SS64 Pros Cons and Mods

[_Sloth_]

Hi All,

I have finally got the Minn Kota Ulterra installed! As promised - here are some photos. Overall I am pretty happy with it.

Installation includes two 120 amp hour deep cycle batteries - one in each console. A prosport dual bank charger, mounted inside the passenger console, a custom fabricated stainless steel mount and the 80 lb, 24V Minn Kota Ulterra (72 inch shaft) mounted on a quick release platform. Not much change from $10K but about half of that is for the electric motor. Could probably have saved $1.5K by not installing an onboard charger and using the manual deploy Terrova model. On the other hand could have spent another couple of thousand for a 24V Lithium Ion battery but opted to save the dollars and carry the extra weight (65 kg (Lead) rather than 20 kg (Lithium).

It doesn't make the boat look better but doesn't ruin it either. Looking forward to putting it through it's paces.

I also had some bow and stern rails installed - plan is to attach rod-holders to those using RAM mount tough claws. The rails look really good - the photos don't really do them justice.

Cheers

S

 

[TheStej]

Looks awesome mate, I must say I'm a little jealous 

[_Sloth_]

On 12/03/2021 at 9:31 PM, Rusty_Nail said:

Hey J,

Mostly just experimentation/tinkering and also to see how the 17P goes in terms of stern lift/chine walk at speed vs what occurred with the 19P 

Have put the 19P Rev4 back on for a trip on Sunday so will be interesting to see how that feels against the last run of the 17P Rev4.

 

 

Hey Rusty,

Any updates on your prop testing?

 

[_Sloth_]

Has anyone had any problems with a cracking/grinding noise that coincides with hitting chop? It is coming from around the drivers console footwell? It sounds like fiberglass on fiberglass.

I have had a persistent problem with this. I have pulled the footwell out and trimmed the fiberglass surrounds and added some extra screws to hold the footwell in place better. These things seemed to have helped but I still get this annoying noise when hitting short sharp chop at around 45 degrees. Doesn't happen when I am running straight in to a head sea or following sea?

I am wondering if there is another possible source for this noise. Any thoughts?

[GregOug]

10 hours ago, _Sloth_ said:

Has anyone had any problems with a cracking/grinding noise that coincides with hitting chop? It is coming from around the drivers console footwell? It sounds like fiberglass on fiberglass.

I have had a persistent problem with this. I have pulled the footwell out and trimmed the fiberglass surrounds and added some extra screws to hold the footwell in place better. These things seemed to have helped but I still get this annoying noise when hitting short sharp chop at around 45 degrees. Doesn't happen when I am running straight in to a head sea or following sea?

I am wondering if there is another possible source for this noise. Any thoughts?

Yeah. I get it too. Annoying.

[_Sloth_]

On 09/03/2021 at 2:13 PM, GregOug said:

Okay. Posting some pics of my new anchor winch and 9” Garmin for my ss64. I thought I had posted my impressions of both here, but I mistakenly posted them to the BEST 9” GARMIN thread instead. If you are interested see there. I apologise for the quality of the photos but in my defence:

My boat is currently sitting out under the scorching hot Queensland sun, hence there is a lot of reflection.

I couldn’t even see what I was taking a photo of in a few of them due the glare, and

I’m a hopeless photographer!

 

Hi Greg,

Any chance you could post a couple more photos of the sounder install without the glare etc.

I have a 9 inch Elite FS and trying to work out if I should take the HDS7 out and put it in the dash or mounted on its gimbal on the dash (i.e. replace the cutout dash panel with a new one and mount the gimbal on to that)...

It looks to me like if I try to put it in the dash it will overall the side panels that contain the gauges and since they are angled out the sounder would need to sit a little proud from the face of the dash. Is that how yours is?

 

 

[_Sloth_]

3 hours ago, GregOug said:

Yeah. I get it too. Annoying.

That's strange that it would be in more than one boat. Have you made any attempts to find it? I am putting mine in for engine service direct with Tim at Stejcraft. I'll ask him about it. It should be fixable - if we can find what is causing it...

