My Low Budget Rigger Quest

[1mainiac]

I thought I would give a little info on my old Big Jons they are about to go back and get another update which I am hopeing will be one of the last. First I want to say thanks to John Williams and all the staff at Big Jon they are a fantastic group to work with and the only place I will ever buy downrigger's from as the result. About 5 years ago I picked up a old set of Big Jon Seniors at a yard sale they were missing a few peices but looked to be in good shape. A couple of calls to Big Jon had the missing peices on the way and they were working great. I had a few issues with the switchs and they would kill my battery big time if I used them a lot so the next fall I called them back and learned that the motors mine had were rated for 50 amps ea and I did not have enough electrical system on my old boat to run them. They agreed to update them to what at the time would be the same as Brutes for 70 bucks ea so I sent them in and also bought rod holder bases for them. This solved most of my problems but actually created a new one as now they were able to get enough power to run full speed which is amazing but hard on the clutchs and sometimes cause my gear to tangle going down. In discussion with John about this last year we discussed a new setup which would give me auto stop and speed control along with a soft start which would be easier on my clutchs. Right now hitting the up switch on my riggers is like dropping the clutch on a dragster sometimes the ball is flying up and others the clutchs slip. I got a better explaination of that this morning as John explained to me that my riggers as they are currently setup are running abot 245 fpm up speed and even faster down. However the price of the speed control and autostop setup we talked about last season has gone way up. Based on this I have to call him back next week as he is trying to see if they can just do a autostop system and change my motors to the newer Brute ES motor which will run slower 200 fpm up and also convert my clutch system to handle the load better. If we do everything we talked about this morning I will have close to 650 bucks into the pair of riggers and with the new features they should out preform in some ways the new Brutes. Also I sold my side riggers so I will only have the 2 riggers on the boat this season as I am using the money form the 2 side riggers to buy more track and rod holders and to update the Big Jons. So I hope to have a more versitile setup this season with little to no money out of pocket to do it.

[Boltman]

Jim I have talked on several occasions with Mr Williams, at the Novi show we spoke about my company seeling them what they use for screws nuts and bolts at lower costs then they are buying them now...He's a great guy... I hope I can do him some good.

Good Luck on your New endeavor with your LOW BUDGET riggers which seem to me, to be getting very expensive......

I have to switch my rigger Electrical woring to the worrking battery, right now they are on the Bank of Batteries which the engine isn't being used on for trolling , thus draining the batteries after several hours of trolling... no sweat it's a matter of wing nut removal...

[1mainiac]

Well I may not do the auto stop system as that is currently about another 300 bucks they will upgrade the motors at no charge and the new clutch system is about 20 bucks a rigger. I may even decide to just do the clutch upgrade and keep the current motors as they do haul butt. The upgraded motors however are slower 200fpm and have less current draw which is nice. SO I may stick with the smoking fast riggers and fix the only major issue I currently have which is the clutches slipping. The auto stop setup however would be very nice as it would make it much simpler to run the back of the boat but as fast as these come up it does not take much to bring up the ball.

[Rayman96]

Jim;

...I'm still using my 80s electric big jons, down to 2 long arms for some time now.

...If yours lower too fast, you could attach the handle and lower manually.

...I haven't had to update mine so far.

...Fishing on Erie, most days my riggers see no action at all.

...With family now located close to lake O, and an excuse to travel, a need for heavier gear may be on the horizon.

...Certainly have been eyeballing those brutes!:)

[Nailer]

Jim;

...I'm still using my 80s electric big jons, down to 2 long arms for some time now.

...With family now located close to lake O, and an excuse to travel, a need for heavier gear may be on the horizon.

...Certainly have been eyeballing those brutes!:)

With all those big fish coming from Lake O, how could you resist this long?

[Rayman96]

With all those big fish coming from Lake O, how could you resist this long?

200 miles one way, no money and no relative to mooch a couch from!

2010 will be different however, if I get called back to work!!!!!!!!!

[jimbobber]

Hey Jim, i was at west marine in Holland around christmas and they had some auto stop set ups for big jon,s on clearance for like $50 they had quite a few on the shelf,i almost baught some for mine but didn't have the coin at the time . Jimmy

[1mainiac]

Hey Jim, i was at west marine in Holland around christmas and they had some auto stop set ups for big jon,s on clearance for like $50 they had quite a few on the shelf,i almost baught some for mine but didn't have the coin at the time . Jimmy

Thanks but the unfortunate fact is they won't work on my riggers they won't handle the current to run the motors. The standard captain pack riggers draw around 7 amps mine as setup draw around 30 amps the original motors drew around 50 amps. The new setup I am considering was designed for the new Brute ES and requires a change in my motors to work. Because Big Jon is a great company and they knew my intended plan for the riggers and the upgrades they are giving me a break and willing to redo the motors if I do the other upgrades. They were not kidding when they named these things Brute's while many riggers use windsheild wiper motors these are more like what you would find on a winch. If John is correct the new clutch system will solve all of my problems the auto stop is just real high on the wish list as it is nice to just hit the switch and know the ball will stop on it's own however as fast as these are having to hold the switch for a few seconds to bring the ball up is not all that bad. 1 other thing with the new setup is Soft Start which is part of the speed control it allows you to make small adjustments and also lets the motor start out slow and build speed as it runs so rather than dropping the clutch at hole shot speed it starts out slow and then steps on the gas.

[Priority1]

I can't say enough about John W and the Big Jon Company. They will go the extra mile to help.

[seabee]

Big Jon, is the Penical of customer service, I wish they all were like them.

[tray19682005]

I bought a captians pack this fall and when i opended box it was missing swivel base? I contacted Big jon and they told me they would ship one immediatly at no charge for anything. The next day it was on my doorstep! They were great to talk to and very courtious on the phone, whith customer service like this I can see why everyone love there products! Now just have to wait till spring to mount and get to use it.