wiring my boat for lights

[jwmiller33]

hello all. I just bought my first boat this winter and am in the process of adding all the necessities to get it ready for fishing opener. The boat is a 1980 16 ft Lund with a 20 in transom. I have no experience with wiring boat lights at all so I am looking for some help.

I looked into those portable clamp on boat lights and those just don't look like they would get the job done.

I am looking to get the red/green bow light and the white stern light. I want them to be mounted on the boat for studyness obviously, so my first question is, is that easy to do? I'm sure all of you are familiar with the type of boat I am dealing with, the older aluminum Lund style boats. Is it easy to mount the lights on the bow and stern? Do I have to drill into the boat at all or can I get away with using nuts/bolts on a screw?

Second question... How do I go about wiring the lights? I am going to have a 12v deep cycle marine battery that my trolling motor is running off... can I have the lights run off this battery too?

How do I do the wiring? Do I make a mount on my boat where the lights are going to go, and then run the wiring from the mounts to the battery, and then the lights jump snap into the mount whenever I want to use them? Do I need to use a switch for the lights? Is the wiring simple enough to do by myself?

Sorry for all the quesitons... Just looking for some help on a project I am going to start soon.

[traveler]

JW, It won't fit there in mine. I put my tank in there sideways so it's totally under the seat, if it was turned it might work, but theres plenty of space in the back regardless. As for carpet (i'm a carpet seller/installer, btw) I just don't care for it much. Holds bait smell and pieces (smushed crawlers, minnows), fades and frays, and it's often a bear to change. Think how you'd be wrapping it around the plywood. But, it's quiet and warmer on the feet...personal preference, lots of guys like it.

[jwmiller33]

really, your a carpet seller huh? do you sell marine carpet? can I buy some from you? I need about 6 ft X 6 ft or 6 ft X 8 ft to get everything I want done.

Is it hard to wrap it around the plywood benches?

[skyhawk]

I placed my trolling motor battery in the box on the port side, my starting motor battery in a box next to it and tne gas tank ubder the back seat. As I sit on the starboard side, I pretty much balance out the weight. Carpet for me but get the best grade you can unless you want to change colors in 2 years because thats about how long cheap lasts!!

[jwmiller33]

I definitly need to get the battery out of the back of my boat for better weight distribution.BUT how can I hook the trolling motor up to the battery if it is way up in the front???? [trolling motor is transom mount BTW]... Where can I buy a chord that will make the trolling motor reach the front of my boat?

I definitly do need to take my time and do a good job. I have been planning this boat out with drawings and mental images for the past month and a half, and I have so many ideas going thru my head all the time. I am finally deciding what I am doing for sure to modify it. The middle 1/2 benches are coming out, for sure. I am adding the platform in the front with the 2 storage compartments. I WOULD LIKE TO have my gas tank be in that front compartment, do you guys think I could find a gas chord long enough to do that?

If I had my trolling motor and gas tank running from the very front to the very back of the boat, that would be IDEAL for weight distribution, BUT I dont know if I could find a long enough gas chord and a chord for the trolling motor. I was at Cabelas yesterday and the longest they had was like 60 inches and it was pretty expensive mind you... I would probably need one to be close to 20 feet cuz i would need to do some weaving to put it in the floor and stuff..

Does anybody know if putting the gas tank and battery up front work for my boat? I have a transom mount and a 6 gallon gas tank... I was thinking about getting two 3 gallon tanks and putting one in each compartment.. What do you guys think about that?>

______________________

[marine_man]

I haven't been following along on this thread, but a couple of things to consider:

1) Buy some 6 or 8 Gauge Wire to run power to your trolling motor from the front to the back

2) You'll have to buy some fuel hose and make your own extended fuel hose - take the section of hose between the primer bulb and the fitting that connects to your motor and replace it with whatever length you need

3) Removing the middle benches is a good idea to save space, but you're going to need some sort of structure in that area to give that portion of the hull and sides of the boat some support. Take a look in the Boat & Motor Forum in old posts to see several other people who have modified their boats to fit their needs. There are lots of good tips in there on what to do and what not to do. You will likely need to use the Search Tool

4) Moving the battery, fuel tank and putting a casting platform in the front may make getting your boat out of the hole and on plane next to impossible, given your 20 HP motor. Before I went too crazy on building the front platform I'd be tempted to put a equivalent amount of weight in the front end and see if it will get on plane.

marine_man