Lowe 1257 vhull - mild conversion

[Thevirge]

I just purchased a Lowe 1257 vhull last weekend. I plan to make it a full electric two man for river/small lake fishing. I pickup the trailer this Friday so things will get a little easier after that.

Lowe 1257 vhull
Transom Mount Trolling Motor
Bow Trolling Motor - Minn Kota 45lb Foot Control
Seats - Tempress High-Back NaviStyle (grey) I was going to get Sand color to match the boat interior but they only had one.


Plans:
I plan to cut a hatch in the middle bench to store the TM batteries and maybe a little storage.
Floors for middle and front areas to level out the feet space.

Updates to come... a few pictures to get going
We took it straight to the lake, had to make sure it floats.

Quick mock up after a few purchases.

Basic boat, nothing added. That is soon to change.

 

[DrNip]

Sounds great! Always like seeing as compact build.

 

[Thevirge]

I originally planned to keep it in the back of the truck. Well plans changed. I picked up the trailer this week when I was in town.


I made the bow mount of out 1/4x1 inch aluminum angle and medium 3/165 aluminum rivets.




New Minn Kota 45lb foot controlled. BassPro had them for 399(354) with a 45 dollar mail in rebate.


I think it worked out pretty good. I would have moved it a little more forward but it is already a stretch to deploy and retrieve it.


Got the rear high back tempress seat temporarily mounted. I still have the seal and carpet the wood but I have fishing to do and this will work for a few weeks.


I need the front seat as low as possible and right were there is no bench seat. I was very careful and things seem very solid.


Front seat fully mounted.


New dual bank battery charger. I decided for an onboard charger, West Marine had a sale. Its nice to have things wired to the batteries all the time. Just plug up when I get back home. It should also help when we are camping, I will not have to wake up in the middle of the night and swap the charger to the second battery.

 

[Thevirge]

Attwood Power Center. Its nice to have external posts and plugs. I think I will buy the Minn Kota box for the front. This one onyl has a 10/30 amp fuse, the Minn Kota Power Center has a 60 amp and an external reset. In each of my boxes there is a 50 amp breaker but I have to open the boxes if I ever need to reset them.


I took the boat out and with the winch hook above the rubber mount it would not launch or load easily. I adjusted the front mount so that the winch hook would move up and pull from under the rubber mount. Hopefully things will be better this weekend.


Another issue that presented itself last week... The boat would drift off the back of the trailer as I loaded it. I typically will be loading the boat with a cross current so rear guide posts were a must. I picked up a pair of 42 inch posts from BassPro. pretty easy mount. I do not like the fact that the PVC just slips over the metal brackets. I have drilled and bolted through all of it to make the mount permanent. I do highway driving and I do not want one to slip off going down the road.


While at BassPro I also picked up the new Lowrance x3 color depth finder. I also picked up the trolling motor mount for the transducer. Now I do not have to transom mount it. Hopefully things will work out and not have too much interference running from the trolling motor.


Lastly I am fishing this weekend and needed a temporary floor to mount the foot control to. Last weekend I took it out and the thing kept slipping around on the Vhull. I guess I expected it but I wanted it a little better this weekend. I used the original attempt at a wooden bow mount for the Trolling motor. It was almost a perfect fit, with the battery sitting on top of it there is no movement. I will cut the permanent one next week.

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

The bow stop above the bow eye is the preferred set up. Also you maybe retrieving your boat with the trailer too deep.