MY NEW TOY HAVE LOTS OF QUESTIONS

[cutknife]

Finally a manitou owner I was starting to think I had made a mistake but at last a fellow manitou owner. I have a few questions. Do you have a stern enclosure? If so would you recomend one? The toon I bought dose not have the binmi top lighting or trac lighting would you put them in? I don't know how much we will be out in the dark but thought they might be nice. . Do you have a sperate trolling motor or do you troll with the 175? Sorry for all the questions but like I said this is my first boat so I don't know anything. Thanks for responding

[JohnO]

Finally a manitou owner I was starting to think I had made a mistake but at last a fellow manitou owner. I have a few questions. Do you have a stern enclosure? If so would you recomend one?

If you mean the canvas half camper enclosure no I don't have one. I was under the impression that it wasn't available. So far though I've not had any use for it. I did get the double bimini and we aren't out a whole lot where I'd need more than sun protection.

The toon I bought dose not have the binmi top lighting or trac lighting would you put them in? I don't know how much we will be out in the dark but thought they might be nice.

I don't have the bimini lighting. I've kind of been toying with it (you can put 12 v LED rope lights up pretty easily) but we've only been out after dark 1 time. It was a very pleasant night tooling across the lake in the dark.

I think it would be cool to have for just hanging out but my child is 9 and we don't stay up too late as it is.

Do you have a sperate trolling motor or do you troll with the 175? Sorry for all the questions but like I said this is my first boat so I don't know anything. Thanks for responding

I've got a 24V motorguide 74 pound thrust with wireless remote controls (don't remember the model number). It moves me about 4 mph. I'm very pleased iwth it.

Mounting was a bit different as there's no good place to put this puppy. We ended up building an extended platform over the nose of the center tube and mounting the base there so that the motor drops just in front of the tube. The first picture (hope these aren't too big) shows the mounting plate. The second shows the motor installed.

trol mount1 900w.jpg (129.44 KiB) Viewed 3453 times

troll mount3 900w.jpg (103.79 KiB) Viewed 3454 times

And since we're playing with pictures, here's my boat
Port side before adding the 5 step ladder. Note that I have different seats up front. I added the two reclining shairs up there (One was supposed to be mine but I've never fished from it yet. My guests always grab those first)

boat port crop.jpg (101.35 KiB) Viewed 3448 times

Stbd view. The blue up front is the plastic they had it covered with. I wanted a pic of the biminis and the ladder. Note how the ladder stays attached and just flips up and slides aft when not in use. The ladder on the port side has one more step. They do not interfere with the biminis or the covers.

my pontoon 2.jpg (47.72 KiB) Viewed 3450 times

And one last one kind of showing the seating arrangement.

view aft between fwd seats 100w.jpg (136.25 KiB) Viewed 3449 times

[cutknife]

Thanks alot for all the info and the pictures (SWEEEEET BOAT). Soon as i pick mine up from Montana I'll get some pictures up too. How long can you run your trolling motor without killing battery (or are you running dual batteries)? I have been looking at the Lenco dual digital drives ever heard of them? They run on 24volt (2hp) or 36 volt (3hp) motors they attach to the back of each of the two outside tubes. My dealer says that it would real hard on my alternator and batteries. Any coments,sorry for all the questions but like i said this my first boat of an kind so I am clueless on everything. so thanks again to everone for all the info. I am sure glad I found this site

[JohnO]

Thanks alot for all the info and the pictures (SWEEEEET BOAT). Soon as i pick mine up from Montana I'll get some pictures up too. How long can you run your trolling motor without killing battery (or are you running dual batteries)?

I don't know, I've never run it down. I have two deep cycles (in series) dedicated to run the trolling motor. Last year I went all season without recharging (but I used the motor infrequently).

I then have the house battery and the starter battery hooked together with a Automatic charging relay.


(thanks, I like my boat too)

I have been looking at the Lenco dual digital drives ever heard of them? They run on 24volt (2hp) or 36 volt (3hp) motors they attach to the back of each of the two outside tubes. My dealer says that it would real hard on my alternator and batteries. Any coments,sorry for all the questions but like i said this my first boat of an kind so I am clueless on everything. so thanks again to everone for all the info. I am sure glad I found this site

I looked at these but they were more costly than a regular motor. Gives you great maneuverability though

[Bryden24shp]

Good Choice, Cutknife. I have a 2007 Mnaitou Oasis Shp, 250 e-tec, 10" CMC Jackplate and lots of pontoon modifications, 61 mph (gps) is the fastest, with a 24 Raker Prop. Running a 4 blade 20 Renegade Offshore, it runs a constant 52 with great economy, A 21 Viper runs 56.
Handles the rough water at Lake of the Ozarks easily! I sent JohnO my blueprints for the modifications, when he is done, he can pass them on to you!
Bryan

[WaltF]

61 on a toon...
You sick Dog!
I dream of 30.

Hahaha!

[buddy19520]

Cutknife, I can answer a few of your questions from my own experience.

I have a 2007 E-tec 175 with 170 hours. It has be an excellent motor. It is supposed to be able to troll for hours, and gets terrific gas mileage at 500-1000 rpm.

I have only heard good things about Manitou boats. You should be happy.

Regarding enclosures - I have a day enclosure (from the console to the back of the boat) and generally like it. I live in North Carolina, and can use a boat year-round. The enclosure gets very warm in the sun, even when it is just above freezing. However, bimini tops do not like lots of snow on them. We recently had 5-6 inches of wet snow and it made the cloth sag a bit. The metal frame was fine, but it might make it hard to keep the enclosure up all winter where you live. But, it should add 1-2 months to each end of your boating season. It is not something you would want to put up and take down each day. Also, I have gone boating one or two times at night with the enclosure up. There is a little LED light in the bimini frame that stays on whenever the running lights are on, and it causes lots of reflections inside the enclosure when in the dark. Whatever lights you have inside the enclosure, make sure you can cover them or turn them off.

