Working on my Tracker 1448 Grizzly

[longjohn119]

I have a boat about like yours but alittle older.Mine has a 15hp Mariner and she will travel at 22 to 23mph on my hand held GPS.What will that 25 hp do on your boat?

Also wanting to know what your plans are for a lid where you cut out on your back deck?That a good idea right there.I may end up doing that to mine.Make good storage area for battery,I might even do both side of my boat but need to figure a good lid setup first

I let you know how fast once I get it in the water. It'll be a little while though because I have to break in the motor.

I ordered a deck hatch from Great Lakes Skipper to cover the hole (and I double checked the cutout size before I started cutting!) Here's the link to it...

https://greatlakesskipper.com/produ...ress-13-inch-x-17-38-inch-boat-cam-hatch.html

BTW, Great Lakes Skipper is a good resource. I have purchased several times and always good service, good prices - fast delivery too.

I got one just like that direct from Tempress a couple of weeks ago, for 40 bucks you just can't beat them and in my case with an aluminum deck, you can't hardly make you own hatch for that price and it'll never seal as good. My only gripe is it weighs more than an equivelent aluminum hatch and more than a piece of 3/4" plywood the same size. Still I don't regret the purchase one iota

I got a small 'slam' hatch too I put in the seat beside me and when I cut out the foam I kept it so tight that I could also use it as a 6 pack cooler, there is 1" of foam on the long sides, 2+" on the bottom and about a 2 foot of foam on the short sides. Way more insulation than the average cooler ....

 

[fishshtick]

I love my Tracker 1448 SC. I haven't considered putting storage or electronics in the rear seat. I have console for my electronics switches. I would like more storage. I have addressed my needs at the moment by bungeeing a 5-gallon bucket under my console. I am also working on making a simple aluminum hatch door to cover the opening under the front deck.

You're going to love that boat and you are going to fly with that 25 hp. I have the Mercury 20 hp on mine, and I do 25 mph without breaking a sweat (even with batteries, trolling motor, seats, console, floor, and two people). I had my boat out yesterday to pull some early season bass off stumps. So much fun!

 

[bobberboy]

So my brother came down for the weekend and we spent it working on the boat. Finished up a lot of stuff so here goes...

I had the floor parts cut and ready to go. I used 1/2" exterior plywood with 2 coats of poly on each face and 4 coats on the edges. I couldn't cut the floor out of a single piece of plywood so I decided to configure it as you see in the photo below.

The floor can't be flat because I needed the room below the front hatch to fit the cover on so I made the three pieces with the narrow center so the floor would follow the contours of the ribs. You can see the angle of the floor here and how close the factory hatch opening is to the floor. The first photo shows the slope of the floor and what little room I had below the cut-out of the factory hatch. The second shows the cut for the new hatch cover with the floor in place.

Once I dropped the floor in I tucked the carpet in on all the edges.

You can see here one finished side and one unfinished. I left about 3/4" of carpet beyond the plywood floor to tuck in along the edges. That was also enough to nicely fit around the ribs to close up the notches cut into the floor for the ribs. I did not cut the carpet completely into the notches, only about 3/4 of the way in and I was able to tuck the carpet in a little so it looks like a custom fit. I didn't have the right length screws so I still have to screw the floor down.

Here it is finished.

In case that wasn't clear

I haven't cleaned it up yet but the carpet turned out ok.

And a detail

Here are a couple of shots of the rear deck. I made the deck in three parts. The center is 12" wide and either side is about 26". I forgot to take a photo before I glued the carpet on, but I glued the deck parts to the carpet as if it was a single piece. The carpet acts as the hinge with the center section being screwed to the framework and each side opens up like any hinged deck. I cut the corners to pass by the gussets in the back corners of the boat and added a 1" web strap as a pull.

You can see in this photo how the carpet is serving as a hinge, the cut back corner and the web pull strap.

I did a little more work to the inside of the cavity I made in the back seat. I finally got all the foam out then put some 3/4" foam in to clean it up.

Here are a couple of photo's of the back more or less finished.

and...

Here are a couple of the cable ports I used to manage wires and the gas line.

The last thing we did today was to get the transom saver installed. Now the back end is pretty well ready.

I'm down to a few details. While all of Minnesota was out for the opening fishing weekend I was dutifully finishing the boat to get it ready for when bass season opens on the 29th. My brother pushed me pretty hard - he's more excited than I am to get this thing on the water, which I have yet to do. Sorry about the bright photo's. The original exposures were really nice but somehow they became washed-out in Photobucket. More later...

