2005 220 SD home in time for christmas!

P

pchansen

New Member
Dec 13, 2010
207
Camas, WA
Boat Info
2005 SR 220SD
Engines
5.0 MPI w/ B3 outdrive
To refresh, I'm the guy who has the Audi Q7 and was concerned about the ability of said rig to tow this boat. Well, we had our sea trial on the the 22nd of December and everything checked out so we took delivery on the 23rd after the dealer winterized the boat. As previously mentioned, I had to have the trailer modified so as to fit in my garage. Again, this came together flawlessly. We towed the boat about 40 miles and up a very steep grade to get to the house. No problems towing either. In fact, I hardly noticed the boat behind me! So the boat made it into the garage in time for Christmas. I can't tell you guys how excited our family is about this boat! It is absolutely pristine. Only 71 hours on the meter and literally not a scratch anywhere to be found. As you can see from the pictures, it is quite the challenge getting this thing into my garage as I can't make the 90 degree turn with the Audi. So I disconnect the Audi and hook up the John Deere to make the final turn and push into the garage. I even had to make a wire harness that connected the trailer to the tractor so I could power the blocking solenoid on the surge brakes.

Now, I have a few questions. Besides some local lakes, we will be on the Columbia and Willamette rivers where the channels can be quite tricky. I have been researching chartplotters and keep coming back to the Garmin GPSMap 431s. Does anyone have any insight with this particular unit? Will it fit hard mounted on top of the dash where the factory compass would go?
I'm also considering adding some LED accent lights in the sidewall cut outs (gunwale). In addition to these lights, I'd like to know what the equivalent LED bulb would be for the two floor cockpit lights? The book says that standard light is a Perko #70 and I'm having a hard time cross-referencing the correct LED.
I'm sure I'll have more questions but this should suffice for now.
 
Last edited:
:smt038 Congratulations.....your boat looks brand new....nice find....:thumbsup:
 
Congratulations on the new boat! The LED bulb to replace the incandescent in your Perko lights is a 44mm festoon. You can find them in various colors at www.superbrightleds.com. Good luck with the new boat.
 
Nice boat. Congrats.

Wondering how you hooked the trailer to your Deere. I tried it with my Scotts (made by Deere) but the ball is too low. I couldn't lower the tongue jack enough to unhook. Do you have some kind of adapter? Thanks.
 
Tall Turtle said:
Nice boat. Congrats.

Wondering how you hooked the trailer to your Deere. I tried it with my Scotts (made by Deere) but the ball is too low. I couldn't lower the tongue jack enough to unhook. Do you have some kind of adapter? Thanks.
Click to expand...

I ordered this http://www.kolpinpowersports.com/pr...upport/garden-tractor-2-receiver-hitch-2.html

Even though this particular model is made for the X500 and I have the X540, all I needed to do was make a slot for the neutral lever. There were a few other mods that I had to do to ensure that I could still attach my bagger accessory. I'm not really sure if it would fit a Scotts brand tractor but it shouldn't be that hard for you or someone to fab a receiver out of 1/4" metal stock and a 2" square tube.

BTW, I ordered the Garmin 441s and a Ram mount. I want it to look this this...
 
Thanks for the info and the photo of the receiver hitch. Doesn't look like it will fit my Scotts but I will check with the local Deere dealer to see if they have anything for mine.

Do you ever feel like the boat is lifting the front wheels of the tractor?

Thanks.
 
No. I installed 90 lbs of suitcase weights to the front of the tractor and that really helps. I was actually surprised how easily the tractor pushes the boat around.
 
I love that GPS mount - been wondering what to do on my Sundeck 220 and now I know.

Do you know what that mount/adapter/part # is for the part that clamps to the windshield support? Looks like it might be one of the "handle bar mounts", but the support bar is pretty thin compared to a handle bar so tough to tell.

My Sundeck is an hour away in a show room awaiting delivery in spring, so not so easy to run down there and experiment.

GPS is a Garmin 478, so any help on ID'ing the appropriate adapter/mount would be greatly appreciated.
 
Jdr01930 said:
I love that GPS mount - been wondering what to do on my Sundeck 220 and now I know.

Do you know what that mount/adapter/part # is for the part that clamps to the windshield support? Looks like it might be one of the "handle bar mounts", but the support bar is pretty thin compared to a handle bar so tough to tell.

My Sundeck is an hour away in a show room awaiting delivery in spring, so not so easy to run down there and experiment.

GPS is a Garmin 478, so any help on ID'ing the appropriate adapter/mount would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

I'm getting ready to sell the sistership of yours...if it's not too rude of me, may I ask what you paid for it?
 
Jdr01930 said:
I love that GPS mount - been wondering what to do on my Sundeck 220 and now I know.

Do you know what that mount/adapter/part # is for the part that clamps to the windshield support? Looks like it might be one of the "handle bar mounts", but the support bar is pretty thin compared to a handle bar so tough to tell.

My Sundeck is an hour away in a show room awaiting delivery in spring, so not so easy to run down there and experiment.