[_Sloth_]

On 25/04/2021 at 8:47 AM, TheStej said:

Looks awesome mate, I must say I'm a little jealous 

Ah that is boating! I get jealous looking at the smallest tinnie to the biggest boats - they all have their own special appeal. Let me know if you decide to go down the trolling motor path...I can put you in touch with the people that sorted mine. Overall I am happy - although it took a long time to get all the ducks lined up.

[GregOug]

1 hour ago, _Sloth_ said:

That's strange that it would be in more than one boat. Have you made any attempts to find it? I am putting mine in for engine service direct with Tim at Stejcraft. I'll ask him about it. It should be fixable - if we can find what is causing it...

Great! Tell him it’s obviously not just a one boat thing. Only annoying thing I have.

[GregOug]

On 28/04/2021 at 12:26 PM, _Sloth_ said:

Hi Greg,

Any chance you could post a couple more photos of the sounder install without the glare etc.

I have a 9 inch Elite FS and trying to work out if I should take the HDS7 out and put it in the dash or mounted on its gimbal on the dash (i.e. replace the cutout dash panel with a new one and mount the gimbal on to that)...

It looks to me like if I try to put it in the dash it will overall the side panels that contain the gauges and since they are angled out the sounder would need to sit a little proud from the face of the dash. Is that how yours is?

 

 

Hey mate. Sorry I took so long. Been rather busy. Anyway, here are a few more photos. Hopefully they will help.

cheers

Greg

[_Sloth_]

On 01/05/2021 at 1:51 PM, GregOug said:

Hey mate. Sorry I took so long. Been rather busy. Anyway, here are a few more photos. Hopefully they will help.

cheers

Greg

Perfect. Thanks mate. 

[_Sloth_]

Casting deck templates made. Two pieces. The one on the left is the same shape as the left cushion. The one on the right extends over the front half of the walkway. I decided not to use the whole walkway because I want to leave the deck in permanently and my wife likes sitting up front and wants some walkway. I have traced the pieces and will get them cut from thermo-lite on a CNC router. Hen some sea-dek for grip/comfort. Have kept a copy of the templates in case anyone else wants to do a casting deck too...

[GregOug]

On 28/04/2021 at 12:37 PM, _Sloth_ said:

That's strange that it would be in more than one boat. Have you made any attempts to find it? I am putting mine in for engine service direct with Tim at Stejcraft. I'll ask him about it. It should be fixable - if we can find what is causing it...

So have you had the service done yet? Did Tim identify the problem?

[_Sloth_]

4 minutes ago, GregOug said:

So have you had the service done yet? Did Tim identify the problem?

I dropped it off on Tuesday.

Picking up later next week as I am getting a few other bits and pieces sorted too.

I discussed it with him and left him the keys. He is going to take a test drive and look in to it...

Will let you know if he finds it.

[GregOug]

Thanks. Looking forward to his findings.

[GregOug]

On 14/05/2021 at 8:25 PM, _Sloth_ said:

I dropped it off on Tuesday.

Picking up later next week as I am getting a few other bits and pieces sorted too.

I discussed it with him and left him the keys. He is going to take a test drive and look in to it...

Will let you know if he finds it.

Did you get it yet?

[_Sloth_]

2 hours ago, GregOug said:

Did you get it yet?

Nah. Boat is still with Tim. I wanted a few bits and pieces done and he didn’t get to test drive last week because so busy preparing for sanctuary cove boat show. Tim taking for test drive on Tuesday. Im picking it up end of this week. 

[GregOug]

Yeah, this week would not have been a good week for getting anything done boating wise, especially by Gold Coast boat dealers.

[GregOug]

On 22/05/2021 at 8:10 PM, _Sloth_ said:

Nah. Boat is still with Tim. I wanted a few bits and pieces done and he didn’t get to test drive last week because so busy preparing for sanctuary cove boat show. Tim taking for test drive on Tuesday. Im picking it up end of this week. 

Any updates?

[_Sloth_]

On 04/06/2021 at 8:50 PM, GregOug said:

Any updates?

