Alumacraft owners...Tournament Pro?

[bigbluepirahna]

For those that have had an alumacraft tournament pro, specifically the '02 185 CS, how do you get the front big livewell to fill?

i just got one used, and can't get water in it. only has one switch on dash, and when put on manual it fills the little rear one. when i close that spray nozzle, nothing happens.

Am i missing something or is something broke?

Thanks,

big blue

[Todd S.]

I do not have that boat, but have a Lund Pro V with single switch to fill both wells. I shut the nozzle/valve off on the front livewell to use it as storage. I'm not sure if you checked to see if prior owner did that to your rig to use as dry storage? Worth checking if you haven't already, good luck.

[bigbluepirahna]

Thx todd for the suggestion. I did check that though and the nozzles are open. I would be less concerned about it not working if I could use it as dry storage, but it always seems to have some water in the bottom of it anyways.

Thx

[CaptainMusky]

Big blue, the nozzles screw in inside the livewell. If you loosened that and you still do not get water when running the aerator something is either plugged in the line or it was unhooked. I know some guys who permanently unhook them to use them solely as a cooler.

The water you are seeing gets in there simply by having the drain valve open.

Unscrew that nozzle all the way out and run the aerator and see if something works its way out.

Next step would be to try and follow the hose from the back to determine if its still connected. Close the front valve and you will not get water in there as long as the nozzle on the aerator is screwed in all the way tight.

[BoxMN]

On our 97 tp175 we rearranged the hatches, cut the hole larger, and made an alum and plexiglass "rack" that holds 16 Plano 3700's. works awesome! Can take it out, put on shelf, and drop in the musky lure rack that holds/hangs litterally dozens of baits. Sorry, I know that does not answer your question or help you, but is honestly the best use of that otherwise useless "livewell". The rear is large enough for any amount of fish you will ever need.

We plugged the overflows, plugged the drain, and drilled some weap holes in bottom of well for any rain water that gets in. We also removed the circulator pump to replace worn out livewell pump on rear. We know use the front recirculate switch for added new interior led lights.

Anyway, sorry for the book but that front livewell you will end up not using for a livewell at so e poi t. It is nice when you can have about 20 or so 3700 boxes in the boat but no tackle box/bag anywhere on the floor Good luck.

[Kyhl]

I have mine screwed closed also because I never use it, on an '04 Tourney Sport.

I don't know what the problem would be if the spray nozzle is unscrewed. Let us know what you find out though.

[bigbluepirahna]

Thx everyone. Brought to dealer today to dig through it. Looks like previous owner disconnected the hose and cut out the "t". Must have just really wanted dry storage. We put a new connection on all the pump filled it up.

[CaptainMusky]

FYI if you do not intend to use the front livewell all the time and want to avoid water getting in there if you want to use it for a cooler sometimes, screw in the nozzle all the way and close the drain. When moving at high speeds the boat has a "high speed" pick up for the aerator and if the nozzle is open water gets forced up in there.

I had this happen to me once. Had that thing full of beverages and ice and then motored down the river, opened the hatch only to find it full of murky water. Ish. :-)

[MNBIGBEAR]

BoxMN, do you possibly have any pictures of your tackle hatch modification? I think this is a great idea for that front well that I also never use.

[BoxMN]

BoxMN, do you possibly have any pictures of your tackle hatch modification? I think this is a great idea for that front well that I also never use.

I sent this to you in PM, but figured some others might find it interesting. Here it is, copied from the PM. More info than many may want... oh well.... haha!

edit - not sure why the pics are slow loading, but they are there and linked properly, honest.

I had to install new batt before I left, so I took some quick pics. Excuse the mess in the boat, haha! Will try to give a bit off description, but most is self explanatory...

First, the deck with hatched closed, but note the "funky location" of the handle...

Then opened up. We moved the bait cover next to the big lid, and made the plywood "middle" the starboard side hatch. Notice we reused the hinge but cut it in half and used it on the bow side, so all open up hinged on bow side. It was easier to do than we thought. And it fits pretty darn good. Go back to first pic and YOU can see some gaps, but it isn't bad.

This shows the insert we made out of angle alum and plexi (got at Menards). Need to measure pretty darn good, but it fits like a glove. 3700's fit into it, and it fits into livewell. Take it out and set it on shelf, and drop in the musky tray.

3700 insert out:

This the the musky insert. This is cruder as we made it a few years ago and was more meatball, but it works. 4" white gutter, cut with 10" cutting disc put on table saw. Notch the hook grooves and it is perfect for any baits, and ideal for DCG's. We used duct tape, and it has held up fine. You only see the top when in, so it looks neater inside the livewell. Note the angles on ends that need to fit the angle of the hull, so measuring is key, and factor in the material width - this angle almost killed us on the 3700 insert, as we figured the material not as thick as it really was. 1/8" more and it woudn't of fit, ha!

Up close view...

Another slight mod, get some storage over the batteris. Just some plastic tray, with angle alum brackets we made to hold it up.

same thing different view...

Cool mod for night anglers - added 16' of LEDs under rubrail, it really lights up the side for unhooking muskies or even seeing follows at night. It works better than you'd think! Power it with extra vexilar battery. We even have it on a dimmer Awesome for night fishing!

Save best for last... this looks a bit goofy, but we added a "deck" that basically extends the little deck that the troll motor mounts to. Can stand there and fish, see better, have betrer areas for figure 8's or jerkbait fishing, or bass fishing. Also actually works great for just sitting up there while trolling, for second guy watching all the rods, i.e. 2 or 3 guys on river with 4 or 6 lines out, can really see it all. Also makes for great storage for life jackets, bumpers, anything. I really thing boat companies should grab onto this idea, as it gives a better place to cast from when calm, and when rough you just step down and the deck is still big enough. We can cast one guy on the "new" deck, and one on the normal deck, and another in cockpit area, and one on the back seat/platform.

Anyway, maybe some of that might help. I gotta say, my stepson got a beautiful new Triton, and it is great... but I would not trade it for our boat, as ours is just so custom to how we use it, and this is our third Alumacraft (still have the 82 Classic!) and this thing is just solid. My and brother share it, and it gets used a LOT, and it is still solid and even though we could afford to upgrade, this one just does everything we need - and then some.

Take pics as you make mods, its fun to go back and look. Here is our other project from bunch of years ago...:

1982 Alumacraft Classic 16 rehab... http://www.boxmeyers.com/martha/martha.html

-Box

edit - our boat is a 1997 tp175, the first year of the tp model, with merc 150efi. The added weight in front, plywood deck and having all tackle in front rather than tacklebox in rear, has slowed us down a bit, but still goes 48 gps with fat guys, full cooler, and a hundred rods

[CaptainMusky]

Box that is cool how you made the boat your own. Nice work! I like the LED light idea on the rubrails. I was planning on putting some UV lights on the outside of mine. Really highlights the line, but doesnt look like a beacon across the lake to announce your presence.

[Old Dewjabber]

Thanks for sharing.

I really like the battery compartment. Plan on using that for extra things.