New One Man Boat

Great looking dock!!! I like it!

I absolutely love not worrying about it filling with water and sinking every rain. And not having to launch and pull out is every time I want to fish is soooo nice!

And a DWI is often a possibility while on it! It's a nice place to drink a couple.
 
Great looking dock!!! I like it!

I absolutely love not worrying about it filling with water and sinking every rain. And not having to launch and pull out is every time I want to fish is soooo nice!

And a DWI is often a possibility while on it! It's a nice place to drink a couple.
That old pier is closing in on 30 years, but I put a new deck on it last year. Next is the railing, but after deer season !😀
 
It's been a long, but good day. The new aluminum fairlead came in for the synthetic winch rope this morning. I installed it. While I don't think the distance to the fairlead was the primary cause of the wire rope jumping the spool, out of caution, I moved the new fairlead closer to the winch.

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I got done about 11:15 this morning. With the winch operational, I decided to go crappie fishing. Jut before I left, I got an email saying the new transducer for the Xplore will arrive Saturday. I was on the water by noon. I tried my best to target crappie with the Megalive 2, but I just was not successful. I could find fish and cast at them, but with the wind, there was no way to see my jig. I don't know if it was the small size of the jig or the changing of the angle with the wind. I tried an 1/8th oz jig head with a 2" soft bait and had no luck at all. I finally gave up targeting fish.

I put my 1/64 oz jig with a 1.75" soft bait back on and just trolled at the lowest speed into the wind through schools of crappie. I did catch one this way. Then, I cast into the wind and just let the wind push the boat at will back over the schools of crappie. I started catching fish after fish this way. They were all small. The largest one was about 9 1/2 inches. I decided to keep that one presuming I would catch larger ones, but did not. Since filleting one fish is not too practical, I started keeping fish that were around 8". I must have caught 30 crappie releasing most of them. I kept a half dozen or so and filleted them when I got home.

Now that I seem to have learned some basics of catching crappie, I need to learn how to catch slab sized crappie!

The SI is still not working, which is why hummingbird is sending me a new transducer, but I focused primarily on the forward facing Megalive 2 anyway. The winch worked great. I'm scheduled to drive to NC on Tuesday to pick up the new trailers. I'll then need to modify the small one for loading the boat and return my neighbors trailer. Between this and doing the fall plant and archery season right around the corner, I'm not sure how much more fishing I'll get in this year. I'm itching for that Kayak Terrova, but with little time available, I'll probably wait until the holidays and see if it goes on sale.
 
The new transducer arrived today, but I'm not sure when I'll have time to test it. I hope to Rube Goldberg an electrical issue with my Kioti tomorrow https://deerhunterforum.com/threads/tractor-issue.7721/. I've got a doctor's appointment on Monday and I need to start spraying for the fall plant once the Kioti is fixed. On Tuesday, I'll be heading to North Carolina to pick up a new equipment trailer for my tractor and excavator and a second one for the boat. I'll then need to modify the new trailer and remove the tailgate and rig something up to put rollers on it so I can return my neighbor's trailer. I'll be moving along with the fall plant as well, so who knows when I'll get back to dealing with the Humminbird.
 
No physical progress on anything today, but my online digging has somewhat changed my thinking regarding the Kayak Terrova. I was assuming that I could just face the boat into the wind and turn on spot-lock and stay in one place. I've been learning that there is no speed control with spot-lock. That means the motor can use significant amounts of thrust in different directions if in wind or current to maintain the location. I'm concerned about that spooking fish. I've read about that, and thinking back to my last fishing trip, I may have experienced it in a way.

They way I eventually had success, was to motor into the wind for about 1/2 mile covering many schools of crappie. When I tried to stay in position near a school and cast to them, or troll through them, I have very marginal success; only caught 1 or 2 fish that way. My most significant success was simply letting the boat drift back over the schools and casting once behind the boat and letting the soft-bait drift through the school. I was catching fish on most every cast. The problem was the wind was strong enough that after catching 2 or 3 fish, I would be past the schools and need to motor 1/2 mile or so back past them to drift over them again. So, I wasn't able to target fish with the Megalive 2. It just let me identify the schools.

I watched a few videos on the terrova and it appears drift control might work best for me. Like Jog, this requires a GPS Heading sensor. Rather than the move violent spot-lock. I'm thinking facing the boat into the wind and setting drift speed at or near zero would be best. It appears the motor control is smoother and less violent applying just enough thrust to offset the wind.

