sherman brown

why not just get tracks as long enough that they will fit on your gunnel and mount all your rods to the tracks? I started with 24" tracks to run 3 diver rigs on each side. They worked but were just too close together. I then added another 24" track and that gave me the room I needed to space my rigs apart. then when my oldest son and I bought a larger used boat I added another 24" track. now I run 3 Cannon ratcheting holders per side plus a spare holder and a Traxstech angled holder per side for putting our Ego S2 slider rod holders in and have plenty of spacing plus a little extra room. go as long as you can fit on your gunnels. SK8man uses 17" tracks to run 3 rigs. For me, that would be too close together for the reels to have good clearance for removing the rods with a fish on. I started with 24" tracks which had my line counter reels almost touching each other. when a fish hit I found it troublesome to grab that rod and have the reel not hit another reel. but what works for one doesn't always mean it's going to work for everyone.

I had 2 24" tracks with 1 butted up about 3" away from the ends. then I had 2 rod holders with 2 rods running lite bite slide divers and the rigger at the very back of the track. but tying the riggers to the back cleat for safety gave me peace of mind so I could concentrate on fishing. i only ran them for a week but without anything coming loose. when I installed my tracks using screws to hold them on I was a little anxious about them failing. so I installed 2 of my Cannon ratcheting holders and set them out to the side I then took hold of them and lifted all my 250# body and held on and even bounced up and down to see if the tracks were safe to use. After that test, I never worried about them coming loose using 3 holders with 3 rigs using 3 of the lite bite slide divers per side. the 24" track just wasn't long enough to have enough space between the rods and reels. Instead of buying a longer track, I got 2 more of the 24" and added them on. my oldest son and I bought a larger boat so I bought 2 Cisco 24" tracks and added them on. now i have extra room with mu 3 rigs and an extra holder as a spare and a Traxstech angled fixed holder on each side with an Ego S2 slider dip net on each side.

the only time I did it I had forgotten my riggers at home in Indiana when we went to Geneva Ohio walleye fishing. a great guy on a fishing forum I was on sent me a message after I posted about missing my riggers. he let me borrow 2 Big Jon electric with 3' boons and we were using 12# pancake weights. the only mounts he had that we could use were track mounts. I was worried because I put my track on using stainless screws. when I got them set I took a rope and tied the riggers to the boat so if the track failed we wouldn't lose his riggers. we used them for the week we were up there fishing. the tracks had held up great with nothing coming loose or pulling out. but I do not recommend running riggers with screws used to fasten the tracks on. if you are going to use your riggers in your tracks using some kind of backing is a must. you don't have to put a backing on where you can't get to them. i do recommend using bolts with countersunk screw heads and the size that will work in the tracks. on the bottom use any size backing that you can fit on them. I have mounted riggers to the gunnels on some old boats I owned 35 or 50 years ago. what I used was the large SS Fender Washers. I did this for years and never had one come loose.

I have never lubricated the rollers on the roller trailers I have owned. but that doesn't mean they shouldn't have been. the 1st thing you should do is go to factory websites that make roller trailers and message a few of them asking your question. I have always bought used boats and trailers. if I found any of the rollers were excessively worn I went to etrailer.com and checked on eBay and Amazon to find what I wanted at the best price. in all my searches E-Trailer was where I bought mine. after replacing the ones that were maybe 25 years old and worn I never looked back. if the MFG doesn't have an answer for you then there may not be a good answer.

by you already buying the hydraulic steering this post is a bit late. the only reason I could see it helping with a 90HP motor would be if you are planning to put a kicker motor and an autopilot on the big motor. then when you are trolling you can use the kicker attached to the big motor and use the autopilot without the key for the big motor ever being turned on. now that you have the hydraulic steering you need to troll with a small kicker. they make all types of steering kits that connect the motors together up front. in my opinion, they are much better for outboard to outboard steering over the EZ-steer. having hydraulic steering takes all the pressure off your autopilot and it will last much longer that way.

mine are too long. I bought 24" thinking they would be long enough. They worked but running 3 divers per side they were crowded. But instead of getting longer tracks, I got more 24" and added them on. we got a larger boat that had lots of room so I added the 24" Cisco tracks to what I already had so I had room to mount a spare Cannon rod holder and a Traxstech angled holder for the dip nets.

all of them are over priced in my opinion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FYI if you have to buy new tracks the Cisco tracks are much cheaper and work on items that fit the cannon tracks. when I bought my cannon ratcheting rod holders for walleye fishing I bought cannon tracks. but when I needed more tracks I found the Cisco tracks by searching online and they were less money. I bought the Cisco and never looked back.

