Help Me Mod my Boat!

Thanks for that, Sir Reel—I appreciate the advice on the solar panels. Getting in and out of an inflatable off the swim step is a bit sketchy in rough water: easy to pinch a pontoon and maybe tear it on the swim step ladder when waves are pounding...also, dealing with a suspicious dog who always thinks I have bad intentions. That’s why I get on and off from port gunnel—-I can do it quick.... but yes, the Commander has those mid-ship cut-away spots in both gunnels which might be the ticket. Thanks again
I have seawise davits sticking out off the swim grid. Has not been a problem, so far. I tie mine tight to the swim grid bow in when family boarding.
You could also tie your bow forward along the side so the swim grid is center of the dinghy.
Try it first anyway think it will work well.
One thing I did not like about the 28 is no toe kick along the gunnel so you have to have feet sideways when leaning over. Is another reason I would keep those rails.
 
Can you tow that? What's the weight? You gotta be into 14,000 lbs.... Maybe your tow current vehicle can already handle it. I'd need to buy a new tow vehicle....added cost,
 
I did 100 hours underway from spot to spot on the mains. Then I trolled 100 hours on the kicker in between those spots—- Even if I alternated that would have been 150 hours on each main outboard with no maintenance....not sure that’s good practice for getting long life out of a 4 stroke

Also, I’m a bait guy—-with no flasher.....I don’t like the trolling speed of a big 4 stroke....too fast for me. Unless you put it in and out of gear

One of our members here has an over width Eagle Craft 34’ with a 25 Yamaha kicker hooked to the autopilot. A dream set up to see it work. The 25 pushes it so well. A vote for yes from me.
 
Can you tow that? What's the weight? You gotta be into 14,000 lbs.... Maybe your tow current vehicle can already handle it. I'd need to buy a new tow vehicle....added cost,
Funny you should mention that. I tossed and turned in bed last night thinking about the towing issue. I tried picturing what it would be like towing that thing through downtown Victoria in July.....and through the mountain pass on the way to Port Hardy

When I asked if the trailer was part of the deal I was informed that most people who have Commanders don’t trailer them.

I have a 7.3L F250—I’m sure it’ll pull that boat. I guess the question is, will it stop that boat once you get it up to speed.
 
Funny you should mention that. I tossed and turned in bed last night thinking about that issue.

When I asked if the trailer was part of the deal I was informed that most people who have Commanders don’t trailer them. I have a 7.3L F250—I’m sure it’ll pull that boat. I guess the question is, will it stop that boat once you get it up to speed.
What year is your ford? There is a place in the mainland that can upgrade gvwr at least it says on their website but if yours is an old 7.3 it might be a stretch.

I’m surprised at the estimated 10k dry weight. NMI way underestimates the dry weight of their C-Dory but that could be from previous owners/marketing.

Let’s keep to the mods on the boat for now. We love spending other peoples money!
 
Funny you should mention that. I tossed and turned in bed last night thinking about the towing issue. I tried picturing what it would be like towing that thing through downtown Victoria in July.....and through the mountain pass on the way to Port Hardy

When I asked if the trailer was part of the deal I was informed that most people who have Commanders don’t trailer them.

I have a 7.3L F250—I’m sure it’ll pull that boat. I guess the question is, will it stop that boat once you get it up to speed.
Your boat is a little longer than mine but I tow a 30’ overall length boat with a 10’2” beam and it’s zero issue . I’d get some airbags and make sure the trailer brakes are in really good shape and go for it.
 
Do you still own the 26 Kodiak and the new 28? Someone on here might be very happy with the 26. Both are fantastic boats.I noticed in the video that the transom door is on the Stbd. side,you may not want to put a kicker there.
 
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I'd definitely go lithium (LiPO4). The upfront price is about double (give or take) over AGM, but if you amortize it over the life of the batteries lithium will last longer and you'll recoup your cost. Also, once you start getting into bigger lithium batteries, the costs don't go up as much - i.e. a 170 AH battery is not 70% more expensive than a 100 AH battery.

