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Getting Back In Game with 17T - Post me your upgrades


Wanaflatsfish

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DonH and I could not stand to let those Redfish in Choko alone any longer...

We went and picked out a 17T side console Pathy.....she's an oldie but let's hope a goodie....98' original, stringers seem to have been redone....hull not too beat up.....

50HP 2 smoker.....

I pick her up on Saturday as I'm getting my insurance and funds ready....

Please post your upgrades and ideas....would love to see them.

The drill and saws are getting new blades ....ready to cut and have some fun.

dc

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Congrats Dino! Remove everything not required to fish and put a 4 blade prop on her and go.

There is not much on it....only has 3 rod holders...what will I do ???

Seriously,

thought long and hard on HPX -V, vs HPX-T, vs. Hellsbay, etc.

For the price of the sales tax of a new boat, DonH and I have something to terrorize the reds in Choko....

As my old AVATAR on my Pathy used to say...

Standing birds in the water fear me :)

DonH and I back, and we are going to chase those little birdies off those mud flats...how dare they stand where we need to go :)

Can't wait to that magical sound.....

woo, woo woo.....click :)

we'll be running in da mud and on the bights soon :)

We got da shrimp hotel - Engel bait cooler

We got da red bag of death !!!

All we need is some water and let's go feeeeeesssssshing :) LOL

Can you say push the limits of shallow .......

dc

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One thing that just came to mind... I fished on one that had the Stick-it bracket up front and it worked very well. On most curved bows I think those things are obtrusive, but the 17T has so much deck and those straight lines... it seemed to work really well.

yeah, on the 17T side console, the front deck is a dance platform...

Gotta get a 24 V TM....so we get on plane when trolling the mangroves :)

Add a few power poles, a nice garmin and we b fesssshing :)

dc

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Is there a budget for the mods?

I want a flow thru live well, plumbed by putting a small clamshell pickup in the roof of the tunnel requiring installation of a hatch big enough to work thru in the rear liner. Inset a battery box in the port side of the rear liner so the battery sits on the top of the stringer which would drop the top of the battery about 4 inches lower. Mine has no molded battery tray just a screwed down th tray. Replace my manual 4 inch jack plate which allows you to run the motor 4 inches higher(upper motor bolts are two inches above the top of the transom and set back 4 inches) with the bobs mini hydraulic plate. Add a shallow blaster plate and then vent the tunnel so when you have flat water and distance to go you get 8-10 mph more go.

( Reference: Have on my Curlew and performance change is amazing- it's like a turbo kicking in). You have to have powered jack plate as when you vent you have to drop the motor or it will overheat. Have a 50 lb bow mount, adequate for all but high current situations.change out the high poling platform for the lower platform in front of the motor for better balance. With one person in the boat on the tall platform the hull is *** heavy and poles way different then with someone on the bow. that's all for now.

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Bob Reichert altered my 17T a lot - - some when it was his boat, some after he sold it to me. Call or PM me if you care to - - I love this boat, and would be delighted to talk about it.

[image]http://www.mbcforum.com/fbbuploads/1452095427-Seat_Box.JPG[/image]

The hatch arrangement is a lot like that on a Hewes Tailfisher (but I think that Bobby's work preceded the Tailfisher).

The front hatch is positioned farther forward than on the production model, and there's a 23 gallon metal tank between the hatch opening and the cooler.[image]http://www.mbcforum.com/fbbuploads/1452095370-Deck.JPG[/image]

I also had Bob install SeaDek everywhere you step or sit.

[image]http://www.mbcforum.com/fbbuploads/1452095343-Nose.JPG[/image] [image]http://www.mbcforum.com/fbbuploads/1452095295-Casting_Deck_1.JPG[/image]

Since I fish at night as much or more than in daylight, I've added a bunch of red LEDs from Oznium - - makes me look like some kind of marine UFO when everything is on (but no pix to include here)

I'm sure I'm leaving some things out .... I feel very lucky to have "adopted" a boat from a pro like Bob.

1452095295-Casting_Deck_1.JPG.a2019bfda9

1452095343-Nose.JPG.4b5b6c2ea31ddeec35e9

1452095370-Deck.JPG.6d26e9aee8a5781609a8

1452095427-Seat_Box.JPG.d681d51bc44f4e49

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Dino - congrats on the new ride!

I had a 17T for a few years - center console with a 50 4 stroke. The boat was sound structually when I bought it but in very rough shape. My focus was to keep it as light as possible to be able to run shallow and pole shallow.

Outside of the cosmetic work (quite a bit of gelcoat work on the hull, cockpit and non-skid), I went to a smaller battery (Odyssey) and moved the battery from under the aft seat to the console. With the side console you don't have that option but you could likely find a lighter battery. I also replaced most of the wiring as it was a mess. I added a battery master switch and new fuse panel.

The boat had a Bob's jackplate with a 4" setback and blinker switch which was a great set up. I did add a water pressure gauge which I believe is critical when running the jackplate at high levels.

I also added a Shaw Wing plate on the motor (Kevin Shaw builds Stiffy products and is local to me) which helped on the hole shot as well as being able to run the jack plate at almost full height with good pressure. I also added a Wang pole and bracket on the stern - next to the platform. I was able to wrap a bungee around the Wang and rear platform leg to hold the pole up when I was on the platform - made it easy to push the pole down while fishing or poling.

I kept electronics simple - A small Garmin color chartplotter (no depth). I fish in less than 2' of water 95% of the time and almost always see the bottom so depth was useless for me. I kept a small handheld VHF in a gear bag along with the safety gear.

I also added a small cooler with cushion in front of the console for my fishing partner. More comfortable and dryer than sitting in the back.

The boat came with a trolling motor and PO would use an old cooler with 2 batteries inside to provide power - crude but it worked. I removed the troller and never replaced it. I have one now on my 17 Mav and find I am using it more and more.

As you are likely aware, the boat will knock the fillings out of your teeth in a decent chop, along with a steady salt water shower however when in these conditions I would run one tab down and sit on the low side to let the chine act as a "V". It definitely helped to soften the ride.

I really enjoyed the boat and ended up using it more than my 22V. I am sure you will love yours too.

Good luck!!

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