Another Crawdad..

[MiPikeGuy]

First post!

Bought a Crawdad maybe a month ago, came across the site looking for Crawdad mods and saw some cool stuff here. Picked it up for $140 with padded seats, pvc rod holders, wood flooring, anchor cleats, and good registration for a few months. Had offers for $300 the same day, the way it sat before I even got it home from buying it! Bought a new 50# thrust Minn Kota C2/battery for $300. I'm very happy with what I have for my almost nonexistent budget. It's perfect for my girlfriend and I for getting off the beaten path (could be tad bit lighter though!).

Still kicking around a few ideas but it needs to be a little more user friendly and could use some storage space. I'll update as I modify! Any ideas/suggestions would be appreciated!

A few pics from our maiden voyage.

 

[fool4fish1226]

:WELCOME: and keep us up to date on your mods (we love pics)

oh and nice fish :beer:

 

[MiPikeGuy]

Thanks!

Plans so far:
Move both seats forward at least a couple inches, when the motor is at full tilt it hits the back of my seat
I was thinking I could probably make some type of drawer system underneath the seats for my tackle boxes
Compartment under the front plastic for 2 batteries
Rod holders need adjusted for a better angle when trolling
Storage rod holders underneath are a huge pita (especially with 1 piece 7ft rods) I have to slowly feed em down through, so they need to be on top, or something

Eventually if I ever manage to find a 4-5horse 4 stroke that will go on back and switch to a bowmount trolling motor.

I have the urge to mod so bad but I have more of an urge to fish right now, and can't justify tearing my boat apart right now. I'm hoping to at least get a few things done next week, I'll definitely post pics

 

[Kismet]

Great buy and nice fish.

Your choice, obviously, but consider a 2 stroke evinrude or Johnson motor. There's a reason these motors are still running from as far back as the 1950's. Parts are everywhere, and they are really simple engines that are about bullet-proof. Also lighter. I don't know what the Crawdad weighs, but even a wonderful old 3 hp Evinrude would serve you very well, and it only weighs 35 lbs.

Have fun. Be safe.

=D>

 

[MiPikeGuy]

Couple short vids and some more pics
https://s1334.photobucket.com/user/walleyestalker420/library/

Thanks!

I'm really open to anything and would probably hop on a 2 stroke if I managed to find one for a decent price, but anything under a 8-10hp seems nonexistent around here. I'd just prefer not having to mix gas, but I'm not stuck on a 4stroke by any means, and with a budget like mine, you have to be flexible.

I actually have an older (60's) Eska 3horse 2 stroke, but I really think it has a vendetta against me. Put it in a barrel of water at the house, it fires up and runs great. Get to the lake and it won't do anything, this has happened to me pretty much all 3 times I tried to take it out, I still have blisters from trying to start it the last time lol It would be perfect, if it was reliable. I like to think I'm relatively mechanically inclined but I don't have a ton of experience with 2 strokes and it just throws me for a loop. We've replaced the plug/fuel lines, and cleaned the carb/tank, but no difference.

I've seen weights online around 135lbs for a Crawdad, I would imagine mine probably weighs closer to 150+

 

[MiPikeGuy]

Question about battery charging...

I have a 109 amp/hr deep cycle marine battery. My girlfriend's dad told me to hook it up to his 12v charger and charge it on the 2amp setting, but how long do I charge it? There's no gauge on the charger itself, and really don't want to fry my battery. This is it's first charge and was getting pretty low when we pulled in the other day.

 

[Zum]

If the charger doesn't automatically shut off,you might want to invest in one.
There not that expensive plus you don't have to worry about over charging.
Find one with a 10 amp and a 2 amp trickle charge.It's good to charge your battery right away and at 10 amps it will do it a lot quicker.
Just guessing because we really don't know how much charge is left in your battery but it could take close to acouple days at 2 amps.You just take the amp hours and divide it by the input charge(2 amp) to give you a rough idea how long it would take.If you have a multi meter you can check the voltage periodically,to see if your getting close to full charge.

Nice fish your caught there,WTG.

 

[MiPikeGuy]

Thanks! We lost another one close to same size a little bit before that one unfortunately, my girlfriend was rather upset, she hasn't broke 35" yet. With any luck well get back out in the next day or two, the fishing was incredible that morning.

I had read online the dividing by 2 and figured it would probably be at least 48 hours but wasn't 100% sure I read it right and wanted to make sure. I don't believe it has an auto shut-off, but I can't be sure. It does have 40/60/80 amp settings but I read a slower charge is better. I'm sure if I look around in the garage I can find a multimeter to check it. Thanks again.

Buying my own charger is definitely on the list, and it sounds like an auto shut-0ff and other low settings are a must. He uses his almost 7 days a week logging I just got lucky that he's on vacation this week, otherwise I'd be sol lol

 

[Zum]

Ya the 40amp and up charge would be to big but if you can get somewhere around 10-15% of the amp hours of the battery it would work well.
Bad explanation...your battery around 110amp hours charging it at 10-15 amps would be great...atleast that's what I've read.
Fast but not to fast and gets a charge into it quicker than a trickle charge.

 

[MiPikeGuy]

Ugh I'm a dipsh!t


While out drifting for some walleye tonight before dark, the boat swung around to the point where we were going almost backwards (instead of sideways) for a bit. Motor was down, didn't think much of it because were in the middle of the lake, but that doesn't matter when you drift into a stump in 20fow.

