also wired my courtesy lights on a separate switch than my navigation lights.

[hanson]

Boilerguy-

The inverter is nice but I only use it to run my bubblers for my bait tank.

Something I would put in if you haven't already is 12v accessory outlets (cigarette lighter plug-ins). Those are handy for keeping the cell phone charged, running a spotlight, hooking up your Lowrance H20 power to,etc.

[Eric Wettschreck]

The 12v accessory is a great idea also. Thanks Chris.

[Eric Wettschreck]

One thing I absolutely hate is re-work. I'm a get it done, and get it done right the first time kind of guy. Having said that, yous guys know what I spent my day doing.

I don't know how I did it, but I managed to label everything wrong when I ran my wires. I feel kinda dumb. Running a couple sets of wires is childs play in comparison to what I do for a living, but I managed to mess it all up. Once I figured out which wire was my main "Hot" I spent a good chunk of the morning with a volt meter figuring out which wire is which. I did manage to get er done and all the wiring for bilge pump, live well pump, nav lights, radio, and interior lights is now done.

It took forever to solder and shrink wrap all the connections. Plus, I had to re-do the way I had the -'s. It's worth the time, however to do it right. Thanks Marine Man for the advise on that.

I also, somehow, managed to screw up my steering wheel mount. The pinion gear for the steering assembly just doesn't fit right onto the console so I'll be fixing that tomorrow. Ugh, more re-work and I hate re-work.

The trolling motor and it's wiring and controls are all installed and tucked away nicely. Same goes for the forward nav light. I installed LED rope lights to wrap around the inner bow for some night vision.

The wiring mess I had in the aft section is all cleaned up, shrink wrapped, and tucked away. I have battery boxes for the batteries but I have not bothered to put them in yet. There are LED rope lights in the aft section also. These lights have their own switches near the lights so the guy needing them can just flip the switch and not move from where he's at.

I figured since I finally had power to where it was supposed to be, I'd tilt the motor up and replace the prop. Guys can do as they wish but the stainless prop I had on will never go back on. It, along with my bad driving (Hit logs) costed me more lower end problems than I care to remember. I'll bend an aluminum prop before I replace a lower unit again.

So, (big sigh) I'm almost done. It's starting to rain now. Hopefully this will blow over so I can work on this tomorrow and possibly plop it in the lake!!! All I have left to do are the tedious odds and ends that a guy doesn't think will take that long until he starts doing them. That's when we realize the odds and ends take longer than the major work.

Jeffrey the foreman has given up on me. I think he's more interested in rolling around on dead snakes than fishing. My other foreman, Dale the black lab, is showing little interest also.

Todays thanks go to Fluke multi-meters, PBR (no duh), Tombstone frozen pizzas, Lawson bits, Miller welders, Jesco electrical connectors, shrink wrap, my 507 year old soldering gun, and Scotch 33 electrical tape.

[snoozebutton]

I appreciate you sharing this with us, it's been interesting and entertaining following along. Did you compute the cost of PBR towards the final cost of the project?

Anyhoo, can't wait for your first trial run, keep us updated!!!

[harvey lee]

Will the foreman Jeffery be along on the maiden voyage? maybe jeffery could pilot the machine and you could sit back and enjoy a PBR.

[Eric Wettschreck]

I'm pretty sure Jeffrey will be along. I started up the motor this afternoon with the cuffs on and he almost wet himself he was so excited.

Lots got done today, she's almost ready. I'll snap some picks when she's seaworthy.

[marine_man]

Nice work boilerguy - looks good!

marine_man

[Shack]

Bang, Dang !

It is almost done!

If you do not make it to KOTC GT, this fall (ML) we will have to hit the shallows on the west side (or East) .

Look'in good dude!