Xpress 1546D Makeover... -- SOLD!

[russ010]

What did it take to get it? Did Danny just decide it was finished or did you push the action?

patience... we've been talking a pretty good bit the last couple of months

 

[RStewart]

boat is looking good Russ. Cant wait to see more of it.

 

[dyeguy1212]

Any updates?

 

[russ010]

The livewell came in today!!! I haven't seen it yet, my father in law just told me he had a BIG A box at his office...

I'll take pics and post it tonight. The building finally begins.

I just ordered all the fittings off of Flow Rites website for all of my thru-hull and drain fittings... hope they get here quick - https://www.flow-rite.com/marine/

 

[russ010]

Would you recomend the hydro turf? I am still in debate over using it. I need something that would hold up to mild abuse and use.

I fished with the hydroturf in a tournament on Saturday... it's not very thick, but there was a lot more cushion than just standing on bare aluminum. It took a beating with my 18lb weight, and it still looks just as good as it did when I put it on there the other night. The only thing I would question about it would be whether or not the spray adhesive actually holds up to the Georgia sun... I really had a hard time working with that stuff for some reason.

So, YES, I would definitely recommend using it - and it's not slippery at all. I put some water on it and I was wearing tennis shoes, and I didn't slip at all

 

[River Rider]

Thanks Russ. Appreeciate the input.

 

[russ010]

ok get ready for some pictures... I'm going to upload them - I think you can tell what all is going on without me commenting. Basically all I did was position it where I wanted, cut the floor out and set it in.

Oh... the last pics with the red LEDs... those are Bluewater LED livewell lights. The pictures just don't show how much they are actually lighting up, but I could see the walls of my garage with it

Enjoy!

\

 

[dyeguy1212]

Livewell looks great.. just what I wanted lol


led's look good too.. I got the same set, looking forward to installing them

 

[russ010]

I've got other LED strips - I just didn't put them up to the battery. But I'm putting the red lights in the livewell (one on each side). I've got a ton of those livewell LEDs... I'm going to put the white ones up in the hatches in the front deck so that I can see when i need to retie or just to be able to see period in the hatches. I've got another pair of red that I'm probably going to put in the floor between the front and rear deck - but I will tell you this... after having that one LED on with all the lights out in my garage, it took me a little bit before I could see again when I turned the lights on. Red definitely kills your vision.. I know when we wore night goggles overseas, if we had them on when we came out of caves and the sun was out, as soon as we took them off we saw orange for like 30min before our eyes recovered... hence why my deck lighting will be green

 

[dyeguy1212]

I've always found red to be okay on my eyes when walking in and out of the woods at night, but I guess I've never compared it to green to find out.

So far all I have are two livewell strips in red, and two of the 4led strips in red, that I plan it put in the front storage area and under my TM footpedal. I don't do a heck of a lot of night fishing, so its mainly for the badass-factor I guess :|

 

[russ010]

they are definitely badass.... that's why I got the red ones too

I'll try to take some pics of the green ones tomorrow. hopefully we'll get this snow they are talking about tonight and tomorrow...that will give me a lot of time tomorrow to get something done

 

[Jr Branham]

Russ,
How is the build quality on the livewell? What size is it? thanks

Jr. B

 

[russ010]

I tried to find a flaw with it... and couldn't find anything. they had it wrapped in 1" thick styrofoam, so there was no shipping damage.

The size I have is a 40x12x10, and I have the removable separator in the middle. I'm quite satisfied with it - and it was worth the 9 month wait... especially since I changed the design of my deck layout about 100 times since i've been fishing out of it.

 

[krusty]

That thing looks sweet, I am going to feel bad if by mistake I step on that thing during one of our tx's. I like the led's too, they are cool.

 

[russ010]

don't feel bad... I've already stood on it, bounced on it and everything else... it won't give

I'll have the LEDs done then too... we probably won't use them that much when we're actually fishing though... guess we'll just have to wait and see

 

[Quackrstackr]

Would you recomend the hydro turf? I am still in debate over using it. I need something that would hold up to mild abuse and use.

It has quickly become the flooring of choice for duck hunting boats. If it stands up to that kind of neglect, fishing will be nothing.

The boat is coming along nicely, Russ. :wink:

 

[russ010]

I got more done last night... but didn't finish up til about 12am and I was pooped so I went straight to bed.
I've got pics, so I'll put them up tonight as well.

I got part of the framing done for the rear deck where the livewell will be, and I cut the deck itself. I don't know how it's going to work out though, I went through 15 sheets of plywood at Home Depot & Lowes, and every sheet they had was a little bowed. I think I can make some of it work though.

Anybody got any ideas as to how to get the bow out of it? I guess I could always screw it to some aluminum tubing, but I'm trying to stay away from that

 

[dyeguy1212]

Only way I've ever gotten the bow out of it is to get it a little wet, and throw a ratchet strap around it and bow it slightly the other way and let it dry. I don't know what the temps are by you, so it might be a bad idea considering the amount of time it could take to dry.


Might just want to try moistening it and put it on the ground, and throw some heavy stuff on the bowed side to get it flat.

 

[270Handiman]

I got more done last night... but didn't finish up til about 12am and I was pooped so I went straight to bed.
I've got pics, so I'll put them up tonight as well.

I got part of the framing done for the rear deck where the livewell will be, and I cut the deck itself. I don't know how it's going to work out though, I went through 15 sheets of plywood at Home Depot & Lowes, and every sheet they had was a little bowed. I think I can make some of it work though.

Anybody got any ideas as to how to get the bow out of it? I guess I could always screw it to some aluminum tubing, but I'm trying to stay away from that

That's gonna be tough if it's not fastened to a rigid frame, because even if you get it flattened out, it's probably gonna bow again when exposed to moisture or even humidity changes. MDO or HDO plywood may be a better bet if you can find it, it is the stuff used to make road signs and it holds up well to moisture.

 

[russ010]

I saw this in one of your other posts.... what is MDO & HDO - and where might I find it??