06-16-2016, 04:09 PM
[#0000FF]To get it registered you will need to go to an office of the DMV that is set up to handle boat registrations. Not all offices do that. Call to find a location.
Even if they are set up for boat registrations, most of their personnel are clueless about registering tubes or toons with motors. They want a "hull number", and you don't have one on a pontoon. Take a picture plus a receipt for the purchase of your craft. They need a value because the first year they charge tax on the purchase as well as the license fee. After that you pay only the license fee each year. Since our recent bump for AIS fees it is now over $50 a year.
Let me know if you need some help with setting up some rod holders and your sonar transducer. I have put together a whole lot of different tubes and toons and can probably give you some good ideas. That's one of the things that is easy if you've done it but a head-scratcher if you haven't. All tubes and toons are different and you have different options.
About the dual battery thing. You CAN run both sonar and an electric motor off the same 12 volt battery. There is more chance of interference with a gas engine. But it is still a good idea to have separate batteries.
Most of us use the small 7 ah batteries sold by Cabelas, Sportsmans or any other place that sells sonars. If you use Amazon they often have some good buys. But you also need a small trickle charger to recharge at about 1/2 amp per hour. Don't use a charger you would use for a car. Those batteries are SLA (sealed lead acid). They are not designed as deep cycle batteries so you should never run them to complete discharge...and you should always recharge them immediately after use.
[inline "CABELAS BATTERY.JPG"]
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Even if they are set up for boat registrations, most of their personnel are clueless about registering tubes or toons with motors. They want a "hull number", and you don't have one on a pontoon. Take a picture plus a receipt for the purchase of your craft. They need a value because the first year they charge tax on the purchase as well as the license fee. After that you pay only the license fee each year. Since our recent bump for AIS fees it is now over $50 a year.
Let me know if you need some help with setting up some rod holders and your sonar transducer. I have put together a whole lot of different tubes and toons and can probably give you some good ideas. That's one of the things that is easy if you've done it but a head-scratcher if you haven't. All tubes and toons are different and you have different options.
About the dual battery thing. You CAN run both sonar and an electric motor off the same 12 volt battery. There is more chance of interference with a gas engine. But it is still a good idea to have separate batteries.
Most of us use the small 7 ah batteries sold by Cabelas, Sportsmans or any other place that sells sonars. If you use Amazon they often have some good buys. But you also need a small trickle charger to recharge at about 1/2 amp per hour. Don't use a charger you would use for a car. Those batteries are SLA (sealed lead acid). They are not designed as deep cycle batteries so you should never run them to complete discharge...and you should always recharge them immediately after use.
[inline "CABELAS BATTERY.JPG"]
[/#0000FF]
[signature]