New Lund Owner

[SCovelli]

Hi all,
I'm a new owner of a 1999 Lund 1950 Tyee Magnum GS. I've never owned a power boat before so I'm sort of new in this area. I have owned a sail boat in the past and I am somewhat familiar to boating procedures and etiquette with some repair experience. The boat is in decent shape with some minor cosmetic issues but nothing serious. It's equipped with a 5.0L inboard Merc with a Alpha One out drive. It has been upgraded in some areas as you can see in the pics. Mainly the Wake-board rig and a rear swim platform. The previous owner also included a 15HP EL outboard kicker motor which was mounted on a stand and not installed on the transom. This leads me to a few questions for the experts from a noob.

1. If I remove the swim platform and install the kicker on the transom, how does one start this kicker motor?
(It has dual controls by the captain seat and all the controls, fuel line and wiring appear to be in tact at the transom for connecting the kicker)

2. Is it worth even going through the trouble to re-install this kicker motor, or should I just wait and maybe install a bow mounted electric trolling motor.

I appreciate any input.

Thank you.

 

[briangcc]

It all depends....don't ya just hate those answers?

IF you are going to be tubing/wakeboarding/etc then you probably want to keep the swim platform. At least, it would be a non-starter in my family as beyond that, my wife sits on the sunpad with her feet on the swim platform when fishing from the back of the boat. Add in 2 of my 3 kids have discovered that jumping from the back of the boat into the lake is an OK activity and the swim deck stays. And that would lead to a bow mount trolling motor with an associated battery (and wiring).

If you're not using the boat in that manner, then ditching the tower and swim platform to give you better fishability may be the better answer. That leads to reconnecting the kicker.

Or some variation in there as well....

Only you can decide how best to setup your boat.

 

[Alumarine]

Welcome, nice looking boat.
The kicker might have electric start.

 

[Sprig]

You don’t mention the purpose you plan to use the boat or the 15 hp kicker motor for. I’m assuming the motor for trolling. If that’s the case forget the kicker and go with an electric bow mounted trolling motor with auto pilot. They are way better for trolling for many reasons. Before I elaborate further we really need to know what you plan to use the boat for and what you want to use the 15 hp for.

 

[SCovelli]

Thanks for the replies. My original thought was to have both options. I understand that I'll probably need to make a choice as to whether I want to go fishing or wake boarding.
I think I may scrap the idea of the kicker and just spring for an electric trolling motor for fishing option. It will be more costly, but a much better option in the end.

 

[roscoe]

Would it be possible to reconfigure one of the support braces under the swim platform, then cut the platform down to about 2/3's it current size?

That way you could use the kicker set up that is already in place.

Oh, if you listed the kicker model correctly, ( EL ) it is an Electric start Long shaft motor.

 

[DeepCMark58A]

You don’t mention the purpose you plan to use the boat or the 15 hp kicker motor for. I’m assuming the motor for trolling. If that’s the case forget the kicker and go with an electric bow mounted trolling motor with auto pilot. They are way better for trolling for many reasons. Before I elaborate further we really need to know what you plan to use the boat for and what you want to use the 15 hp for.

Not on big water.