Have had the boat back for a couple of weeks. Tim said he found a spot where the footwell was rubbing and he fixed it.

He took it for a test drive and said all good but the water was smooth that day. I haven't had that boat out since to confirm (sad - I know)...

Almost certain to be something to do with the footwell in your case too. Open the seat back in front of the console and press the fibreglass surrounding the footwell insert with say the handle end of a hammer or similar and see if you get any rubbing noises. Let me know what you find. You may also be able to see if the footwell rubs anywhere. I improved mine by removing the footwell and grinding back the surrounds a bit but must have missed one part hence I still had a noise. It used to be much worse though...

[GregOug]

2 hours ago, _Sloth_ said:

Have had the boat back for a couple of weeks. Tim said he found a spot where the footwell was rubbing and he fixed it.

He took it for a test drive and said all good but the water was smooth that day. I haven't had that boat out since to confirm (sad - I know)...

Almost certain to be something to do with the footwell in your case too. Open the seat back in front of the console and press the fibreglass surrounding the footwell insert with say the handle end of a hammer or similar and see if you get any rubbing noises. Let me know what you find. You may also be able to see if the footwell rubs anywhere. I improved mine by removing the footwell and grinding back the surrounds a bit but must have missed one part hence I still had a noise. It used to be much worse though...

Hi Sloth,

Thats about as clear as mud to me. Lol. Are you talking about where you place your feet on the passenger’s side? How could I reach that with a hammer? Confused?

cheers

Greg

[_Sloth_]

16 minutes ago, GregOug said:

Hi Sloth,

Thats about as clear as mud to me. Lol. Are you talking about where you place your feet on the passenger’s side? How could I reach that with a hammer? Confused?

cheers

Greg

Haha. OK - I'll try again.

The noise on the driver's side is probably due to rubbing of fibreglass. The most likely way this would happen is if the moulded footrest is rubbing against the fibreglass surrounds. If you look at the face of the footwell you will see 6 or so screws holding it in place. Check that they are tight. Then go to the bow section and open up the seat hatch on the drivers side. You should be looking at the back of the gauges and sounder etc. Look down and you should also be able to see the footwell protruding in to this space. There is a large hole cut out of the console and the moulded footrest is inserted into that hole and screwed in place. The footwell is possibly rubbing somewhere around the outside so if you press the fibreglass around the outside you might find where it is rubbing against the footwell.

Does that make sense?

 

[GregOug]

11 minutes ago, _Sloth_ said:

Haha. OK - I'll try again.

The noise on the driver's side is probably due to rubbing of fibreglass. The most likely way this would happen is if the moulded footrest is rubbing against the fibreglass surrounds. If you look at the face of the footwell you will see 6 or so screws holding it in place. Check that they are tight. Then go to the bow section and open up the seat hatch on the drivers side. You should be looking at the back of the gauges and sounder etc. Look down and you should also be able to see the footwell protruding in to this space. There is a large hole cut out of the console and the moulded footrest is inserted into that hole and screwed in place. The footwell is possibly rubbing somewhere around the outside so if you press the fibreglass around the outside you might find where it is rubbing against the footwell.

Does that make sense?

 

Yeah. A bit more. I’ll look but the noise in my boat is on the port side, so I’ll look there.

[_Sloth_]

2 minutes ago, GregOug said:

Yeah. A bit more. I’ll look but the noise in my boat is on the port side, so I’ll look there.

The footwell on the port side is actually pretty easy to remove. Take the screws out and pull it out. Look for where the footwell might be making contact with the cut-out in the console...you can grind the cut-out back with a Dremel if needed so it no longer makes contact with the footwell.

[GregOug]

2 hours ago, _Sloth_ said:

The footwell on the port side is actually pretty easy to remove. Take the screws out and pull it out. Look for where the footwell might be making contact with the cut-out in the console...you can grind the cut-out back with a Dremel if needed so it no longer makes contact with the footwell.

You had me right up until the Dremel bit! Lol.

