What have you done to your Grady lately?

[Ekea]

spent saturday morning scraping foam out of the fuel tank well.

 

[SkunkBoat]

I pulled some snow off the cover last week

 

[Ekea]

ive been trying to get to the shop about once a week over the winter and have been pretty consistent. the tank should be ready soon, but in the mean time, i have replaced all pads and rotors as well as two chaffed brake lines on the trailer. i flushed and refilled the brake system. i have also completed getting the hull stripes off the side in prep for gelcoat restoration. the boat looks so naked with no stripes. they will go back on. i also tossed on an amazon speed knob to hold me over for this season as i am pushing a new schmitt/edson wheel off to next season so i can do some more audio this year.

 

[Ekea]

i finished my fuel tank replacement. for details, see "Another Fuel Tank Thread".

i also swapped out the boss speakers in the side gunnels and stuck in JL M6 6.5. even without an amp (bridged F&R from the head unit), these things sound amazing. crisp, clear, loud, and more bass/mid bass then i would ever expect from a 6.5" speaker. the are one of the only speakers that left me temporarily dumbfounded. next step is to get a pair of 7.7 and mount them in the rear facing access holes built into the forward seating and installing an amp. led controller is in the plans too.

 

[Automated14]

I built a bar down at my slip lol

 

[luckydude]

I probably have already posted. I've got some stuff.

A) I put on correct sized trim tabs. My 228 came with 9x12, I replaced those with 12x18 and holy shit, in our shitty Pacific ocean, the ride is so much better. I used to have to back off the throttle on every swell, now I roll over them.

B) Flap valves. The 228 was designed for light weight 2 strokes, they did not change the hull for the heavier engines. So with 2 people at the back, water came in. I put in flap valves, problem solved. You can search my posts for pictures.

C) My 228 came with a sucky dome light that had 2 finger sensitive switches, one for the dome and one that controlled the spreaders. It sucked because while running those switches would flip. And the spreaders are those ones that you can flip on/off to get them to go from bright white to blue or red. The dome was finicky enough that I couldn't reliably do the on/off. So when I did the pilot house (see below) I just wired the spreaders to an accessory switch on the panel (and bought a new switch top that said spreaders) and I'm much happier with that. It's a little thing but that dome was annoying.

D) Deckadence carpet. I looked at Seadeck but said no based on price and how hard it is to clean. The deckadence stuff covers my cockpit and helm in two pieces that are light enough I just take them out after each trip. Easy to wash, the fish guts come out well, I have zero stink, and very comfortable to walk on, they provide a cushion. One of the cheaper but more impactful upgrades I've done.

E) Electric over hydraulic trailer brakes. My trailer came with surge brakes which I thought was cool but it is not at all cool if you live in moutains like I do. I go from 1300 feet to 1800 down to sea level every time I trailer. I burned up my brakes. Redid everything to electric over hydraulic and couldn't be happier. No braking unless I step on the truck brake and I can control how much it brakes through the controller. If you have to go up/down, you want this upgrade.

F) Pilot house. I really struggle with talking about this because it cost me what a lot of people spend on their (used) boats. But, my, oh, my do I love this pilot house. I will be chasing bluefin in this boat and the visibility is amazing. So good.

 

[GradyGary226]

Over the last year I have cut my 226 transom out and had a shop replace it with 228 style. Had the hard top frame welded with gussets and powder coated, had the hard top rebuilt. Added an offshore bracket...replaced OX powerhead.

 

[Ekea]

I built a bar down at my slip lol

pics...?

 

[Barbender]

I probably have already posted. I've got some stuff.

A) I put on correct sized trim tabs. My 228 came with 9x12, I replaced those with 12x18 and holy shit, in our shitty Pacific ocean, the ride is so much better. I used to have to back off the throttle on every swell, now I roll over them.

B) Flap valves. The 228 was designed for light weight 2 strokes, they did not change the hull for the heavier engines. So with 2 people at the back, water came in. I put in flap valves, problem solved. You can search my posts for pictures.

C) My 228 came with a sucky dome light that had 2 finger sensitive switches, one for the dome and one that controlled the spreaders. It sucked because while running those switches would flip. And the spreaders are those ones that you can flip on/off to get them to go from bright white to blue or red. The dome was finicky enough that I couldn't reliably do the on/off. So when I did the pilot house (see below) I just wired the spreaders to an accessory switch on the panel (and bought a new switch top that said spreaders) and I'm much happier with that. It's a little thing but that dome was annoying.