Felt the clunk, turned and it was already too late, heard a snap and broke the tilt lock ](*,) luckily that was the only damage, I think. I looked when I got home and found that I broke the "T-bar" piece on the end of the spring inside of the mounting bracket. Thankfully a replacement is only $6 shipped on ebay. Definitely got lucky, gonna need to be more aware next time. Rookie mistake.

 

[Ringo Steele]

Your Eska motor trouble sounds just like the issue I have been having with my Johnson 15hp (and the Force/Merc 5 hp I had before it :roll: ). I have a question for you. When you run it at home, do you run it out of gas when your done running it, or do you just shut it down? I ask this because I have found with mine that if I run it our of gas at home, it takes anywhere from 20 pulls up to ever get it running again. If I just shut it off when run it at home, it only takes 2 or 3 pulls at the lake and it's running like a top. Something to try maybe.

 

[Kismet]

Battery: If you don't know you are at trickle charge rates, keep charging to about 3 hours max. If you can set at 2 amp rate, 24 hours is fine, make sure you have battery acid topped off.

Eska...they work. If it devils you, take it to a shop, should be a simple fix, AND, you've already got the motor. That boat doesn't want a 5 hp...figure around 50+lbs of weight back there

That's a fine little boat for your current uses; limited by its design, but so what? It has already paid for itself.

Have fun, be safe.

 

[nlester]

I have a 10' mod=v with a 2.5 hp 4 stroke. I would probably be better off with a 2 stroke because of the lighter weight.

 

[MiPikeGuy]

Ringo Steele » 09 Jul 2013, 22:04[/url]"]Your Eska motor trouble sounds just like the issue I have been having with my Johnson 15hp (and the Force/Merc 5 hp I had before it :roll: ). I have a question for you. When you run it at home, do you run it out of gas when your done running it, or do you just shut it down? I ask this because I have found with mine that if I run it our of gas at home, it takes anywhere from 20 pulls up to ever get it running again. If I just shut it off when run it at home, it only takes 2 or 3 pulls at the lake and it's running like a top. Something to try maybe.

When I bought it it had maybe a 1/2 tank in it (maybe a 1/2 gallon tank) the guy swore up and down it ran great. Got home, tried to use it a month later, dumped the gas and filled the tank with fresh. Got it running in the barrel before we left for maybe 15-20 minutes, ran good on fast, not so much on slow. We decided to go anyway, it fired a few times but ran for no more than 30 seconds. Got to a buddy's and it fired up and ran great. Went back out, got it to run and ran almost a full tank through it, with minimal problems (other than not wanting to run slow). Season was over, I had a friend winterize it and it was stored in my heated basement.

This spring, filled the tank with fresh gas, it ran in a barrel for maybe 20 minutes, decided to try it on the water. Nothing, 3-4, 30 second spurts and dead. Brought it to a friend's replaced plug/lines, cleaned the tank/carb, got it running in a barrel, for maybe 20 minutes. Next time out, it wouldn't start, it's been sitting ever since. So really in the year I've owned it, it's only burned maybe 2 tanks of gas.

 

[MiPikeGuy]

Kismet » 09 Jul 2013, 23:30[/url]"]Battery: If you don't know you are at trickle charge rates, keep charging to about 3 hours max. If you can set at 2 amp rate, 24 hours is fine, make sure you have battery acid topped off.

Eska...they work. If it devils you, take it to a shop, should be a simple fix, AND, you've already got the motor. That boat doesn't want a 5 hp...figure around 50+lbs of weight back there

That's a fine little boat for your current uses; limited by its design, but so what? It has already paid for itself.

Have fun, be safe.

Thanks.

Yeah it kinda works. It's on the list of things to get done, just not a priority. Especially after getting the trolling motor, I love how quiet it is. The Eska is LOUD. I get extremely bad migraines so less noise is a plus.

It's not what I had in mind by any means when searching for a boat, I was hoping for a 1442/1242 or bigger Jon. But they are hard to come by up here in decent shape for a decent price. $3-350 for 1032's all beat to crap. I'm still going to keep looking but now that I have the Crawdad I can be more selective and make sure I find at least a 14' in good shape to use on some of the bigger lakes.

The Crawdad is ideal for 95% of the lakes in my immediate area. Most have no launch or a crappy one at best, so you pretty much have to be able to carry if you want to fish a lake that actually has fish left in it. Fits perfectly in my 2wd Ranger with a longbed, and allows us to get where most people don't go (now I just need a locker so I'll stop getting stuck!). I don't really have any complaints, other than it could lose a few lbs.

 

[MiPikeGuy]

Take the foam out? There's soo much space that crap takes up, and I've got A LOT of gear, it could be a good amount of usable space. I've seen mixed opinions on whether or not to take it out.

 

[MiPikeGuy]

Well any pricey mods will be on hold for a minute, at least until I get my truck squared away. It's 2wd with an open rear diff and crappy tires (just got it a few months back) and managed to get stuck for the 3rd time today, on flat ground #-o So until it gets at least a limited slip (or I break down and just have it welded), the Crawdad will remain electric powered.

 

[MiPikeGuy]

Couple from today

After a slow day of fishing yesterday morning, my girlfriend is insisting on a tanning deck, even said she'd give up her comfy padded seat for somewhere to lay out and she tans naked so who am I to tell her no! :lol: Figured it would be lots of storage space too

Haven't done much as far as mods yet, just been cleaning up the previous owners crap

 

[MiPikeGuy]

Of course, I always find deals when I'm broke. Just came across an 01 Nissan 2 stroke 3.5horse for $250! looks to be in perfect shape :x

 

[Zum]

Forget the motor,you sir need a tanning deck