RangerGuy

Awesome we are gonna give it a try this fall on thanksgiving long weekend. Anybody duck hunt on Kipawa?

Great report and awesome pictures!!! I've been contemplating trying this lake for a few years now. My wife and I always go to Nip but I think I will try kip this fall after reading your report. Do you if the lodge you stayed at allows dogs and how are their prices?

Awesome boat man! Congrats!!

Hey Lew, Great report! Was hoping to get up there while u were up there. Really enjoyed our conversations last year. Hopefully, I can make it around that time for a extended weekend :-) Oh and awesome fish to lol!

What a nice change!, after my horrible experience ordering a truck, for sake of being brief.. I'm on my second waiting period because I cancelled my first order a month into my wait Kawartha Prop repair is top notch!

I feel that Kawartha Prop Repair deserves a great report READ BELOW! I went to see Kawartha Prop Repair the weekend before the May 24th long weekend. Looking for a prop that would provide more bow lift than my factory 17P Yamaha prop on my 18' Lund Alaskan w/ 75hp yamaha tiller John @ Kawartha Prop Repair spent probably at least 2 hours trying a few different props with me. We found a good Stainless Steel 4 blade 15P that seemed to give me good speed and lift with little vibration. I was getting 35 mph @ 6150 rpm.. We figured that once I had my normal load in the boat It would drop to right at 6000 rpm. 2 aspects of this prop I did not like after running the prop on the may long weekend was we burned at least 1/4 tank more in fuel with less weight and below 800 rpm it sounded like the gears in the lower unit were not fully engaging until I hit the gas a bit. I called John back and talked to him. He offered to let me try a few more different 3 blade props instead and also agreed to wait till my new Truck comes in so I don't have tow with the wife's little SUV again.. WHICH IS AWESOME! These guys are the only shop that I could find that would even let me test a prop, let alone swap for another one if I wasn't happy. He's even gonna balance and add a little cup to my factory prop for me for a small fee.. Kawartha Prop Repair is 2 hours from me, but I was so impressed with John's level of service. They will be my prop dealer from now on!! Thank you John for the great service!

Right on! I remember seeing one of those new at the boat show. Probably about 20 years ago they looked awesome, I always wanted one but couldn't afford it back them lol! Congrats again on the toys! She should fly with that motor! You'll love the mileage. I would fill my 12 US gallon tank and bring 2 25litre cans with me on a long weekend with my old 89 60hp and run out on the last day. Now I fill my 19 US gallon tank and come home with a 1/4 tank!!! On my 75 Yamaha and I actually have an extra 60lbs dog and adult in the boat the last 2 trips..4 strokes rock!

Man that is awesome! Fish like that right in front of the house...

What boat are these (tools, wife might read lol!) goin on?

We had a tape worm in the live well on the opener. I'm not sure which species it came from we had both walleye and pike in the live well. Since I was stuck in the fish hut waiting for the extreme thunderstorm to slow a bit before heading back to the cabin, I took extra time to check the fillets out. They looked nice and clean to me, mine are goin in the frying pan :-)

Considering how expensive these motors are why would cheap out on the wiring. I wired my Alaskan myself so I would know it was done right. Every connection was crimped and soldered then heat shrunk. I used good quality marine grade 6 gauge for my TM and onboard charger. Same with my electronics I added a marine grade fuse panel and wired GPS and sounder off of that. Everything is fuse protected and I bet I have no issues for the life of the boat. That's just me I'm fussy hehe!

I am...I even have some new bucktails this year :-) And a decent tow vehicle for once :-)

I ran 6 gauge wire, and a 50 amp breaker. Larger the wire less resistance and more ability to draw full amp. I did a ton of research before wiring mine and minnnkota even suggests 6 gauge.