D) Deckadence carpet. I looked at Seadeck but said no based on price and how hard it is to clean. The deckadence stuff covers my cockpit and helm in two pieces that are light enough I just take them out after each trip. Easy to wash, the fish guts come out well, I have zero stink, and very comfortable to walk on, they provide a cushion. One of the cheaper but more impactful upgrades I've done.

E) Electric over hydraulic trailer brakes. My trailer came with surge brakes which I thought was cool but it is not at all cool if you live in moutains like I do. I go from 1300 feet to 1800 down to sea level every time I trailer. I burned up my brakes. Redid everything to electric over hydraulic and couldn't be happier. No braking unless I step on the truck brake and I can control how much it brakes through the controller. If you have to go up/down, you want this upgrade.

F) Pilot house. I really struggle with talking about this because it cost me what a lot of people spend on their (used) boats. But, my, oh, my do I love this pilot house. I will be chasing bluefin in this boat and the visibility is amazing. So good.
View attachment 34038

How hard was the EOH conversion? I am thinking of doing the same thing with my Loadrite, I watched a video by Hydrastar and it seems pretty straight forward but of course they are selling the systems so I doubt the would point out the downside.

 

[luckydude]

How hard was the EOH conversion? I am thinking of doing the same thing with my Loadrite, I watched a video by Hydrastar and it seems pretty straight forward but of course they are selling the systems so I doubt the would point out the downside.

The way I did it was probably harder than most because I replaced everything: brake lines, calipers, bearings. If you have a setup you trust and you just need to add the electric over hydraulic pump and redo the wiring, that's pretty straightforward. You need to find the wiring diagram and convince yourself you have that part right (I'm pretty OCD about stuff like that so that took some time). Then you need to get and mount a box for the pump - I'd advise you to get the biggest that will fit, I leave a jack, lug wrench, extra oil, a rag in there along with the pump.

One thing I'd do differently is to route the wires out of the top of the box, the box sometimes gets in the salt water. Another thing that I need to do is pull the connector apart, dielectric grease it, put it back together and encase it in silicone and pray that's enough. It gets in the salt as well.

If you go down this path, feel free to DM me and I'll happily get on the phone and help you out. It wasn't too bad for me but I'm pretty handy and have a full mechanic's shop. I can walk you through it. I borrowed a slip and left my boat there, you might want to do that but maybe not if all you are doing is the pump and wiring and rerouting the brake lines.

 

[Barbender]

The way I did it was probably harder than most because I replaced everything: brake lines, calipers, bearings. If you have a setup you trust and you just need to add the electric over hydraulic pump and redo the wiring, that's pretty straightforward. You need to find the wiring diagram and convince yourself you have that part right (I'm pretty OCD about stuff like that so that took some time). Then you need to get and mount a box for the pump - I'd advise you to get the biggest that will fit, I leave a jack, lug wrench, extra oil, a rag in there along with the pump.

One thing I'd do differently is to route the wires out of the top of the box, the box sometimes gets in the salt water. Another thing that I need to do is pull the connector apart, dielectric grease it, put it back together and encase it in silicone and pray that's enough. It gets in the salt as well.

If you go down this path, feel free to DM me and I'll happily get on the phone and help you out. It wasn't too bad for me but I'm pretty handy and have a full mechanic's shop. I can walk you through it. I borrowed a slip and left my boat there, you might want to do that but maybe not if all you are doing is the pump and wiring and rerouting the brake lines.

Awesome thank you for the detailed response. I just purchased a 282 and it came with a 2017 Loadrite with surge breaks. I want to switch it to EOH because like you I live on the west coast and I am up and down big hills/mountains, not to mention trying to back up a slight incline always seems to trigger the surge breaks. I am not sure when I will get to it but it is something I want to tackle sooner than later. Did you do the changeover with the boat still on the trailer?

 

[luckydude]

Awesome thank you for the detailed response. I just purchased a 282 and it came with a 2017 Loadrite with surge breaks. I want to switch it to EOH because like you I live on the west coast and I am up and down big hills/mountains, not to mention trying to back up a slight incline always seems to trigger the surge breaks. I am not sure when I will get to it but it is something I want to tackle sooner than later. Did you do the changeover with the boat still on the trailer?

