Need Some Suggestions For My Rebuild

[blue79]

Took this on trade this fall and been working on it as much as i can this winter.

Here are my pics http://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb369/davidrparrish/Pontoon/

View as a slideshow and it will take 5 minutes to view the pics in order from the

time i first looked at it till now.

My first question is about a livewell.Has anybody made a large livewell?The BassBuggy

came with an aluminum livewell under one of the seats and it might hold a limit of

crappie but thats about it.Its just not big enough for me so its gonna go in the

barter/sell pile or ill turn it into a custom carpeted/insulated cooler.

My second question-is my 56lb 24volt trolling motor big enough for a 20ft pontoon?

I have my 6g wireing with a 50amp breaker that i had for my bass boat but i dont want

to install it if i have to get a bigger trolling motor and bigger guage wiring.

My third question-what batteries and charger should i buy?Im going to get a discount

through my girlfriend at Oreilly so the batteries will come from there.I will probably

get the charger online.I have one good (1 year old)marine battery i want just for the

boat motor and running lights.I want two brand new batteries for the trolling motor but

i dont want to buy the wrong ones and then regret it later on.I need a 3bank charger but

i think i want a 4bank just in case one of the banks die after the warranty expires.I

had a schumacher ship n shore dual bank charger in my bass boat but after 3 bad ones in

a little over a year i got my money back and i want to stay away from that brand.

I have two anchormates that im gonna put on,but what kind of anchors should i

get for the pontoon?The bell shaped anchors i have didnt hold my bassboat very good so they

are going in the barter/sell pile.Ive been looking at the digger type anchors.Would they work

good for a pontoon?The next warm day im gonna try to get the railing taped off and painted and

was wondering what type of paint i should use.Ive got the decals and stickers off and most of it

sanded but im worried about the new paint flaking off.I got alot of little stuff i need to finish

but for now my main concern is the batteries/charger and the livewell.When im all done all my extra

parts will be sold or traded for some matching seats.


Any thoughts/ideas/opinions? Any help will be greatly appreciated.


Thanks for Looking
Dave-aka-blue79
Stockton Lake

[fishinwrench]

6ga./50amp breaker will be fine, and that TM should do "ok" for positioning and moving around in "toon'able" conditions. No sense in maxing out the TM since no matter how much thrust you have you still won't be fishing ENJOYABLY in a toon during a windstorm.

If you're dead set on using anchormates then a grapple anchor is out of the question, your stuck with mushroom or tri-fluted designs.... without chains. Neither are gonna hold very well in wind or boat wakes unless you let out enough line so they can dig in good, and sadly most anchormates don't hold enough line to do that in water deeper than 8-10ft. If that's good enough for your intended use then your in good shape.

You won't want to paint the rails cuz they'll just look like hell after a few outings, but the panels can be dressed up real nice with any automotive or marine spray paint and maybe some decal highlights/trim. As always the quality of the finish is in the surface prep. Keep the paint as thin as possible on any surface that is prone to flex.

Lots of ideas for livewells but before I go any further I'm gonna piss in your cheerios just a bit.

I wouldn't dump too much time/money/effort into anything that's gonna be supported by the pill shaped Tracker buggy toons with welded braces.....they just don't hold up well compared to "U" shaped toons on Lowe, Landau, SC, type toons, which are what I specifically look for when restoring a pontoon.

The little livewell is what came standard....because that's about all the frame is designed to support (in addition to the passenger load. You slap a 30 gal. Livewell on it and it might swamp the first time you stab a wave. Anyone that has ever stabbed a big wave in a toon knows how quick water pressure can rip the whole craft to pieces. I see it all the time.

My recommendation for the B-buggy restoration is to keep everything (furniture, batteries, motor, fuel tank, ect.) as light as possible so she floats like a cork. It just isn't a good foundation to be loading up with heavy duty accessories and extra power on.

[blue79]

Thanks f-wrench.I planned on taping all the rails and painting the panels.Im not gonna paint the inside.I pitched all of the furniture cause it was all trashed and plus i want the space so we can pitch a tent on it at the marina.Im gonna have 6 floor plates and 2 seats.When i fish i scatter all my jugs and then i fish for bass,crappie,and walleye within sight of my jugs and it is usually me my girlfriend and my dog so i will never be overloaded,im just looking for a bigger livewell.I had 6 different pontoons to choose from and this was the one i chose to fish out of because the condition of the trailer,it had the canopy,the 35hp merc ran,and it had all 3 titles.Ive got about $600-700 in trade and about $300 in cash on the floor.By the time i put 2 batteries and a charger in it i will still be under $800 cash and i dont call that dumping money.I believe what your saying about waves.Before i go fishing i check the weather and the first thing i check is the wind.And if its the weekend and the city idiots that have no respect for people that fish are buzzing all around,i stay in the coves behind the no wake zone,or just fish from my slip at the marina.

Thanks for your input.

blue79

Oh Yeah.Thanks for ruining my breakfast.I will never eat cheerios again

[fishinwrench]

Right on! If you're in the mood to take on another one I have a Lowe 180 that I'd just as soon sell cheap NOW as/is than to finish it out. I had planned to have it done before it got cold....but you know how that goes. This one will make a sweet catfish drifter....eventually.

[blue79]

I would if it was cheap enough but i do concrete and im on unemployment for the winter and that dont pay for any toys.Was gonna buy a fishfinder with my tax return but tranny went out and were down to one car now,so there goes $1600 for a tranny.I think i would rather have the fishfinder.I guess i could use the old tranny as my new anchor.

[fishinwrench]

Plenty of concrete construction and rock laying career ops here in the LO area if you're interested. The seawall crews are going full tilt with the low lake level and all.

[blue79]

I bet.I lived in the long gone town of Proctor(Gravois Mills address)when i was a kid(walking distance to Mallard Bay)and we went to school in Stover,did are shopping in Laurie and i helped my uncle do a bunch of concrete work in Camdenton.

[fishinwrench]

Ah, a J road boy! My G/F's kids ride that bus Lots of funky news coming out of Stover lately. The people of that town deserve a freakin break! Seems to me that the county just wants to sieze the whole township for some reason. Sad.

[blue79]

I was in stover in 2007 for my cousin Larry"s funeral(killed in Iraq) Sad day!Dont think i want to ever go back to stover.

My best fishing day as a kid was at mallard bay.(J rd)me and my cousin Larry were fishing the creek that fed into the cove and the water was 4-5 ft deep and there were thousands of whitebass and we walked all the way around the creek and we were standing on a rock bluff catching fish one after another when this boat slowly works its way up to where we were,and we got to talking to this guy and older lady.I dont know if you remember Jack Tobin on the radio.(This was after he passed away.)The man and woman was his wife and son Toby Tobin and Mama Tobin.We fished all day and talked back an forth and they took us out in there boat and at the end of the day Mama Tobin gave me some of Jack Tobin's books and some of Mama Tobin's cookbooks.Toby and Mama Tobin both wrote some letters to me inside the front covers of the books.We caught fish there for two or three days after that and then it was like someone flicked a switch and they were gone.Id give anything to be a kid and catch fish like that again.

[fishinwrench]

LOL Yep I know of the Tobins. Legendary tomato and watermelon growers. And the whites still pile up in the back end of Proctor creek after a good rain.