-
The forum has been upgraded to support both light and dark themes. Click here for directions.
New One Man Boat
- Thread starter yoderjac
- Start date
yoderjac
Well-Known Member
These next two pics are different downed trees:
@catscratch, I hope this is what you are looking for.
@catscratch, I hope this is what you are looking for.
yoderjac
Well-Known Member
@catscratch, I'm not sure if you are interested in side imaging. I did not do any side imaging yesterday and take snapshots. It looks completely different on the screen that the picture below. I recorded some side imaging last year. I loaded that into Autochart on the computer. So, the picture below is a computer snapshot of a portion of the Autochart screen:
If you look at some of the sales pics of side imaging you see a dark spot directly under the boat and what is to each side of the boat displayed to the left and right of that dark column. That area under the boat corresponds with the little black line in the picture below:
If you look at some of the sales pics of side imaging you see a dark spot directly under the boat and what is to each side of the boat displayed to the left and right of that dark column. That area under the boat corresponds with the little black line in the picture below:
catscratch
Well-Known Member
That helps a ton! Not quite what they advertise, but certainly can tell what you're looking at.
Thanks!
Thanks!
yoderjac
Well-Known Member
When I first got it, I watched some videos that showed you what settings to tweak and why. I was able to get much closer to the advertised images, but I found it was not worth the effort. Lots of factors affect the picture quality like water clarity and such. I find it plenty good enough with the default settings. You can tell what you are looking at for the most part.
It is kind of the difference between me taking a picture with a point and click camera and a professional photographer with light meters and such taking a professional quality photo. Both get the point across, one is just prettier to look at.
swat1018
Well-Known Member
It's more than just tweeking the settings to get a point and shoot vs. pro photo. There are other details such as target separation, being to be able to see the fish that's in the brush pile. Being able to see a 1/16 oz crappie jig in the brush pile, etc. Many would say Humminbird is in last place, at best most would say it's in 2nd. They are all better than conventional sonar in about every way, including ease of use.
yoderjac
Well-Known Member
I guess what I was trying to say is that when I played with settings, I was able to get pictures closer to what you see in the marketing than those i posted. I don't really need those ad quality displays for fishing. At least at my level. I can find fish with no problem, even in brush piles. It doesn't much matter to me if I see them all or just some of them. If I know there are fish there, I'm going to fish it.
Now catching them is a whole different story, at least for me.
yoderjac
Well-Known Member
Kidney stones, sore throat, rain, weddings...my boat sat on the trailer for a month. I noticed the same chamber as before was low. All other chambers held air firmly. I inflated it to 3lbs (.5 lbs over spec) and got out the spray bottle of soapy water. The previous leak patch held firm, but I found another tiny leak not too far away. Before I patched the first leak, it took about a week for the leak to be noticeable just looking at the boat. This smaller leak takes about a month.
It is too small to be a priority, so I plan to go fishing today. I marked the leak and will fix it later.
It is too small to be a priority, so I plan to go fishing today. I marked the leak and will fix it later.
yoderjac
Well-Known Member
The fishing Gods are clearly against me! What a day. As I was launching the boat, I was standing on the trailer as usual, and extending the winch to drop the boat into the water. I was not pulled as close to the water as normal because I did not want the lights to go in the water since it is a utility, not a boat trailer. Suddenly, the trailer popped off the hitch and the trailer rolled back and was stopped by the safety chains! So, I continued to launch the boat so I could figure out how to get the trailer back on the hitch ball. I had no problem with that.
I then got back in the old 1997 F150 and it stalled. I could not get it started. Just got clicking you hear with a dead battery. I then recalled the radio went out a few minutes before I arrived and then came back on. I thought it was the station or something, I had sunglasses on can could not see the radio display. I minute later it went out and stayed out. This time I took off the sunglasses and verified it was power, and I could not power it back on. I'm thinking the battery must be on it's last legs.
I called a buddy who came and gave me a jump. The F150 started up fine. We left the batteries connected while we reconnected the trailer. I was able to use the winch I use to launch the boat to pick up the trailer tongue and move the coupler close to the hitch. I then chocked the trailer wheels and jacked up the tongue. We were then able to drift the truck back far enough to reconnect it.
My buddy was kind enough to follow me home. The truck acted funny as I drove it. No speedometer or fuel gage and the windows would not work and the radio was out. I got a few miles down the road and lost power steering and breaks and the truck completely died. Fortunately, I was able to pull off the road. We jumped it again. I've got a buddy who is a mechanic that lives only a mile away, So, we dropped it off at his place. The date on the battery was 12/24, so I'm guessing the alternator is bad or has a loose connection and the battery is not charging. The truck doesn't get used regularly, only when I go fishing, so I keep it on a charger. So, the alternator may have been out for a while and I never noticed it. I just had some work done on the truck and did not plug it in when I got it back, and it sat for at least a week or two during a rainy spell.
