Live well location

[Shane]

Going to try and sort out a live well for the old bunger. Now built in or removable, where is the best placement for it? 4.3 metre boat with 25 ponnies on the back. Place live well toward bow or stern? Or 2 50 litres 1 at either end.

[Richo]

Ive just put together a foam box and reinforced it with packing tape as well - and it worked a treat in Augusta - I even stuck velcro tabs on it to keep the lid stuck.. It is 120L and reasonably sized, before this I was using 2 seperate livewells of about 50-60L, but they tend to take way more room than my current individual one and you`ll need 2 keep alives as well.

Being 25 Ponies, the livewell may be better suited being forward of the middle. Depends how it gets up and rides at the moment as to where you may want to stick the well. Depending on the weight distribution 50L at either end may also work. Which will be needed if its for comps etc.

Many things to ponder mate, I will be extending my decks and putting in a permanent livewell down the track just to free up deck space, as after a while you get sick of stepping over and around things.

cheers

[madsurfe]

Hi Shane

'ol Richo was right about the weight distribution, every setup is a little different. If you have the std prop on the outboard then anywhere from the middle to up front will work. If the prop has a taller pitch then you will want to get the weight closer the the front. I'm sure you remember riding in the Muddleduck and it performs well with the livewell in the middle. The weight distribution of the muddleduck is very even.

oops! a not so quick edit

Try some on water testing by filling a couple of eskies or jerry cans and moving them around to judge the effect on acceleration and trim angle. Do your best to get at least 100kg on board. Another alternative is to get 3 people on board and get someone around 100kgs to sit up front, middle and back whilst 2 people stay up the back. This is a valid test simulating the load you will carry in a tournament.

[Shane]

Cool guys.

Now that it is welded and should not leak *fingers crossed* looking into new props and stuff is something I may do to get more oomph out of it. Once it is ok for other people to risk their life in it, I might need to bring it to a breammers day to get peoples opinions.

For some strange reason the front bench seat is lower than the rear seat, so placement of stuff within the boat just seems strange no matter where I think about putting it.

[madsurfe]

Hi Shane

the front thawrt being lower is quite common in V hull dinghies to lower the centre of gravity and also allow room to stow stuff/access the front compartment. Reproping a 25hp motor is very fiddly because your trim angle on the outboard is generally manual. Incremental changes need to be made to leg height and angle, even as small as 2mm & 2-3 degrees. It is quite easy to go up one pitch with another ally prop but not possible with a stainless prop. This is because the small hp motor doesn't possess the necessary torque to push all the extra weight of floors and livewell with the taller pitch.

Michael at Just Propellors, Osborne Pk WA is a wealth of knowledge on this subject.

[Geoff R]

Just forward of the middle has been great in my Sub, I have 120L of water in it and i reckon it actually aids me getting on the plane.
If your well was going to go down the back i believe you would never get on the plane without sending your Non Boater for-ard to add wait to the bow. This use to be the case in my boat she was always Stern heavy, I know a good welder if your interested, he did all my Mods for $900 bucks and a Carton of T.E.D's.
MMMMMM Ted's, is it too cold right now to drink beer??????, i don't think so!!!!!!!

[Bream Addict]

mate,i will soon be faced with a similar problem and have come up with htis so far-i would be using a ice-cool,top quality esky,abouty 100 lires,with 2 small rapala or similar aerators and a 3/4 water change every couple of hours,i was thinking that i would sit the livewell just forward of centre,hth.

[Shane]

The guy I had just do the repairs to me boat is a champ, if it doesnt leak if it does I will get in contact with you Geoff

Dont want to sink too much cash into this boat, this is my learners boat Going to get a big boys boat in a couple of years