# My Idaho Highsider



## Spooky (Jan 22, 2008)

Hi all I've been lurking for a bit and thought I'd share my highsider, possibly the only Gheenoe in Idaho a 2004 brown camo 15' 4" Highsider. You might have already seen it if you hang out over at CG.

Specs:

5hp Briggs and Stratton 
55# thrust Minn Kota Powerdrive v2 with copilot with custom mount
Eagle Cuda 168 depthfinder
Trojan 24TM battery
Tempress lowback navistyle seats
Nav lights
Attwood bilge
6 gal tank with one of thoes handy PCV cradels
Minn Kota tiller extension

She'll do a gps verified 9mph with the briggs. Now for some pics.



































































































And my tow rig.


She started life in East Texas ands spent most of her time on the Sabine river. I've had her on the South Fork of the Snake River here but I'm sticking mostly to lakes the curent and the rocks on the rivers up here are a bit intimidating. The Brigss bit the dust last season. the bracket that holds the motor to the transom sheared off and I'm having trouble getting a replacement hopefully one will turn up before spring thaw. 

I've had a lot of fun with this boat. I'm actually thinking about moving back to Texas and trading her in on a Craigcat they look like a lot of fun. Anyone have any experience with them?


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## Captain_Shane (Mar 27, 2007)

Nice lookin idaho gnoe. You must have been rough on it


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## redgheenoe (Apr 28, 2007)

Trout on a crank/jerkbait..I didn't know they'd hiy one. Nice rig...did you buy it w/bilge installed or do it yourself?


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## MATT (Apr 30, 2007)

Welcome to the form. Looks like a post card up there.


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## Spooky (Jan 22, 2008)

Thanks for the welcome. Trout love no7 rapala countdowns in trout paterns. There all a bunch of canibals especially the cutthroaghts. I've caught more trout trolling with a countdown than any other method on lakes and large rivers. Same goes for smallmouth. I"ve had better luck with spinners in small creeks for trout. 

I bought it as a empty hull and added everything myself. I have been hard on it but not that hard. The motor bracket breaking was a shock. I guess you get what you pay for.


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## Un-shore (Sep 27, 2007)

Nice rig, and welcome. Did you make the trolly motor bracket? That trout looks tasty. As far as the 5hp bracket goes; JB Weld.


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## inboardgheenoeguy (Dec 17, 2006)

Love the mountians in the background!


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## Spooky (Jan 22, 2008)

Yup made the bracket. 

here is a cut and past of how i made it from the custom gheenoe forum.

Its made out of 3/4 inch plywood and bolted thru the top of the rub rails as well as screwed thru the sides of the rub rails. It has 3 coats of duplicoler bed liner on it to seal it. 

I started by placing the trolling motor behind the nosecap on the rub rails to determine how long of a mount I needed. It came out to be 13". To get the mount level I set a square pice of plywood on top of the rails just behind the nosecap and shimed it up untill it was level. Then I measured down from the end of the mount(at 13") and and found that i needed to come up 1.5" from the top of the rail to have it be level. I then placed a pice of plywood on the side of the rub rail and held it even with the rail at the nose cap end and at 1.5" above the rail at 13" from the noescap. I traced a triangle along the top of the rail on the plywood and added the height of the rail to the bottom of the triangle then cut it out with a jigsaw. I then used that pice of plywood as a template to make a dupicate part for the other side. 

Next I screwed both trialgular parts to the rub rails with wood screws. I then placed another pice of plywood on top of the 2 triangles and traced out the top of the mount and cut it out with a jigsaw. Then I applied wood glue to the tops of the triangles, predrilled the top of the mount, and scewed the top of the mount in place. 

At this point I placed the trolling motor on top of the mount and determined the best place to mount it by stowing and deploying the motor to make sure there was no interference. Once I had it positioned in the best spot I traced the outilne of the mounting plate on top of the mount and marked where the mounting holes needed to be. I then removed the motor and drilled the mounting holes. 

I then added 2 rectangular side supports along the top of the rub rails. these were glued and screwd in place. Then I drilled 3 mounting holes thru each these all the way thru the rub rails. I countersunk the mounting holes so the bolts would be flush. Then I removed the compleated mount from the rub rails. I added a small rectangular pice to the bottom of the mount to hold the trolling motor plug. I then broke all edges with an orbital sander and applied 3 coats of bedliner.


Ill try to get some pics of the motor bracket up later its a little beyond JB weld :'(


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## LoneRanger (Dec 11, 2006)

very cool seeing the different type of fishing than the freshwater bassing and inshore stuff we are all used to.


best bet on that motor is to sell it for parts and buy yourself a decent used 9.9hp.




L.R.


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## Spooky (Jan 22, 2008)

As you can see well beyond JB weld. When I pulled up to the boat ramp at Palasades the left bracket was completly broken and the right was broken halfway through. My only guess is I hit something on the road on the way there. I lost the key to my motor lock so I just went ahead and finished ripping the bracket off. two good pulls and it finished breaking compleatly off.

I really just want to get a new bracket instead of buying a new or used 9.9hp  motor. The part lists for $100 if I can ever find it in stock. I want to upgrade to a more stable boat with a higher HP rating. I think I'm going to go with either a yamaha or honda 20hp 4 stroke remote power tilt on a LT 15 or water moccasin 140 sometime around the end of this year or the begining of next. That would be a bit much for a highsider. 

If I cant find it in stock before this spring I guess I'm stuck with finding a used motor. The River probably wont melt until april so Ive got some time to find one or the other.


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## tom_in_orl (Dec 9, 2006)

I think you should be able to get it fixed under warranty. That should not be a wear item. You should be able to argue that it broke due to a defect.

Try customer service at Briggs and Stratton. Be sure to include a link to the pictures.

http://pp.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/pp.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php

or 

Customer Support: 1-800-743-4115


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## Spooky (Jan 22, 2008)

I'll give it a try but its over a year out of warranty.


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## tom_in_orl (Dec 9, 2006)

Be as friendly as possible but also be persistent. Tell them that you participate in online community for boats that are perfect match to the B&S 5 HP motor and that there are around a 1000 people waiting to see what comes out of your call to B&S. Also tell them that there are pictures of the boat and motor before and after the problem occurred and you would like to report back a positive experience with B&S. If the first person you talk to says no then ask for a supervisor. Ask for names. If you get shut down again ask for the product rep for your area and contact that person. Ask the product rep to make a few calls on your behalf. Alway tell them that you want to have a positive experience that you can share with your boating friends. 

Bottom line is there is no reason that particular part should have failed under normal use. If the rest of the motor is in good condition then they should back their product.


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## Spooky (Jan 22, 2008)

Well I wimped out. They had the part in stock so I just went ahead and ordered it and it showed up today. Just finished fixing it and it cranked right up in 15 degree weather on last seasons gas. All I really want it to do is get me through one more season of fishing. I cant wait for the river to melt so I can get back on some trout. The winters up here are killing me.

I keep going back and forth between a new boat or just getting a new motor and seting up remote stick steering from the center seat. I think my wife would be more comfortable in the back of the boat than she is in the front. Either way I'm not going to worry about deciding untill We move back to Texas hopefully by July.


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