High Bidder

Trailer registration is cheap here in PA but they have found a new way to get more money out of us anyway. Our governor is just as much of a spendthift as NY's. Now the tow vehicle has to have a weight class license that covers the weight of the trailer and tow vehicle. My pickup license just went from $84. a year to $256 per year. I know the law at present doesn't include camper trailers but boat trailers are not specifically excluded. I pull an equipment trailer with my truck in the off season so I'm stuck paying the higher license fee. Everyday on my travels I see at least one pickup type vehicle with a trailer being inspected and more than likely fined.(Minimum fine is $350) Most people here don't even know about the law change. High Bidder

That's good advice on the jack type and lug wrench. The first year I had my boat I found out my truck jack didn't fit under the flat axle and the trailer lugs were on so tight I busted two sockets(the only thing I had that fit the lugs) till I got the tire changed. Now I keep a plastic tub in the truck when trailering, with the right jack, lug wrench, wood blocks, spare bearings, a spare bearing cap and a few extra lug nuts. Haven't had a flat since. High Bidder

A Honda engine is definitely a must as stated by Chowder. I bought mine at Sam's Club. The first 8HP was defective and they took it back with no problems. I then bought the 13HP 3500 PSI which is a bit large for most applications but for my work it is great. It strips the decks easily and cleans my large equipment. I just use a lower force nozzle when washing the trucks. The only drawback is that you can't let it idle for too long(4 minutes max) or the pump overheats and melts the plastic valves. They are however easy to replace and only $44.00. Make sure the pump is a common type and parts are easily available especially if you let anyone else use it. Even at 3500 PSI it didn't strip the bottom paint off a boat like I thought it would. High Bidder

When I installed a NMEA2000 buss system in my boat for the autopilot it was important to get the power supplies correct. Some devices, such as your GPS puck, will now receive its power from the buss. I'm not sure how the NMEA 0183 system handles the power supplies. On my Lowrance units I just disconnected the GPS power wires and taped them. It's unfortunate that when these systems were designed a standard plug would be used by all manufacturers. It would make connecting devices much simpler. High Bidder

One thing was not quite clearly stated and maybe this could be clarified. It indicates that the use policy of the Great Lakes was now going to be by federal mandates and not controlled by the individual States. Is that how it is now? Does anyone really know how the federal govenment is going to manage the Great Lakes or what will be their "policy"? The ESPN piece might have been a little inflamatory but until we all know just what " managing for a sustainable resource" actually means we should possibly still be a little skeptical. It might not be a chicken little story after all. From recent experience with the federal solution to the carp problem we all know that recreational fishing is in last place. High Bidder

The advantage to the Cannon unit is it gives you the depth. If you can't see you downrigger ball on you FF screen this is a big plus. Since I only fish 20 days a year the battery life was not an issue for me. I did change the antennae from the spring type to a Scotty thimble unit. It works better and you can disconect the cable easier from the rigger. I also changed it to a Stainless Steel "T" bar attachment. This makes the safety cable not needed. I bought the new model SnT and the first thing I did was to change it to the "T" bar and Scotty antennae. I didn't have any issues with the Cannon for the four years I used it. High Bidder

When I rebuilt my engine last fall I also looked into changing to injection. Since you have a chevy engine it would be a little simpler and cheaper than my ford engine. You use a regular chevy throttle body injector and a chevy control module. You might have to drill and tap ports for the other sensors or buy exhaust manifolds designed for a TBI system. I found kits at affordable-fuel-injection.com. They offer complete kits or just wiring harnesses. The sensors are standard automotive type it seems although some are quite expensive. I don't use my boat enough to justify the cost of conversion vs the fuel savings so I'll stick with a carb for now. I would be interested in the results of a conversion however. I had posted a inquiry last fall on this but didn't get any replies. High Bidder

A fishing buddy of mine would like to find a few Seas & Lakes downrigger releases. These were discontinued about 2 years ago I believe. If anyone has any of these and would like to sell them let me know. Thank you High Bidder

Last month, after reading other posts here on boat insurance I did a little research about my policy with Progressive. I found out that all of the electronics and autopilot are considered part of the boat and are included in the value of the boat and not the value of accessories like tackle, downriggers and the like. So I had to increase the value of my boat 6k to cover these items. I also made sure that the tackle would be completely covered. Be sure when shopping for insurance to ask a lot of questions as to what is covered and by what part of the policy. It will now cost me 25% more but at least if the worst happens I'll be able to replace everything. High Bidder

The reels are the older Great Lakes type. They are all black with no gold trim.

These are the LC type.

