2002 G3 HP180
2013 250 Pro XS-Jet converted
2001 Tracker Targa 18
2001 Lowe 180WZ
115 Evinrude
70# Minnkota
Recessed Foot tray
PowerPole
HDS 8
HDS 5
http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...ics/Boat54.jpg
http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...ics/Boat53.jpg
Since I like standing while I drive the boat I made my 86 TX17 a center console, plus the original side console felt like it was made for a 12yr old kid(only used it that way one time before changing it over). It's a fun little boat that can run all day long on less than 6 gallons of gas getting burned through the 40 horse. Since I fish alone 95% of the time it suites my needs perfect. I have plans to tunnel it this winter after I get my 20' center console on the water.
Rick Ehlers
Avon Indiana
Vexus AVX1880 w/ 115 Mercury
DSC01696.jpgHad a 1972 Fisher with stick steering and a F25. It was my Dad's boat and my son and I completely rebuilt it from the trailer up. It had a Johnson 25 hp that ran great tile it started blowing gas out the top, it did a good job pushing the boat , my son and I both over 300 lbs.but it do as good as the Yamaha F25. Drove and rode like a different boat and used alot less gas. Wish we had never sold it to get my first Xpress (X18) that my son has now and we have a X21TS
Last edited by kk4iz; 07-30-2012 at 04:13 AM.
12 lbs 9 oz caught on 4/28/1975 Lake Eufaula
Here's Mine, It's for sale now on the Triton Boats For Sale Page
http://www.photoshow.com/watch/PE8pf4JV
100_0390.jpg
Last edited by Hydrasports196; 08-11-2012 at 11:06 AM.
Mike Pruett
Carolina Skiff
75 HP Optimax
2007 Ford Expedition EL
This is my 2002 Triton V176Mag
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...redownload.jpg
Is that a comfortroll mount on the front? If so how do you like it?
my new 2012 lund 1775, merc 115, love the boat so far. has everything i want but at half the cost of a fiberglass boat.lund boat.jpglund 3.jpglund 6.jpglund 5.jpg
Here's a slide show of mine.....for sale on boats For Sale Forum
2008 TRITON VT 17 | Roxio PhotoShow
Mike Pruett
Carolina Skiff
75 HP Optimax
2007 Ford Expedition EL
shfishinsticks, I'm pretty sure your 05 has the same hull as my 03 (shown above). I wish I had a 4s engine, maybe someday (but hopefully not too soon, $$$$$!!). What's your top end speed? Given smooth water (a rarity) I get 44gps pretty easily with 2 people and gear, although I usually cruise at about 4000rpm which is about 35ish. I'm sure if I worked at it I could get a few more mph out of it, but I figure it's never going to be truly fast so probably not worth it to me. It ain't bassboat-fast, but it's plenty fast to get me around a big lake--plus the lake I mainly fish is often pretty rough and I see very few people even in big bassboats going more than 40ish in any kind of waves so I'm not all that far off pace much of the time. I'm probably going to make a rear deck-extension for mine as well. Is yours a Prestige trailer? Looks a lot like mine. I'm also interested in the ladder you have--did you add it yourself? Is it screwed into the transom or bolted through it? Also interested in how you munted your bow sonar--to the floor or to the front wall? I wasn't sure where I'd want mine so I've currently got it on a platform I can move around at will, figured I'd find a good place and then permanently mount it. Where do you keep rods while you're fishing? I often stuff the butts agasint the front wall and lean the tips across the gunwale next to the drivers console...but I hate having the tips out there, and they can bounce in rough water. Have you come up with a better system?
Anyway, I'd be interested in comparing notes if you're game. It's a nice rig and I have very few complaints with mine.
I believe the hull is the same as yours but 05 was the first year for the new interior layout. With a light load (me and one skinny person and some gear), I have got up to 48 on the GPS. With 2 fat people and 100# of dogs, I'm usually at 40-42 and occasionally 44.
I've been considering a rear deck extension. There's not enough room on that back deck to be comfortable.
My trailer is a Trailmaster channel.....I LOVE IT. It is a heavier trailer than what was under the leftover 2004 that I looked at.
I added the ladder myself. I found it in the clearance section on springfield.com's website a few years ago and finally got around to installing it last year. It wasn't designed to be installed like I did so I had to have a buddy make the bottom brackets for me. The top brackets bolt through the transom and the bottom brackets just screw into the transom.
The front sonar is on a ram mount with the ball bolted to the front wall. It's adjusted so that I can still open the front hatch.
Rods when fishing......I do a few different things with them depending on who I'm fishing with. I made a 6 rod holder that mounts into my open seat base behind the driver's seat for when I'm fishing alone. If I'm going a short distance or just changing between a couple rods, I'll do what you do with your rods too. I installed rod straps on the floor on the port side. One where your dog is standing (tips go here) and the other one back by the rear livewell (butts go here). and the other thing I do with them is just slide them back in the rod locker. The rod locker in the floor is the biggest reason I bought the 2005 over the leftover 2004. The picture of the battery compartment......there's a cover that goes over them and that becomes the bottom of the rod locker.....right next to the console.
Thanks a ton for the reply! I'd love to see a pic of the interior, especially that rod mount--interior sounds significantly different from mine. I was going to make a 30" long/full width carpeted plywood platform (right up to the drivers seat base) level with the rear bench, with a 6" section that slants down about 1.5" on each end so the down-opening side-wall rod lockers/storage doors can still open, but I was going to keep the whole rig unanchored so I can easily pull it out when my wife comes along to sunbathe/read. Either that or one that's mounted on a hinge to the bench like the lund option that's now available and pictured above...we'll see, that's a winter project. I think it'll make fishing out of the rear a lot nicer and should add a lot of storage for a second fisherman too. Sounds like you have a rod locker in the deck, too--mine is pretty small (only 7.5 feet and trouble fitting more than 4 or 6 rods in there) and is on the port side wall.
Fishing partners end up laying rods on the floor w/ tips hanging over the rear bench, and I'm always afraid I'm going to lose one out the back at some point--something solid to strap them to would make a big difference there...have to ponder that.
This is the best pic I have of the interior of mine, I'd love to have an 8' long front deck and bigger rear deck but certainly can't complain! Champlain on a dead-calm morning, doesn't happen very often!
Last edited by MacIntosh; 08-14-2012 at 06:16 PM.
I use the port side storage to store my soft plastics. The in-floor rod locker is 'supposed' to hold 8 rods, but that's a dream that never happened. The bottom 4 have to be 6'6" max. I have NOTHING that short. I store my stern light on one of those tubes and the other 3 are unused. The top 4 tubes are supposed to be 7' max. I can fit 7'2" rods in the center 2 slots and I have fit 6 rods in the 4 tubes. Works pretty OK as long as they're in stick jackets.
Here are some pictures of my latest river rig. Its an 1856 flatbottom with a Merc 200 ProXS, 6' Power Pole, Motorguide Tour 82, perforated floor, and a stereo that will blow your ear drums out.
WINNER^^^^
sweet.
Cable steer? Do jets not have much steering torque?
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2008 Tracker PT175
2009 Optimax 90
MJ5 jack plate
25 trophy
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