So, after thinking about it, I already have that spare port that I originally made for the GPS heading sensor. I decided to go ahead an order the sensor. It was pretty inexpensive. I found a package deal with the puck and a quick release mount for the Terrova saving me about $20 over buying them independently. That way, when I do finally decided to pull the string on the Kayak Terrova, I'll be ready to go.
 
I bought a Ranger tin boat right about the start of Covid. I didn’t like the Terrova that was on it for the very reason you stated. That’s why I said it would throw you out of the boat. Of course you aren’t standing up in yours, but I damn near went in the lake once before I changed to a different trolling motor. I can’t remember the name of it but it wasn’t electric steer, it was the manual foot pedal. It was much better. After I had my boat outfitted with all the jimcracks, about $3,000 worth, two Garmins, Livescope, extra battery, etc., Covid hit me and I had the loooong Covid, heart attack, mini stroke, the whole works. I didn’t have enough energy to even want to fish, so I sold my boat and luckily didn’t lose any money. I go with a guide twice a year and that gives me about all the fish we want and all the fishing I want. I can go with my buddy any time so I don’t miss the boat. IMG_0056.jpeg
 
I bought a Ranger tin boat right about the start of Covid. I didn’t like the Terrova that was on it for the very reason you stated. That’s why I said it would throw you out of the boat. Of course you aren’t standing up in yours, but I damn near went in the lake once before I changed to a different trolling motor. I can’t remember the name of it but it wasn’t electric steer, it was the manual foot pedal. It was much better. After I had my boat outfitted with all the jimcracks, about $3,000 worth, two Garmins, Livescope, extra battery, etc., Covid hit me and I had the loooong Covid, heart attack, mini stroke, the whole works. I didn’t have enough energy to even want to fish, so I sold my boat and luckily didn’t lose any money. I go with a guide twice a year and that gives me about all the fish we want and all the fishing I want. I can go with my buddy any time so I don’t miss the boat. View attachment 30274
Sounds like you had a nice setup. I've seen some recent videos of guys using spot-lock on the Terrova in the wind. I don't know if they have changed the spot-lock algorithm since I had been reading about the violent erratic spot-lock you experienced or not. In these videos, it seemed a lot more sedate. I'm figuring that with the heading sensor, I can always used drive mode.

I'm sort of limited to choices if I want electric steer and advanced navigation. There are a lot better and more expensive motors, but they all have longer shafts and are made for larger boats. The Kayak Terrova is made for kayaks and only comes in a 12-volt model and has a 36" shaft. I'm hoping they have improved the spot-lock algorithm.

And yes, I'm generally not standing in the boat to fish. They only time I tend to stand up is to deploy or stow the Edge trolling motor. It looks like the terrova will be easier to deploy and stow and take up less space.

I'm too busy right now to install it right now. I got my old equipment trailer moved out along the road for sale and the new pintle hitch on the truck so I'm ready to go in the morning. I'm headed to pick up 2 new trailers. That will take up most of tomorrow. I finally got the spraying done at my retirement property this evening. I hope to plant that on Thursday or Friday. I then have the farm to plant before my next Hunter Ed calls and I need to get box blinds ready for your youth day. The archery season is right around the corner. I'm still dealing with side imaging failure and I'll need to make mods to the the trailer for the boat.

I'm hoping that by the holidays, we get a sale on the Kayak Terrova. If so, I'll pick one up then. If not, I'll likely wait till winter when I'll have more time to deal with it.

I'm sorry to hear about your Covid related issues. I lost a couple dear friends to it. I got it, but fortunately, got on Paxlovid quickly and had no significant issues. Hopefully things will be looking up for you!
 
Sounds like you had a nice setup. I've seen some recent videos of guys using spot-lock on the Terrova in the wind. I don't know if they have changed the spot-lock algorithm since I had been reading about the violent erratic spot-lock you experienced or not. In these videos, it seemed a lot more sedate. I'm figuring that with the heading sensor, I can always used drive mode.

I'm sort of limited to choices if I want electric steer and advanced navigation. There are a lot better and more expensive motors, but they all have longer shafts and are made for larger boats. The Kayak Terrova is made for kayaks and only comes in a 12-volt model and has a 36" shaft. I'm hoping they have improved the spot-lock algorithm.

And yes, I'm generally not standing in the boat to fish. They only time I tend to stand up is to deploy or stow the Edge trolling motor. It looks like the terrova will be easier to deploy and stow and take up less space.

