My Chieftan project

[Watermann]

Water, this is the link to the ones I got. http://www.iboats.com/Wise-Adjustab...0501084--session_id.047093484--view_id.375736 and yes they are AD rated. Mine came within a week but I notice under the shipping tab that they ship within 20 business days now and cost a few bucks more each. But if you're in no hurry, no biggie.

I see it says 30 days out on mine, good thing Amazon store has them for a bit less and free shipping.

 

[laurentide]

Sweet! I have major full transom envy. Your spread is gonna be a project to get set up, but that boat is going to catch fish in bunches. Really awesome work Willy.

 

[cj8mule]

Sweet work there WnW. I like that board for the outriggers. Did you make the brackets?

 

[Weep'n Willy]

Thanks for the comments guys. Yes, she is going to be a serious Great Lakes trolling machine. She is now set up to run up to 15 lines while trolling. That would be 4 on the downriggers, 2 wire divers, 1 down the chute line, and 4 lines each side of the boat off of the planer boards.

Cj, the mounting brackets for the board are called Eagle Feet downrigger mounting brackets. They are a clamp on system that attaches to the outside rail so no drilling holes in the boat. I used the same thing for my old Islander and they are very sturdy.

 

[Weep'n Willy]

More forward progress this past weekend, Got most of the wiring completed, got a couple coats of spar on the downrigger board, put some foam and vinyl on the sides of the doghouse. Also got my new trailer tires installed, balanced, and mounted. They are the radial trailer tires so will be looking forward to towing on them. Lifetime warranty on them so couldn't complain at $70 each mounted and balanced.

For those interested in the mounting brackets this is what they look like installed. They just clamp to the railing, easy on and easy off if you want to remove. The nice thing is there are no holes to drill in the boat itself.





Seats arrived today.....was sweating it because Iboats sent an email stating that if they had not been shipped yet there would be an additional 7 - 10 day delay in shipment due to the manufacturer. Later in the day I got another email that showed they had been shipped. So pleased that they made it on time.
So another trip to the fastener store for another $40 in stainless bolts for the seat pedestals and screws for the trim in the seat boxes and dog house. So now will have to pull the seat boxes back out to bolt in the pedestals. Couldn't find stainless wood screws long enough or big enough to do the job.

 

[jbcurt00]

Eagle Feet & seats look great.................. Close, so very close.....

 

[cj8mule]

Those seats look great and thanks for the up close shots of the eagle feet.

That wiring is a pain.... glad that's over, huh

 

[Watermann]

Looking good Willy, I picked up those same pedestals after seeing yours. Nice helm seats too and they sure don't give them away. I thought you had a hatch in your seat boxes?

 

[Weep'n Willy]

Thanks guys. Yes Water, I do have a hatch on the seat boxes but it is for the batteries and totally sealed from the rest of the box. I finished the trim work on the dog house last night and put her in position.

 

[GA_Boater]

I thought you had a hatch in your seat boxes?

That's funny. I was about to ask the same question because in the latest pics the break for the lid wasn't showing and I swore I saw access earlier. Hey Willy - You left some lube on top that good lookin' doghouse. :smile:

 

[dozerII]

She's coming together real nice WnW.

 

[crankbait cowboy]

real nice progress wnw, and the eagle feet is a nice way to go from what i see in your setup

 

[Weep'n Willy]

Hopefully everyone had a good 4th, I most certainly did. Hit up Saginaw Bay and pounded the walleye, had our 4 man limit in approx 4 hours of trolling along with several throw backs. Yesterday some of them met their fate in the fry pan and yes they were delicious.


A lot of minor details done on the Chief but nothing really pic worthy. We all have seen battery switches and such so won't bother with those. Ran 2 ga cable for the batteries, that stuff is not cheap by any means. But none the less all systems now have power. Seat pedestals and seats completely mounted and ready to rock. The major obstacle now is the front cabin windshield. Seems nobody in the area deals with polycarbonate. But did hit upon a place today and talked with the owner and he believes he can fabricate up a windshield for me. So hopefully we can get that accomplished this week and she will be ready to go find some water.

 

[Watermann]

Whoa man does she ever look awesome! :thumb:

You should have told me you needed the template for the front windshield, I would have traced mine out and sent it to you. I can't believe that any business calling themselves a glass shop doesn't have 3/16" poly carb.

 

[dozerII]

Really really nice WnW, just got back from a weeks holiday myself ponding the walleye, and perch.

 

[Weep'n Willy]

Thanks Water, a pattern would have been helpful but hopefully we can get one made. Got back in touch with the one guy today and he said he can do the job just has to get the poly. Another company finally gave me a quote that blew me away. They offered acrylic at $455 plus 50 and hour to fabricate and install. I called them back and questioned the price of the acrylic as I told them I could buy a whole sheet of poly for less than half that and is much stronger. They said they would get back with me. Yea.....

Glen, glad you had a great trip and a lot of fish to boot. And a bonus parade of your Starcrafts had to make it a great time all around.

 

[spegtoast]

Sooo.. I am curious if you got any comments at the boat ramp? I personally would have had to say something!

 

[jasoutside]

The Chief is looking awesome and the walleye are looking tastee:becky:

 

[Weep'n Willy]

Sooo.. I am curious if you got any comments at the boat ramp? I personally would have had to say something!

We went out on my buddy's Islander. But hopefully will have the cabin windshield completed soon and this girl will be out.

 

[Weep'n Willy]

The major hold back on splash was waiting for a window for the cabin. It took 2 weeks for the place to get the material in so this past Wednesday took the boat there so they could pattern and cut it for install. They call me up mid day and state they could not bend the glass to make a one piece window so had to go with 2 piece. They got it cut "fairly close" and gave me an aluminum piece I could use for a center channel and plenty rubber gasket to insert between window and framing. So Thurs & Fri evenings I spent fabricating the center support and re cutting the windows to get them to fit. With the task finally completed it was time to load the boat and head to the water Saturday morning.




We have launch!!
But did encounter a problem as one of the power steering cooler lines sprung a leak. Had to cut line and reattach and problem resolved. Adjusted in water idle speed and then....... time to set out upon the big water.



After clearing the break wall it was throttle up time.




She jumped right right up and was cruising along smoothly. At 4200rpm she was moving along at 34mph sog. Had 4 of us on board, the wife and 2 grandkids plus me of course. No porpoising or high bow, just smooth and steady. The hydraulic steering system is the cats butt, super smooth and preformed flawlessly. In the forward facing pic we were rolling around 26 and had no hands on the wheel. She kept her course true with no wandering. It feels almost like autopilot and was perfect when trolling as I could set my course and my lines with no worry of the boat wandering or doing circles with nobody at the helm. This was especially a great feature when landing a fish as wife and I could land fish and not worry about somebody having to be at the wheel. Did we catch some fish..........well of course.

Cont. next post.