[GregOug]

On 11/06/2021 at 5:51 PM, _Sloth_ said:

The footwell on the port side is actually pretty easy to remove. Take the screws out and pull it out. Look for where the footwell might be making contact with the cut-out in the console...you can grind the cut-out back with a Dremel if needed so it no longer makes contact with the footwell.

Had a look. Nothing rubbing so didn’t have to look up what a dremel is. What I did find was a metal mosquito repellent spray can, the brand of which I have never heard of and I am sure I didn’t buy! A total mystery to me. Not sure that would have been making the noise I have heard but won’t know until the next rough day out.

[Angry51]

A Dremel is a little hobby grinder used for cutting/sanding/drilling holes etc.

Handy little gadget.

[GregOug]

1 hour ago, Angry51 said:

A Dremel is a little hobby grinder used for cutting/sanding/drilling holes etc.

Handy little gadget.

Yeah. I’ve actually got one but it’s attached to my mini grinder and is about a hundred feet from the boat and not detachable, so I suppose in a way, I haven’t got one.

[WilliBoaz]

On 11/03/2021 at 11:44 PM, Rusty_Nail said:

On a different note, in terms of prop performance, can't recall whether I've noted previously, but had a run a few weekends ago with the following results.

Prop - Rev4 17P; WOT ~5800 RPM; Speed ~51MPH; Load - 200L + 3 Adults. Boat was stable with that prop at that speed.

Different story when running the originally supplied Eco Enertia 19P at 5600 RPM where I had a lot of chine walk.

What motor was that with?

[WilliBoaz]

On 24/04/2021 at 9:07 PM, _Sloth_ said:

Hi All,

I have finally got the Minn Kota Ulterra installed! As promised - here are some photos. Overall I am pretty happy with it.

Installation includes two 120 amp hour deep cycle batteries - one in each console. A prosport dual bank charger, mounted inside the passenger console, a custom fabricated stainless steel mount and the 80 lb, 24V Minn Kota Ulterra (72 inch shaft) mounted on a quick release platform. Not much change from $10K but about half of that is for the electric motor. Could probably have saved $1.5K by not installing an onboard charger and using the manual deploy Terrova model. On the other hand could have spent another couple of thousand for a 24V Lithium Ion battery but opted to save the dollars and carry the extra weight (65 kg (Lead) rather than 20 kg (Lithium).

It doesn't make the boat look better but doesn't ruin it either. Looking forward to putting it through it's paces.

I also had some bow and stern rails installed - plan is to attach rod-holders to those using RAM mount tough claws. The rails look really good - the photos don't really do them justice.

Cheers

S

 

Hi mate, looks really good. Who did the stainless steel fabrication for you?

[Rusty_Nail]

26 minutes ago, WilliBoaz said:

What motor was that with?

That was with the V8.

[WilliBoaz]

Is anybody able to give me an accurate measure of the boat's draft with motor trimmed up? I know it depends on motor, etc but yeah, just trying to plan how I'll maximise daily use of the boat at Poona, where it will be parked on a sand flat at low tide. Cheers!

[GregOug]

3 minutes ago, WilliBoaz said:

Is anybody able to give me an accurate measure of the boat's draft with motor trimmed up? I know it depends on motor, etc but yeah, just trying to plan how I'll maximise daily use of the boat at Poona, where it will be parked on a sand flat at low tide. Cheers!

No.

[GregOug]

Just now, GregOug said:

No.

However, the draft at trim out wouldn’t matter, would it? You’d just tilt the motor up out of the way in readiness for low tide, so the motor would be clear of the sand, I would have thought. You would, however, need to worry about the transducer and transducer spray cover. 

[GregOug]

On 11/06/2021 at 2:16 PM, _Sloth_ said:

Have had the boat back for a couple of weeks. Tim said he found a spot where the footwell was rubbing and he fixed it.

He took it for a test drive and said all good but the water was smooth that day. I haven't had that boat out since to confirm (sad - I know)...

Almost certain to be something to do with the footwell in your case too. Open the seat back in front of the console and press the fibreglass surrounding the footwell insert with say the handle end of a hammer or similar and see if you get any rubbing noises. Let me know what you find. You may also be able to see if the footwell rubs anywhere. I improved mine by removing the footwell and grinding back the surrounds a bit but must have missed one part hence I still had a noise. It used to be much worse though...