I'm too busy right now to install it right now. I got my old equipment trailer moved out along the road for sale and the new pintle hitch on the truck so I'm ready to go in the morning. I'm headed to pick up 2 new trailers. That will take up most of tomorrow. I finally got the spraying done at my retirement property this evening. I hope to plant that on Thursday or Friday. I then have the farm to plant before my next Hunter Ed calls and I need to get box blinds ready for your youth day. The archery season is right around the corner. I'm still dealing with side imaging failure and I'll need to make mods to the the trailer for the boat.

I'm hoping that by the holidays, we get a sale on the Kayak Terrova. If so, I'll pick one up then. If not, I'll likely wait till winter when I'll have more time to deal with it.

I'm sorry to hear about your Covid related issues. I lost a couple dear friends to it. I got it, but fortunately, got on Paxlovid quickly and had no significant issues. Hopefully things will be looking up for you!
I finally got with an online doctor at Push Health who gave me several prescriptions and it helped a lot. In about a month later I contacted him again, got a few more prescriptions and they got me back to about 90% of pre-covid. The big hospitals wouldn’t prescribe the drugs necessary to treat Covid, they stick to CDC protocols no matter how sick you are. Strange to me that hospitals like UT and Christus didn’t know squat about long Covid, but a doctor online knew exactly what I needed. Incidentally, Ivermectin was one drug used both times. All my doctor would say is get plenty of rest and drink plenty of liquids. 😕
 
Yesterday was a long day in the truck. I drove about 4 hours down to North Carolina to Kaufman Trailer to pick up the two trailers I ordered. One was a 16K 22' Deck-over trailer for my tractor and mini-excavator. The other was a small equipment trailer for the boat and to use with my small equipment when needed. When I arrived they were stacked. They had a pair of 2x6 blocks screwed into the deck in front of and behind both wheels. I strapped it down with ratchet straps and headed back home.

After about 2 hours I stopped to top off fuel and take a leak. I was shocked to see that only one of the ratchet straps was still connected. They were so tight when I left that when I tried to move the small trailer, the big one shook. I also noticed one of the wheels had shifted and the edge was slightly off the edge of the trailer. I strapped it back in and made sure everything was tight.

I drove for another hour and when I was going around a bit curve I was able to see one of the ratchet straps was off again. I found a place to pull off the road. This time I changed the location of two of the straps and strapped it down tight again. When I got home, two of the ratchet straps were off again.

The only thing I can think of is that there was so much bounce in the little trailer's tires that when I hit bumps they compressed enough for a strap to pop off. I'm not worried about it any more since it will never be transported on the equipment trailer again.

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I like the deck-over trailer a lot. The paint is streaky. It does not have the fit and finish of more expensive trailers, but it is built really heavy duty and the design is well thought out. It has a tool box up front and steps up front on the side for getting on the deck. It is a solidly built trailer. I did notice that I'll need a different pintle hitch. You can see in the picture that the ramp angles are too steep. I'll need a a hitch that I can mount higher on the truck to level the deck.

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Here is the little trailer for the boat. I've never seen a gate like this one. I like it. It is held on by two bolts. It lays down inside the trailer like you see in the picture. Sticking out in the middle of the deck under the gate is a spring. You lift the gate and put a pin through that spring. The gate is then vertical. The spring acts as a lift assist when you are closing the gate. This gate should be very easy to remove and replace myself since it will sit flat on the deck for removing or reinstalling the bolts.

This afternoon, I plan to come up with a design so I can use the bolt holes and spring hole to attach rollers for the boat.
 
I bought a trailer like that short one once in CO. Long story short, it was an emergency and we were on the way to WY to antelope hunt. Yet, I still got good value for the trailer I traded in. Make sure you secure the pins in that ramp, mine tried to fall off on the way back somewhere around KC, KA. Luckily, I was able to find what I needed to patch it. The lay down ramp came in handy once or twice, but I traded it for a 12’ with a dovetail that made loading my zero turn and my SxS much easier. That short ramp doesn’t catch as much wind and it pulls off my just slipping it to the right. Even at my age I can take it off easily and put it back on without grunting too loudly. Those little trailers are mighty handy, especially if you have a camper top on your truck like I do. That pintle hitch looks like a really well built trailer too, and if you think those ramps are too steep, you should have loaded my backhoe up onto my 24’ gooseneck. 😀

If you don’t already have them, you might think about airbags on your truck. I put them on mine and they made a big difference on how it handled. They aren’t that expensive even if you don’t want to install them yourself.
 