GPS is a Garmin 478, so any help on ID'ing the appropriate adapter/mount would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

The Ram Mount website is not the easiest to navigate. I found the above pictures by googling "GPS" and "Sundeck". I can't remember what the site was where I found the photos but basically I had to sift through the Ram Mount web site and visually match the parts. This is what I ordered:

RAM B-149Z-202U "UNPKD RAM U-BOLT MNT W/202 BASE"

RAM-HAR-SU251 "STAINLESS U-BOLT HARDWARE PACK"

The mount is good for bar diameters from 1.25" in diameter down to .5" in diameter so I should be okay.

I paid $28000. That included a winterization and trailer modification.
 
Last edited:
Thanks - Those mount parts look good. Look forward to hearing how they work out... then will probably order 'em for my boat.

Beautiful boat by the way - looks brand new!
 
Okay, I've installed the Garmin 441s and have a bunch of pictures to show. I did in fact order the correct mount from RAM, although the second item, the stainless steel hardware seems to be redundant, compared to what came with the mount it's self, so don't order the extra hardware. See http://gallery.me.com/pchansen#100041 for a bunch of pictures of the finished install. I ordered my unit with the transom mounted transducer but am now having second thoughts on the transom idea as opposed to the thru-hull option. If I do end up using the transom transducer, I would ideally like to mount it on the left (port) side and keep it out of the way of the swim ladder. That being said, most guides say to mount the transducer on the right side due to the rotation of the prop. Would the fact that I'm spinning a Bravo III negate this concern?
 
Looks good - I'm going to order that mount.
Did the mount come with that plastic/rubber protector/insert that fits inside the U bolt? I don't see that in the pics on the RAM website, but it makes sense it should come with something like that so there's no metal on metal contact.

I would have gotten that stainess U bolt too just to keep everything, um, stainless. But if that insert covers it all up anyway it does look unnecessary.

Thanks for posting the pics!
 
The insert is hard plastic and is included with both the mount and that stainless hardware. Again, I believe the hardware that comes with the mount is stainless as well rendering the extra order unnecessary. Still wondering about the transom mounted tranducer. Left or right side of the drive? Would it matter with counter rotating props (Bravo III)?
 
pchansen said:
No. I installed 90 lbs of suitcase weights to the front of the tractor and that really helps. I was actually surprised how easily the tractor pushes the boat around.
Click to expand...

You better be careful! Everyone here says you have to tow the 220 SD with a 3/4 Ton Diesel rig....LOL

Great find. Enjoy!
 
pchansen said:
Yeah, I was a bit afraid of "poppin a wheelie" but so far so good! :)
Click to expand...

How does your Audi pull your boat? Everyone here blasted me for pulling my 220 SD with a Trailblazer. I think it tows her great.
 
pchansen said:
To refresh, I'm the guy who has the Audi Q7 and was concerned about the ability of said rig to tow this boat. Well, we had our sea trial on the the 22nd of December and everything checked out so we took delivery on the 23rd after the dealer winterized the boat. As previously mentioned, I had to have the trailer modified so as to fit in my garage. Again, this came together flawlessly. We towed the boat about 40 miles and up a very steep grade to get to the house. No problems towing either. In fact, I hardly noticed the boat behind me! So the boat made it into the garage in time for Christmas. I can't tell you guys how excited our family is about this boat! It is absolutely pristine. Only 71 hours on the meter and literally not a scratch anywhere to be found. As you can see from the pictures, it is quite the challenge getting this thing into my garage as I can't make the 90 degree turn with the Audi. So I disconnect the Audi and hook up the John Deere to make the final turn and push into the garage. I even had to make a wire harness that connected the trailer to the tractor so I could power the blocking solenoid on the surge brakes.

Now, I have a few questions. Besides some local lakes, we will be on the Columbia and Willamette rivers where the channels can be quite tricky. I have been researching chartplotters and keep coming back to the Garmin GPSMap 431s. Does anyone have any insight with this particular unit? Will it fit hard mounted on top of the dash where the factory compass would go?
I'm also considering adding some LED accent lights in the sidewall cut outs (gunwale). In addition to these lights, I'd like to know what the equivalent LED bulb would be for the two floor cockpit lights? The book says that standard light is a Perko #70 and I'm having a hard time cross-referencing the correct LED.
I'm sure I'll have more questions but this should suffice for now.
Click to expand...

BTW - I did add LED accent lights to the sidewall (gunwale) cut-outs as well as below the cut-out bolster to illuminate the captain's seat floor area. They look great. I also did the Evil Eyes on the blower cover to light-up the swim platform.
 
surfinjoe said:
How does your Audi pull your boat? Everyone here blasted me for pulling my 220 SD with a Trailblazer. I think it tows her great.
Click to expand...

The Audi tows this boat just fine. It has 350hp, brakes that you have to see to believe (6 piston Brembos up front), and an anti-trailer sway device. The trailer has disks on all four wheels so braking is not a concern. This rig is WAY more rugged than the Audi name might imply.
 
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