I had my dealer remove the footwell and grind any offending fibreglass out as you suggested and so far, it seems to have fixed the problem. Thanks for the heads up.

[GregOug]

On 05/05/2021 at 10:16 PM, _Sloth_ said:

Casting deck templates made. Two pieces. The one on the left is the same shape as the left cushion. The one on the right extends over the front half of the walkway. I decided not to use the whole walkway because I want to leave the deck in permanently and my wife likes sitting up front and wants some walkway. I have traced the pieces and will get them cut from thermo-lite on a CNC router. Hen some sea-dek for grip/comfort. Have kept a copy of the templates in case anyone else wants to do a casting deck too...

So, you’re removing the factory made seats and replacing them with the casting deck? Is that correct? I imagine it will be a bit rough on the behind sitting or lying on the deck instead.

[GregOug]

On 11/03/2021 at 11:44 PM, Rusty_Nail said:

On a different note, in terms of prop performance, can't recall whether I've noted previously, but had a run a few weekends ago with the following results.

Prop - Rev4 17P; WOT ~5800 RPM; Speed ~51MPH; Load - 200L + 3 Adults. Boat was stable with that prop at that speed.

Different story when running the originally supplied Eco Enertia 19P at 5600 RPM where I had a lot of chine walk.

That’s my top speed too, but I’ve never actually thought to look at the tacho to check WOT, probably because I’m too busy looking ahead at that speed! I have the Mercury 200hp Pro XS V8. 

[_Sloth_]

 

 

11 hours ago, WilliBoaz said:

Is anybody able to give me an accurate measure of the boat's draft with motor trimmed up? I know it depends on motor, etc but yeah, just trying to plan how I'll maximise daily use of the boat at Poona, where it will be parked on a sand flat at low tide. Cheers!

Hi Willi,

I have made an estimate for you by looking at some photos of mine in the water and measuring from where the waterline is to the bottom of the hull (at the rear). There was one person on board and I would have had at least 150 L fuel on board but otherwise not heavily loaded (maybe 100 kg of gear). From the waterline to the bottom of the hull was 450 mm (approx). So you are going to need about 500 mm of water to float the boat. Greg's point about the transducer is a good one. If you anchor off the opposite the transducer for the last of the run out the boat should then sit leaning on the side opposite the transducer. I have never actually done this myself so follow my advice e with caution

Hope that helps.

S

PS On many occasions I have anchored up with the boat floating and the ladder touches the sand - that gives a visual perspective of the water needed.

[_Sloth_]

11 hours ago, GregOug said:

So, you’re removing the factory made seats and replacing them with the casting deck? Is that correct? I imagine it will be a bit rough on the behind sitting or lying on the deck instead.

Yeah that's the plan. Haven't had the deck pieces made yet...trying to save some more coin after the Minn Kota install and I have yet to install the 9 inch sounder which has been sitting in the cupboard for the last few months . The pieces will be interchangeable so on a "boating" outing I'd put the seats in and on a "fishing" outing I'd put the casting deck in instead. Slightly longer term plan will be to get some cushions custom made that can sit over the casting deck (more saving needed) - then it will be able to stay in permanantly. In the short term I have some high density waterproof foam that I can make some temporary cushions from (this stuff can be cut to size with a foam saw at Clark Rubber for a small fee). The foam is actually pretty expensive too but I have some left over from a previous project...

[_Sloth_]

On 15/07/2021 at 10:47 PM, WilliBoaz said:

Hi mate, looks really good. Who did the stainless steel fabrication for you?

The stainless work was done by Ark Marine at Geebung. Very happy with the job they did both with the Minn Kota mount and the rails. The front rails are not perfectly symmetrical but only a real pedantic person (e.g. me) would notice...it is great having the rails  - I clamp rod holders to them and they also make the boat easier to handle around the ramp etc. People sitting up front when underway can rest their arm on the gunwale and hold the rail at the same time which makes the ride more comfortable for them.