Re: 1962 Starcraft Stardust - Should I go for it???
Well, I'm no expert. That's for sure. I'm learning fast though, I think. Never buy a boat in the winter without something to thump the transom with. Truly, the boat looks very sound. And I did knock on the transom quite a bit. Maybe, with a hammer, I may have been able to detect the dreaded thud at the very extreme port/starboard sides of it. Maybe, I wouldn't have. After all, everything was frozen. That's my lame excuse for missing it, and I'm sticking to it! Now that everything has thawed, you can squeeze the wood at either side of the transom just above the ends of the splash well, and they're definitely a bit soft.
I guess the good news is that we live quite a ways from the closest big motor lake, and 90% of the time we'll be on a beautiful 95-acre lake about a mile down the road cruising around with an electric trolling motor sightseeing and fishing. We'll be tired of that by the end of the summer. Then I can have the 33 hp done, sold and replaced with a 50 hp. That should be done just in time for winter. I can go into transom mode over the winter.
So what am I asking for today? What size trolling motor should I get? I think I'll get a used one from Craigs... I'll just have to wait it out until the right one comes along and then pounce on it! Crown Batteries, I heard they were very good at making deep cycles, has their corporate office a few miles from me. The guy there said I could get a 24T or a 27T for just over $100. That sounds reasonable, if their quality is as good as I've heard they are. I heard their plates are 0.23" thick! The 27T-1000 has a rating of 95 Ah. Here's a link the their spec sheet:
https://www.crownbattery.com/en/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Battery-Specifications-M1.pdf
This one is more specific:
http://www.copperstatebattery.com/pdfs/27DC115_PowerSheet.pdf
Any comments are welcome!
uke: when you see original prices. LOL