Rattletrap2

Hey B! How are things Buddy?

Fisherman and GBW, thanks! That is great info. Glad to hear you are both happy with this type of motor. They did not have one on display and until the next show where hopefully they do have one, I was having some doubts. Fisherman, when you do get a chance, I would love to know what you ended up with for a prop. I know the prop was not included with the engine, so hopefully the dealer knows which one works best for the boat. What make, size and style of boat do you have?

Beautiful looking truck for sure. Enjoy!

Thanks guys! Geez Wayne, only 24,919 posts......ya must be slacking off! lol Thanks Lew, I hope it fits the bill. Thanks for the opinions and info on the motor guys. I'm really hoping I don't need power trim on this set-up. Good to know your Buddies boat handles well with the 40 HP Sinker! Can't wait to get out, catch some fish, and post a report!

Well boys, it has been 4 long years without a boat and I surely did miss it. I have not contributed on here much.....cause when you are not fishing, there isn't much to contribute. I do get on here from time to time to just read the posts. Big news is.....I bought a new boat! 2017 Alumacraft Escape 165 tiller with a 40 HP Yamaha. Can't wait to get back out fishing! I miss it and I want my grand kids to have this experience in life. I do have a couple of questions though. One is regarding the motor. It is a Tiller with Hydro Assist tilt. Not power tilt and trim. My last boat was a console Bass boat with obviously power trim and tilt. Do any of you have experience with this type of motor? I can't find much online. Basically, you lift the motor manually (although a gas shock makes it easy, and then lock it in place. Once you release the lock, it drops slowly on the gas shock. It is not something you would adjust while running like you might with power tilt and trim. I have had old Evinrudes and a couple of Mercs. I went with the Yamaha because I believe they are a bit more reliable. Maybe just my perception, but that's how I feel. Anyone have this motor that can shed any light on their experience? Thanks

Congrats Lew and Dianne! i just saw this tonight, but 50 years is certainly something to be proud of!

Congratulations Cliff! I know it must be a little bittersweet leaving your place, but another chapter begins. Selling and buying a home have been one of our most stressful endeavors as well. The agent can make all the difference in the world and unfortunately one of ours was terrible. Good luck!

Sad news to hear of Steve's passing. I have not heard from him in quite a while now, but he will be missed. Thanks for posting about a friend, Beans.

We were at Layzee Acres on Lake Dalrymple for 26 years. It was a great experience and so glad we did it when our girls were very young. We went up almost every week-end and spent our vacation weeks there as well. I started with a 23 foot trailer that we bought used off the bank. It had been re-possessed and was only a couple of years old. We outgrew that one and purchased a new 36 footer from the park. After a few years, we sold that one and bought an older 36 footer in great shape that had a full slide out. This made it almost 12 feet wide and suited our needs. They did bring in the rule about no trailers over 20 or 25 years could be sold in the park, but mainly this was because the new owners were heavy into trailer sales. We really like the present owners and they treated us very fair. We moved out to the country in 2007 and gradually started getting less and less use out of the trailer. We held on for a few years, but finally decided to give it up in 2012. The kids were grown-up and I had more than enough chores to do around the yard at home. We also had everything we wanted here at home and enjoyed our week-ends at home. When we talked to the owners about packing it in, we thought we would have to just walk away from our old trailer. I was okay with that because we had so many good years use out of it and didn't feel it owed us anything. They surprised us by offering us a trade-in allowance against a small travel trailer! This was fantastic and we traded it for a 2006 18 foot travel trailer. This worked out great and we have taken it on two major trips so far. I don't regret giving up our site, but do miss the fishing. Life changes, but it's all good. I would definitely recommend trailer park camping to anyone, especially if you had young children. Good luck and do your homework. Go around and visit the parks and try to get a feel for them. When we chose ours back in 1986, we drew a circle on the map and said we wanted to stay within that radius. I think we looked at about 6 to 8 parks. We lived in Brampton at the time and could not bare the thought of crossing the 401 every week-end...even back then! The Orillia area allowed us to take lots of backroads and stay off the busy highways.

This is another Greg! Great guy to deal with and does excellent work! http://www.coversunlimited.ca/

Sorry for your loss TJ. I know all too well what you are feeling and it is a tough go. Be well.

2013 F150 Lariat here with the 5.0 and I love it. It is the first Ford I have ever owned and we really enjoy it so far. Only about 17,000km though. I only use it in the summer when towing our travel trailer or for long trips. Not for daily commute to work. I average about 12 L/100 km without the trailer, but that drops to 22-23L/100 km towing a 5,000+ lb. trailer. I like the 2015 body style changes even more! Enjoy your new ride!

