HOUSE's 14' Crestliner V-haul MOD (photos added)

[cvrx4]

It looks like it is mounted underneath the cleat. Is there no issue with it being seen? I like the idea I just wanted to make sure it was good to go before mounting it there.

 

[DON75]

I worked on the boat again after taking it out a few times. I replaced the front winch bolt with a new one from Academy.com that says it can support 2,000 pounds. I've been meaning to post pictures of it but keep forgetting to since I've been so busy modding my kayak.

Here's a picture of my kayak mods that have been stealing away all of my tinboat mod time!

It's a bass pro Ascend FS12 sit on top:

My grandson and I visited Bass Pro in Ft. Worth last week and I bought the same Ascend for his birthday. I had to leave before he put it on the water. That thing is a lot longer when loading than it looks in the store!

 

[HOUSE]

It looks like it is mounted underneath the cleat. Is there no issue with it being seen? I like the idea I just wanted to make sure it was good to go before mounting it there.

Crazy busy week, sorry for the long delays. I'm usually better at keeping up with this stuff. Yea, it definitely mounts under that cleat, but the bulbs are just wide enough that you can see it from head on. They also pick up a little reflection from the cleat which makes up for it. I'm still not sure why they did it that way, though.

As to the kayak? Yea, lol this thing is a freaking U-boat. I can't even load it into the back of my buddy's pickup truck. I'm glad I got the 12footer over the FS10, though. This thing tracks very well in the water and has plenty of storage space. I think it's heavy though, so I really have to row hard to get it moving, but I don't mind that part. I've added a few more goodies since that picture was taken, too.

 

[HOUSE]

10/5/2012: I took the Minnowtaur out on my favorite lake on Friday and she held up great! I had an initial hiccup with the trailer, but it was "user-error" on my part. I forgot to rotate the front wheel up on the trailer and started to drive down the street and it was grinding pretty hard on the concrete. We pulled over and my friend hit me on the back of the head after he noticed what I had done. It melted a bit of the plastic wheel, but after that we got to the lake just fine.

Also, the motor had given me trouble on the last trip and didn't seem to be getting enough gas, but I think it is because air is getting into the line and then we were priming it too many times and flooding the engine. What's odd is that the fuel line bulb always seems to have air bubbles in it. I think the connection to the motor might be leaking air and the motor just isn't getting enough gas. I bought a new fuel tank and hose last year, as well as a new connector for the hose to the tank, but I did not replace the connector from the fuel line to the motor and I think that is the problem. It's kind of loose. We just squeezed the fuel bulb a few times until the air was gone and it seemed to work. After we figured out how it "wanted" to be primed, it usually started up on the first or second pull.

Question: Once you pump a fuel line bulb so the air is gone, do your bulbs stay air-tight and "squeezed" in even after you kill the engine?

Here's a picture of my buddy holding a big buffalo we caught trolling an umbrella rig. Check out the bottom right of the photo and you'll see how close my rod was to going overboard!

 

[Brine]

:LOL2:

Great pic of the rod.

No offense to your buddy :LOL2:

 

[russ010]

Question: Once you pump a fuel line bulb so the air is gone, do your bulbs stay air-tight and "squeezed" in even after you kill the engine?

Mine stay primed pretty much all day. I found the reason my bulb kept having to be primed was because I had air getting into the line. I found the leak on mine where the fitting that goes into the gas tank was not tight. I put some plumbers tape around the threads and put it back in on the gas tank and solved my problem.

Just check all the clamps on the hose, then check where it goes into the gas tank, then check the fittings themselves on the hose - going to the gas tank and where you attach it to the motor.

 

[webrx]

if the bulb is "squeezed in" you need to check the tank vent and make sure it is open and air is able to flow.

d

 

[HOUSE]

if the bulb is "squeezed in" you need to check the tank vent and make sure it is open and air is able to flow.

d

OMG, I think you may have just solved the puzzle and I am in fact a dumbarse! My friend swore that the air vent needed to be locked down to prevent the gas from evaporating. I should have realized this was wrong after my gas tank nearly exploded in my garage this summer. Unfortunately, we've got a cold spell here in Ohio or I'd go test it out. I'm not sure if we'll get another warm week this year

Anyways, thanks for the advice. I'm 95% certain that's what's what was wrong. I'm going to replace my spark plugs this winter as well as the fuel line's connectors @ the motor which seem to be loose, just in case.

Thanks again guys.

One last question for 2012: When I get back to the ramp, my friend said I should disconnect my fuel line and let my motor die. Is he right about that one?

 

[Zum]

"One last question for 2012: When I get back to the ramp, my friend said I should disconnect my fuel line and let my motor die. Is he right about that one?"
I never have,I do know a few people that do.
Heres my take on it...
If you pull the fuel line off,you shut the air off(similar to having your tank air shut off).The motor will stop but all the fuel isn't gone from the carbs,so why bother.I figure keeping it(carb) flooded with fuel would be better because only having alittle fuel will start to evaporate quicker(gum up) then having it full.I don't even drain the carbs when I store it in the winter.For me,treating the fuel(stabil) and keeping it flooded has never let me down(25+ years,some years never even treat it with stabil)

I never looked to see what you have for a motor but if it's fuel injected,pretty sure running it dry is a big no no.

