Touring T-V (SS) Electric

Builder show and discuss their progress.
tw541
Posts: 73
Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2008 8:19 pm
Type of boat I like: All boats
Location: Mountain Home, Arkansas

Post by tw541 »

I added the rear decks with a small splashwell today.

Image

Image

Image


These, with the front decks, give a lot of strength to the boats. I am going to take one of them to the water either tomorrow or the next day. I need to find the exact locations for the seat, batteries, and livewell, and generally work on moving things around to find the proper trim. I think I might need to install a temporary thwart or two just to be on the safe side. I am going to load the boat pretty heavily, and do not really want to hear a loud crack when I put it in the water!! :oops:
Terry
tw541
Posts: 73
Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2008 8:19 pm
Type of boat I like: All boats
Location: Mountain Home, Arkansas

Re: Touring T-V (SS)

Post by tw541 »

Well, I finally got back to work on these boats. Looking at the date of my last post, it's hard to believe it's been over a year since then. This has been a tough year for us. First I had a pretty serious arm injury, then my wife was involved in a near fatal car wreck. Anyway, I took one boat out and worked on the positions of the seat and batteries to get the best trim I could. The first picture shows the boat carrying me at 225 lbs, two deep cycle batteries at 120 lbs, the ice chest has 9 gallons of water to simulate the weight of the livewell, two gallons of water near the transom to approximate the weight of the trolling motor. With other odd and end items in the boat it was carrying somewhere around 440 to 450 lbs. It handled very well and was extremely stable even with the very high seat position I had. I could not believe how easy it was to paddle, and was tempted to go for a little cruise, but my wife was waiting on the bank. This was actually August of last year, before all the excitement started.

Image

I now have the steering hooked up and it works very well, at least with the boat sitting on the saw horses. I decided to take it out and try it with the motor tomorrow, so I took it to the closest Game and Fish Department office to register it and get it inspected. After a very careful inspection and much deliberation, the official opinion of the Arizona GFD was: 1. It is a boat. 2. It is a homemade boat. 3. It is a fiberglass homemade boat. (That was a split decision. One of them thought it was a wood boat and one thought it was fiberglass. The fiberglass won out.) The problem came in determining the class of boat it is. They read all of the different options and narrowed it down to either a canoe or a personal water craft. They then decided that all personal watercraft were jet skis. In the end they said it was probably a canoe, but it was definately not a jet ski. (That was a relief, I hate those things.) So, in the end I am the owner of a legally registered homemade fiberglass electric canoe. This had to be the most enjoyable visit to any government agency I've had in my life. They had me laughing the whole time I was there.

This picture shows the stick steering I came up with. I relocated the handle and speed control switch from the head of the motor to the steering box. The stick steers it and twists to control the forward and reverse speeds. Everything is just in place temporarily. I want to check the steering and one final check of the trim and balance before I glass the seat and livewell in place. I ran temporary wires to the motor for tomorrow. All permanent wiring will be out of sight and waterproof.

Image
Terry
craiggamesh
Posts: 465
Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2008 12:01 am
Type of boat I like: <-- Please read instructions to the left and delete this text. Then, tell us what type boat you like! :-)
Location: Portland, Oregon

Re: Touring T-V (SS) Electric

Post by craiggamesh »

Good to see you back. Where were you testing the new fiberglass electric canoe at? Lake Mohave, or down by Topock? Looks like Topock, but its been about seven years since I've seen the area.
Regards,

Craig
------------------------------------------------------
If I had more clamps, I could build more boats.
Image
tw541
Posts: 73
Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2008 8:19 pm
Type of boat I like: All boats
Location: Mountain Home, Arkansas

Re: Touring T-V (SS) Electric

Post by tw541 »

That is the lower end of Topock Marsh.
Terry
tw541
Posts: 73
Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2008 8:19 pm
Type of boat I like: All boats
Location: Mountain Home, Arkansas

Re: Touring T-V (SS) Electric

Post by tw541 »

Well, I took the boat out today to test the steering system. I knew it worked well sitting on sawhorses, but I really didn't know how it would work in the water. I couldn't be happier with how it works. It turns easy at top speed and is really smooth and easy to control. It will pretty much turn in it's own length.I have had a couple of stick steering bass boats that did not steer as easy as this boat does. I really had a great time with it. There were several people in the area fishing, and they all came over to watch and talk.

The 50 lb. thrust Minn Kota really moves it.

Image

I really wanted to go explore the marsh, but my wife and dog were waiting on the dock taking pictures. They might not have appreciated being left.

Image

I deliberately took it through the thickest weeds I could to test the so called weedless prop. I have never had a trolling motor prop that I considered weedless, but this one comes pretty close. I never had to stop to clean the prop or even put it in reverse to clean the weeds off. A couple of times I had to increase power to cut through the weeds, but it kept going. This motor has an eleven inch diameter Weedless Wedge prop that I am impressed with so far.

Image

Notice the last two letters in my Arizona registration (HM). They wanted everyone to know it is a "homemade" boat. Overall, a pretty good day. Now I've got to get busy and get them finished. I know this setup looks a little crude, but I hooked it up temporarily only to test the steering. The finished product will look a little better. Especially after I cut about a foot off of the motor shaft. A top priority will be to make a system to tilt and lower the motor from the seat position. I have a few ideas, but have not tried them yet. That will be a necessity, not a convenience.

Image
Terry
jem
Site Admin
Posts: 4915
Joined: Fri Jun 18, 2004 8:14 pm
Type of boat I like: Wooden
Location: Greensboro, NC
Contact:

Re: Touring T-V (SS) Electric

Post by jem »

now that is slick!! 8) :D
-Matt. Designer.
Yohan1973
Posts: 58
Joined: Wed Sep 23, 2009 10:38 pm
Type of boat I like: fly fishing SKIFF.

Re:

Post by Yohan1973 »

tx river rat wrote:Terry
And as Jack showed me on the Brazos if you cuss real loud it changes the boyancy in the water and a round bottom boat slides right off them rocks, I bet it would work on them stumps to.
Ron
FIRE IN THE HOLE
Hmmmmmm, you must cuss MUCH louder than me. lol

tw541, this is a GREAT build. I had just made a post in another thread about something like this. do you think it is stable enough to stand in?
tw541
Posts: 73
Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2008 8:19 pm
Type of boat I like: All boats
Location: Mountain Home, Arkansas

Re: Touring T-V (SS) Electric

Post by tw541 »

Yohan1973

This boat is very stable for it's size. It is of course based on the TV. It is 12.5 ft. long and 36'' wide maximum beam, and 31" at the bottom if my memory is correct. I stood in it and walked to the back when the motor was hung on a stump. Stability was not a problem, but the water was pretty close to coming over the transom! That's why the ice chest is in the front in one picture. I think anyone who is comfortable in small boats would have no problem standing and fishing in this boat.
Terry
LEE SCHNEIDERMANN
Posts: 220
Joined: Tue May 08, 2007 10:31 am
Type of boat I like: <-- Please read instructions to the left and delete this text. Then, tell us what type boat you like! :-)
Location: Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Re: Touring T-V (SS) Electric

Post by LEE SCHNEIDERMANN »

Beautiful work. How does your wife like hers?
There are three kinds of people in this world.
Those who can do math, and those who can't.
tw541
Posts: 73
Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2008 8:19 pm
Type of boat I like: All boats
Location: Mountain Home, Arkansas

Re: Touring T-V (SS) Electric

Post by tw541 »

Lee

Thanks. My wife's boat is hanging from the rafters for now. I am working on just this one until I get it the way I want it. I'm kind of making things up as I go with the steering and livewell setup. Once I get the bugs worked out of this one, the second one should be simple.
Terry
Post Reply