I’m not sure if the smaller mercury 4strokes do it but my 200 Yamaha has bad prop chatter with a stainless prop on it. I believe there’s a hub merc makes that will stop that. I think it is called a flow torque hub. Something to look into anyways. I can vouch for stainless props being very unforgiving. It doesn’t take much at all to bend a prop shaft.

Dutchboy wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>bigcrappie wrote:</div>
Its prime time right now, better get for sale to get the most out of it.

Agreed. I in the last 2 weeks have bought a RV and Pontoon. Both I felt were priced fairly and in good condition. In addition I also personally looked at and passed on 4 boats that I felt were over-priced. Think long and hard on the goal of selling your boat. If the goal is to get it gone price it fairly. If the goal is to pocket a bunch of money plan on it taking longer to sell.

Also consider where you will consign it. The further south of International Falls the better. Lots of guys won’t make a long drive to save a few bucks. The closer you can get to the Metro / Duluth / Brainerd area the better. Even Bemidji wouldn’t be bad.

Good luck.

That’s pretty much the plan. The boat has spent most of its life on Rainy exploring and fishing and we do lots of both so the boat has I guess what’s considered to people in the Midwest higher hours and it’s used but not abused so it will definitely be priced accordingly.

Dutchboy wrote:

Was it a 2050 I saw advertised?

It’s a 202 Tournament Series. Pretty much Crestliners version of a pro v. They are called the Raptor now. I haven’t listed it or tried to sell it. Just thinking out different routes to go. Ideally it would be a quick turn around so we wouldn’t be without a boat for a long period of time which by the sounds of it might be the case with the consignment thing so maybe that’s not the way to go for us. Trade in would be the fastest way to get a different boat but that seems almost foolish to take a hit that big. Several places I’ve asked have straight told me we will give you x amount but you’d get way more than that if you sold it.

Dutchboy wrote:

Where are you located and what are you selling?

International Falls/Rainy Lake. It’s a 2011 20’ Crestliner Tournament Series.

That’s what I was looking for. I had no idea how that worked. I’d just trade it in but places seem to be all over the place on trade in value and that definitely doesn’t seem like the way to go. I get everyone needs to get their money but 10% seems lots better than what a couple places offered for trade in. The dealership in town had a nice used Ranger but they said they won’t take a trade in on a trade in but my boat would be very easy to sell as it’s something that would be desirable for the location we are in and it has Yamahas on it. I’ll have to see if they would do the consignment thing for me and get some details.

When we go to the northwest angle we see lots of mountain sleds turned into ice fishing machines. The long tunnel makes it possible to fit everything on the machine. Some years when it gets nasty with slush it the only thing that will make it back into the bays where the crappies are.

We are on the lake but lots of times in the spring if we are pressed for time or don’t want to burn a bunch of gas we will load the boat up and take it to the river right in International Falls. I can’t speak for other areas of the river but the fish in that stretch hang around and are very active until mid June or early July depending on the weather. I’d assume it’s similar the whole way down to LOW. The best part is you usually have it all to yourself and you don’t even have to start the big motor to get to good fishing.

We will be at the cabin up on Rainy. It should be a good opener. Usually it takes things a week or two to get warmed up a little and get going but I think this year with the early ice out it should be great timing. The following weekend is the Canadian opener so we will definitely partake in that too. The early season bite on that side of the lake just can’t be beat.

If your looking for breakfast the pot roast skillet at Cyrus is crazy good. Like said above though call before you go because those places keep some kind of weird hours or limited menus this time of year.

They didn’t say progressive was necessarily bad, they just said it’s a lot longer process and way more hoops to jump through and everything takes way longer. I’m not sure how other insurance companies work but I was also able to buy my wrecked lower unit back for $100 which was nice. A new prop shaft and it would be good enough for a spare in a pinch.

