Reed's 1542 Alumacraft Swamp Sled.

[reedjj]

Here is the pic of the support I added under the front deck hatch. I should be able to fit the batteries right in on either side with room to spare.

I also widened the driver and passenger seats a little bit. They were too close to the center. I was barely able to fit one foot between them to get to the back deck. Now there is plenty of room.

 

[reedjj]

View from the front with the seats moved to the outside a little.

 

[reedjj]

I bought a 12/36 2 days ago. I think I will follow suit on that back deck. How will you run a tiller motor from those two seats? This is my 1st boat. Sorry if it's a stupid question. Do you think it would be bad to put my TM on that back deck? My 10 yr. old son will be fishing up front and I really don't want him running the TM.

I have ran a tiller style trolling motor from the rear of a boat several times. I prefer it to the bow mount. You should be fine.

 

[jcabarrusjr]

reedjj the boat looks good man. Nice job. I couldn't help but notice the devil dog flad in the background and just wanted to say SEMPER FI. Just hit 10 yrs in the Marine Corps

 

[reedjj]

Semper Fi. Halfway there dude. I have 15 months till I go on terminal. Im doing my extension and retirement paperwork this week. 20 years goes pretty quick.

 

[reedjj]

Today was a lucky Valentines day for this Tinboater. 1st I was able to score some free lights from work. They are for a tow tractor that we no longer use so they were going to be thrown away (great use of our tax dollars huh?) Anyway I figure they will get some good use on my boat.

Then I made a stop to talk to a guy about a motor, Turns out all he had was a 225 merc and a "little 70hp Yamaha". But he knew another guy that runs a boat repair business that had a 30hp Johnson. So I went to see him. The 30hp Johnson was pretty old and worn out. BUT he also had a 1999 Merc 25 that was on the back of a sail boat. in very good cond. He also has a side console from an older Alumacraft. He said he would let both go and rig the motor/install the side console for me for $1,350. including all the controls and a $75 Jackplate (from BPS) he had laying around (its a long shaft Merc).

The only downside is that its a long shaft and it does not have Power tilt and trim. But the price is too good to let go.

Turns out if you get your wife a $12. box of chocolate she will let you buy $1,350. worth of boat stuff. I got the boat all loaded up on my utility trailer and will be dropping it off to NFL Marine Services in Middleburg, Fl tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully I can find a good cheap boat trailer before he gets it ready for pickup.

 

[reedjj]

Its a 1999 Mercury Tracker 25 longshaft. It was originally on a V hull Tracker boat then the owner wanted a bigger motor for the Tracker so he upgraded to a 40. He then put this motor on his sailboat.

This is not the motor I am buying but it looks exactly the same.

 

[Ictalurus]

Nice score on the motor, plus a original Alumacraft console =D> The swamp sled will be tearing by some gators with the 25 on it!

 

[bassdan]

Thats a great score. I wish my boat was as wide as yours. Being able to have 2 seats side by side would be cool.

 

[reedjj]

Here is a little update on my "sled".

I stopped by the shop the other day and Jason (owner of North Florida Marine Services in Middleburg, Fl) had a used magic tilt trailer that will fit my boat. He's gonna replace the bunks, re-wire it, and replace the bearings, and put new tires on it all for $400. A new trailer from boathouse "discount" Marine, Gander Mtn, or even BPS, cost $699 before tax. So Im getting a great deal.

When I pick it up next week I will hand him a Check for $1,750. That is for the console,rigging, controls,trailer, motor, batt. And the installation and labor. I couldn't have found it all that cheap on craigslist and done it all myself even if I knew how.

All said and done, I will have less than $2700.00 in the whole boat. I feel pretty good about it, especially considering I was prepared to spend (and got the OK from the ole lady) $4,200.00 on a brand new Merc 25 with power tilt and trim.

I still need a few things like a fish finder, 2nd batt for trolling motor and lights, plus I have to register it but at least I will be on the water by next Fri!

I will be sure to post pics when I pick her up.

Untill then I will be browsing Craigslist for another project haha!

 

[reedjj]

Here is a couple shots of the trailer and the console. The trailer still needs some cleaning up, and the console needs to be painted and installed (its just sitting there in the pic).

 

[TNtroller]

nice work so far. Sheesshhhh, hate people with neat/clean/organized garages. JK!

 

[minicuda]

Looking good! I really like what you have done so far.

 

[lovedr79]

Looks Great! I love the flip up front deck! if only i had found this site before i got my boat.

 

[SlowRollin']

Super clean mod all the way around. Looking forward to seeing the finished pic with the new motor.

Congrats and some great deals.

 

[BaitCaster]

Great looking mods.

 

[reedjj]

Thanks guys. I was hoping to have it on the water by now. Im still waiting on the trailer.

 

[reedjj]

I stopped by the shop (N.F.L Marine Services) to check on my sled. It was on the trailer, had the motor, Jackplate, console, Steering wheel, throttle controls, cables and everything on it on it. He was still fine tuning the throttle and steering linkages. It looked so sweet I forgot to take a pic. I should be able to pick it up Monday.

That 25hp mounted up high on the jackplate, hanging on the back of my little boat looks awesome. There were about 4 guys hangin around in the shop (like guys do) They were there with bass boats with 225+ mercs and it was funny to hear them talk about how fast they thought my boat was going to go. LOL. I got a lot of compliments on my mod there. Pretty cool.

Anyway I will post some pics when I get her next week. maybe a vid of the maiden voyage.

 

[reedjj]

So I picked up my boat today and I am very happy with the job and the items I got for the money. I still have a few things to do before I am finished with it (if I ever will be lol). I need to prime and paint the console, and a few other little things.

The only major thing left to do is to mount the batt permenantly. Right now its just sitting aft of the center bench. I ordered a hatch and have decided cut a hole in the left side of the center bench and drop the battery in there. It will be perfect and still allow me to mount another trolling motor battery up front under the deck and have room left over for storage. When the hatch comes in I will talk myself into cutting into the bench and removing some floatation foam.

I won't have time to take it out till Fri but Jason the owner of NFL Marine Serv. test drove it and set the trim on the motor for me and suggested I go with putting the batt. in the center seat instead of up front. I trust him! He said the boat was running in the mid 30 mph range and that it was too fast to be going in a boat like that LOL. This is from a guy that builds boats that go close to 100mph! So I am very pleased with that news. He said if Im crazy enough we can still go with a different prop and it will get me close to 40mph. I will see for myself on Fri. Here are some pics I took.

 

[reedjj]

That last pic is a little decieving. It makes the motor look like its waay below the hull. In reality The cavitation plate is just slightly (1/32nd inch) above the keel in the current position. It will sit in less than a foot of water.