NANUK

My condolences to his family and friends

Did you get my reply to your PM ?

Times have changed From What it is worth To What you are willing to pay That goes for almost everything, sporting goods, boats, electronics, cars etc Making something durable without changing the design with more useless gimmicky features is called bad business these days.

I do mostly commercial HVAC, Not up to date on current residential makes a models but can find out from suppliers, you can PM me with any questions if you wish

What size/#thrust is your TM ? 12v or 24v ? 12 v motor usually draw 35-40 amps in full speed, You need to run your electronics from a battery which doesn't drain out

There is fabrication shop in Scarborough, he does good work, even makes new trailers, Let me know if location suites you ( Brimley/Progress )

Last price mentioned on spoonpullers was around $300 Cdn Ouch !

Good for you to make the right choice for your best friend and glad he is recovering well, ? They might not know what money is but will give their life for you without hesitation.

Thanks for sharing your first hand experience and a honest and detailed report, We are booked with Cochrane air for this year but Mattice is also on our list of considerations for future trips. As much as we love good fishing and willing to tolerate some discomfort for exceptional fishing, I have no problem in saying that we are all getting older and appreciate some basic comfort as well, We will now keep your experience in mind when making a decision.

Alumacraft would be my choice out of the 2

Jumper/booster cables will do the job, but it's not the proper choice, Most jumper cables now are made out of copper clad Aluminum ( read the box ), only designed to give a momentary boost, and save money, not good for prolonged load application like trolling motor etc, I don't even trust them as booster cables, I would use a proper marine grade cable of correct gauge for the trolling motor.

Wishing you all the best, our thoughts are with you,

Old Ironmaker, I use a double uni knot for leadcore to flouro leader, Pull back the sheathing about 6 to 10 inch on the leadcore, break off the inner lead core, use sheathing only to tie a double uni to flouro, I put a dab of super glue on it but it's not necessary. Never had a problem.

Garmins look nice! Let us know how you like the "quick draw"

^ Good advice ! Ideally, a deep cycle battery should be charged at a rate no more than 20% of its amp hour rating, so a 100 Ah battery should be charged at 15 - 20 amps, It is best to charge a deep cycle battery at max recommended rate to 80% full and then charge to 100% at a much slower rate, a good automatic charger is designed to do that.

You are going to love the QuickDraw feature ? Do you plan on using them in US and coastal waters ?

What transducer did you get with your Garmin Drifter ?

what # thrust TM and what size battery ?

I just switched to Garmin Echomap, comes pre-loaded with Canada maps, no need to buy extra map chips, Garmin maps are better than any Lowrance or Navionics, Garmin's "quickdraw" feature is cool, you can make your own instant maps while you fish, no need to upload them on some site and then wait for months to get them back like Lowrance, A 4 or 5 inch Garmin Echomap would be a good choice for a portable unit. One thing to keep in mind, Bigger screens are nicer / easier to look at, but bigger the screen, higher the power consumption on the battery, With a 4" color sonar/GPS unit the battery will approx last you a couple of full days of fishing, On a 5" unit it will be considerably less, On a 7" unit, you will be lucky to get a full day.

Get a plastic one, BPS has them or try a marine store .

Horriable work !! I remember years ago a marina hired a summer student, they asked him to install a battery charger in the port side rod locker, young lad screwed it right through the hull in customer's brand new boat.

Have you updated the Nav+ card with freshest data ? Community updates , sonar charts etc ?

I have a Honda 2500 w I use for up north and power outages in the city, quite and very reliable, starts on first pull, I always use Shell ethanol free premium gas treated with stabilizer.

Timkin bearings and grease is all I use, good stuff, I get it from Ontario Belting.

Like sinker mentioned, the trick with beating buddies is just to keep enough grease pressure in the hub so the water stays out, As long as you can rock the front plate with grease zerk side to side, that is enough pressure, Do not add any more grease.