SOLD! I have 2 Cannon Digitroll II downriggers for sale. They have 5' solid booms. I tested the riggers this morning. One with the blue retreiver line works perfectly. On the other one the display works but the auto up doesn't function. The revised price is $200.00 for the fully functional one and $100.00 for the other one plus shipping. Also have (2) Diawa Sealine 47lc reels. asking $45.00 each plus shipping. High Bidder

Great Post! Now I can install the new drag washers I ordered. I had no idea how to take my Tekota apart. (and correctly reassemble it.) Thank you High Bidder

On my mag 10's the counters do not give an accurate but just an approximate depth. I determined this by pulling out 100 feet of cable, measuring it and comparing it to the counter. Now I can figure out a true depth on each rigger with those numbers. So as stated above you could have always been running that dead rigger out of the zone without realizing it. Some days I catch more fish on the rigger that has the probe and on other days that rigger is dead. In my case much of my success is based on luck rather than skill. But I still love it. High Bidder

I installed the Simrad 2401 unit with a mechanical drive attached to the power assist unit at the outdrive. It eliminated any play in the cable drive and I believe it maintains a better course this way. I initially wanted a AP14r but they weren't available last year and it wouldn't have fit behind the dash of my old Striper without cutting a large hole anyway. The 2401 unit was however twice the cost of a AP14r and did require a NMEA2000 buss sytem to connect the compass, head unit, GPS puck and GPS chartplotter. Creating the buss system cost about $200.00 and one wire to GPS had to be fabricated from a Simnet cable and (in my case) a Lowrance cable. I only used it for three weeks last August, but it performed flawlessly in the wind and waves. High Bidder

My brother in law bought a 98 Striper salt water boat and the only issues we had was to change all the valves and pumps. The wash down pump worked well but the live well and bilge pump were shot. The hardtop frame was slightly pitted from salt exposure but not to the point of any structural damage. This boat had however sat unused for a few years and was never left in the water or the direct sun. The wiring was fine. The trailer required all new bearings, brakes, actuator and lines. This Striper was and outboard. I'm sure a IO would have more salt damage if not properly cleaned after each use. I believe that it's condition would depend more on how the boat was stored and maintained. High Bidder

I'm not sure if the bidding on this item is real or just a relief from winter boredom. As for the delay in responding, I just figured out today that I have to click on the "page 2" to see the last replies. The bidding does confuse me a little in that it was up to $20 then dropped again to $5.90. I am going to set the closing date for 1/1/2010 at 12:00 PM. That way in case anyone celebrates to much on New Year's Eve I can take advantage of a ridiculus drunken bid. Happy New Year High Bidder

I have a Troll Master Pro control head but not the drive motor. I bought this and never got a drive motor. Best offer plus shipping. High Bidder

Other Simrad units require a different connection than the AP12 or 14 units. On my AP24 I had to build a cable by splicing a Simnet cable to a Lowrance cable. The new cable powers the GPS puck from the Simnet block so you don't use the power supply from the Lowrance unit. It worked great last year especially when I take people along who don't know how to drive a boat. High Bidder

I always remove my GPS and depth finder and store them in a heated area during winter. Should I also remove my Simrad Display and store it inside? I store my boat in a unheated garage which never goes below 0 degrees where I live. The autopilot display is harder to remove since it is cut into the dash and I snapped those little screw covers on it. High Bidder

Since I was rebuilding my engine, a Ford 5.0, I was considering the option of converting it to TBI fuel injection. My conversion would use GM parts as a throttle body system would be much easier to install than a Ford rail system. Has anyone else converted their engine? Did it really improve fuel economy? Was the system as reliable as a carb system? With a lot of trolling my engine really carboned up and I thought maybe fuel injection would lessen it. Carbon wasn't the reason for my engine failure, the previous owner overheated the engine at some point and cracked the heads. I only noticed this when I pulled it to replace my transom seal. High Bidder

I finished the first phase of my autopilot installation. Which means it is operating but not conected to the GPS yet. I used a MSD50 drive which mounts on the power assist unit of the stern drive. It eliminates all the play in the steering cable(I have a 93 boat) and gives a quicker response. Last week in 3-4 ft. waves it held course great. I was impressed. I was not impressed however at the cost of connecting a AP24 to the GPS. The least expensive way is to buy a simnet cable and a lowrance cable and splice them together. Luckily I found a website that explains the lowrance wire colors. Neither Simrad or Lowrance service techs were of much use. All they did was read from the manual and tell me to buy adapters that they didn't even make. If you see me zigzagging through the Trench the last two weeks of August you'll know I got the GPS wired. High Bidder

After installing a Simrad AP24 autopilot I realized that it doesn't come with the power wiring. Is there a marine supply that would have these cables. I am going to Henderson Harbor on Friday. I travel north on I81 from PA. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you High Bidder

Sorry about the slow response to your answers but I was away fishing. I have a lowrance 7500c and a Simrad 2401 VRF. The Simrad is still in a box in my garage waiting to be installed this week. After reading your replys and considering that I am not a electronics guru I will probably forget about the GPS and AP connection. It will probably take me long enough to learn the full capabilities of the AP as it is. I want to thank everyone for their replys. High Bidder

I've been trying to understand the wiring procedures for a NMEA 2000 connection but haven't found a good diagram or explanation yet. I would like to connect my 7500C globalmap to my autopilot. Do I really need a simnet bar or can I direct connect the GPS. What does it mean by "powering the NMEA system"? Is it really worth the trouble of connecting the GPS and autopilot at all? I am going to use the autopilot mostly for steering the boat when I am fishing alone or while my copilot is netting the fish. High Bidder