Recent content by Dream Weaver

Thank you for the suggestions! Sometime this week when I have time, I will drive out the yard where I have my boat parked and take a closer look at a few things. The Scotty mounting plate is 5.5 x 5.5 inches. I have considered the gimbal mounts, but as fishtales mentioned, I don’t know how...

Hey guys, I am working on a project (in my head) which is always the first step... and wondering if anyone might have some advice to lead me in the right direction. I am thinking about adding downriggers to my 180 sportsman and considering the best mounting option. In a perfect world, I would...

Thanks for the advice guys! I ended up bagging the idea and going with the sea tow membership.

Hey luckydude, I wanted to go the sea deck route, but I too was turned off by spending thousands of dollars. I just finished a DIY “knock off” sea deck project in my 180 and got out the door for less than 1k. I’m really happy with the way it came out, here’s a link to the material I used. Feel...

Hey guys, I’m thinking about adding a 9.9 kicker to my 180 sportsman as a safety net, since I only fish the ocean. I bought a really nice fixed mount bracket that I know will hold the motor very securely in place; however, one concern I have is that the boat is going to be too stern heavy and...

Took a voltage meter to the battery and ran the tabs… battery read 12.6v initially, then as the tabs were lowering, creeped down to 12.2v and then shut off. Granted, the engine was not running; but, it was acting the exact same as the other day when the engine was running.

I do have a few extra feet of wire, both positive and negative, that I ended up just coiling up instead of cutting since I had already attached the heat shrink ring terminals. I overestimated the run that I was going to need to make. This could also potentially cause a voltage drop? But I doubt...

From the control switch at the helm, I have a 12 ga positive and negative that both go straight to the battery. There is also a smaller gauge ground wire that comes off the back of the hydraulic power unit that I have grounded to the negative terminal of the battery.

Hey guys, I recently installed a brand new set of Bennett tabs. Everything is brand new, no broken or corroded components. I took the boat out this past week and had an issue. When I power the boat on, the trim tab display lights up; however, when I was underway, as soon as I pressed the...

Slept on it and looked at it with a fresh set of eyes this morning, figured it out in about fifteen minutes. Turns out, that auto-retract wire needed to be connected for the system to work. I guess I’ll just have to get used to re-adjusting the tabs every time I stop and go while fishing, or...

Hey Seasick, I did read the calibration instructions, and was even more discouraged when this didn’t help. I held down the moon/sun buttons for three seconds, the lower yellow port/starboard lights were supposed to light up, but nothing happened. After the red lights stop flashing, there seems...

Hey Thanks for the reply mustang! I checked the battery, 12.6 V. Should be plenty to run the tabs. Im sitting around scratching my head, thinking of where to start tomorrow. One thing I thought of… there is a black ground wire that comes off the back of the hydraulic power unit, and another...

Very frustrating day today installing a new set of trim tabs, hoping someone can shed some light. I have a brand new set of Bennett hydraulic tabs, installed them over the past two days and when it came time to turn the switch over and test them this afternoon…. No dice. When I first turn the...

Unfortunately there is no deck hatch on the 180 model. I would replace everything if I could figure out how to access the tank. I think I would have to find a way to completely remove the console from the boat. The only quick access to the tank on the 180 model is through two, circular deck...

Thank you so much for all of your replies! I appreciate the suggestions. When I get to the bottom of it I’ll circle back and let you know what it turned out to be.