Sounds like you ended up with an excellent boat. It should make you very happy.

Philip

[cutknife]

Thanks Phil, you don't know much about Canada do you we are lucky if we get to use are boats from mid May till late October. Rest of the year the lakes are frozen solid. We have lots of beautiful lakes but only get to use them for a short time ( you have it good if you use it all year round). The prime boating here is really only late june till late August.

What kind of prop do you run on your e-tec? Do you run dx 100 oil? Thanks in advance....... Darcy

[Bryden24shp]

I reprogrammed mine to XD 100 and last summer averaged a 96-1 ratio on usage. I have pulled the plugs a few times after good hard runs and long idling conditions and have no carbon build up or tracks. At idle I may get just alittle whiff of oil, if the wind is from the back of the boat. I have tested at least 25 props, currently have 6. I use them all, for different conditions, one suggestion, don't try a high pitch Raker with a jackplate. The high rake makes the boat twist when raising or lowering the plate. Its actually unconfortable and almost to the point of being dangerous, if you are not expirienced with this type of set up. The 24 pitch I run, has extra large relief exhaust cut outs and has been blueprinted for speed, but the holeshot suffers. I only run it when someones out to screw with me, then its real fun to shut them down or do a doughnut around them, while they are running WOT. What a riot!

Just expirement, let your ass and GPS be the judge of the best set up. TAKE NOTES!!! I document every props different characteristic, well every change I make to the boat, actually. Just to know what works best and help others, like you.

[buddy19520]

Cutknife, I use an Mercury Enertia prop 15x15. The boat came with an Evinrude 15x15 aluminum and I thought I would pick up a little speed with the shiny prop. I think the only thing that improved going to stainless is the hole shot - the prop has a better grip on the water. After seeing some of the glowing recommendations on various pontoon forums, I was a bit disappointed. Another pontoon owner in the neighborhood has the same prop in a 14" version. One day I am going to try to borrow it to see if it would work better for me. I get 38mph (gps) at 5300 rpm. I think it should rev a little higher. Seeing some of the speeds quoted in the Annual Test issue, my top speed does not seem out of the ordinary. I would love to be able to claim an over-40 top speed, but am not willing to put any time or money into achieving it. I rarely run that fast anyhow - mostly 20-25 mph for typical cruising.

I measured the amount of gas I burned between low-oil alarms, and figured that I got 70:1 ratio on the XD100 oil, which is all I've ever used. I've read elsewhere that a too-low redline will cause it to burn more oil. I rarely smell any oil - only when at idle speed with the wind behind me.

Philip

[cutknife]

Have done lots of reading on props and I think I have a head ache. Every site seems to have there own opion that is not the same as any others. I guess like one of you said I should a bunch of props and choose the one that suits me. I just didn't want to buy a bunch of props and then never use them. I will be do a fair bit of pulling my kid on a wakeborad (he's 16 and loves to wakeborad). My other kids would rather tube, and I will be doing alot of fishing as well. Up here in Canada ss props can cost 600.00 and up so I'll probally pick up one in Montana when i pick up the boat. What is a good price on a ss prop in the USA. I have looked on the enternet and you can buy them from 250.00 to 500.00. What are the best brand names of props? Are the bbr props a good prop?

[Bryden24shp]

I buy my props off Ebay. Usually go for items that have late night ending auctions. Usually I pay between $65 to $120 for a nice used performance prop. Then if I try it out and don't like it, I'll sell it on Bass Boat Central for $150 to $250. Seems like these guys will spend more $ for the same prop. Seems stupid, but it works for me!

[dockholiday]

Cutknife, I use an Mercury Enertia prop 15x15. The boat came with an Evinrude 15x15 aluminum and I thought I would pick up a little speed with the shiny prop. I think the only thing that improved going to stainless is the hole shot - the prop has a better grip on the water. After seeing some of the glowing recommendations on various pontoon forums, I was a bit disappointed. Another pontoon owner in the neighborhood has the same prop in a 14" version. One day I am going to try to borrow it to see if it would work better for me. I get 38mph (gps) at 5300 rpm. I think it should rev a little higher. Seeing some of the speeds quoted in the Annual Test issue, my top speed does not seem out of the ordinary. I would love to be able to claim an over-40 top speed, but am not willing to put any time or money into achieving it. I rarely run that fast anyhow - mostly 20-25 mph for typical cruising.

I measured the amount of gas I burned between low-oil alarms, and figured that I got 70:1 ratio on the XD100 oil, which is all I've ever used. I've read elsewhere that a too-low redline will cause it to burn more oil. I rarely smell any oil - only when at idle speed with the wind behind me.

Philip

Phil, something doesn't sound right, I am running the 15p enertia with a 150hp and got 40.5 gps. I started with a 17p mirage plus and only got 38mph at 5300rpm. I had just heard of the enertia an ask them to put on a 15p enertia and that maxed me out to 5800rpm. What speed were you turning with the alum prop? Seems like you should be in the 42 to 43 range.
doc

[onthelaketwo]

I have a manitou with a 90 hp E-tec

The boat and motor is great. I am still running with 50:1 oil

I only have two logs and the motor is much smaller.

However, I do have a set of sea legs!! I luv them, and would recommend if you do not want to beach or moor your boat. If you have questions on sea legs just ask.

[dockholiday]

Okay question on the sea legs
How far do they hang down from the deck?
What is the deepest they will work in?
Going to be pricing some lifts and have not ruled out the sea legs.
doc