Dirty Dave's 1860 Tracker

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dirty dave

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When I was 17, I got my first boat. A 16 foot 1986 Alumacraft with 35hp mercury. I sold that boat 2 weeks ago in search for something bigger. I came across this boat and was the size I wanted. I bought a 2002 Tracker Grizzly 1860 with a 1986-1989 110hp Johnson. I'm not sure the exact year yet but will try to pinpoint the year with the serial number. This boat is halfway thrown together but I think I got a fair deal.
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I mainly fish for panfish and catfish, but might get back in to bass fishing. The boat was set up for bow fishing. I got 3 bows, a few arrows, 5 life jackets, 2 anchors, 2 paddles an extra aluminum console and a few other things. They bow fishing deck is built to be removable.
As far as plans go I want to take everything off and out of the boat and build it up from there. I want to paint it most likely camo, or a good dark tan or green, move the console forward, deck the rear and add storage and livewell. The motor is oil injected and I probably will bypass this feature, to not have to worry about too much or too little oil. Re-do the bunks on trailer and freshen it up.
 
Disabled the VRO system today. I will be running premix so I don't have to worry about oil problems. I found the plug connected to the VRO pump and unplugged then. Then I traced the wires from the oil tank and unhooked the ground and positive. I had to cut the positive so I folded the wire over on it self and put some heat shrink and electrical tape on it so it had no way of shorting out.
I also removed the bow fishing deck today. It was built to be removable with 4 bolts.
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Got new spark plugs. I drained the gas and am gonna get fresh non-ethanol tomorrow. I also picked up a new fire extinguisher.
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Got the new spark plugs in.
New winch, the old one was starting to dry rot and rust.
Got new motor toter set to correct length.
Changed foot oil... had some water in there. Not good!

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Hooked it up on the hose Thursday night and it fired right up!
I tested both of the trolling motors and they work.
Removed the front transom trolling motor adapter, it was brazed on and I used a grinder and chisel to get it off. Then smoothed it down with a flap disk. I plan to relocate it to the port side.
Then I removed foam that was in the front storage section. This was pretty easy to remove because it was layered in sheets instead of one big piece.
Last thing I have done today is solder on new battery terminals. The old positive terminal had been broken so I went ahead and replaced both. Just have to slide the heat shrink down to finish that up.
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Thinking about painting my boat with Parker duck boat paint in the green color as the base coat for a bottomland camo. Anybody have any recommendations or suggestions on parkers or other similar products?

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Got the heat shrink shrunk today.
Then started to remove the oil tank. It was sitting on the piece of plywood in the first picture. It was soaked and pretty soft. I pulled it out and started cleaning under it with a hand shovel thing. It rained this past weekenf so there was a little water that hasnt drained our. But i am gonna take a wire wheel to the dirty aluminum and make sure there is no corrosion.
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Trying to decide on lighting for the front of the boat. I originally was thinking a 24inch light bar pointing straight forward with 2 cubes on each side angled outward.
Now I'm thinking about a 12" light bar with cubes so thay I can keep the trolling motor bracket closet to being centered.
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Serviced my power trim tilt fluid. I didn't know the condition of the fluid but what came out seemed to be fairly clean. ALWAYS take out the fill plug, before you try to remove the drain. Filled the system up, ran trim/tilt down and then up and refilled. I repeated this process 4 times to bleed the air out of the system.

The previous owner was not an electrician. All the wires are a jumbled mess. I'm gonna strip out all the old stuff and do it nice and cleanly. Gonna order 100feet each of red and black marine grade 16gauge wire for lights, and pumps.
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Ended up getting this light bar off of eBay for $44 had it listed at $51 but made an offer on it. Who knows what the wiring harness will be but it should get the job done.
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The main thing will be fishin. Majority of catfish and bream. I fished Bass tournaments in high school and might get bavk in to that. But I want to be able to hunt out of it too

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Caught my first fish out of the boat! Was a small Bass but hey for mainly testing the motor and how it rides I'll take it.

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Replaced the trim and tilt switch. The PO gave this to me since you had to wiggle the wires to get it to trim up.

While I was at it I sanded the red part of the handle to get the faded/dried out plastic off and get it looking better. Before and after pic. Still doesn't look new but it's better.

Back on the boat

Last night I ordered an 8 gang switch with dual 12v plugs, marine grade wire, and a bilge pump off amazon.
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Haven't decided on what I want to do for fuse block or bus bar. Thinking about something like this in the picture but I mainly just have to figure out what circuits on which battery. I'm thinking bilge pump and nav lights on the starter battery. And light bars and livewell pumps everything else on the trolling motor battery. Or get a battery switch? How do yall have yours setup?
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Went to Lowe's today and spent $100 on stainless hardware, pressure treated lumber, and outdoor carpet. I am gonna replace the trailer bunks, since half have carpet and the other half doesn't. I should have pics tomorrow

I'm thinking the bilge pump and wire should be here today. Gotta tear out the rest of the old wiring and get started with the new.

Next thing on the list after I get bunk boards is paint. Think I am gonna go something like this with a green base and bottomland over the top.
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Well didn't get to work on the boat much. Got a side board cut, drilled and bolts ready. Countersunk the bolt heads and put construction adhesive on the bolts so they won't spin when I bolt or unbolt. I have removed it and it just needs carpet now.
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