16' Lowe Line

[River Rider]

Ok after a successful weekend at Choke Canyon I beleive the transom is about as stout as they can come. I had no movement at all and there seem to be an even disrtubution of the stress throughout the hull rather then any particular area. I even had the motor jump up on me and slam down once due to a submerged tree limb without making that hallow sound that makes your heart sink when it ussually happens. Running Choke Canyon though you have to leave the trim loose so when you do hit a limb it does no damage to the lower unit. I do plan on finishing my pods sometime this week or weekend because I believe I need that extra help to jump up on plane for a hole shot. I will post some pictures of my progress this week and some clearer shot of the transom and knee braces.

 

[River Rider]

Ok. After a long break from fishing for hunting I am slowly preparing my budget for finishing my boat. The inside is stripped, the transom finished, and the pods done. I am starting fresh this year with ideas from everyone on here. I have decided to mount the pods and take for a test spin before permanently mounting and then I will post the latest picks after that. I have been pondering on some motor issues as of lately. I want to be able to keep an eye on what is going on with it and was wondering if there was a way to wire in a water pressure gauge and a temperature gauge. I want to be able to monitor my motor without constantly looking at the tell tale. It is a 30 horse evinrude that came off a Boston Whaler so I am sure they had to have it monitored before I put in on my tinny. Once I can figure that out I will be able to see where I want to go with the rest of the modification. I also posted on the motor section about finding a way to rig up an extension for my shifter so I am not always turning around to shift my motor out of gear. Any suggestions, or answer will be greatly appreciated. It is time to get back to fishing. Thanks.

 

[dyeguy1212]

Pics or it didn't happen! I don't make the rules... 8)

 

[River Rider]

Ok after long delay I have some updates. I am finishing up my pods this week. One is done and the other just needs to have the plug put in it. Once that is done I can weld them to the transom. I also have some more pitcures of the transom after I repaired it as well as filled in the numerous holes that were originally in it. I have not done much to the boat being as I have a list of other chores to tackle before I am allowed to really get back into her, but you will see some projects I tried out. One is I put some southern enginuity into a shifter, so that when I run the river I can get into gear easier. Also you will see in some of the pictures a 6" pipe that I am tinkering into making a gas tank for the front of my boat. Not to sure if it will go in or not but I am liking the idea of having a permanent tank as well as my little portable back ups. Let me know what you think, and any concerns.

 

[River Rider]

Ok I have ordered two sheets of aluminum for the floor. It was not cheap but I have saved enough money to get started on the flooring. Of course I run into another problem though, my plasma cutter crapped out on me. Rather then take the time and money to fix it right now I was wondering what kind of blade I could use in my circular saw to cut the aluminum or if that was a bad idea. I have been using a recipricating saw but that is inacurate and a pain. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[dyeguy1212]

pods look sweet.. nicely done =D>

 

[River Rider]

Thanks I am no pro with aluminum welding so it was tough. They are about 8 or 9 pounds after they are done. I was worried about the weight becuase I ran 3 beads on every seam to make sure it was air tight and sturdy enough for the river punishment. But weighing them after I was done they turned out fine. Plus I will clean them up some as I plan to stel flex them with the rest of the bottom of my boat. Then paint later.

 

[Rat]

I don't know about a circular saw blade for Alu. I use a high speed cutting wheel in my angle grinder and, for fine work, my jigsaw.

 

[River Rider]

Yeah I have been using my grinder, and recipricating saw, but I thought there might be a carbide saw blade or something to cut aluminum. I have to make some long cuts on the sheets of aluminum I am getting. They are 10' x 4' sheets. I was just trying to find an easier way.