 

[Rat]

What is the name of this seat and where can I buy them? That is the coolest looking seat I have ever seen. Is it comfortable? Is there a model with a seat cushion?

 

[longjohn119]

Have you put the boat in the water with that FF transducer yet? I put mine in a similar location and its spraying water like crazy once I get going with the outboard. I tried moving it up and down, so I'm starting to thing the location is the issue.

Generally as a rule the more of a 'V you have the more you need to move it toward the center. Where he has it is great for a flat or a modified V that's flat in the rear but with a V the sides start coming out of the water on plane and so does the transducer if it on the out edge. Width also makes a difference, on a 36" you almost have to go to the edge to get it away from the motor but almost all 36" are flat in back

On the plus side he has that nice mounting board where he can experiment without putting new holes in the boat. I'm thinking of adding nylon strips about the same size on both sides of my boat so I'll never have to put a hole in the transom again. I've also found that height adjustment can make a lot of problems go away. The board makes tweaking the height easier too because you don't have to worry about resealing the screws every time you loosen them. I had a small one on my other boat just so I could tweak the height *on the water" when I put a Garmin 300C on it last year because I was taking the NMEA output to my laptop and plotting depths on GPS maps so I needed it to be accurate and stable. The main reason I bought the 300C was for that output but am greatly impressed with the color LCD quality and how much easier it is to interpret what you see, it's the first finder I can turn the Fish ID off and read it like it's supposed to be read with the arches. I can also tell the difference between mud, sand, gravel, and rock bottoms and can tell if that lump is a stump, a rock or just a clump of vegetation. The brain just works better with color information than it does with greyscale information.

 

[ober51]

Great job on the floor, carpet. That's the one thing I goofed on in mine, I was so excited to lay the floor, I forgot to notch the ribs #-o and have even had a crappie fall in there, ha.

Keep up the good work, love those grommets/port thingys.

 

[bobberboy]

What is the name of this seat and where can I buy them? That is the coolest looking seat I have ever seen. Is it comfortable? Is there a model with a seat cushion?

I saved them from my 1236 when I sold it. I got them in the fall of '08 at Northern Tool. They had all their boat stuff for 1/2 price so I bought the seats and mounts for a steal. I forgot the brand name but will look tonight. I like them a lot - very comfy. I originally got them because they were so lightweight and the weight of stuff in my 1236 was beginning to add up. They're nice seats. I believe I have seen a model with a cushion at Fleet Farm in Mn. Let me check into it for you.

 

[Froggy]

Great Job man!!

 

[bobberboy]

I forgot to mention that one of the reasons my brother was pushing me so hard over the weekend was that he had figured out I was dragging my feet on getting the boat done. Once it's done I'll have to get another boat because I love the work so much. Well, actually I already have another one...I pick up this sweet thing in June.

I want to restore it to mostly original. I will be asking a lot of questions once I get it but the one thing I do know is that I'm going to paint it the color of my dad's '58 Plymouth Savoy - turquoise and white. This will be a long-term project. The boat is in good shape but the interior is trash. The trailer has already got new tires and tail lights in order to get it to Wichita where I'm picking it up. Can't wait!

 

[Rat]

I went and looked at your 12 build again and found the name, Attwood Seats. Also, why didn't you use Sintra again? Wondering if you found something about it you didn't care for.

 

[Jeffrey Curtis]

I see you did flooring work and hatchs over the weekend and you did a great job,I allso floored mine up today but no carpet for me as when the boat gets dirty I pull the plug and hose her down.You find out as to the top speed of her with the 25hp yet?

 

[bobberboy]

I went and looked at your 12 build again and found the name, Attwood Seats. Also, why didn't you use Sintra again? Wondering if you found something about it you didn't care for.

When I used it on the 1236 I did so because I wanted to keep the boat as light as possible. This time there was no question the boat would always be on a trailer. The Sintra is great to work with and will last forever but I guess this time I wasn't afraid of a little more weight. Also, at about $120/sheet it would have cost me $240 for this boat and I decided to put the money to other uses. I keep my boat covered when I'm not using it so I expect to get a lot of years out of the plywood floor.

 

[bobberboy]

I see you did flooring work and hatchs over the weekend and you did a great job,I allso floored mine up today but no carpet for me as when the boat gets dirty I pull the plug and hose her down.You find out as to the top speed of her with the 25hp yet?

