MMF'S-1990 Tracker TX-17 Alum Build (FINAL PIX 10/22/11)

[Derek]

Your trailer looks great. Have you checked to make sure the jack and winch handles don't hit? Mine barely clears and it looks farther away then yours.

 

[mmf]

Your trailer looks great. Have you checked to make sure the jack and winch handles don't hit? Mine barely clears and it looks farther away then yours.

Thanks Darek, no the winch and jack handles are OK, at only one point are they close, but think about it, you really won't jack up the trailer until boat is loaded and back in it's parking place at home (at least in my case) so the jack will be folded out of the way of the winch when loading the boat, even if it did hit, it would be easy to move the winch handle where you needed it on land. Thanks for the reply!

 

[spotco2]

Everything is looking great so far!

That trailer turned out nice. What kind of paint did you use with a roller that came out that nice? I thought it was sprayed.

I am on pause because my mother who is 90 years old is in the hopital.

Prayers that everything is ok with your mom.

Mine is also in the hospital and just had triple bypass a couple of days ago. They wanted to do more bypasses but couldn't.

 

[mmf]

Thanks for the reply spotco, I hope your mom gets well soon, they found a bleeding ulcer in my mom's stomach and it will be treated and hopefully she will be back home tomorrow.

About the trailer paint, I used rustoleum out of the can mixed with a little mineral spirits and applied the paint with a "professional" 4 inch foam roller from Lowe's. I have painted a car with the foam rollers before and it looked like it was sprayed. On a car, you thin the paint to the thickness of milk and paint then sand then paint then sand etc., usually putting on about 7 coats of paint. There are alot of videos on doing this on youtube if you search for it.
Thanks for the compliments!

 

[Derek]

Thanks Darek, no the winch and jack handles are OK, at only one point are they close, but think about it, you really won't jack up the trailer until boat is loaded and back in it's parking place at home (at least in my case) so the jack will be folded out of the way of the winch when loading the boat, even if it did hit, it would be easy to move the winch handle where you needed it on land. Thanks for the reply!

Mine would hit when folding the jack up or down, not in cranking it. I have since moved it far enough away to just barely clear.
Good luck to your mother

 

[mmf]

Well Mom is back home now and doing better! Thank God for that!
Today I have been removing Tracker decal glue on both side of the boat. This is the most stubborn stuff I have ever seen! I had to use paint remover to loosen it and still had to take the razor to it, I suppose being on the boat from the factory plus 21 years old has a lot todo with it. After the paint remover I have been scotch-brightening and the brillo pad scrubbing on the sides. I will post pix soon..............

 

[Derek]

what paint remover are you using? I plan to repaint mine at some point so it would be good to know. Did you use a heat gun to peal the stickers off? I was thinking the heat would help loosen the glue.

 

[mmf]

what paint remover are you using? I plan to repaint mine at some point so it would be good to know. Did you use a heat gun to peal the stickers off? I was thinking the heat would help loosen the glue.

Darek, I have a digital controlled heat gun that will get 1800 degrees. I set it for 1100 degrees when I was trying to remove the Tracker decals and I still had a VERY hard time removing them but they had been on the hull for 21 years! I would have thought that they would have just shriveled up when exposed to heat that intense but that was not the case, they just stretched when pulling them and then break, I had to scrape most of it off with a razor blade and it was a SLOW go too. It took me several hours for each side!

I used "Stripeeze" brand paint remover on the remaining glue and in some places the glue still adhered stubbornly and I had to scrub hard with a scotchbrite pad filled with cutting compound. I finally got it all off and scrubbed it with "brillo pads" as a final finish. I will post some pix's tomorrow.

 

[mmf]

Been up all night at the emergency room, my son rolled his truck avoiding a deer. Many stitches and staples later we have him back at home, he is lucky he was not killed.

Well, I managed to get the sides all cleaned up this week and I am getting ready to work on the motor. Still have to put on the great registration numbers I won on Tinboats from the "ugliest boat numbers" contest. Here's some pic's of the cleaned up boat.......

 

[Jonboat Jerry]

Wow Mike, he is sooooo lucky. This could have easily been much worse and I know he is
very sore. Sometimes our children innocently put us through absolute hell, know you are relieved.
Jerry

 

[fish2keel]

mmf,

Wow best wishes to your son! I saw the pictures and just was in shock! He's so lucky to be alive and it not have been worse! Hope he gets better soon!

Btw beautiful boat! One of my favorite boats on the site in my opinion! I love how clean your boat is! Ill keep watching closely!

f2k

 

[albright1695]

MMF,glad your son is ok,that was a bad rollover. The boat is looking sweet! =D> =D> Top notch work! Looks great! I will continue to follow your build.

 

[mmf]

My thanks to everyone for the kind words about my son Matthew, he will get better. He is sad because now he has no vehicle to drive plus lost his job but at least he still lives at home and has my wife and myself to take care of him. I know God was watching over him Friday night when this happened so thank you Lord!

Made 2 tail light/license plate brackets today and attached them to trailer, I will make some flat plates for the lights and license plate to attach to. The brackets are made from 12 ga. hot dipped galvanized unistrut as well as the fittings. The fittings and rubber end caps came from McMaster-Carr in Atlanta, Ga. but the unistrut I have had left over for years from an electrical installation, I knew I would find a use for them someday! Pics will follow shortly...........

 

[mmf]

Pictures of trailer light bracket and license mount, I forgot to say that I also sprayed them with rustoleum cold galvanizing compound as well..........

 

[albright1695]

Light brackets look great. As usual ,very professional looking. Nice!

 

[jonmac3569]

Boat looks great! nice work

 

[mmf]

Thanks jonmac, you did a good job on your boat too! I don't know about you but I'm ready to quit working and start fishin'!

 

[mmf]

Light brackets look great. As usual ,very professional looking. Nice!

Thanks albrite, I will make some flat plates this week for the lights and tag, then I need to get the trailer wired. Moving on to the motor next, then finish wiring the boat. I need to get another RPM guage and mount depthfinder/bracket too.

 

[knotslippin]

Looking good. I think I found my boats half brother. Now get done so you can fish already.

 

[mmf]

I believe you did, knotslippin, thanks for the reply! I liked you build too and you are in a great place to fish!

I started working on the motor today, got the wiring hooked back in to the motor and the cables then I moved to checking the (3) ignition coils. #3, tower to ground=256 ohms, #2, tower to ground=254 ohms and #1, tower to ground=5 megohms. The coil should read approx. 250-270 ohms on a good coil on this OMC engine so I ordered a new coil for #1 cylinder and an impeller why I was at it.

Think I will make my tag and light plates for the trailer why I wait for parts to come.