 

[HOUSE]

Wow, you guys are awesome. I took the boat out for the 3rd time yesterday and this time I left the air valve on the gas tank open and it started up on the first pull almost every time! Awesome! We only caught 6 keeper crappie, but it wasn't bad for mid-November in Ohio. Thanks again for all of the tips. I still can't believe I missed that one :shock:

I noticed one more odd thing yesterday. If for whatever reason we didn't get it started on the first pull, it would never start on the second or third pull unless it sat for a few minutes. It seemed like I was flooding the engine, but I wasn't priming it or squeezing the fuel bulb. I was just pulling the cord with the throttle in the 'start' position and the engine in neutral. Does that sound normal? It had really thick white smoke almost every time it started up which made me think it was flooding with that single pull.

-House

 

[Gators5220]

White smoke is gas, make sure you don't choke except for one pull, just word to the wise, white gas, black oil.

 

[HOUSE]

I took the Minnnowtaur out for one last trip to troubleshoot the motor and hunt down some crappie. I think the gas is definitely contributing to the problem. I was getting the thick white smoke on start-up and it was also choking out. There might be carb buildup too, so I'm going to dissect it apart this winter and clean it up for next season. I'm also going to only fill up my gas tank 1-2 gallons at a time since I barely made a dent in the 10gallon tank this season. Overall, she handled pretty well out there. I ended up catching 45 crappie and some bluegill, though.

I had an odd issue with my trailer on the way home...the winch system's "anti-reverse" broke and the boat started bouncing around. I strapped it down with some ratchet straps and it seemed okay. I'm not sure how I'm going to fix the winch though. I'll post a close up picture later to show the broken part

 

[Gators5220]

Looks like the tilt on the trailer is also a bit messed up, you can put a bolt through that if you don't want it to tilt, that's what I do for mine while on the road. Sorry to hear about the wench, which you will most likely have to replace, bummer.

 

[17ft'r]

Looks like you did a great job on your boat. I am impressed also with what looks like some kind of (design) soffware? I really would like to look at the software for my boat mods.
Can you tell me what type of software it is and how I can download it?

Many thanks no matter what,

17ft'r

 

[17ft'r]

What kind of "software" did you use for the (animated) boat figure? :?:

Thanks, =D>

17ft'r

 

[HOUSE]

What kind of "software" did you use for the (animated) boat figure? :?:
Thanks, =D>
17ft'r

Hey 17, sorry for the delayed reply. I'm in Ohio so I've not been working on my boat much in the cold weather so I forgot about the forums here All of those diagrams I drew were just made with Microsoft Paint. Nothing fancy, just a lot of zoomed in editing. I have used other editing programs before and even downloaded a free one specifically used by boat designers, but it's a lot of work. Google has a free paint program, for example, that is pretty good but it was a little difficult to learn at first. MS Paint is free and easy. You can right-click on my picture on page 1 of my blog and copy the image if you want to use it as a starting point. Once you save it to your computer, just right click on it and choose "edit" and it should load up in MS Paint by default.

 

[HOUSE]

Looks like the tilt on the trailer is also a bit messed up, you can put a bolt through that if you don't want it to tilt, that's what I do for mine while on the road. Sorry to hear about the wench, which you will most likely have to replace, bummer.

Gator, my trailer doesn't tilt, but it has a nasty "curve" in it that causes it to sit very close to the ground. It's a homemade trailer that does the job, but leaves much to be desired I've found a few "free boats" on Craigslist in my area that come with trailers. I've been tempted to pick one up and swap trailers, I just don't know what I'd do with the POS boat that it comes with.

Also, thanks a lot for that tip: "White smoke is gas, make sure you don't choke except for one pull, just word to the wise, white gas, black oil."

 

[JMichael]

I've been tempted to pick one up and swap trailers, I just don't know what I'd do with the POS boat that it comes with.

If it's an aluminum boat and it's not worth trying to repair or sell, just haul it to any scrap metal yard or recycle business and you can pick up a few bucks for it. It should certainly bring you more $ than the gas it takes to haul it there.

 

[JMichael]

White smoke is gas, make sure you don't choke except for one pull, just word to the wise, white gas, black oil.

I've got to disagree with you on this. When oil burns in a combustion engine, it produces a white smoke with a very light blueish tint. That's the reason you see white smoke from the exhaust of all 2 cycle engines whether it's outboards or gas weed trimmers. If in doubt, get your lawnmower running and drop a few drops of oil down the carb. Constant black smoke while running from a combustion engine is a sign that it's running too rich. If it only produces the black smoke at startup, it was slightly flooded.

If your engine is getting flooded (and it sounds like it is from your description) after one pull and you're not using the choke, I would guess that it's either running too rich or the air flow to the engine is being restricted (like a dirty air filter).

 

[Silverad04]

HOUSE!!!!!!! keep the pictures coming buddy. My wait for a motor has ended!!! I found a used merc 15hp four stroke last week. $800, or so I told the wife. I cant wait to get the viking on the water. Let the modding begin!