I'm not so sure our gun laws are all that great. I agree with things the way we have it, but I'm not so smug to believe they are all that thorough with things like background checks and such. When i applied for my PAL a few years back, it dod take a few months, but none of my references were contacted....including my WIFE! I'm thinking that they should hve at least clled her to see if She was aware of my application!

I never had the pleasure of meeting Kevin, but from everything I have read on this board over the years, Kevin and Leslie were wonderful friends of the OFC Family! So sorry to read of Kevins passing and my deepest condolences to his family and all that knew him. I know he was a special man.

Guys, as long as all those mishaps don't happen to ya on the same trip.......it's all good! I think we have all been there.....some more than others! lol Launching with the tie down straps still attached is a given that will happen to you sooner or later.

My new F150 came with a cooler and two temperature guages. One is a regular analog gauge and the other a digital read out. I love having this option as I towed an 18 foot house trailer (5000 lbs) all over the South last summer. That thing held it's temperature like a rock!

Can we see an interior photo? Looks interesting! Thanks

Looks nice! Hard to find Brisket unless you go to a butcher....and then they want an insane price for what was considered a poor cut of meat. Supply and demand!

Some more close-ups!

Here is a shot of my home built unit in operation! Cook Chamber is 12" dia x 32" long and made from an old refrigerant cylinder. The firebox is actually over sized for the CC but I like it to hold extra fuel. I have a single stainless steel grate inside. The chimney is sch.10 stainless steel as well. On second thought, i wish I had used the 100# propane cylinder in the background! There are adjustable air intakes under the fire and over the fire to control temps. The stack damper is only used to snuff out the fire when I'm done or to keep rain out when not in use. Controlling the fire is where the fun comes in providing you have the time to tend to it!

Great posts guys! I am always on the lookout for anyone with apple or cherry trees that they want taken down. Pretty much any fruit or nut wood is good to use. Like already mentioned, you can over do it with some of the stronger woods. The result could be biterness in the meat. My home built reverse flow unit will still be my main unit for when I have time to tend to it. There is something about the satisfaction of cooking on something you built yourself. I hope to use the WSM for longer smokes such as overnight. From what I have read, they are very simple to use and very fuel efficient. The 18.5" model usually sells for $340 to $360 here. I found mine at HD just before Christmas with a sticker on it for $170 and could not pass it up. I am also in the process of building a mini WSM that is 14" dia. There are tons of plans online to do this. i have read that the WSM's run hot for the first few smokes and it helps to use the water pan during this time only. Filling the pan with play sand and wrapping with heavy duty foil seems lie an option for later. Once you have things heated up, the sand acts as thermal mass to maintain an even temp. Friends have the fancy pellet burners with electronic control, but that is not my style. The advantage to them is being able to set them up to cook and being able to leave and do other stuff without worrying about your fire dying down. Lowes seems to be a pretty good source for a good selection of wood chunks and different types of charcoal.

I just read the long thread on "cooking" and got to thinking that there might be others out there with an interest in smoking meats low and slow? I see Cliff does some bacon and Lucas F is into pulled pork in the oven. I built myself a reverse flow stick burner last year and really got into this as a hobby. I also picked up a Weber Smoky Mountain vertical cooker and can't wait to get going on that when things warm up a bit more. I have a huge packer brisket in the freezer just waiting! Anyone else into doing pork shoulders, ribs, brisket, etc.? I have done some beef jerky in the smoker, but find the oven does a great job on this.

That is it exactly Lew. I think I bought them at TSC or Home Hardware. It was about 8 years ago, but they sure do seem to do the trick. I check the poison boxes and they are definitely still feeding on them, but I guess they don't live ling enough to do any harm. Never find any dead ones n the garage either.

Here is a thought for you. I had a similar situation in my garage when I first moved in. I saw them running up the walls and everything. I thought I was in for a real challenge, but I caught a few at first. Then I set out the bait boxes with the little bricks of poison in them. I also put a couple of those little plug - in ultrasonic devices in. I placed one at the front near the door and the second back near my work bench. I have no idea what others have experienced with these devices, but they seem to be effective. I have not had any issues for about 7 years. I live in the country and know for a fact that they are everywhere outside. When I cut the lawn or move anything on the ground, they scatter all over the place. You will probably never eliminate all the cracks and holes that they use to get in. These ultrasonic things are supposed to generate a frequency that we do not hear, but irritate mice.

You will be fine.....everyone knows "crap" flows downhill! lol