Deckmate 25, anyone have one?

[WaterDR]

I am able to snag a NIB for $200 with a wireless remote. Anyone have one?

[BiXLL]

Yes I do and have absolutly loved it! I boat on a large river and drop anchor often, have never had a problem with it except makes for a bit of a hassle when putting mooring cover on the front. I will have my new cover made to allow for it though.

[WaterDR]

My cover does not cover my platform, so it will be exposed anyway.

[WaterDR]

Thanks for the feedback, though. Just need to get it picked-up.

[5150abf]

A little late to the game but you absolutely won't regret it and that is a great price.

I have a 15 and love it, I have a wireless trolling motor also and a camper top so when the weather is bad I can bring up the anchor, move and reachor without going outside, it is pretty cool.

The only thing I will say is order some of the nylon gears now and keep them on the boat, depending on use they last a year or 2, check ebay, they are cheap and easy to switch out.

I have changed mine on the water in 15 minutes.

[WaterDR]

Not sure, but I think the gears are metal. I will check....I know there have been issues. Buying from a guy who bought it and then sold his boat. never took it out of the box. has the wireless remote too.

[5150abf]

The gear on the motor is metal but the one on the spool is nylon I would guess as a safety thing so it doesn't tear itself apart.

I have had mine 3 years and changed it twice, one of them was my fault, wiring a dash switch and kept going up/down with a 15lb anchor on it and it stripped, like I said it only take 10-15 minutes once you figure it out.

Another thing is get a 30 amp breaker and install that, it comes with an inline fuse but it isn't self healing so once it goes it is gone and it is on the power cable which I assume would be under the deck, alot easier to bump a breaker if it pops.

[WaterDR]

Thanks. How much of a pain are these to install on a toon that is skinned?

[Todd4]

On my boat, the very front few feet aren't skinned, but the remainder is. So mounting a winch is easy - wiring is another story. My toon supports are completely covered (from top sides of toon to bottom of deck). This leaves very little room only around the edge of the deck to run any wiring. That won't work for me, I'm going to have to dismantle quite a bit to complete my current wiring project. All depends on your access from the bow to your battery (and console if you plan to remote mount the switch). Running wires down the center of your deck or crossing from port to starboard mid ship, isn't going to be easy.

Todd

[WaterDR]

I have a wireless remote. I just need to wire it to the battery. If I stern mount it, it will be a LOT easier.

[5150abf]

Run your wires along the edge of the boat under the deck trim then all you have to do is fish the wire from where it is mounted to edge and from your battery to the edge, it will use some wire but better than dropping the wave tamer down.

[Capt Sully]

What type and size anchor do you use on this type of system ? what would be good for a 23 footer ?

[Todd4]

Run your wires along the edge of the boat under the deck trim then all you have to do is fish the wire from where it is mounted to edge and from your battery to the edge, it will use some wire but better than dropping the wave tamer down.

Yeah, That'll work for the winch wiring but I'm adding a house battery and relocating the start battery from the rear to inside the "changing room" (under the pillow end) and adding a shelf. That means I have to run battery cables from the rear to the port side and (in 2006 at least) Bennington riveted some 5' long aluminum "L" pieces behind the deck trim up against the ends of the channels (running side to side under the deck). The aluminum "L" pieces are only found in the rear-most 5' of the boat, for some reason. That leaves "0" room to run anything. There are also 22' long decorative trim pieces bolted all along the entire sides of the boat, on both sides of each of the 3 toons (to cover the brackets that mount the toons to the underside of the deck). Add the wave shield in there, and I have almost NO access to run wires/cables without doing a quite a bit of dismantling. I could snake the wire on top the the toons or on top of the wave shield but there are a LOT of sharp edges under there and I'm afraid they'll chafe through.

It would be simple if it weren't for that wave shield, so anyone with a wave shield contemplating adding a simple wire run, should look at the ease (or lack thereof) of having access to a wire route. It can be done, but my quick little job has turned into quite a big project.

Todd