 

[russ010]

attach your sheet of aluminum to old scrap wood and take that circular saw to it... it'll cut

I cut all of my aluminum angle iron, aluminum tubes, piano hinges - well everything on my compound mitre saw, works like a charm - just wear eye protection. Gloves aren't a bad idea either, those shavings go everywhere. This is the blade I have on my saw - https://www.freud-tools.com/freuddiabgen.html... it's not made for cutting metals, but it worked like a champ and made my life a hole lot easier than using sawzall's and jigsaws... and hack saws

 

[River Rider]

Thanks russ. I believe I already have that blade on my saw from a older project, so that saves me there. I will give it a go this weekend. I should be getting my sheets in tomorrow, as well as my gas tank deck fill, new teleflex cable for my shifter I rigged up, and then my pods are going to be grinded on one more time tonight so I can weld them on tomorrow. I am going to try to get the pods on for some fishing sunday. The river is perfect for some casting action.

 

[River Rider]

Well I got the pods welded on my boat this past weekend. It was not to pretty, but with some stiching up the gaps here and there I got them secure and for the most part water tight. I have not gotten to totally test them but I launched it in a buddies tank and gave it a running. First off they worked perfectly. The gave me the lift I needed, and I for sure can plane out in a hurry. I do have to get use to turning it. Being a flat bottom when I turn I can skip side ways a bit, but only if I am not paying attention to my speed. I am waiting for this weekend to give it a good running in a lake to see how well they really work, and after a day on the water if they do eventually catch water. I have the metal for the floor but, I have not measured out eerything to begin cutting yet so hopefully I can get that done this week. Then I guess I will have to start with the painting. For now though I can fish when I want, and run shallower in the river. Here are some shots taken this morning to post for you. I will get some better ones later this week.

 

[River Rider]

Girlfriend worked late last night so I got to mess around in the garage. I figured since my metal is in I need to at least get started in putting the floor in. I went ahead and removed the middle bench seat and began measuring my foam to put inbetween the ribs. I work in construction so luckily they use some 2" stuff for exterior brick walls for insualtion. A buddy hooked me up with a few sheets. After all of that was cut I got to measuring out the floor and the deck. I will have the aluminum dropped off at a friend to do some shearing on the big pieces and then I will try to do some breaking for the front and rear decks. I might still need to pick up some extra aluminum for support bracing, but for now I hope to have the floor in before the weekend. The decks can come later next week. I also included some more pictures of the pods as well as my shifter. The shifter is ugly but it is really nice when you are running lines on a river. Let me know what you guys think.

 

[Rat]

Nice, Joe sent me the pictures this morning; nice to finally meet ya! The Sponsons look good. Where did you get the cable for the shifter ot how did you make it? Can I get a good image of the motor connections. I was thinking about adding a shifter to mine as well; not remote like yours just mounted to the front grab bar so I don't need to lean so far back to shift.

 

[River Rider]

Well Rat, I know someone on here after all. Yeah Joe is hooking me up with the flooring. I should have it back from him tomorrow. I bought just a regular teleflex shift cable. It attaches to the shift lever on the side of the cowl with a bolt and wing nut. I will take some better pictures later when I get off and post them tomorrow. Pretty primitive work but it works great for me.

 

[Rat]

Well Rat, I know someone on here after all. Yeah Joe is hooking me up with the flooring. I should have it back from him tomorrow. I bought just a regular teleflex shift cable. It attaches to the shift lever on the side of the cowl with a bolt and wing nut. I will take some better pictures later when I get off and post them tomorrow. Pretty primitive work but it works great for me.

Cool, I like primitive, part of the K.I.S.S. philosophy.

 

[River Rider]

Here is the up close of where it attaches to the motor. Like I said just a teleflex cable, bolt, and wing nut. Ok... What is the K.I.S.S. philosophy? I have never heard that before.

 

[russ010]

Keep It Simple Stupid.... KISS :lol:

 

[River Rider]

Man... Should have known that. Thanks for the lesson. :lol:

 

[caveman]

hello ,

looks good wasn't trying to be smart about the foam as i also got some from work for free and it was 2" so to get what i wanted /needed i had to buy. but was wart it in the long run.

mike