Once upon a time, I was a fisherman. We had a mobile home with riverfront. Many good memories (including I broke WI State Record of Black Crappie, yet it still hasn’t been properly documented, anyways). I had to demolish the mobile home (due to animals crawling inside). Now, my last kid is turning 18 soon. I want to go back to fishing.
We used canoes and boats, etc (nothing bigger than 16’). My favorite was the ol’ (2HP) bass tracker 2 people bass boat (really, best for one person, you know). In fact, I still have it up north in the garage (if it’s still there?). The transom is flippy, LOL.
Just few days ago, I sold my sun dolphin water tender 9’4”. I had it for a month, just to get the feeling of boating once again (in a small boat), with a 4.5HP. Now, that’s gone (nothing to talk about it, just an awkward boat to maneuver). Now, I want to carefully buy a “right” boat this time. What I mean by “right” boat?
Primarily, I am going to use the boat for fishing, in rivers, by myself. I don’t do lake fishing. So, rivers with shallow spots, tight turns, running waters, skim over logs, etc.. Yet, I want a boat to use for some recreation, include taking the wife along. That I will use on a “calm” lakes (with other boats and water skiing). Since there aren’t many places where I can physically look at small bass boats; upon online researching, I have come to this boat:
sundolphin.com/pro-120/
So, hopefully this would be something I am looking for. Yes, I have considered the aluminum jon boat and other options. If you know of something I may be interested in a similar of the Pro 120, let me know. One of the main factors of looking at boats was HP capability. I learned that from my previous 4.5HP isn’t something I want for a recreational lake trolling (other boats passing me LOL). Maybe a 5HP would be plenty for a river fishing, but maybe not for nowadays (fishing with 2HP in my childhood fishing was awesome, but now that I am grown up, I would want something with more kick to it). In a way, I probably should kept my 4.5HP (for river fishing), but it’s gone now. From looking at YouTube, 15HP seems satisfactory.
Now, to the context of the point… the Pro 120 yellow plate on the boat states 15HP. The sundolphin website says 10HP. And the manual of the boat says, no more than 8HP for 4-storke motor.
What is with 3 different HP? I could only assume it’s about the weight of the motor, but again, an assumption. I did contact the sun dolphin customer service about that, they couldn’t give me a straight answer, except “it’s what the manual says”. Even I contact Mercury Outboard (Wisconsin, where I live), they couldn’t explain that to me either. Now, let alone if a Mercury 15HP Pro Kicker (122lbs) would even be OK?
To play it safe, I guess I should look for a (Mercury) 15HP 2-stroke motor (only available as used). That would be lightest of the 15HP.
Next situation… since this Pro 120 does NOT have a helm (is that what those are called?). I am looking at building a dashboard, with a steering wheel, to control as much of the motor, such as (if possible) start key (if electric start exist), stop/kill key, F/N/R, and throttle. I would be creative, for example, with F/N/R, I could put cable there with o-ring and be able to “manually” shift the arm. Would those be legal to do that (create helm on a boat with existing helm)?
Any comments or suggestion?
I have other things to ask, but minor questions. Such I never experienced a fish finders, would it be something I should get?
Chuck
We used canoes and boats, etc (nothing bigger than 16’). My favorite was the ol’ (2HP) bass tracker 2 people bass boat (really, best for one person, you know). In fact, I still have it up north in the garage (if it’s still there?). The transom is flippy, LOL.
Just few days ago, I sold my sun dolphin water tender 9’4”. I had it for a month, just to get the feeling of boating once again (in a small boat), with a 4.5HP. Now, that’s gone (nothing to talk about it, just an awkward boat to maneuver). Now, I want to carefully buy a “right” boat this time. What I mean by “right” boat?
Primarily, I am going to use the boat for fishing, in rivers, by myself. I don’t do lake fishing. So, rivers with shallow spots, tight turns, running waters, skim over logs, etc.. Yet, I want a boat to use for some recreation, include taking the wife along. That I will use on a “calm” lakes (with other boats and water skiing). Since there aren’t many places where I can physically look at small bass boats; upon online researching, I have come to this boat:
sundolphin.com/pro-120/
So, hopefully this would be something I am looking for. Yes, I have considered the aluminum jon boat and other options. If you know of something I may be interested in a similar of the Pro 120, let me know. One of the main factors of looking at boats was HP capability. I learned that from my previous 4.5HP isn’t something I want for a recreational lake trolling (other boats passing me LOL). Maybe a 5HP would be plenty for a river fishing, but maybe not for nowadays (fishing with 2HP in my childhood fishing was awesome, but now that I am grown up, I would want something with more kick to it). In a way, I probably should kept my 4.5HP (for river fishing), but it’s gone now. From looking at YouTube, 15HP seems satisfactory.
Now, to the context of the point… the Pro 120 yellow plate on the boat states 15HP. The sundolphin website says 10HP. And the manual of the boat says, no more than 8HP for 4-storke motor.
What is with 3 different HP? I could only assume it’s about the weight of the motor, but again, an assumption. I did contact the sun dolphin customer service about that, they couldn’t give me a straight answer, except “it’s what the manual says”. Even I contact Mercury Outboard (Wisconsin, where I live), they couldn’t explain that to me either. Now, let alone if a Mercury 15HP Pro Kicker (122lbs) would even be OK?
To play it safe, I guess I should look for a (Mercury) 15HP 2-stroke motor (only available as used). That would be lightest of the 15HP.
Next situation… since this Pro 120 does NOT have a helm (is that what those are called?). I am looking at building a dashboard, with a steering wheel, to control as much of the motor, such as (if possible) start key (if electric start exist), stop/kill key, F/N/R, and throttle. I would be creative, for example, with F/N/R, I could put cable there with o-ring and be able to “manually” shift the arm. Would those be legal to do that (create helm on a boat with existing helm)?
Any comments or suggestion?
I have other things to ask, but minor questions. Such I never experienced a fish finders, would it be something I should get?
Chuck
