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Post by mustelameister on Mar 6, 2009 8:01:01 GMT -6
I had a 23 Vangaard on a 15' Alumacraft flat. That was a very sweet rig. Nicely matched rig.
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Post by yoteler on Mar 6, 2009 11:50:16 GMT -6
mustelameister I have the same set up. 15 ft boat. It will get up and scoot rite along
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Post by mustelameister on Mar 6, 2009 11:58:18 GMT -6
That was an excellent setup. The Alumacraft 15' flat is very row-able, yet large enough to haul quite a bit of gear.
Top end with the 23 horse was somewhere around 22 mph if I remember right.
My old yellow lab and I ran that rig for many years. My wife at the time never set foot in that boat. Her choice. Fooled me good. Nothing worth sharing that's for sure.
New lady in my life in '99 and her daughter really enjoyed fishing. They brought a big golden retriever into the situation. Three of us and the two dogs were just too much for the 15-footer, so that's when I bumped up to the 18' Lowe MV.
That's when I went shopping for the bigger Go Devil, and bumped up to the 35 horse.
I sold the 15 foot flat and 23 horse to a former student who has a girlfriend now and the two of them really get some use out of that rig on the sandy Wisconsin River here.
Bumping up from the 15-foot flat to the 18 footer makes me feel like I'm running an aircraft carrier down the river. But the bigger rig gets 24 mph.
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Post by yoteler on Mar 6, 2009 17:08:04 GMT -6
yah my flatbottom is decently wide. Last year guiding I had 3 guys ( including me)1 dog and 5 dozen decoys. Drove them out to the blind, unloaded everything, then went back, and pick 3 guys for a total of 4 in the boat. 4 people is what it is rated for. Is the 2008 LOWE L1852MT pretty much the same as your new one or is more of a V-Bottom? and if you dont mind talking about it, what was the year and price on your the 18'
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Post by mustelameister on Mar 6, 2009 21:14:44 GMT -6
Here's the way my 18-footer looks, and I believe it's almost 5 years old now. So I don't think it's changed a bit. She's a fine boat, and comes in under 500 lbs without motor. Add the 35 horse and we're up near 700 lbs with battery. www.loweboats.com/showroom/rivited-jon/lowe-jon/l1852mt.phpUnless you're running in rock, or around wingdams, IMO, an all welded boat is too much weight and too much hull. Worst case scenario for me is running this rig up on a stump or log or sandbar, and I've never had a problem with a riveted boat. I can't offhand remember what I paid for it, but I do know the day I went to buy one, Stark's in Prairie du Chien had none in stock, so I ordered one, and put $50 down. Then we drove over to Cabela's just to buy some tackle and they had a sale on Lowe's, and there was the 18 footer on a Shorelander trailer. Cabela's had it cheaper than Starks, believe it or not. Drove back over to Starks, explained the situation, and they gave me my check back. Nice folks. They make more off their liquor sales to Iowa residents now than they do boats. Anyway . . . this 18 foot flat is called a modified V-bow, and if you look at the picture you can just see the seam running up towards the bow. Not a big deal. I've never understood this MV mentality, since once you're up on plane the front third or half the boat's out of water anyway. The only good thing I like about the MV as compared to a true flat is the point of the MV can snug into a roller up high on the trailer, versus a flat nose wiggling back and forth as you're going down the highway. Here are the specs on the 35 Go Devil. When I bought mine it was under 4 grand. Like everything else, this too has gone up. www.godevil.com/35hp_VANGUARD.htmlOne big item I miss about the 23 over the 35 is the ability to rope start the engine if the battery has crapped out. That 23 turns over real nice. So . . I run two big 12 v batteries on the big rig. The 9 hp Honda has one battery, electric start also, but also turns over real easy. If you ever get up into south central Wisconsin, get ahold of me and I'll give you a ride. It's like flying in this rig, and smooth. One more thought . . . Go Devil has been working on a 40 horse for about 5 years now. To my knowledge they have not released this motor to the public yet. One thing I do know about Go Devil as compared to the competition, they don't release a motor until it's been checked out thoroughly. Mudbuddy can't say that, nor will they. Not my opinion, but several dealers I've talked to, including Mudbuddy dealers. When the 40 does come out, I'll wait one or two years to see how things go, then bump up to that motor. Weight difference probably won't be over 20 pounds I imagine.
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Post by mustelameister on Mar 6, 2009 22:40:41 GMT -6
Went outside and took some pics to further explain some of these ideas. Here's a shot of the tractor flood light mounted to the bow of the 14' V-bow. The nut on the bolt under the bow plate can be loosened and this light can be taken off. Here you can see the cord hanging down. Bolted to the underside of this very small seat is an outlet box. When the cord is plugged into this outlet, the connection is complete. Wire runs through this PVC pipe along the side of the boat to a switch box mounted to the transom. Both Go Devil handles have a plastic knife sheath zip tied on, with a filet knife inside. Great place for a knife. Okay, back to the 18-foot Lowe. Right now it's tipped up on its side waiting out winter. Here's a shot of that modified V-bow. As you can see, it's not much of a true V-bow. You can see where the front roller has rubbed just above the eye bolt. Like mentioned earlier, easier to snug the boat up with this type of bow. Up on the deck, I've got indoor/outdoor carpeting gorilla glued down to the deck. This way you don't burn yourself on a hot sunny day touching the deck, and a dog jumping into the boat will appreciate this. Also nice for humans when it's wet. Now, we're looking at the right side of the deck. Bolted onto the hull, on top this deck, is a length of treated landscape timber. Got maybe three carriage bolts going through the hull, into the timber and snugged tight on this side. Attached to this timber is an amber light that is great for walleye fishing at night. Switch is below the deck. Also an outlet box, for plugging in a handheld spotlight or the tractor spot light. Finally, that's a small length of treated dimensional lumber glued and bolted onto this landscape timber. Bolted to that is an anchormate for the anchor. The rope runs to the back seat. Here's a better side shot of the timber. On top, under the rope, you can see the slide plate for the bow light post to snug into. Also note how the anchormate II hangs out over the bow so the anchor can be cranked up and slid into this mechanism without hitting the bow. Bow light slide plate to the side showing where bow light post fits into. Underside of this treated dimensional piece showing hole where bolt of bow tractor spot light goes down into and bolted for running at night. Tractor light cord gets plugged into that bow bolted onto the timber. Finally, here's how I run wire back to the motor and battery. Through this 1/2" pvc run through the ribs in the crease along the hull. Then using some of that expanding foam, squirt a bit into each rib hole so it doesn't rattle. Can't have too much with the boats, eh?
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Post by yoteler on Mar 7, 2009 10:06:51 GMT -6
mustelameister for some odd reason your pics are not showing up on my computer. If anything you can send them to my email (Donald.Roe@xenuclear.com ) cause I would really like to see your set up. What town are you close to in wis
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