2014 1542 Tracker Topper Build

[awcarlisle01]

Painted truck bed liner in boat. Highly recommend it to everyone!

 

[Johnny]

awcarlisle01 - is that the commercial sprayin bedliner that is about
an 1/8" thick and must be applied by professionals at the bedliner shop??
or - is this something you bought at the auto parts store and applied it yourself.


come back in 6 months to next year with your feedback of how it is holding up.
many inquiring minds would like to know the down-range results.

and Welcome Aboard !!!!

 

[gatorglenn]

Yes, need a year review thanks


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[awcarlisle01]

Front deck and trolling motor mount I made from 1/4 aluminum. It's made from welded plate.

 

[gatorglenn]

Wow this is looking like a great setup good job


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[awcarlisle01]

Painted the deck with outdoor patio paint mixed with sand. Everything you need is at Lowes.

 

[derekdiruz]

As the owner of a similar boat, I'm loving it. Good work so far. Also, what bed liner did you use? I intend to build my boat this spring... I want to put down foam in the floor, then cover it, and have that as the bottom of the hatches. I'll spray mine with raptor liner I think, to help with sound. I've used it in many applications over the years and I love the product. Held up great of 5 different vehicles!

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[awcarlisle01]

Back of the boat Build. Put some really cool underwater lights on it.

 

[awcarlisle01]

Here is what I did with the live well.

 

[awcarlisle01]

Electrical work from 2014.

 

[awcarlisle01]

More pictures of the wiring.

 

[awcarlisle01]

This mod was finished in 2014 and sorry it took me this long to post it on the site. If wasn't for this awesome forum I would have never gotten this far with it!

One thing I wish was an easier solution for DIYs is making their own bow mount for the trolling motor. The bed liner is from Lowes and it's done okay and would use it again. If this was a bigger and nicer boat I would recommend getting it professionally sprayed in.

There really isn't enough room on the deck for a fishing seat and that type of trolling motor. First time builders take your time laying out that configuration. Fortunately I put mine back as far as I could with out going into the live well.

Overall I am happy with what I built. If you are looking for a boat base I would say Tracker Topper is not a great one to use. They've really designed it to keep people from doing what I've done for example seats are rounded at the edge and tough to pull dimensions on it. I understand why because it forces you to buy a nicer new boat.

Ask your questions I am more than willing to help others if I can.

 

[WiselyAD]

My Son and I are starting our conversion. We really like your setup and was wondering if you could post a parts list of the electrical work?

 

[WiselyAD]

Also on the front deck. Did you use C-channel over the boats floor ribs? It is hard to tell with the spray liner.

 

[awcarlisle01]

I used aluminum angle and revit it to the support boat support ribs and it is painted with liner. I was very very cautious drilling holes in the ribs and piercing the boat of the boat.

As far as parts list for electrical I didn't keep a list of what was bought vs model numbers and where I got it. I used stuff from Bass Pro and blue sea electrical.

 

[WiselyAD]

Outstanding Thank you.

 

[awcarlisle01]

How many would agree the location for the live well for the Tracker Topper 1542 is not ideal?

They could move it to one of the back corners. Then increase the front the bench to make up for the coast guard float requirements.

After working on this boat I am 100% convinced the boat was engineered and designed to keep customers from building an affordable bass boat. Also if you complained and got a response they would say it's intended to protect their hull warranty.

 

[RStewart]

Nice job. You've got a ton of room on that deck. That pedal will slide forwa frontrd to give you more room. I did mine like you did putting the seat at the back of the deck. When I redo my boat this winter I plan on moving the seat to the front of the deck so I can install a recessed pedal tray.

As far as the livewell, I could see moving it back in front of the other seat or in the other seat but I wouldn't like it in the corner.