I bought a trailer like that short one once in CO. Long story short, it was an emergency and we were on the way to WY to antelope hunt. Yet, I still got good value for the trailer I traded in. Make sure you secure the pins in that ramp, mine tried to fall off on the way back somewhere around KC, KA. Luckily, I was able to find what I needed to patch it. The lay down ramp came in handy once or twice, but I traded it for a 12’ with a dovetail that made loading my zero turn and my SxS much easier. That short ramp doesn’t catch as much wind and it pulls off my just slipping it to the right. Even at my age I can take it off easily and put it back on without grunting too loudly. Those little trailers are mighty handy, especially if you have a camper top on your truck like I do. That pintle hitch looks like a really well built trailer too, and if you think those ramps are too steep, you should have loaded my backhoe up onto my 24’ gooseneck. 😀

If you don’t already have them, you might think about airbags on your truck. I put them on mine and they made a big difference on how it handled. They aren’t that expensive even if you don’t want to install them yourself.
Thanks. I think the Chevy has enough rear end to handle the weight well. I don't think the ramps will be too steep when the trailer is properly level. Notice how far off the ground the ramp lips are. They should be touching the ground. They should keep the ramps from kicking up. If they were on the ground, I don't think the ramps will be too steep. I think the key for me will be getting the hitch at the correct height.

I had air shocks on the F150 when I was using it to haul my tractor because it was not built for it. They worked fine for a while. It took a bit for the little compressor to adjust them. Eventually they wore out, but I now have the 3/4 ton Chevy and the F150 has been put out to pasture just towing the small trailer with the boat.
 
Man! The gate on the small trailer sure it heavy duty!

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It was so heavy I could hardly lift it off the trailer deck myself. Once vertical, I put the side pins in to hold it upright. I then installed the pin into that spring in the middle. The gate drops slowly, almost on its own. Lifting it back up was a breeze, it was an easy one hand lift. They really designed this well for the intended use.

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However, when I remove the gate for the boat, it will be a chore. Unless I back up to within a few feet of a wall and slide it back and stand it up against a wall, it would be a two person job to lift and move that heavy gate.
 
If you don’t already have them, you might think about airbags on your truck. I put them on mine and they made a big difference on how it handled. They aren’t that expensive even if you don’t want to install them yourself.
@Drycreek ,

I think you are right. The pintle hitch I got is a bit too low, but only about 3 1/2 inches. Even when I level the bed of the trailer with the jack, the ramp lips still don't touch the ground. I decided to give it a try tonight. It was a very steep drive for my Kioti. When my weight was behind the wheels, it wanted to lift the rear of my truck up. When I put the center of gravity between the axels, there was enough tongue weight to push down the rear of the truck. I had to center the weight above the rear axel to get the trailer fairly level.

I think air shocks might be in my future or perhaps helper springs or something. I'm not sure if raising the hitch 3 1/2" will be enough to stop it form lifting the rear of the truck.
 
I have an F250 and a 20’ bumper pull trailer with a regular 2 5/16 ball hitch. My rear wheels get nearly off the ground too when I load my Kubota M 6040. It doesn’t hurt anything as long as you’re on level ground. I stop my drivers just about center of the front axle. The air bags aren’t gonna help that, but they definitely cut down on the squirrely ride, the truck just handles better. I used to have a one ton flat bed and I wish I still had it. Number 347 of the things I wish I still had………..




Sometimes I make stupid decisions !😖
 
Thanks. I didn't think the air shocks will help the lifting any, but they should allow me to move the load further forward on the trailer. My old trailer was a 10K 20' trailer with wheel wells. I had a 2 5/16 ball hitch with a load balancing hitch. It had bars and chains that you could use to transfer the load forward on the truck. Again, it didn't help with lifting, but with transferring the tongue weight more forward on the truck. This Chevy 2500 Silverado is a long bed with an extended cab.

I'm sure I'll get something figured out.
 
Well, I just did the bucket test with the new transducer. No luck with side imaging. I got the same result. I'm back into Humminbird technical support with "where do we go from here?"
 
Well, I spent the morning at DMV getting the new trailers squared away. That's a few hours I'll never get back. We also stopped at a welding shop and picked up some 2x2 angle iron that I will use to add rollers to the small trailer. When I got back home, I found one part of the new pintle hitch I ordered has arrived, but the other part won't be in until tomorrow. I was able to get a miniature license plate for the little trailer, but the large trailer was a little too heavy to qualify for a mini plate.
 
Put a split shot 18” to a couple feet above your jig Jack. Not only will it get the jig down faster when you are using a light jig, (which usually catch more crappie), it will show up on your sonar better. I have zero experience with Humminbird, I only ever used Garmin.
I've used both. It's a struggle to see a crappie jig with the bird. Garmin, no problem.
 
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