One of these days, I'll go fishing again!
I then got back in the old 1997 F150 and it stalled. I could not get it started. Just got clicking you hear with a dead battery. I then recalled the radio went out a few minutes before I arrived and then came back on. I thought it was the station or something, I had sunglasses on can could not see the radio display. I minute later it went out and stayed out. This time I took off the sunglasses and verified it was power, and I could not power it back on. I'm thinking the battery must be on it's last legs.
I called a buddy who came and gave me a jump. The F150 started up fine. We left the batteries connected while we reconnected the trailer. I was able to use the winch I use to launch the boat to pick up the trailer tongue and move the coupler close to the hitch. I then chocked the trailer wheels and jacked up the tongue. We were then able to drift the truck back far enough to reconnect it.
My buddy was kind enough to follow me home. The truck acted funny as I drove it. No speedometer or fuel gage and the windows would not work and the radio was out. I got a few miles down the road and lost power steering and breaks and the truck completely died. Fortunately, I was able to pull off the road. We jumped it again. I've got a buddy who is a mechanic that lives only a mile away, So, we dropped it off at his place. The date on the battery was 12/24, so I'm guessing the alternator is bad or has a loose connection and the battery is not charging. The truck doesn't get used regularly, only when I go fishing, so I keep it on a charger. So, the alternator may have been out for a while and I never noticed it. I just had some work done on the truck and did not plug it in when I got it back, and it sat for at least a week or two during a rainy spell.
One of these days, I'll go fishing again!
yoderjac
Well-Known Member
It was not a good fishing day, but it was a good day to go fishing. It turned out to be a warn out alternator. I guess they need replaced every 30 years or so... I got it back today and headed out fishing this afternoon. The water was still pretty muddy. I was able to find crappie with the Megalive2, but catching them is another story. I only caught one and one bluegill, but it was a beautiful day to be on the water. The lake was completely empty when I arrived. I only saw one boat all day long. It was good to be back on the water.
yoderjac
Well-Known Member
I decided to head back out of Friday to go fishing. This time I went late afternoon and fished into the evening. I had somewhat better luck and kept a half dozen crappie. I only caught crappie and bluegill.
I had an issue when I loaded the boat back on the trailer. The synthetic rope got wrapped around the shaft just outside the reel just like the steel cable did. It took me a while, but eventually I got it free. It was much easier than the steel cable, but I'm just not happy with the Harbor Freight Badlands 2500 winch. It works fine as the bed winch for my UTV, but it is not working well in this configuration. Perhaps when the original steel cable wrapped around the shaft, it could have increased the gap. I may have had the fairlead too far from the winch allowing this to happen. Like most Harbor Freight stuff, you can get a good one or a lemon as well. Whatever the reason, I decided not to continue with this configuration.
The reason I originally put together this configuration was that I was borrowing my neighbors utility trailer until the one I ordered was built. This allowed me to load and launch the boat without making any modifications to the trailer. It was just a 2x4 sitting in my truck bed with the winch attached to it. So, I ordered a new winch.
I ordered the TYT 3000 lb ATV Winch off Amazon. It came in this morning. The 2500 HF winch had plenty of juice for the task, but I figure the 3000 lb winch won't need to work as hard. Now that I have my own trailer, I figure I could weld up a bracket and permanently attach it to the trailer. I started the project today.
I cut a couple pieces of angle iron as a base for the winch. It comes with a bracket for ATVs, so I cut the corner of the pieces of angle iron so I can weld them across the top and side of the trailer square tube. I then drilled holes in them where needed to attached the ATV bracket and winch. The ATV bracket curls up in front of the winch where you attach the fairlead. Unlike the HF winch which comes with a steel cable, this winch came with a synthetic rope. So, in the picture above, you see the mockup of the base. It would normally be centered on the trailer, but I just used clamps to hold it in place off to one side for the mockup. Under the winch motor, I attached the controller with the wires hanging out.
The battery in my current setup is inside the truck cap, so I have no weather protection for it. I plan to use a HF .30 cal ammo box as a battery box. In the picture above, the ammo box is sitting on boxes for the mockup. I plan to weld a bracket to that side to hold the box in about that position relative to the winch. I still need to figure out where to put the charger for the battery. I'm not sure if it will fit in the ammo box with the battery or not. That is my hope.
