Dimensions of assembled Colorado XT frame?

[Long_Rod_Silvers]

Suggest paying attention to what @Freestone says.
Have experienced pretty much everything she described with mine. Oh, and also had a weld on the frame break....mid-float down a river.

They are not built well.

 

[cody-]

@Freestone Thank you for the advice. I think I definitely got caught up in looking for included features vs. construction quality as a first-time boat buyer. I was not at all aware of how different pontoon and tube designs were considering how similar they can look from the outside, and this information will be great for other newbies in the same (as yet to be purchased) boat. I'm tempted to change the name of the thread to something more general about tube advice to this is easier for others outside of this forum to find.

@Haggis57 Great rig by the way (edit: just realized I've already complimented it, but I guess it deserves repeating lol). And you make a great point about flipping the boat budgets.

When I said lower Yakima in #14 of this thread, I should have clarified that I meant way lower Yakima (the Delta and the Columbia around Bateman Island). In previous lives we floated small craft on similar waters, lower French Broad and Tennessee Rivers. Given that we have a pretty short portage to the water from our place, a pedal-drive (or trolling motor-equipped) tandem kayak to get up river and drift down would get us the most mileage for quick post-work evening and weekend bass outings while still being relatively easy to transport elsewhere by rooftop when needed... and besides, it's her first choice of craft

Thank you everyone for the advice and critiques! I'm learning a lot and it's been great to have a place to work through my own thoughts.

 

[Freestone]

@Freestone Thank you for the advice.
Given that we have a pretty short portage to the water from our place, a pedal-drive (or trolling motor-equipped) tandem kayak to get up river and drift down would get us the most mileage for quick post-work evening and weekend bass outings while still being relatively easy to transport elsewhere by rooftop when needed... and besides, it's her first choice of craft

You’re very welcome!

However, do you know what tandem kayaks are called in the kayaking industry? Divorce boats, LOL! It does sound like a good option though for where you live and want to take it.

 

[jasmillo]

@Haggis57 can you post some picks on the steering mechanism you use on your trolling motor with the fish cat scout. I came across your pics online of the mount you built and I am planning to do the same but did not se any pics showing the steering mechanism you devised.

 

[Haggis57]

As mentioned above, the basis of my steering is a direct copy of the kayak steering hardware in this video.

Although the uneven lighting makes it difficult to pick out the details, the picture below is the current rigging for my steering lines. I am using very thin 3mm paracord. The one improvement I made to my steering lines after the first year was to run the lines inside 1/4" ID plastic tubing to reduce the chance of any of my other crap (rods, fish finder, net, etc) binding on the steering lines. Home Depot sells this type small tubing in bulk for running water supply to a refrigerator. In the 1st picture, the ends of the tubing are marked with pink tape. In the 2nd picture you can see that I have the tubing anchored to the top of the tie-down loops along the side of my Fish Cat Scout. I originally just used zip ties to hold the tubing in place and that worked fine. I have some plastic handles (wrapped in orange webbing for the picture) for the end of the steering lines beside my seat to provide grip. I found that the key to steering is to put pressure on both lines when changing direction. I leave the lines on the pontoon boat, regardless of whether I'm using the motor or not. I simply attach the two carabiners on the back of the lines to the motor steering arms and I'm ready to launch.

To improve steering at lower speeds I added a rudder to the trolling motor shaft. This is just a dollar store cutting board attached with pipe clamps! There is a commercial trolling motor rudder available as well.

Good luck,
Ken