Some other advantages of lithium are that they provide more usable capacity. i.e. you can draw down a 100 AH lithium deeper without damaging it than a 100 AH AGM. Also, with lead acid batteries, the voltage slowly drops as you deplete the battery; when its 100% charged you might be getting 12.5V, but at 60% it will be less like 11.8V. Lithium batteries on the other hand put out higher volts for longer before they stop to drop off - which is great for voltage sensitive electronics. On my old house battery, if I had the motors shut off while jigging and everything running (sounder, stereo, water system, fridge, etc.) it wouldn't be long before I'd start getting low voltage alarms. With the lithium battery I installed last winter I can go for a couple hours without issue.

As @myles mentioned, you'll need to remove your DVSRs and install a DC-DC charging system to charge off your outboards (and a MPPT if you go solar). It's not too difficult, here's a couple pictures of my setup - the first is everything laid out on the workbench and the second is installed on the boat. The busbar at the top feeds back to the house battery, the one on the left goes back to the common stud and the wires coming in at the bottom are from the engines.

I also installed a Victron SmartShunt battery monitor which allows for the batteries to be monitored from my phone. The Victron app also allows you to program and monitor the DC-DC chargers.

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Oh, and my preference would be to mount the kicker control as shown in your picture rather than along the starboard gunwale. I find it cleaner and less chance of getting bumped or caught in lines, nets, etc.
 
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im designing a good 2kah lifepo4 setup. if you want to check my cat thread in a few days.
 
Not sure the room behind the potential control box location but I would see if you could use a side mount control box or sometimes called concealed mount.

Potentially giving you less bends in the control cables, cleaner look when done and less chance of water intrusion as the box it’s self will be out of the elements.

Down side is you will need to mount a key switch some place as well.
 

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Really helpful comments, Gents—thanks! The LiPo info is VERY helpful and the comments about the kicker control location I take to heart—meanwhile, I discovered that Alberni Power has detailed pix of a Commander 28 and I see from the dance floor config that a side-mount kicker control box makes zero sense—-I’m stuck mounting to the aft console.

I had kicker controls mounted on starboard gunnel like that on my Skagit Orca:

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And also have them mounted on the gunnel on the Kodiak:

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It was great to have them mounted there this summer when chasing big springs —-all by my lonesome—-rod in the left hand, kicker throttle in the right hand, tiller in my teeth...ha ha


I’m going to finally go look at the boat tomorrow—-ya, it was nuts to cut a big deposit check sight-unseen like that but we do what we do....

I’ll have more mod ideas after I take some measurements tomorrow...thanks again for all the suggestions
 
Easy to tow......the Ocean master was all thay and more. 10'3" beam. Make sure you have electric over hydraulic disc brakes and it will stop no problem.I am assuming you have the 7.3 gasser f350? Diesel power would be better but I'm sure you will be fine. How wide is the 28? 10'?

Looks great.
 
Easy to tow......the Ocean master was all thay and more. 10'3" beam. Make sure you have electric over hydraulic disc brakes and it will stop no problem.I am assuming you have the 7.3 gasser f350? Diesel power would be better but I'm sure you will be fine. How wide is the 28? 10'?

Looks great.
Thanks for that, Mike

No. I‘ve got the 7.3 gasser F250—I heard the main difference between the F250 and F350 is payload capacity, not necessarily tow capacity, though the F350 has stiffer leaf springs. I’ll tow it local, see how it feels. I did get a good trailer, though: E/H disk brakes.

The Commander is 30 LOA with 9’9”beam....you talked me out of the last one I looked at 3 or so years ago because it had the DF350 counter-rotating props that at the time had ongoing lower unit problems. I finally found a Commander with the old-school DF300’s...I know those outboards —- had one for a few years. They have a good rep for getting thousands of hours on them without issue
 
250 is fine....worst case get some air bags, i'm sure you will be fine the EOH brakes help so much. Hook up and send it. Jelly about the new sled GOOD JOB.
 
I‘m a dyed-in-the-wool kicker guy—- I did 100 hours on the kicker this summer and 100 hours on the mains—-if I didn’t have that kicker it would have been 150–200 hours on the mains without maintenance—-no way to treat a Suzuki

Here’s the boat I bought being put though its paces before being delivered to the first owner——please excuse the crappy sound track

Charter boat i was on at WH in July was running twin 250 Suzuki, no problem achieving desired troll speeds. And the damn things were quieter than my merc 9.9 4 stroke. So jealous.

But anyway, enjoy that fine new rig. Did so enjoy your most recent trip reports.
 
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