New Guy, New Project!

Hey Guys,

My name is LeAlan, I live around Birmingham, Alabama. I grew up fishing the Tennessee river every summer with my Dad's side of the family. My Dad worked in the Fishing and Hunting Industry as a sales rep for a large distributor for good like Shimano, Pradco, Hoyt, etc... Dad got kind of burnt out on Bass fishing after 10 years of the industry and sold his boat. At 45 my father passed away from a massive heart attack and left me without my best friend. I joined up with a local Bass Club and fished as a non-boater for a few years and fell in love with Bass Fishing all over again.

With a kid in Daycare it's been hard to afford a boat, but my buddy called me up the other day and said he had an old Bass Tracker in his boat house and they wanted it out of there. I offered him what I had and he is going to take the offer.

Here are a few crappy cell phone pics:




Unfortunately it does not come with a trailer. So I am trying to hunt one down to at least get it home and then I will scour Craigslist until I find a suitable one. Should have it home in a week or two. It has a 45HP Mercury CLassic 50 on it with Power Trim. Everything is in pretty good working order. The motor needs a tune up and the navigation lights need to be re-wired. I think I am going to extend the deck and raise it on the front and put a back deck and permanent fuel tank in the back. Might do a repaint on it too, but its actually in really good condition.

Nice rig! Welcome aboard. I think I might know this particular Jedi master from somewhere. :wink:

Yeah I am on a lot of different bass fishing forums throughout the day.

Welcome aboard altimas.

Sorry to hear about your Dad's passing, and I think it's great you got back into the sport.

Congrats on the new rig.

I've had two Bass Tracker's in my life and did a rebuild on the first and a front deck extension on the second. The only thing that was ever wrong with either boat was the owner. I'm now running an '88 Alumacraft 1470 Mod V with a Yamaha 25hp tiller. I'm not letting go of this one. I've found the boat site that will let me make it a one-off that will be unique wherever I go. Welcome aboard and keep us abreast of your progress. (abreast is PG isn't it?)

tccanoe said:

(abreast is PG isn't it?)

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One is, two's not.

Nice rig, cant wait to see what all you do with it. Good Luck!

I'm nervous as a pig in a smokehouse. Should be getting the boat a week from now, one problem I am having is finding a trailer to get it home. I have access to a Flat bed trailer that the boat would fit on but I am worried if this will hurt the boat and/or the motor on the back of it. Any suggestions?
It's a flatbottom boat for the most part so I think it would be okay but wanted to ask the more experienced.

Been scouring Craigslist and stopping and asking about empty boat trailers but have had no luck so far...

Hey, welcome aboard. Keep scouring Craigslist. The right trailer will eventually come up.

When it comes to the flat bed, can you keep your boat on it when you get home? If not, then a boat trailer seems the best way to go. If push comes to shove and you have to use the flat bed, could you cobble together a frame with bunks out of 2x4's? Just strap the boat tight and it will be fine. Good Luck. It's a good boat.

I plan on eventually getting a boat trailer to keep it on, but the guy I am buying it from wants it out of the boat house ASAP. So I am just trying to get it to the house and I'll put it in the garage on some bunks I made with 2x4s and blocks. I'll do the mods and upgrades there while I hunt for a trailer. I just want to make sure it wouldn't hurt the boat if I trim the motor all the way up and strap it down to the flat bed trailer.

altimas said:

I plan on eventually getting a boat trailer to keep it on, but the guy I am buying it from wants it out of the boat house ASAP. So I am just trying to get it to the house and I'll put it in the garage on some bunks I made with 2x4s and blocks. I'll do the mods and upgrades there while I hunt for a trailer. I just want to make sure it wouldn't hurt the boat if I trim the motor all the way up and strap it down to the flat bed trailer.

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Why don't you take the bunks you made for the garage with you to use on the flatbed? You could screw them down to the trailer bed and strap the boat down for the ride home.

Henry Hefner said:

Why don't you take the bunks you made for the garage with you to use on the flatbed? You could screw them down to the trailer bed and strap the boat down for the ride home.

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Well... because I am going to have to lift the boat off the trailer and onto those bunks when I get it home. I guess I can make a second set and lay a rug across em. It will make it easier to slide the boat on there

altimas said:

Henry Hefner said:

Why don't you take the bunks you made for the garage with you to use on the flatbed? You could screw them down to the trailer bed and strap the boat down for the ride home.

Click to expand...

Well... because I am going to have to lift the boat off the trailer and onto those bunks when I get it home. I guess I can make a second set and lay a rug across em. It will make it easier to slide the boat on there

Click to expand...

Another crazy idea. Mount those bunks to a piece of plywood, which can be screwed down to the trailer. Then, when you get home, strap the boat to the bunks, unscrew the plywood from the trailer, and slide the boat AND bunks/plywood into the garage together.

Hmmm, I think I do have a sheet of plywood I can use down in my father in law's cabinet shop. Good idea! Thanks for the help.

Found a trailer for a really good price. Going to look at it today, and I get to leave early to boot. Wish me luck!

Good luck, We're pulling for ya. But if you have to use the flatbed, take a bottle jack with you and some 2x4's and beams and such along. Shore up the boat on an even keel and strap it down tight for the ride. Take an old tire to trim the motor down on so the motor is not bouncing on the power trim and it should do find for a one way/one time ride.

Bought the trailer. It's an old bass boat trailer but according to my measurements and few changes it should work perfectly! Buying the boat this weekend! Can't wait!

Got the boat home today!! Motor fired up, and everything works and nothing was dry rotted! Well the little areator tube in the live well was brittle and fell to peices but luckily I had some extra in the garage. Pictures coming soon, waiting for wife to get home with the camera.

BTW The guy in the pics is not me.. Thats one of my best friends I bought it from. Got a little bit done on it last night, got all the dirt dobber nests out of it. Rewired the navigation lights and put new tubing in the livewell. Everything works, now I just need a couple of new batteries and a new trolling motor. Today I am going to pull it out and use the Shop Vac to clean all the spider webs and whatnot out of it and I'll probably wash the hull down too. It's actually in really good condition except 1 little carpet spot in the back, so I may fish out of it like this until Winter and then put new decks and carpet in and a new windshield.

Next weekend I think I will finish the trailer, by painting it and putting a new hub kits in.