I think I have 2 12# pancake weights that I no longer use. but before I go searching I need to know if you are interested. but I just checked on Amazon and if you have a Prime account you can buy these cheaper than I can sell mine. I would have to have 90.00 for the pair shipped to you. but they have pancake weights for 37.00 each plus tax and shipping if you don't have a Prime account. but what I did was switch to the dredge weights which I believe is a much better weight that has less blowback. we bought a used boat and went to Erie and we had forgotten to load our 12# pancake weights. we found 2 8# dredge weights on the boat so we used them. we had less blowback with them than we had with the 12# pancake weights. so I bought 2 new 10# dredge weights but haven't tried them yet. I suggest you check on Amazon for weights before you buy any unless you get a good buy on here.

on my old 21' Cobia I didn't use a TM. and I had 2 dual-purpose series 27 batteries. I had them hooked up to a Perco switch and I could run battery 1 or 2 or both. 1 was the house battery that was used to power my electronics when the motor wasn't running. then when I started the motor with my other battery I would then use the Perko switch turned to both so it would be charging both of my batteries. but if I was rigging a boat now I would add a battery isolator so I wouldn't end up with a dead cranking battery. plus when the big motor is started it directs the power to the low battery 1st so it gets charged in a hurry. but the battery isolators are all automatic and you never get caught with a dead starting battery. with the system I had I always used the same batteries, the same brand, series, cranking amps, and so on. but I don't know if a series 24 starting battery and a series 31 deep cycle battery can be used with the isolator but I see no reason why not. you have a choice of 100s of them at Amazon from just the isolator to complete kits to install them.

I will take the stinger spoons. you can message me to work out the details.

just to add to your post. if you decide to go with a 4-blade prop it is recommended to drop 2" in pitch over a 3-blade prop. I highly recommend switching to a 4-blade for better everything, better handling in rough water or in turns, and better lift, the only downside is if you have a 3-blade of the right and the RPMs are right then going to a 4-blade might cost you 1 or 2 MPH at WOT. but in your case going to a 17p 4-blade prop should improve everything. and I will always use a high-five prop on any 8-cylinder Mercruiser that I get. now my son and I went together and bought a 26' Sylvan glass boat that has an elephant ear 16p prop that is on the boat. but if he will let me i still want to just try my 17p high-five prop just to see which one performs the best. and I don't know what motor you are running to get those numbers with a 19p aluminum prop. but he is running the 4.3 6-cylinder motor.

your speed isn't that bad but you need a lower pitch to improve hole shot. but most times going to a lower pitch might hurt your top end a little. but it's a fair trade-off to get a better hole shot and get your RPMs up a little. and just so you know going to a 4 blade should improve your hole shot. my boat started with a 19p 3 blade that struggled to get on plane. so I got on eBay and bought a 19p high five that jumped my boat up on plane. it was like I had bought a new boat. but my RPMs were low so I tried a 17p high five and everything was perfect. with the 19p it took forever to get up and now it starts getting up as soon as I hit the throttle.

on my 21' cobia I ended up with a 17p high five on it. but the same pitch in a 4-blade should work great for you. I would check on eBay for a used Revolution 4 blade 17p. what is the max RPMs for that motor? I would think around 4800 and if so you are running really low. how does it get on plane and what speed are you getting now?

been there and done similar back in the 1st few years fishing Erie;s western basin out of a van and filleting our fish in the parking lot where we spent our nights.

back in the day, I used them all at one time or another. My choice of them all would be these Penn riggers. I think they are the best manual rigger you can buy. you won't regret buying Peens.

Ethanol-free gas isn't around where I live so I always have used gas with ethanol in it in everything I have owned in my 45 or so years I've been boating and the only problem I've had was the old gas lines going bad. I haven't lost any of my outboards or Mercruiser motors that I've owned. I used the old Mercury 115 tower of power inline 6 for 25 years and it was still running until I bought a boat that had a 115 Johnson. up until my oldest son and I bought a used 26' Sylvan boat the only time I bought marina gas was while playing in the water. the only place we use the 26' boat is at Geneva Ohio fishing for walleye. now we dock the boat and use marina gas.