1648 Lowe Refresh part II

richg99 · Aug 2, 2015

"Is there anything that you can do??"

I'd say NO. Your friend tried it out and he signed the document. Next time, he'll bring a compression checker.

I worry more about the overly-religious proclaimers than just normal guys. Some are good and true. Others are just putting on a show. You cannot tell one from the other unless you buy something from them or play a round of golf with them.

****
You've done a great job with your boat. Just enjoy it. Don't worry about high speeds. I never caught a bass while water-skiing.

As far as lures catching in the carpet...I saw a post on another site where a guy bought some plastic fluorescent light tube covers. He cut them up; slit them down the side; and put them over his lures to keep the hooks from catching on everything. After reading that, I took a plastic water bottle and cut the skinny end partially off. I slit it and then snapped it over a lure. It provided some protection for keeping the hooks out of the carpet. You might tinker around with that idea.

regards, richg99

p.s. I own a 1648 Lowe side console. I like it a lot. 50hp Johnson does all I need it to do. Heck, my local lakes are all No Wake....so I am spending a lot of time just putt-putting around.

Abraham · Aug 2, 2015

Ya we even brought one with us is the bad thing. It just ran so well that we didn't think to worry about it. Learned some lessons for sure. We would have probably went ahead and checked it also but we were in a hurry to get back. My friend was leaving for vacation and his wife was already on him about the departure time and the boat was three hours away.

I've been using mine every weekend still and actually had it out yesterday and this morning. It's running great and I'm very happy with it. If I hadn't had the steering cable problem after the motor issue the bass boat probably wouldn't have even been looked at. My friend was just getting impatient I think.

Anyway, I've learned a ton about boats and fishing these last few years and wish I'd have taken it up as a serious hobby years ago. This site has helped out a ton and I'm grateful for it. Appreciate the advise on the lure protectors too Rich. I'll try that.

richg99 · Aug 2, 2015

Your cable broke ten feet from the dock.

Only time my cable broke (many years ago) I was crossing an Intercoastal Channel in Texas. A tow boat was pushing a couple of barges right at us. If a friendly boater hadn't pulled us out of the way, I wouldn't be writing this right now.

Tow boats with barges cannot stop, nor can they turn in a channel. OUCH...

richg99

BeerMe · Oct 9, 2015

Abraham said:
Height seems just right while down but I'm not sure how to lock it tilted up. Seems like it would be able to but I'm not sure.

Did you ever figure out how to lock this in the up position? On my Johnson ( I believe its a 65) there is a little flat piece of metal with a 45 degree bend at the end that you pull out or push in just to the side of the tiller handle to lock or unlock it.

I plan on using this same paint you did. I was thinking about doing Duck Boat Drab but I really like the color of yours too. =P~ Did you use the flat enamel or the regular enamel?

You did a nice job on your boat sir!

Just curious, where in OK did you get the Nitro?

Abraham · Apr 10, 2016

Been a while since I posted in here. Boat is still going strong, had it out for the first time last weekend and it ran like a champ. Would've definitely done some things different in hindsight. Flooring for one, steering wheel for another lol. It's great just cruising around but got caught in some bad weather last time out and it chewed my hands up pretty good while trying to get back to the dock. This boat is not meant for handling rough water and it was all I could do to keep us from taking water over the sides. Just takes too many turns of the wheel and the sharp edges of the spokes were tearing me up.

As far as the bass boat goes I think we were just unlucky. The fella who rebuilt the engine said that the piece rattling around in there hadn't been in there long at all. I'm guessing it must have come loose on our first trip out back home. Little under $3,000 later and it's running normally as well. Had to take it back to the shop a week or so ago because it wouldn't hardly idle but turned out the stator was going bad. It was like night and day after that was replaced.

The boat was purchased in Muskogee and I did find out how to lock the smaller engine up but it couldn't push it anyway. It's on a sawhorse in the garage now. Not sure what to do with it.

Hope everyone is doing well and catching plenty of fish. We got into some white bass a couple weeks ago and caught 35 in a couple hours. Friend caught this monster. Didn't have a scale but it was 17.5 and the state record was 20 3/8 and weighed a little over 6lbs.