I had an issue when I loaded the boat back on the trailer. The synthetic rope got wrapped around the shaft just outside the reel just like the steel cable did. It took me a while, but eventually I got it free. It was much easier than the steel cable, but I'm just not happy with the Harbor Freight Badlands 2500 winch. It works fine as the bed winch for my UTV, but it is not working well in this configuration. Perhaps when the original steel cable wrapped around the shaft, it could have increased the gap. I may have had the fairlead too far from the winch allowing this to happen. Like most Harbor Freight stuff, you can get a good one or a lemon as well. Whatever the reason, I decided not to continue with this configuration.
The reason I originally put together this configuration was that I was borrowing my neighbors utility trailer until the one I ordered was built. This allowed me to load and launch the boat without making any modifications to the trailer. It was just a 2x4 sitting in my truck bed with the winch attached to it. So, I ordered a new winch.
I ordered the TYT 3000 lb ATV Winch off Amazon. It came in this morning. The 2500 HF winch had plenty of juice for the task, but I figure the 3000 lb winch won't need to work as hard. Now that I have my own trailer, I figure I could weld up a bracket and permanently attach it to the trailer. I started the project today.
I cut a couple pieces of angle iron as a base for the winch. It comes with a bracket for ATVs, so I cut the corner of the pieces of angle iron so I can weld them across the top and side of the trailer square tube. I then drilled holes in them where needed to attached the ATV bracket and winch. The ATV bracket curls up in front of the winch where you attach the fairlead. Unlike the HF winch which comes with a steel cable, this winch came with a synthetic rope. So, in the picture above, you see the mockup of the base. It would normally be centered on the trailer, but I just used clamps to hold it in place off to one side for the mockup. Under the winch motor, I attached the controller with the wires hanging out.
The battery in my current setup is inside the truck cap, so I have no weather protection for it. I plan to use a HF .30 cal ammo box as a battery box. In the picture above, the ammo box is sitting on boxes for the mockup. I plan to weld a bracket to that side to hold the box in about that position relative to the winch. I still need to figure out where to put the charger for the battery. I'm not sure if it will fit in the ammo box with the battery or not. That is my hope.
yoderjac
Well-Known Member
I continued work on the winch bracket today. I added the steel for the ammo box. I decided not to actually weld the bracket to the trailer today. It was getting late, and I was worried about making mistakes, so I stopped for the day.
The above pics show the ammo box in place. The bracket is just clamped to my welding table. I was hoping to fit both the charger and battery in the same box, but I'm not sure they will both fit the way I wanted. My hope was to attach the charger to the inside of the lid so I could open the lid and check the charger. It doesn't look like that configuration will work. I'm not sure if it makes sense to get a smaller charger or see if I can fit them both in the box another way where it is harder to see the charging state.
The above pics show the ammo box in place. The bracket is just clamped to my welding table. I was hoping to fit both the charger and battery in the same box, but I'm not sure they will both fit the way I wanted. My hope was to attach the charger to the inside of the lid so I could open the lid and check the charger. It doesn't look like that configuration will work. I'm not sure if it makes sense to get a smaller charger or see if I can fit them both in the box another way where it is harder to see the charging state.
yoderjac
Well-Known Member
Well, my faux pas continue. After I stupidly lost the winch, I went back to Amazon and used buy-again. I quickly placed the order. Well, today, when I looked at the winch I ordered it was a different brand at a higher price. Evidently, I was paying enough attention on Amazon. It had pointed me to a very similar product that was more expensive! I tried to cancel the order, today, but it was too late since it had already shipped. I ordered the correct one and will return the one they already shipped.
However, I am making some slow progress.
While I could not fit the charger on the inside of the lid, I was able to fit it in the rear of the box. I secured it in place with small machine screws. Next, I drilled a hole large enough to pass the connectors from the control box through in the bottom corner of the box (low spot). You can the control box hanging from the red and black battery wires from that hole. I also drilled tiny 1/16" drain holes in the other 3 corners of the bottom of the box. I also drilled she same size air holes up near the lid, but under the overhang. I want to protect the battery and charger from the weather, but since I can't completely seal it, I want enough air flow so I don't get condensation on the connections.
I also got the bracket painted as you can see in the picture. The new replacement winch is supposed to arrive Friday, so I'll continue with the installation then.
However, I am making some slow progress.
While I could not fit the charger on the inside of the lid, I was able to fit it in the rear of the box. I secured it in place with small machine screws. Next, I drilled a hole large enough to pass the connectors from the control box through in the bottom corner of the box (low spot). You can the control box hanging from the red and black battery wires from that hole. I also drilled tiny 1/16" drain holes in the other 3 corners of the bottom of the box. I also drilled she same size air holes up near the lid, but under the overhang. I want to protect the battery and charger from the weather, but since I can't completely seal it, I want enough air flow so I don't get condensation on the connections.
I also got the bracket painted as you can see in the picture. The new replacement winch is supposed to arrive Friday, so I'll continue with the installation then.
