Need Some Short Pedestals for my boat and have a TM question

Hey guys my name is Micheal and this is my first time posting on here. I have read alot of builds on here and I am quite impressed. I am currently working on putting a floor and carpeting the seats in my Waco 1836 (14', 36" bottom and 18" sides). The boat will only be used for private ponds ranging from 2 -50 acres and the public lake and small river on occasion. I want to just put pedestal seats on the benches besides decking the fron because I am afraid of it being too tipsy. My problem is that all the pedestals I find are 11" and higher and I only need probably 6" or so once I install a level floor in the boat to be comfy. Any ideas??? Also I am looking at putting one of those Minn Kota 55lb V2 bow mount TM w/i-pilot. Anyone had any experience with these and would the 55lb be too much for the boat?

Oh and how can I change my username? I got in a hurry registering and mispelled it.

Thanks

I once cut a 15" pedestal down about 6". I cut off the female end of the pedestal so as not to compromise the strength of the pin at the other end. I removed the nylon (or some kind of plastic) female insert from the cut off end and hammered it into the shortened post and it worked fine. I ended up having to cut up one side of the cut off tube and splitting it open to get the female socket out because it was too tight to get out any other way. Mine was the 3/4" pin size pedestals. The larger ones that lock into the floor socket may not work in the same way.

I think you would do good with a pedestal base, and the seat pin, and that is it. You will still be able to swivel, and to remove your seats, but you won't have the tall pedestal.

Or, if you buy the economy steel pedestals that don't remove, they offer one that is about 5-6" tall.

not much to add on the seats I did find risers that were only 6" but don't recall where I found them.
As for the trolling motor being to much..

no you cant get a trolling motor that would be too much get the biggest motor you can afford

Walmart sells this brand. The small one is 7"



What do you want your username to read?

An important issue that I overlooked when I bought my bow mounted trolling motor was the shaft length. In my opinion it needs to be as short as possible and still be completely under water....I fish lots of small ponds and lakes with brush and fallen trees and am constantly hitting stuff because my shaft length is to long. IF to long it also puts added ware on the pin and pivot points.
the size of course is up to you. Again my opinion you can in fact buy one that is to big for the boat and it will "Jerk" the bow around when engaged and making a turn.
Glad your signed on...
Happy New Year

freetofish said:

An important issue that I overlooked when I bought my bow mounted trolling motor was the shaft length. In my opinion it needs to be as short as possible and still be completely under water....I fish lots of small ponds and lakes with brush and fallen trees and am constantly hitting stuff because my shaft length is to long. IF to long it also puts added ware on the pin and pivot points.
the size of course is up to you. Again my opinion you can in fact buy one that is to big for the boat and it will "Jerk" the bow around when engaged and making a turn.
Glad your signed on...
Happy New Year

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I can see your point, but it really depends on where you fish.

A trolling motor should be as long as possible except when in really shallow water. If it isn't it will blow out of the water in heavy winds when the bow is rocking up and down.

I also agree that the trolling motor can't be too big. At least within reason. If it's a good sized boat, the largest possible motor, can be turned down as far as possible. The batteries will last longer this way, and you always have the reserve power.

On a 16' deep V I had, a 24 volt 65lb motor with a 50" shaft was still not powerful enough in certain situations. I was also out a few times that the shaft wasn't long enough when waves and wakes caused the bow to rise and fall enough that the trolling motor would pop out of the water after cresting each wave.

I think when a trolling motor is to big for the boat, it's because the batteries it requires will be too heavy for the boat.

I had a 55lb foot controlled trolling motor on my last boat (1436) and It was in deed to much! If the turned it all the way up to get across an area faster it would spin around backwards as I was moving too fast! Also on the shaft length , I had a 50" shaft and would actually tell you not to get the shortest possible, as I once had a 36 and in rough water it wold actually come out of the water(light front end of a tin boat) and that just pissed me off! Settle for a happy medium of about 45" length which is what I would do on a 1436 again! probably a 45lb/45'' t-motor.
Jeff

Well I went ahead and ordered a Monn Kota V2 45lb TM, Minn Kota 60amp breaker, and a Lowrance Elite-5X Color Depth Finder. If I run two 27 series deep cycles inline do yall think I could go all day bank busting some bass without running out of juice? Took the boat out to the pond today even though it was raining and discovered two things. First was that the boat was a heck more stable than I thought it would be. I was comfortable standing on the middle bench bouncing up and down and rocking back and forth. May re-think my decision not to put a deck on top of the middle seat and run it just below the front step. Another thing I realized was that with walking front to back, I will not be putting a fixed seat mount on the middle bench no matter what I do. I tested it today with a clamp on bracket/seat and I could see where it could cause a accident later on down the road.

Go ahead and get the Swivel Ease 12" and cut in half, take a dowel just a little smaller in diameter and stand it up on the floor/sidewalk. Slide the female half over and go to pounding. The white nylon insert will come out. I've done it eleven times without mishap. Smooth/round-over your edges on the six inch male side and pound the white nylon insert back in. It will work like a charm or my name ain't Oliver Wendell Milkshake III. :wink: