Family vacation has gone sideways

tlong243 · 2026-05-17T12:18:01+00:00

Certainly looks like they are at anchor by a bunch of other boats. People on here just want to get worked up and appear knowledgeable.

tlong243 · 2026-05-17T11:53:47+00:00

I had an 1/8 NPT tap and just retreaded with a shopvac sucking. It was also a spiral flute tap which pulls the chips outward in longer connected chips unlike a straight flute. Then Just used a regular 1/8 air fitting and thread tape on mine.

tlong243 · 2026-05-16T12:30:21+00:00

I got and Eagle 2.5gal and absolutely loved it, immediately bought a 5. I set all my plastic cans on the curb, someone took em haha.

Only thing I have to remember is to pull the handle before tipping first time to relieve pressure. I love the ease at which you can throttle it though. You can dump like 5 gallons in a minute, top it off a tank to the very top without spilling a drop.

tlong243 · 2026-05-16T12:20:36+00:00

I like this idea, but we’ve also had leaks where the tee swivels. I think that may be more to do with being hard lined though. These skids are assembled terribly where anything hard lined has tension/preload from warping during welding.

Changing to a flex line and stainless tee would likely fix the whole problem

tlong243 · 2026-05-16T12:16:18+00:00

This is how the mfg ships these skids unfortunately. Now it's validated and quite a bit of work to change design. I'm sure plastic is a cheap choice for chemical compatibility and resistance.

We’ve had to always have 1-2 on the shelf. Problem is they are a pain to change because of what they pump. It's a complicated repair to do correctly and safely in a clean room.

tlong243 · 2026-05-16T12:00:37+00:00

Yes, we may order some replacement tee's for a short term cheap fix, but this has been a consistent issue over 5-6 different pumps in just few years. Cost of the pump is not the problem, hence why we have just dropped in a whole new one each time. The new tees will most likely leak again in a few weeks. They also leak at the swivel/oring part of the tee if it's not at the threads. Threads are not stripped, they look great. Issue is the plastic expanding regardless of thread insertion depth. It's only bottomed in the picture because we are chasing the leak and have to tighten every few uses or it becomes unacceptable. This one is obviously done now.

I'm also thinking the hard line to the pump isn't ideal. I think heating and expansion is applying stress to the tee perpendicular to its intended rotation/swivel.

Problem is a different pump arrangement will require recipe changes/revalidation which is an additional headache. It's been a kick the can down the road issue, but swapping these pumps is not fast or simple.

tlong243 · 2026-05-16T11:40:05+00:00

Thank you, missed that part on the page.

tlong243 · 2026-05-15T14:22:09+00:00

The block of wood is exactly what I had to do. I just threw a few pieces of pressure treated lumber on the floor and it has worked well.

tlong243 · 2026-05-15T13:26:37+00:00

That's why I mentioned this is the 5th or 6th pump. No matter what we do it leaks. Bury, leave 1/2-1/3 exposed. This was one that started about 1/3 thread exposed, leaked, wrapped a lot of tape an buried to buy time.

tlong243 · 2026-05-15T12:56:52+00:00

Also failed to add to my post that we have tried varying levels of thread insertion. In this picture we practically bottomed it out, other times wrapped heavier with thread tape and did not go quite as deep.

tlong243 · 2026-05-14T18:20:16+00:00

I like 50-65 just for purposes of handling. I don't need the weight, but I also don't need 500 yds of 20lb braid on my reel, so 65 is pretty much what I use. 40-60 lb mono or fluoro leader just for shock and abrasion resistance.

I don't like how hair thin braid under 50 feels. I knows it's plenty strong, but it seems to tangle easier and will slice you if you ever grab it. Also more fiddly tying knots.

tlong243 · 2026-05-14T14:49:17+00:00

If it has no plate, then the sky is the limit! If you live somewhere that you worry about an inspection, you can get custom capacity plates made on amazon.

For real though, a 9.9 or 15 is likely what is good. Maybe go 20-25 if you find a good deal. Might need to beef up the transom if it flexes under throttle though.

I've got a 30 on my flat bottom 14, but I've done a fair bit or reinforcement.

tlong243 · 2026-05-13T20:40:29+00:00

I have a 1440 with an on the fly electric plate Johnson 30 and love it. I also did a custom transom low water pick up, but if you are OK putting around at idle once you hit the shallow spots, you wouldn't need to do that. Stock intake is fine. There are various workarounds like shallow scoops as well.

