Soon to be proud owner of a tinny :)

['57Lapline]

Hello everyone I finally took a plunge and purchased the first part of what I need for a new aluminum boat. I picked up a 1973 25hp Johnson Sea Horse. The motor is like new. The previous owner had it for two years and he used it about 6 times for duck hunting so he didn't run it hard at all, and the owner before that had it sitting in his basement for 25 years. When I picked it up he ran it and it started up on two pulls and then it idled great. Im very happy with this purchase and can't wait to find a hull to put it on. Looking for a 14-16 aluminum boat to put it on. I'll post some pics of the motor if I can figure that out

 

['57Lapline]

Re: Soon to be proud owner of a tinny

The only thing I don't like about it is the hood is green because he wanted it to match his duck boat but I can change that

 

['57Lapline]

Re: Soon to be proud owner of a tinny

Now to find a shell to put it on.....

 

[Pony]

Re: Soon to be proud owner of a tinny

If your area is like here (and I assume it would be) 75% of the craigslist boat ads are from people trying to unload a small tinny. Only problem is many of them have narrow beams and lower hp capacity. Good Luck! I love my tinny/25 johnny combo.

BTW, it would probably be wise to put a new waterpump in that motor if the previous owner didn't. If it sat for that long without being used prior to the last two years, the rubber impellor could be in bad shape. If the last owner barely ran it, he may not have run it enough for that problem to show up. Motor looks great though!!

 

[kfa4303]

Re: Soon to be proud owner of a tinny

Cool find. I also have a 14' + 20 hp combo and love it. I believe you motor is a '68 model based on the green LU, but check the ID tag riveted to the transom clamp for an exact model/serial number. Only a couple rules when it comes to tinnies; 1.) No pressure treated lumber as it will eat your aluminum hull. Instead seal some exterior grade, non-PT with epoxy, f'glass or Spar Urethane. Lots folks will also use aluminum angle/stock to form bracing 2.) Use Stainless Steel hardware and/or aluminum rivets throughout. Preferably dipped in 3M 5200 marine sealant just prior to installation 3.) Prep any surfaces (especially bare aluminum) with Zinc-Chromate Self Etching primer prior to painting. 4.) Add below deck flotation in the form of closed cell Pink/Blue foam board and/or pool noodles from the dollar store. 1 cu. ft. of foam will float approx 60 lbs. and one pool noodle will float approx 100 lbs. That's it really. The rest is only limited by time, money and imagination. If you don't want to use epoxy or f'glass you can get everything you need in one trip to Lowes/HD. Although, you can get 2-part epoxy at boat stores like West Marine, if you happen to have one hear by. Good luck. Keep us posted. We love pics

 

['57Lapline]

Re: Soon to be proud owner of a tinny

Thanks for the help guys. The po of the motor had the entire thing run through and replaced everything that needed to be. I also found a sweet lookin 14 ft Lund that I'm goin to look at tomorrow so I may be out on the lake this weekend

 

['57Lapline]

Re: Soon to be proud owner of a tinny

Here are some photos of the 14' lund i'm going to look at tomorrow. It's perfect for what I need, it's got a deep hull it's gonna be nice and sturdy. It may need a little cleaning up and I may eventually put a casting deck in but for now it'll be enough for what I need. I'll keep you all posted on how it goes tomorrow.

 

['57Lapline]

Re: Soon to be proud owner of a tinny

Oh and the I told him I don't need the motor on it so we negotiated a new price

 

[steelespike]

Re: Soon to be proud owner of a tinny

We had a 15 tinny with an old Gale 25 it did real well for most things but struggled to plane with 4 adults.
Bought a new 18 ft Crestliner tinny laid out like the lund.We figured we would have to up grade to a bigger motor eventually,
but we were surprised. The 25 did about the same for most things but planed easily with 6 adults.
And full of people it felt like the Queen Mary. Room to spare and no note of rough water.

 

['57Lapline]

Re: Soon to be proud owner of a tinny

We had a 15 tinny with an old Gale 25 it did real well for most things but struggled to plane with 4 adults.
Bought a new 18 ft Crestliner tinny laid out like the lund.We figured we would have to up grade to a bigger motor eventually,
but we were surprised. The 25 did about the same for most things but planed easily with 6 adults.
And full of people it felt like the Queen Mary. Room to spare and no note of rough water.

Wow you were able to plane off with six adults?

 

[kfa4303]

Re: Soon to be proud owner of a tinny

The lund looks great. Then again I'm partial because I have almost the exact same set up. A 14'-16' tinny with a 20-30 hp motor is a hard combo to beat, pound-for-pound and dollar-for-dollar. Here are some before and afters of my boat. She's ugly but works, and if I can do it ANYONE can do it. Happy boat hunting!!!!!

Before:



After:

 

['57Lapline]

Re: Soon to be proud owner of a tinny

Nice work on that thing kfa. i plan on putting a casting deck like that in too and last night I was looking at those umbrellas like you have. where'd you get yours?

 

[Pony]

Re: Soon to be proud owner of a tinny

It is hard to see in my avatar....but this is my 14fter with 25hp Johnson. Added the deck up front, and some removeable floor pieces in between the benches....

 

['57Lapline]

Re: Soon to be proud owner of a tinny

that looks really nice pony. I'll be visting your threads when I get to that stage.

 

['57Lapline]

Re: Soon to be proud owner of a tinny

Pony,
I just checked out your thread and that's some great work on there I'm definitely gonna model whatever I get after yours

 

[kfa4303]

Re: Soon to be proud owner of a tinny

Nice work on that thing kfa. i plan on putting a casting deck like that in too and last night I was looking at those umbrellas like you have. where'd you get yours?

Thanks. I got the umbrella at good 'ol Wal-mart in the outdoor/patio section. There was a big box of them in various colors. They were marked at $15, but I only got charged $9 It hangs from a couple black, plastic, zip-ties on the inside of the boat using the old factory cable and pulley steering guides. I had to make a couple umbrella holders out of some 1" PVC pipe and place them around the boat so I can move the umbrella to the best spot to block the sun, but so far so good. The umbrella is also adjustable vertically which helps a lot. I wish I could tilt it too, but I'll live. Best of all, I can hop out of the boat and plant in right in the beach sand for the day then hop right back in the boat with it. No can do with a bimini and it only cost about 1/10 the price.

 

[Pony]

Re: Soon to be proud owner of a tinny

Pony,
I just checked out your thread and that's some great work on there I'm definitely gonna model whatever I get after yours

That Lund looks like a nice boat. I've been looking around at craigslist for awhile now just to see what is out there. Seems like 1/2 the boats out there are 14ft tinny's without motors. If that is the case by you, you should have a lot to choose from. I am actually considering selling mine and getting something bigger.

 

['57Lapline]

Re: Soon to be proud owner of a tinny

Well the lund pictured above didn't work out but I did find another 14 foot lund. The lund is painted green but it looks the same as all th eothers underneath the green paint. This one already has a casting deck and a couple pedestal seats. It's also wired for the bow and stern lights, has a cigarette lighter and it also has an anchor crank so overall I'm very happy with this purchase. It doesn't leak at all. I had it out for it's first sea trial today and everything went well the motor ran great and it planed off with ease with three people and a small dog in it. I'll post some pictures and videos if the vids work.

 

['57Lapline]

Re: Soon to be proud owner of a tinny

Here's a videol of me driving




And here's one of my brother driving



My lady and my 5 month old dog

And another one of them

 

['57Lapline]

Re: Soon to be proud owner of a tinny

It was a cold and windy day out there today.