MAN!.. I did not realize that! bummer..pm me your address.. I need to go back to see Jon.. The 4 blade worked well but I lost to much speed and mileage with a load in the boat. I'm thinking on a Merc Vengance 16p.. or a 4 blade aluminum to get the speed and mileage back. Maybe I could use you as a passenger when testing LOL! Since your only 10mins away

Awesome boat congrats!! Your goin to love that yammie!!! We got the 75 tiller last year and its been awesome. If your are close to a prop shop get them to check the Yamaha prop for balance. I was at Kawartha prop repair this weekend testing props and picked up a 4 blade SS.. We checked the balance on my original prop and it had one very heavy blade. I'm goin to have it balanced. Post up some performance specs once she's broke in :-)

Have you tried Hastings marine. They have great service and were the only dealer not to soak me swapping the merc for a Yamaha. Other dealers wanted 1200 extra to sell it with motor other than merc. Not Hastings.. They have been very accommodating with my service as well. I am 1.5 hrs away from them so I want the boat done while I'm there so a 3 hr drive doesn't turn into a 6 hour drive for service.

We got a 2012 18' Lund Alaskan Tiller with a 75hp Yamaha Tiller. While this boat is more utility than my 16' Ranger fisherman tiller. I am extremely pleased with it I ran 3 adults and 2 65lb labs full gear on a 4 day weekend last year and still had 1/4 tank at the end of the weekend. Ride is much better than expected from a aluminum boat. Speed and time to plane is darn good. I'm on plane with that load in seconds and can easily get 37-38 mph So glad we went with an Alaskan and a Yamaha!

Very nice Lew! I'm trying to convince my wife that we want a fire place in the basement.. Its not goin well haha!

Thanks everyone :-) Max rpm is 6000 rev limiter is supposed to kick in at 6150 I believe. I will try the 17p first. I'd love to keep my hole shot and plaining characteristics, see plains under 3secs with a full load. To be truthful I haven't even gunned it straight to full throttle yet as it pulls me back so much.. I'm not sure what will happen hehe! I will post results next spring :-)

Ok, So I'm going to put a Mercury Vengance on my 75HP Yamaha 4 stroke after reading several reviews on this prop. I'm looking for more bow lift, and no bow bouncing Right now its got a Yamaha Aluminum K series 13 1/4 x 17p on her. She's getting 6000rpm and tops out at 38.5mph. Speed drops to 36-37mph at 6000rpm with a full load (3 adults, 2 dogs and fishing or hunting gear. Should I go 16,17 or 18p? If anybody is running with this prop on a 75 yammie I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks

My vote goes to cbi. I shipped a long tail mud motor there. There awesome! Even let me leave all the big boxes there because it wouldn't fit in my car. I plan on using them again for big ticket items I can't get here :-)

hey bigbuck, I don't think I have any serious issues just set up issues. I hit great rpms and speed at wot. 75hp yamaha tiller 6000rpm hits 38.5mph with full tank. With 2 dogs and 2 passengers I can get 36-38 depending on water conditions. Just want to get the boat out of the water a little more for efficiency and handling.

It does help thank you :-)

I totally agree with ya capt!.. I'd love an excuse to book the Friday as well! Glad to hear you guys are opening this year again ... Look'n forward to my favorite campin!

I've heard the same about the SS props.. They have much more bow lift. I was talking to a guy who lives in high altitude, and was loosing a lot of power on his Merc 75 hp 4S. Same boat as mine 18' Alaskan but his is a single console where mine is a tiller. With my extra weight in the back I thought bow lift would not be an issue but it is.. I can only get the front 1/2 of the boat out of the water even when alone and my cav plate was still just slightly under the water when running unless I fully trimmed out. He said once he lifted to the 3rd hole down and put a SS Merc prop on he barely has to touch the trim to get all but the last 1/4 of the hull out of the water. So I can imagine with the right prop I probably will have to barely trim at all to lift my tiller out of the water I'm pretty much at the max performance, I can hit 6000rpm and run 38mph gps by myself with a full tank of gas and between 35 & 38 with 2 people and my dogs (65lbs each), which is confirmed on my phone and Garmin 278c. This is plenty fast for me LOL! I would really like to try a SS before investing the cash tho..