Time to upgrade boats

Selling the old boat.
Link to for sale page.
https://www.crappie.com/crappie/pers...evinrude-sale/

Time to upgrade. Wife wants a windshield. I'm restricted to a 16' boat and I like the Deep-V. I was literally one week away from pulling the trigger on a new boat when a fishing buddy linked me to a guy who wants to sell his boat. he tried two years ago and it never sold. It turns out to be the exact boat I wanted. comes with a 75 Evinrude instead of a 90. Which is fine. Research shows there is a 2mph difference between them. If I bought new, I'd end up with a 90 Mercury 4 stroke. I'd prefer a 2 stroke. Going to the bank in the am to finalize everything. Wife is happy, payments are a lot less too. Now it's time for upgrades.

Heck, that's a win win. You got a boat of choice and a happy wife. Congratulations.

It's a cold rainy day to buy a boat. Temps are 35, and raining.
Had to move the old boat outside and put it next to teh garage. I usually do it every winter. Put the cover on it, then a tarp until March. Then she moves back in the garage. Not this year. The new boat took it's spot. The new one is slightly longer and wider. I had to trim the motor down and remove part of my shelf to get her in. But she is in. Let the mods begin.
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Originally Posted by Hanr3

It's a cold rainy day to buy a boat. Temps are 35, and raining.
Had to move the old boat outside and put it next to teh garage. I usually do it every winter. Put the cover on it, then a tarp until March. Then she moves back in the garage. Not this year. The new boat took it's spot. The new one is slightly longer and wider. I had to trim the motor down and remove part of my shelf to get her in. But she is in. Let the mods begin.
Attachment 393672
Attachment 393673

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Congrats on the new boat and happy wife. That’s a great looking boat. Hope you fill it with a lot of fish in 2021!


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Congrats on a very nice ride.

Congratulations nice looking boat

Good on ya[emoji106]

Enjoy it!

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Looks great


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New boat got the grandkids seal of approval. They all claimed their seats. Wife was checking out her storage space today as well. she gets the glovebox, under glove box storage, and drawer under it.

I spent the day cleaning the boat. The previous owner left everything in the boat, life jackets, floating toys, anchor, empty beer bottles, empty soda and water bottles too. Vacuumed every compartment and deck, washed the seats, dashes, cup holders, livewell, etc. Even cleaned out the seat bases. I also had to match the seats with the right pedestals. He had the fixed pedestals with adjustable seats, and fixed seats on adjustable pedestals. The Helix 5 DI only had 50 hours on it, averages 10 hours per year of use. Like new boat.

Congrats!!!

Nice boat. Congrats on the purchase.

What kind of goodies you going to put on this nice ride?

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Originally Posted by Craig

What kind of goodies you going to put on this nice ride?

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Shhhh Don't tell anyone, but a Pair of Helix 9 Gen4 units, Terrova with I-Pilot Link, Mega 360 and ethernet link it all.

Wow, that will be set up nice, can't wait for picks.

How is the rigging going? Sounds exciting.

Slooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!! !!!
Working serious extra hours at work.
My garage is attached it's not really heated. It stays about 30 degrees warmer than outside. unfortunately outside temps have been around 0. We hit a high today of 14 degrees.

having said all that. I have some items on order, waiting on delivery. I think I have figured out which version of the Mega 360 I want. Now I have to find it in stock someplace. My first choice would be the version without any mounts, it has a 50" shaft. No one locally stocks it. I can get the 39" shaft version from my local outdoor store, however it comes with a bracket I can't use and costs $100 more. They have 4 in stock. I may have to bite the bullet and buy one.

As for what is done.
I ran 6gauge wire from the battery to a new 12 circuit fuse panel at the dash. Replaced the old 4 circuit fuse panel with the 12 circuit one. I had to rewire the master switch to make it function as it should and now that line to the back of the boat is a spare. While doing that I discovered a spare switched wire with 5 amp fuse that goes no where. I'm going to tie it into the old sonar run to the bow and make it power my 360, switchable via the master switch.
I removed the old two bank charger, it supplied both the 12v trolling motor battery and the cranking battery. I bought a Terrova 24v to replace the old Powerdrive and went with group 31's. Also bought a group 31 cranking battery. Then bought a 3 bank charger to keep then all charged. My grandson helped my install the charger. He's 5 and got a kick out of helping grandpa in the garage. I let him help drill holes and hold the wrench to crank down the bolts.

Still a ton of work and time is running out. Our first tournament is the middle of March. Hopefully this weekend I can get the back half of the boat buttoned up. SI transducer mounted, battery charger cable run. Charger plug port installed, Helix 9 at the dash installed, Ethernet port installed. Then it's the front half. Powerdrive removed, Terrova installed, bow Helix 9 installed, both powered and ethernet cables run. Then its the Mega 360. Clean the boat, repack wheel bearing, and test it out.

Congrats on the new ride and all of the excitement of makin' it your own. She's, sure enough, a beauty for sure.
You'll have her rigged and ready soon enough... and you'll be forming a new and powerful assault on those crappies.

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Originally Posted by Special K

Congrats on the new ride and all of the excitement of makin' it your own. She's, sure enough, a beauty for sure.
You'll have her rigged and ready soon enough... and you'll be forming a new and powerful assault on those crappies.

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I hope so. Thanks!

Hey, I'm not that far away in the QC area. It has been cold, nice progress and maybe a break in the weather next week. Great to see your sharing time with the grandson, he will have those memories a life time.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GrumpyLoomis

Hey, I'm not that far away in the QC area. It has been cold, nice progress and maybe a break in the weather next week. Great to see your sharing time with the grandson, he will have those memories a life time.

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QC?

Just south of the Quad Cities, on the Mississippi.

Time for some upgrade pics. All work in process.
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Old 4 circuit fuse panel- it will become my switched fuse panel for Mega 360, Ethernet Port, and TM Heading Sensor. I'll power it from the dash mater switch. I took the stereo and bilge pump off the master dash switch.
Terrova 24v, 80#, 60", MDI, and I-Pilot Link installed.
3 Bank charger an Ethernet port installed in starboard bow storage compartment.
Helix 9" Mega DI+ mounted on bow.
Wiring run for Mega 360 and a spare circuit, just in case I want to ad something down the road.

Guy Man Dude.....that is cool.

Thanks for the pics, your doing very well. Now there is nothing at the boat shows you need, just stroll around and enjoy. Come on spring

Picked 3 group 31 deep cycle batteries today. 2 for TM, and 1 for cranking/ electronics, boat electrical. Should be plenty of juice for a weekend on the water.Attachment 394878

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