By the time I finished the work on Sunday it was too late to get on the lake. Also it was opening weekend here in MN and I didn't really want to deal with what was a very busy weekend on the area lakes. We had really nice weather and I am sure everyone was out. I have to be out of town for a couple of days at the end of the week but I will have it on the water this weekend. I still have to break in the motor and then we'll see how fast...

 

[Rat]

Yea, I hear ya on the cost. I would love to build a Dynacore mod jon boat but the price is just too much to swallow. Maybe when I redo my buddies Panga I can order a couple of extra sheets and then do one; at least that way I can save on shipping.

I found the Attwood Venture seats at Wal-mart.com for $40.00, 3 week lead time tho. But those are definitely the seats I am going to order. Very nice.

 

[bobberboy]

A couple of you asked to I'm reporting on the maiden voyage. It has taken forever to get the boat on the water. Too many things to do first like finish the boat and get the gardens planted.

The motor had never been in the water so I had to go easy. It started right up and ran perfectly. I didn't dare to go wide open for more than a few seconds but it topped 27mph on my locator (not gps). I did run at about 2/3 throttle for a bit and the speed was around 22-23 mph. I guess it may even hit 30 once it gets broken in. Everything worked really well. The boat is really stable - we were able to walk around on it casting and poling it into the lily pads. We poked around the shallows and it moved easily with the push-pole. All the changes/additions were good ones - no regrets or mistakes to speak of. I wasn't able to try out the TM because I forgot the foot pedal in the garage. I assume it will be fine and I'll remember the controls next time. Compared to my 1236 this was a dream. We felt safe - waves and wakes weren't a problem. The coolest thing of all was the electric trim. I've never used one before and they're awesome. At first I forgot I was able to set the trim on the fly and the front end was way up. I thought I'd have to relocate a lot of weight to balance it out. Once I remembered the electric trim I adjusted it and the boat sailed. I never got my 1236 to plane right so this was pretty cool. So, it's all good, and three 16" bass to boot! I still have some work to finish and some pics to add. My camera batteries were dead so no pics from the shake-down cruise.

 

[wolfmjc]

Great job!!!!! =D>

 

[bobberboy]

A couple of you asked so I'm reporting on the maiden voyage. It has taken forever to get the boat on the water. Too many things to do first like finish the boat and get the gardens planted.

The motor had never been in the water so I had to go easy. It started right up and ran perfectly. I didn't dare to go wide open for more than a few seconds but it topped 27mph on my locator (not gps). I did run at about 2/3 throttle for a bit and the speed was around 22-23 mph. I guess it may even hit 30 once it gets broken in. Everything worked really well. The boat is really stable - we were able to walk around on it casting and poling it into the lily pads. We poked around the shallows and it moved easily with the push-pole. All the changes/additions were good ones - no regrets or mistakes to speak of. I wasn't able to try out the TM because I forgot the foot pedal in the garage. I assume it will be fine and I'll remember the controls next time. Compared to my 1236 this was a dream. We felt safe - waves and wakes weren't a problem. The coolest thing of all was the electric trim. I've never used one before and they're awesome. At first I forgot I was able to set the trim on the fly and the front end was way up. I thought I'd have to relocate a lot of weight to balance it out. Once I remembered the electric trim I adjusted it and the boat sailed. I never got my 1236 to plane right so this was pretty cool. So, it's all good, and three 16" bass to boot! I still have some work to finish and some pics to add. My camera batteries were dead so no pics from the shake-down cruise.

 

[millertime4242]

I see you installed a standard electrical box for your switches, but what is the face plate? I need a switch panel for my boat and am looking for ideas. Is that one waterproof? Where can I find one? Thanks for any info, and sweet ride! =D> I'm jealous!

 

[bobberboy]

I see you installed a standard electrical box for your switches, but what is the face plate? I need a switch panel for my boat and am looking for ideas. Is that one waterproof? Where can I find one? Thanks for any info, and sweet ride! =D> I'm jealous!

The face plate was from Cabela's so I probably paid too much but I was in a hurry. Here are two examples from Gander Mountain. I wish I has found one with the accessory plug built in. Mine is the same brand/style but with 4 switches only. My accessory plug is off to the left of the switches and works fine, it was just another hole in the boat. The panel came with a set of labels.

So the 4x4 box was screwed to the hole from the outside with 2 sheet metal screws. The face plate was larger than the 4x4 box and neatly covered the hold. The switches have little rubber covers and are waterproof. This worked out really well. My neutral buss bar was a homemade affair andworks fine but doesn't have a cover (yet).

 

[mbhutton]

Nice boat and upgrades. I to would like the 1448Grizzly, they are nice user friendly boats. Well Done