What Randy said below:
Yamaha
Rude
Merc

Polyurea hands down THE BEST. It’s fantastic and is tough as nails. If you need a dealer, drop me a PM

Sunday afternoon: Just drove along the lake from Red Wing to Lake City. There is an open water path all the way to Hanson’s Harbor but about 50 yards from shore. Hol-si-lah is still iced in and Dairy Queen Bay is iced in as well. The LC marina has signs of ice rotting but still iced in as well. Colville public landing in Lake City was open today, as was Bills Bay next door. Baypoint was still iced in with signs of ice rotting in spots. There were 2 boats in the Baypoint lot apparently debating on how thick the ice was in the marina. I don’t know if they tried to play icebreaker or not.

I’ve had 2 of the Cabelas AGM group 31s for 4 years now and they are absolutely fabulous. These are 1500 CCA, yes not a typo, and I run my Terrova 80 with them all day and have huge amounts of reserve left. 2nd best part about these is there is no corrosion at the terminals and I leave them in the boat all year. Out in the cold garage now and they will be ready to go in the Spring.
I’ll probably go see Dean at Skeeter Boat Center when these finally give out, but right now don’t know when that might be.

Mel Dickie in Rochester has a shop in Wild Goose Sports. He and his partner have built thousands of custom rods and he has community ed classes as well as teaches rod building in the local high schools to several hundred students. He does true custom work including thread art for one of a kind fancy rods. Mel has a DVD for sale (just a few bucks) and will sell all the parts at very reasonable prices, plus, if interested, you can sit right in his shop and get hands on instruction.

Thank you for posting this…NICE looking boat with great weights.

Anybody have the weight of this boat in single console and tiller versions?

See my stabilizer in the Toys forum, Alumacraft section

http://www.idofishing.com/forum/showflat.php/Number/1155983/fpart/1/navigatorterrova-install-pic

PM sent

If you fail finding a place in Western Wisconsin, then here’s one in SE Minnesota (Rochester). Custom Canvas can repair any canvas or sew new, whatever you need.

If all else fails, I know Al’s has a diagnostic hookup to their laptop that will spit out any/all faults and give you an answer. Might be worth stopping into Al’s on N Broadway and talk the issue through with them, might give you some good clues. If it accelerates fine, then more than likely the prop is not too tall, leading back to fuel or spark.

My engine was mounted 1 hole up on the transom. Does yours get up on plane fast or is it a slug? Sure sounds like a prop issue. The 115 Yamaha is a nice motor on that boat unless you’re determined to cruise at 40+, then the 150 is needed.

I have that same boat and had a Yam 115 on it originally. I can’t remember the prop size but I’m guessing it was a 17 pitch SS Yam prop. It ran 38-42 mph at 5500, very load dependent. I repowered it with a F150 Yammie and it’s a totally different boat.

I measured 15″ this morning at 7am and it snowed at least 2-3″ more during the day. I have lost several mature evergreens (22 year old trees), snapped like match sticks. We lost power at 5:45am and regained power at 5pm tonight. I ran on my emergency generator all day. This is 1 mile North of Rochester

I have a new 2013 Yamaha F75 with Tim Merten’s (Enginsteer Corp) PTS on it (power tiller steering). It’s a dream to operate (easy/no effort) and I’d recommend the PTS over the Titan (non powered) steering although the Titan certainly takes the torque steer out of the equation. I believe Al’s Specialty in Rochester might have a kit or two in stock for the Yamaha F75 or F90. The PTS is a 2 finger operation, no matter what speed or situation.

Say goodbye to fishing, any time in the boat will now be called playing with the new toys…awesome equipment you’re getting.

I used to have one of those, fine tractors. Those Kohler 16hp singles were workhorses. I assume you bought the JD 54″ blade that mounts to the quick hitch in front? Regardless if another brand, you’ll need chains and weights on the little JD to make you happy. I built a weight box for mine and carried 400# on the back. Good Luck

Nice unit, my fishing partner has one of these in his boat. The only annoying thing he found was the speed jumping around (his was internal antenna as well)so he sent it to HB and they sent him a “free” external antenna which completely cured the problem.

I’m 6′-0 and 210, wear a XL jacket and Large bibs. They fit just right although if I layer up a little, with my Carhart thermal sweatshirt on, I’d need the XL bibs to wear the hoodie under the bibs. XXL will be way too large for you.

I did that very thing…sold the sleds and have a dandy Winter boat that works great in Summer too. Only downside is having two boats, 3 engines, 6 batteries and all the other stuff around

why not put on Merten full PTS ( power tiller steering)? I have this on my Yamaha F75…..fantastic!!

I don’t know which lakes my friend fishes out there but he lives in Milbank and I know Waubay, and Enemy Swim are 2 of them. He says the ice is 12″ thick and he’s been out on several lakes in the Webster area with his Snow Bear catching lots of perch.

The cork filler from Mud Hole does not work very well, I’d avoid it. If you really love the rod, just cut the cork handle off, and re-epoxy on a new cork handle. The cork handle can be purchased from Mud Hole or Jann’s Netcraft, or any rod builder you know of. There are several of us here in the Rochester area.

NOTE!!! Do not hacksaw off the handle, by cutting off the cork I mean strip the old cork off the blank that extends through the handle. A jack knife will work well for this.

The OEM battery on my 2006 Polaris 500HO lasted just over a year. I then bought a battery from Batteries Plus and was told a Battery Tender would extend the life a LOT. I put one on and am still using that very battery since 2007. I plug the tender back in as soon as I park the ATV after a day of use. I’m sold on this technique for other small batteries I have in yard equipment.

The Cabelas top end model (now on sale $450), plus extra discounts with coupons, is a terrific model. It has a strong vacuum pump and the seal is wider than the cheap models.

Looks like a calendar cover picture James…awesome !

Congratulations James !! I was just browsing some pictures I have on the computer fishing with you in the old Crestliner, we had some awesome fishing days. It’s great to see your career moving in the direction you had always hoped. I know it has not been given to you, you earned every bit of it…just a job WELL DONE, with more to come.

Mel Dickie, Rochester….Mel’s Custom Rods located at Wild Goose Sports. Mel is meticulous, does lots of antique rebuilds in addition to loads of new custom builds. He teaches classes community ed and teaches rod building at 2 high schools in Rochester. I’ve been around him for 20 years and can’t say enough positive about his work ethic, and work.

The bow cap is not sloping but flat and approximately parallel with the boat floor.
The clips that hold the cable to the shaft are from Home Depot, come in 3 or 4 sizes. I believe these are the 2nd smallest size and fit perfectly to keep the cable from flopping around.
The stabilizer is actually home made from Ram products. It is a long double socket and a short double socket, with a double ball holding them together. If I would have bought the real stabilizer from Ram it would have been the long one but I had these parts in my spare box so just used them.

Here’s my Terrova 80# with 60″ shaft on the new Nav 165T, including stabilizer made by RAM. I also have the cam style quick mount plate..very nice mount.