I’m not sure who you have for insurance but last fall I hit a rock in the river below the dam in International Falls at about 5 mph. It bent my prop shaft and chewed the stainless prop up a little. I brought it to Handbergs on Crane Lake and a week later I had a brand new lower unit that cost me a $500 deductible. I have Country Financial insurance. When I dropped it off they said please tell me you don’t have Progressive. I guess they are a nightmare to deal with. Definitely worth looking into. Judging by the pictures that thing has to be completely detonated inside.

We were recently required to wear metguard boots where I work. Got a pair of carhartt slip on boots when they implemented the new requirement just over a year ago and can say they are the most comfortable boots I’ve had in my 14 years there. The fact they lasted a year is amazing in itself considering what they go through. Usually boots last about 8 months give or take in my work environment. Pretty sad my local retailer doesn’t have them anymore. Going to have to search the internet for another pair soon.

A few boats ago I had a Terrova and had the same thing going on. I thought it was the connection on the remote going but it ended up just being the cord. Not sure if that common or not but might be worth trying a friends cord or something. I think that was a 2015 model.

We live in Eveleth. North of Duluth about an hour. It’s a newer neighborhood or was I guess when we bought the house. I’m guessing I’m not the only one with this problem because a couple years ago a house down the block had a side of its basement dug up and a week later there were new owners in the place. This definitely by far is not our forever house. Being young and dumb we just saw an awesome deal and snapped it up not really realizing what the future had in store for us. Now our house is nothing but a place to stay at when I’m at work because if I’m not working we are at the cabin or shack. If I had known that back then I would have bought a crappy little 2 bedroom house. To add fuel to the fire our house payment has about doubled since we bought the house just from the taxes (everything is escrowed). Not that we can’t afford it but just adds insult to injury. Really want to do like the neighbor and fix it and dump it.

Interesting. I guess I never thought to describe it as tipping in instead of bowed in but now that you threw that term out there it much more describes what I have going on. The wall doesn’t have a bulge in it what so ever. I’d have to agree 100% that it started as a drainage issue and escalated from there from what you guys have went over.

Thanks! I will check them out. It’s tough because I only know of the one place around here and with something that expensive it would be nice to see what a few different places have to offer and the prices. That’s part of the struggle for me.

Thanks everyone. You pretty much confirmed what I’ve been thinking. As far as legal action I’m sure theres none as the house was steeply discounted because of that. The place that came to look at it said I have several options. One being installing I beams like I did except they would be engineered and stuff like that. Another was some kind of geo anchors where they burry a plate outside and drill through the wall and anchor it to that and the third most expensive expensive one was excavating it and pushing it back out. Luckily from what I understand the wood foundation is much more forgiving and easier to fix that block or poured walls. I just wish there were a few other places around to compare prices. It would be nice if I could get a couple more years out of my temporary fix to save up some to cushion the huge expense of getting it fixed correctly. It’s stayed the same since I put the I beams in but for some reason it’s really been bothering me lately and I can’t stop thinking about it.

I guess another question is if it’s not moving anymore is it still a big deal or is it just an eye sore?

Brian Bezanson wrote:

You are not going to be able to push the wall back in place from the inside.
Figure the side of the building will have to be excavated down to the footings at a minimium. The source causing the bow needs to be discovered. Then it will likely start costing you real money. Hire a professional. I repeat. Hire a pro.
Frankly I’d be seeking serious legal help. I’m not legal help but I have spent 40 years in the commercial and residential const business.
Good luck.

Thanks for the advice. I don’t think there’s anything we can really do legally. We bought the house knowing the wall was an issue. When we bought it we were told that it was most likely from being back filled with clay and from the crane being to close when the house was set.

Thanks for the quick replies guys. That’s kind of the route I’m leaning towards but it’s a tough one to swallow with how much they want. There’s only one place around here that really advertises offering that type of service so it would be nice to have something to compare it to (we are from the iron range area). They wanted over $30k to fix it. I thought that seemed kinda steep but maybe not?

fishthumper wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>walleyesforme wrote:</div>
We’ve always done the duty free thing when we go up. We’ve always been upfront and honest about how much alcohol we are taking across and only once in all the years we’ve been going they made us pull off and go in to pay duty.

