Livewell for Hornet Trophy 3.9

[wardypig]

I have decided to embark on the task of creating a livewell for my Hornet Trophy 390. I thought some of you may find it interesting to watch the process and I hoped that you would all input as to how I should complete it. The only criteria really is that it HAS to be in the front storage hatch (I will worry about storage somewhere else). This means I have limited room but it should still hold around 50 litres of water. I have so far obtained a block of foam which I traced a template onto and then cut and shaped to fit into the hatch. This has taken me about 5 hours so far to get just right. The next step will be deciding what fibreglass to use (what weight type etc) and also the type of resin for the job. I am on a budget of $200 (not including plumbing) and after the foam purchase and some sandpaper I am down to $160.

I have taken a few photos to post also. Will let you know when I have something else for you. In the mean time please give some feedback as to what type of fibreglass you think (mat or cloth etc) and the type of resin.

Here is the plan drawing

[wardypig]

Here is the template

[wardypig]

Here is the block of foam

[Biff]

do you do salt or freash water fishing

[wardypig]

Hey Biff, I only do fresh water. I want the livewell for the bass comps mainly. I am having some technical probs with the computer and I can't post any other pictures at the moment but as soon as I can I will post one of the finished foam mould.
Wardy.

[wardypig]

Well the job is finished apart from the plumbing. The total cost was $105. I think it has come up really well. should hold two decent sized bass and hopefully five bream if I get into the bream comps.

[Sean]

have just done something similar. not too sure how you are filling the well, but I have a 12mm inlet that is below the water line of my boat and has a shut-off valve. 12mm is way too small, I will be changing to around 20mm. It took ages to fill the tank, I thought it would fill really quick. Anyway, thats my 2 cents for the time being. :) See Fitting out my punt, a few pages longer ago than this... i think :)

[Sean]

Page 7 :)

[timddo]

hi,,, i like your idea. can you give me an idea on your technique on fibreglass.
it looks really neat. i want to build a live bait tank .

thanks

[Fishin_Dan]

Wardypig - Great looking job mate! You've done very well!

Not sure what comps you are in but it won't be big enough for ABT regs. 60lt minimum for them

[wardypig]

Hey guys thanks for the kind words. I didn't realise that anybody had actually read this post!! ;)
I just measured the tank and it holds 66 litres. More than I thought. Also I have plumbed it all up now and have included a pic of that. It fills in about a minute due to the size of the pump I have and also because if I leave the tube out of the drain it fills to about a third automatically when at rest. I christened it on Thursday at Somerset with a nice Golden that I kept in there for about 5 hours with no probs at all.

I had originally planned to post more pics but I had a lot of puter trouble which prevented this. The easiest way to make a live bait tank out of fibreglass would be to follow a similar path to me and use a block of foam which can be shaped to form the male mold. Then it needs to be painted with a few coats of paint to protect it from the fibreglass resin. Then comes the mold release agent like PVA etc. Next up you can either use Gel coat as a base layer (which will form the inside layer of the bait tank when removed) or go straight to fibreglass and resin (which will require a Flow coat final inside layer for water proofing and aesthetics). I used woven cloth fibreglass and vinyl-ester resin because it is stronger than polyester resin and doesn't cost much more. Then just build up enough layers for the job and leave to set. Getting the mold out can be tricky but once this is done you just sand up the job a bit and touch up any areas needing attention prior to painting with flow coat. Then put the tank in place and sort out how it will be fixed in placed. Do the plumbing before you install it (something I didn't do and caused me a bit of drama) and then fix it in place and do the trimming (like foam around the top and silicone on the joints etc.) Wire it up and presto!!

I can recommend Fibreglass International at Wacol for help with any Fibreglass supplies. I am not associated with them at all but they were happy to help me with info when needed and gave me a very good price on the materials. I have enough cloth left over (which they DONATED to the cause!!!!!!!) to make about three more livewells! :)

Anyway I have typing cramp so that is it for now. Thanks again for the encouragement.

Wardy

[aaron_gilmour]

Great job on the live well. I think it has come up trumps considering the space and shape you had to play with. It is fun doing up you boat. My project was alot of fun and rewarding .

Keep up the good work.

Cheers
Aaron

[wardypig]

Thanks Aaron I appreciate the encouragement.