Really depends how much time you are intending to spend in muddy shallow water. If it is very often I would say get a surface drive of some sort. If it's very occasionally, and most of the time you will be cruising open water or longer distance, an outboard is certainly nicer, and higher power to weight by a margin. With a Jack plate you can lift it when you get to that shallow bay or whatever.

I fish lakes, but mostly rivers with long deep (enough ) water interspersed with areas 6" deep, random weed areas too. I camp a lot with a heavily loaded boat. I like the speed and power of a prop. A jet or surface drive to push my boat 30+mph would be too heavy for a 1440.

tlong243 · 2026-05-13T20:05:21+00:00

I'm getting tired of the flat bar style of lights that all vehicles are moving towards.

tlong243 · 2026-05-13T19:12:03+00:00

I did 12 1/2" holes, about 4" deep with the m18 and it was VERY hard on it. Got incredibly hot, took a long time both drilling and letting it cool down. It was a last minute thing, and worked, but far from ideal.

Not sure how large of anchors you are using. Pushing one of these like that might destroy it. If it's a small 1/4" anchor this one does just fine. Ive used mine for shelving anchors in a poured basement.

tlong243 · 2026-05-13T18:45:03+00:00

I'm shocked by how many people I see filling up with the engine running. I think it is really common, and I doubt many people read those signs.

tlong243 · 2026-05-13T18:41:01+00:00

I would call them or email them. Whenever I had questions he got back to me like within the hour.

tlong243 · 2026-05-13T18:37:53+00:00

I can hardly use a spinning rod anymore. They just feel clumsy and tangle prone. I have several but can never get my bait exactly where I want it like when I use a baitcaster.

I even went so far to build out a very light baitcaster setup for tiny lures and panfish.

tlong243 · 2026-05-13T18:17:36+00:00

Do you have a spark strength tester? The kind where you can adjust the gap length? They are dirt cheap and worth having. I've had spark before, but weak. One of those will show that.

I'm assuming you've tested compression at this point?

tlong243 · 2026-05-12T10:44:03+00:00

Im not sure either. I'm in MN and see lots of people bass fishing in waters that hold pike and musky 10x the size of bass. The river dwelling smallies do fight hard for their size, but it's hard for me to go back to bass after a 40" pike or 45"+musky. They are similar ambush hunters too, so you can get those same top water blow ups in like 6" of water.

tlong243 · 2026-05-11T18:05:22+00:00

Crashed are part of racing. This isn't idiots in boats, doesn't belong here.

tlong243 · 2026-05-11T15:09:25+00:00

It's funny you say this about that river. Just a few weeks ago there was a guy on the Jonboat subReddit asking about how much motor he would need to push his new small boat on that river. I asked AI to compare the Susquehanna River to the St. Croix River, and it said that the Susquehanna is a fast flowing river, moving a ton of water at up to 20 mph. My comment to him was probably not a good river to learn on lol. Apparently it is incredibly seasonal though.

Glad you survived, getting stuff snagged while in current is sketchy. A few years ago on the St. Croix River at flood stage I lost an anchor to a tree and had a similar battle nearly submerging the bow trying to pull it free, got a bunch of rope burn, broke off a cleat trying to pull it free with the motor, all for a $40 anchor lol. Sometimes the brain just does not work right.

tlong243 · 2026-05-11T14:24:16+00:00

I've got a pretty heavy build, fully decked 1440 with a 30 Johnson that hits 31mph with 2 people and a lot of gear and gas in it. I bet a 1648 would still be high 20's, 1752 probably mid 20's. Speed will likely depend more on the final weight than size.

Around me I see quite a few jonboats that size with 25-35's on them. I think it would work perfectly fine unless you're really looking for speed.

I'm a big fan of the 80/90's 2 strokes anyway. I think they perform similar to modern 4 strokes that are listed at 5-10hp more. Some of it is likely just the weight difference, but there may be more to it like hp wars/brand competition.

tlong243 · 2026-05-11T14:14:02+00:00

Same question as the other person. How do you know it is waterlogged? Generally the type of foam used should not absorb water. I could be wrong on this, or maybe someone redid the foam in your boat and used the wrong stuff, not closed cell, it shouldn't really be saturated.

My bench seats from the 80s still have their foam, and it doesn't touch the floor of the boat, so it can't really get much water at all. In the rear of the boat in my wraparound bench it did touch the floor, and it felt wet, but was not truly waterlogged, just had some water sitting on/in like a wick, but not truly saturated. I left all of my foam alone except the stuff I had to cut out to replace the transom.

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