# Father's Day Livewell



## NKlamerus (Jan 4, 2016)

One of my dad's Father's day wishes was for me to rig up a livewell on my boat. I'm pretty much strictly artificial, but he's old school and loves throwing his net. 

Couldn't decided on bottom or top feed so went with both. 

It ain't pretty but it's got some serious flow! Definetly beats 3- 5 gallon buckets that we had on the last trip.

Only thing I didn't have was a ball valve, the other fittings were laying around in boat bins. I purchase stainless hose clamps by the 50pk, came in real handy. 

(Boat has below deck livewells much like a bass boat, but they are so inconvenient to reach we just use them for storage) 

17' Fish and Skii

Anyone ever cut a Plexiglass bucket lid before?


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## CurDog (Nov 14, 2010)

Quote: Anyone ever cut a Plexiglass bucket lid before? 

Never cut one as a bucket lid, but cut lots of it, it's easy. Just tape the PG before cutting. Helps keep a smooth cut. Jig saw works great.


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## NKlamerus (Jan 4, 2016)

CurDog said:


> Quote: Anyone ever cut a Plexiglass bucket lid before?
> 
> Never cut one as a bucket lid, but cut lots of it, it's easy. Just tape the PG before cutting. Helps keep a smooth cut. Jig saw works great.


That's the plan, it's some thick stuff I picked up off the side of the road, I think 3/8" but may be larger. 

I will attempt to cut it to size, but will probably end up installing some kind of lip for it to sit on. 

The near perfect circle will be the hard part


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## Boat-Dude (Sep 24, 2011)

That is pretty cool, I use almost the same thing at the pier. Works like a champ even 8ft up. You can get the really big buckets at any pool service place and they will give you some.


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## CurDog (Nov 14, 2010)

*Easy Lid Fix*
Get a small piece of aluminum angle 2x2 or 3x3, cut 2 separate pieces about 3 to 4" long each. If using 3"x3" angle, Cut 2" off just one side (bottom will be 3" and top will be 1" wide). Instead of a 3x3 piece and 4" long, it will now be 3x1 and still 4" long. This 3x1 piece will be the inside piece which the lid bolts to. Take the 2nd cut piece (3x3x4) and Cut this piece in half, lengthwise (You'll have 2 flat pieces now, discard 1 piece). Now cut a wooden disc from a piece of 3/4" plywood the same inside diameter of the bucket. 
Heat and beat the flat piece (using the wood disc as pattern) to bend/arch it to fit flush on the outside of bucket.
Using the 1st angle piece (3x1" piece), cut a "V" wedge out from the center of the cut 1" side. Heat this piece and beat it (using the wooden disc to obtain the ID arch), until the "V" closes up. It should be fitted to the inside of the bucket. If it doesn't lay flush on the inside wall, either bend it open or keep cutting the "V" wider until it lays flush on the buckets inside wall. 
Now clamp the pieces together and drill and bolt it in place. Use small hasps, to mount your Plexiglas lid onto that 1" inside lip. Now cut two, 1/2" wide pieces of angle, and bolt them at 1 and 11 o'clock on the inside of the bucket, they will act as a lid stop. Use a small drawer knob for a handle to lift the lid, or cut out a finger hole to lift. 

* File smooth all edges to the point they will not scratch or cut.
* If you use a 2"x2" aluminum angle, cut it to 2"x1". The 1" will be the top, which the lid bolts to.


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## NKlamerus (Jan 4, 2016)

Plexi is 3/8", gonna take a rough cut with the skill saw then probably trim with a band saw and sand down where needed. 

The brackets inside are somewhat taken care of, the drain bezel and upper sprayer are 2 solid rests. I may use another peice of Plexi or PVc for a 3rd rest. 

Hinged 2-peice would be cool, but a lot of work vs just one solid removable peice


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## NKlamerus (Jan 4, 2016)

Lid is done, used 3 plastic stops to hold the lid. I give it 1 trip before it's scratched to bits. 

Might add another hole or some rope later


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## CurDog (Nov 14, 2010)

1 trip before it's scratched up? More like 1 trip and it blows outta the boat. Keep the lid in a dry well during transport.


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## NKlamerus (Jan 4, 2016)

CurDog said:


> 1 trip before it's scratched up? More like 1 trip and it blows outta the boat. Keep the lid in a dry well during transport.


It's a tight fit and had no movement on the first test run. 

You have to "pop" it in and out of the bucket. 

If anything ill put a rotating lock on it


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## NKlamerus (Jan 4, 2016)

Did all that work to make a lid....

Walked outside this morning and my neighbor is throwing away 4 matching lids.......


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## NKlamerus (Jan 4, 2016)

Livewell has been aweaome, no more dead bait! Have to close the feed everytime I run though 

Anyone have a hookup on a decent dip net? I ordered one from Amazon, opened up the box and sent it back. Wasn't worth anything let alone 15$


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## Murphy's Law (Sep 27, 2007)

NKlamerus said:


> Anyone have a hookup on a decent dip net?













I got one you can have if it'll work for you. It's not new but it still works fine and has no holes in it. You can pick it up in Pace are meet me on my way to work one day off 9 mile road.


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## Sea-r-cy (Oct 3, 2007)

NKlamerus said:


> The near perfect circle will be the hard part


Easy if you have a table saw.


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## NKlamerus (Jan 4, 2016)

Anyone have a good idea on how to keep shrimps and baits off the livewell drain screen


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## watergator (Apr 5, 2016)

NKlamerus said:


> Anyone have a good idea on how to keep shrimps and baits off the livewell drain screen




Make it bigger. Drill a bunch of holes in a piece of pvc that will fit in your opening to spread the pressure out. By doing that, each individual hole will have less pressure going through it and the bait can free itself prom the pressure. If they’re still getting stuck then you either need to slow your flow or make more/bigger holes. 


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## NKlamerus (Jan 4, 2016)

Added another drain tube and some better galvanized mesh after all the problems on the last trip. Shrimp get stuck, water over flows into the boat, which then has to be pumped out via bilge. 

It keeps up with valp water pressure now, used to ride up above the drain before


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## watergator (Apr 5, 2016)

It needs more surface area or lower flow to cut down on the flow through each hole. 


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## NKlamerus (Jan 4, 2016)

2 drains is the key 

Never overflowed once yesterday, even dumping 5 gallon buckets in. 

Shrimp still grab the mesh if the dip net isn't in the bucket but they can't stop the flow anymore.


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## NKlamerus (Jan 4, 2016)

Working on this thing AGAIN 

probably lost a dozen shrimp or so after they climbed into the water inlet from the pump, smell real good a week later!! 

Had to replace the 21 year old Rule pump as well. Replacing it with an Attwood, note that Walmart does not sell them in store anymore


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## Boat-Dude (Sep 24, 2011)

you could 5200 this 

http://www.amazon.com/Marine-AS-1-D...rd_wg=6frrj&psc=1&refRID=ZEXAFVCYS8PENXHNEX52

or 

drill some holes in the front as well.
http://www.amazon.com/Attwood-Corpo...rd_wg=6frrj&psc=1&refRID=ZEXAFVCYS8PENXHNEX52


This is what I did on my 30 gal and 16 gal for screens.


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## Floridaboater (Aug 25, 2016)

NKlamerus said:


> Anyone have a good idea on how to keep shrimps and baits off the livewell drain screen


You have to give the shrimp something to hang onto in the bucket. A stick can work well.


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