Panga Importers/Builders

[Capt.Gene]

Originally Posted by SJ_Spearo

I mounted the leaf springs and axle today. Took a guess on the axle placement and ended up with a tongue weight of about 420lbs. This is above the 10-15% figure usually recommended, but is it enough to make it worth adjusting the boat to bring the weight down?

If you put a level on the trailer frame, is the frame running down hill to the hitch?
If so get a raised Reese to level the frame when hanging on the ball and re weigh at that height.

[SJ_Spearo]

Its about dead level right now when rigged up. I think ill be ok. I have plenty of capacity left on my truck and hitch. Ill just make sure I load any gear aft of the axle

[Wood Guy]

If it runs well where it's set and doesn't break loose on sharp high speed turns, leave it where it is. My guess is that he needed it higher than the transom for optimum performance. You can raise a 25" shaft engine with a jack plate, but you can't easily lower a 20" shaft engine lower than the transom if it's too short.

Originally Posted by SJ_Spearo

I asked the previous owner the same question. He said that the 25" was too long. Not sure how valid that is, but I guess it dont see any negative effects. Is there any good reason to remove it? I've never used a jack plate on any of my boats before

[Wood Guy]

If the truck handles it ok, it's not a problem, and will actually tow a little better (although it might not be noticeable). It will just be a little harder to move around by hand, assuming you will have a nose wheel.

Originally Posted by SJ_Spearo

I mounted the leaf springs and axle today. Took a guess on the axle placement and ended up with a tongue weight of about 420lbs. This is above the 10-15% figure usually recommended, but is it enough to make it worth adjusting the boat to bring the weight down?

[SJ_Spearo]

Trailered the boat an hour to a nearby lake. Handled really nice. Much better than the tandem axle. It seemed much easier to pull and easy to maneuver. Didn't drift at all and tracked straight behind the truck. Huge peace of mind to have a solid trailer. Boat ran great too. I didn't get exact numbers, but I'm looking at 45 miles running on about 7-9 gallons of gas. That was mostly cruising at 4000-4500 rpm and about 30mph. If I eased back to 3500 and 25 mph, I would expect consumption to do a little better. Ill have to experiment

[SJ_Spearo]

Trailer

[SJ_Spearo]

The previous owner cut out these rear hatches for some reason and just covered them with a piece of ply wood. I had a few ideas about how to lay glass and use some nice plastic hatches, but I needed something temporary. I got these Trex boards at Lowes for 50% off since they had some scratches from the fork lift. I made some hatch covers that seat in there nicely and look decent. I might keep them in there. Only cost $14. Just need to fill in the gaps on the sides. I might use one of these cavities to hold a reserve fuel tank since the boat currently only has a 12 gallon removable.

[Wood Guy]

Wow! Really makes you wonder about the skills of the guy that cut the hatches. Looks like he wanted better access to the bilge pump and battery, but why cut them so big that you can hardly install trim for the covers? Was the access to the hatches originally from the front? My guess is he wanted easier access to the stuff under the hatches, but he shouldn't have been allowed to use power tools. I can't really tell from the pics how this would work, but what about a single hatch cover that spans both hatches and is hinged at the back? It would cover the mess the previous owner made, and spread the load over the entire back if someone stood or kneeled on the hatch cover.

The spare fuel tank is a good idea, and I don't mean to insult your intelligence, but don't put it in the compartment with the battery and battery switch. You might also want to consider raising the battery as high as possible under the hatch, and looking at a bigger bilge pump.

The trailer is looking good, and seems to be rigged just the way you want it. What is the lube system on the wheel hubs?

Used boats may not require total rebuilding, but they're still "Project" boats.

[SJ_Spearo]

The Imemsa have those holes in the back and they have a raised lip that a removable cover sits on. This guy didn't like them so he cut the lips off. He just ended up doing a rough job. I'm pretty happy with it now, nut might consider something different down the line. I'll keep the battery and fuel separate and I definitely agree about the battery. I don't like it sitting in bilge water. I was thinking instead of a bigger bilge pump to get a second one of the same size for redundancy since the boat doesn't self bail. The wheel hubs have a stainless steel bearing protector with a grease fitting. That should be sufficient to keep them greased. I made sure all the bearings were packed well too. I'm planning a big trip down to the Pensacola/Destin area in about two weeks so I want to make sure everything is right and ready to go

[Wood Guy]

Sounds like you've got it figured out. Good hunting on the trip to Pensacola.

[xrispearo]

I like that the previous owner cut out the rear seat lips. And made one long bench. The two compartment hatches were too small to sit on and hurt to sit between

[Wood Guy]

Ok, now it makes more sense- doesn't excuse the hack job, but does make more sense. Continuous hinge along the back side?

Originally Posted by xrispearo

I like that the previous owner cut out the rear seat lips. And made one long bench. The two compartment hatches were too small to sit on and hurt to sit between

[xrispearo]

Piano or continuous hinge, yes. Trex decking might be overkill and overweight.

It's a panga so I guess anything goes

[SJ_Spearo]

I guess that is a decent reason for him to cut those out. The trex is a little heavy (maybe 20lbs) total, but it works for now. I might change it later to a large hatch, but I will think it over. I got a leaning post in today so I will hopefully get that mounted this weekend. My biggest issues now are finding/fabricating a center console railing, increasing fuel capacity (portable tank in the hatch would work, but I will need to look into possible issues with keeping a portable tank in a closed hatch), making a door for the back side of the console, and building an anchor locker on the bow.

[Impaler Spearguns]

one word of advice - dont get sideways to waves in that thing.
with two people on one side of the boat and you let it get sideways- it is SCARY when the swells hit - it feels like it will spin over and drop you in the water.
we had an imemsa 25.5 and as long as you keep it facing into the waves it rides awesome and the gas mileage on ours was like 5 or 6 mpg! with a 115 suz 4 str