I put my boat in a slip because I was redoing everything, brake lines, calipers, rotors, bearings. Much easier with the boat off.

I think you can probably do it with the boat on if your trailer is anything like mine. Plenty of room at the front and that's where you will be working.

 

[Automated14]

pics...?

 

[luckydude]

I like the bar at the dock. I love me a good cocktail at the end of the day even though I won't allow any booze on my boat (I'm on the Pacific, we don't have that Florida flat ocean sandbar vibe, we have it just got shitty really fast vibe. Doesn't mix with booze). But your home dock has a bar, that sounds awesome to me. Have cocktail, look at your boat, think about all the fun you've had on it? Perfect. Enjoy that.

 

[Automated14]

I like the bar at the dock. I love me a good cocktail at the end of the day even though I won't allow any booze on my boat (I'm on the Pacific, we don't have that Florida flat ocean sandbar vibe, we have it just got shitty really fast vibe. Doesn't mix with booze). But your home dock has a bar, that sounds awesome to me. Have cocktail, look at your boat, think about all the fun you've had on it? Perfect. Enjoy that.

Mostly free too. The deck was my fatherinlaws above ground pool deck that I repurposed. The bar itself is a few pallets I stained. The top is an old piece of butcher block I used to use for a work bench. The umbrella is an old one I used for work- I left the bottom half of it on a Job site years ago. I’m only into it for fasteners and the chairs.

 

[Peter A]

34038[/ATTACH]

Thinking about deck covering after my daughter’s boyfriend dropped his metal Yeti water bottle on the deck next to the hatch seam - a whole chunk of the gel coat coat cracked off.

Would love to see a picture of your irig in the water with the pilot house. In NJ would need some kind of ventilation in the summer but in the late fall and early spring that would be a big plus.

 

[Ekea]

is that at a marina? if so, its pretty cool they let you build that there. do you own or rent the slip?

 

[JJF]

That came out awesome.

I wish more builders would do a pilot house CC/walkaround.

 

[Sdfish]

I probably have already posted. I've got some stuff.

A) I put on correct sized trim tabs. My 228 came with 9x12, I replaced those with 12x18 and holy shit, in our shitty Pacific ocean, the ride is so much better. I used to have to back off the throttle on every swell, now I roll over them.

B) Flap valves. The 228 was designed for light weight 2 strokes, they did not change the hull for the heavier engines. So with 2 people at the back, water came in. I put in flap valves, problem solved. You can search my posts for pictures.

C) My 228 came with a sucky dome light that had 2 finger sensitive switches, one for the dome and one that controlled the spreaders. It sucked because while running those switches would flip. And the spreaders are those ones that you can flip on/off to get them to go from bright white to blue or red. The dome was finicky enough that I couldn't reliably do the on/off. So when I did the pilot house (see below) I just wired the spreaders to an accessory switch on the panel (and bought a new switch top that said spreaders) and I'm much happier with that. It's a little thing but that dome was annoying.

D) Deckadence carpet. I looked at Seadeck but said no based on price and how hard it is to clean. The deckadence stuff covers my cockpit and helm in two pieces that are light enough I just take them out after each trip. Easy to wash, the fish guts come out well, I have zero stink, and very comfortable to walk on, they provide a cushion. One of the cheaper but more impactful upgrades I've done.

E) Electric over hydraulic trailer brakes. My trailer came with surge brakes which I thought was cool but it is not at all cool if you live in moutains like I do. I go from 1300 feet to 1800 down to sea level every time I trailer. I burned up my brakes. Redid everything to electric over hydraulic and couldn't be happier. No braking unless I step on the truck brake and I can control how much it brakes through the controller. If you have to go up/down, you want this upgrade.

F) Pilot house. I really struggle with talking about this because it cost me what a lot of people spend on their (used) boats. But, my, oh, my do I love this pilot house. I will be chasing bluefin in this boat and the visibility is amazing. So good.
View attachment 34038

Great upgrade on the pilot house, it looks great, is practical and you will enjoy it for years to come!

 

[luckydude]

Thinking about deck covering after my daughter’s boyfriend dropped his metal Yeti water bottle on the deck next to the hatch seam - a whole chunk of the gel coat coat cracked off.

Would love to see a picture of your irig in the water with the pilot house. In NJ would need some kind of ventilation in the summer but in the late fall and early spring that would be a big plus.

I'll work on more pics for sure. The side windows are sliders and they let a lot of air in.