How much were you bringing and telling them you had per person. Almost everyone I’ve know that informed them of amount over the per person limit were ordered to pay the duty. Then again this is at the Pembina Crossing.

The only place we cross is at International Falls. It’s almost always just the two of us, me and my girlfriend and we usually bring a couple cases of beer each. Maybe we are just lucky. The only time we did have to pay duty it was just a couple minutes to run in and pay. Definitely worth the savings.

We’ve always done the duty free thing when we go up. We’ve always been upfront and honest about how much alcohol we are taking across and only once in all the years we’ve been going they made us pull off and go in to pay duty.

Bman, may I ask where you found the VMC Mooneye jigs in bulk? We go through piles of them due to pike snipping them off fishing plastics on Rainy. It would be awesome to get a mass quantity of them instead of buying the super expensive 6 packs or whatever they normally come in. You can PM me if you want.

Gitchi Gummi wrote:

Are you wanting to fish Minnesota or Wisconsin waters?

I’d stay at the Country inn and suites in Hermantown… Not as much rift raft in that area and I’d be way less worried parking a boat there overnight. Big well lit parking lot. It’s 10-15 min further drive to the lake than staying somewhere downtown but worth it in my opinion and some better early morning food options (i.e. kwik trip) on the way to the lake.

I live about 20 min straight north of downtown out in the sticks. You’re more than welcome to park the boat at my place overnight if you are really worried about parking lot theft. PM me if you’re in need

That country inn and suites is the one our stuff got stolen from. I thought it would be safer there than most like you said but I guess not. Also they have no cameras outside. Nice place and a water slide for the kids though.

Be very careful and make sure you lock everything up and take everything inside with you that can’t be locked up. Last spring we had stuff stolen out of the box of our truck when we stayed at a Duluth hotel while we were fishing. Thank god they didn’t go in the boat. I think it probably helped that it was covered. When we talked to the police she said it’s sad but it’s a very common occurrence and the chances of getting the stuff back is slim to none. She said the week before a guy had his boat completely stripped. She said he lost $40k worth of stuff.

It seems like lately Black Bay has been super hit or miss. Hot one day bust the next. We usually stop and give it a shot on the way by. You really never know. It fishes like it’s a separate lake really. If you do go in there be prepared to sort through quite a few pike to get to the walleyes, saugers and crappies. We stopped on the way back to the cabin tonight and caught around 10 walleyes and a ton of smallish pike. As the seasons change it will only get better back there. Good luck and check back and let everyone know how you did.

Didn’t see this until now so it’s to late to help you out but please let us know how your trip went when you get back. It seems like most of the guides fish on the Canadian where there is way less pressure and a much better size structure of fish. We usually fish the US side and the previous two weeks had been a little tough but last Friday it was like someone flipped a switch and it was game on again. Like said above, finding structure that’s not on the map chip is huge! Obvious spots get picked over very quickly.

Thanks for all the input everyone. It’s very much appreciated. It sounds like I should look into the month by month plans. We do use our phones as a hotspot a considerable amount in the fish house and on long trips so the little one can watch movies and play games so that’s something I will have to see if offer. Sounds like I can 100% rule out T-Mobile though.

Thanks. That’s exactly what I was hoping to find out. Sounds like I will have to keep exploring other options.

Just got back from the cabin. Was up there for five days. We spent most of our time in Black Bay. It seems like the walleye bite back there is really starting to take off but there’s a ton of pike in there to weed through to get the walleyes. As far as crappies go I think that game is pretty much over, getting a few incidentals in the mix but not really a targetable number of them. We did notice a few fish showing up on rock piles that are very close to or connected to shore but didn’t spend much time fishing them. Going to regroup and head back up there tomorrow for another five days. With the water starting to warm up I think fish will start moving to a summer pattern soon.