aluminum Flat boat question

I never thought about that hell if you know it is a solid weld for all the seats and especially the bench seat hell that all acts like flotation. Thats really a good idea although the down fall like you have experienced is when you do weld that bench seat to the floor the bottom won't be perfectly flat and it creates a slight hook under the boat. I've been told this happens with all these boats. i've been curious if there was a way to make the brace long ways instead of across like my boat if it would help with eliminating porpoising.

Transom you're right is overkill, I've seen a transom similar to your but not that over built. Clearly you can hang 75 on there without any problems.

I'm curious did you weld this in the summer time heat or winter? I ask because I have always noticed when winter rolled around and it was cold out when i was welding those boats it just seemed like I had less distortion on the thinner stuff. Most the stuff there was 1/4 inch thick but some was 1/8 inch thick, they had all kinda of procedures to try and keep that stuff work but what really seemed the most help was welding in the winter time. Maybe it was just me I don't know.

I like the idea of diamond plate almost be nice to make the entire boat on the bottom out of it simply so you don't slip. The braces in my boat are annoying but so far I haven't slipped in it. My boat is a 15x52 and to tell ya the truth it would be dam hard going back to a narrower boat. This thing is so freaking stable. I'm a fat a** weighing about 230 and I can sit on the hand rail and it will not flip. Been out in Lake Ponchatrain when there was about 5-6 ft waves
and was able to make it in safely.

 

I did the boat in May of this year. It is fresh. My next one will have the half pipes welded in the bottom to where the roll up the front will start. I will also weld in the flat bar across where the seats are going. If I only weld the inside, then I can fit the seats down over them. I will also put the seats in before I put the side on. Finish all the bottom work before I get boxed in. It happened and caused rework for me. I am using the seats as floatation. They are all welded solid. I used a piece of the half pipe through the back seat for a drain. It is welded solid also. Using a spoolgun, you have to plan out your welds a little better. They don't fit well in the some tight places.

I did have to put trim tabs on the back, but the power trim makes a big difference. I can pick the bow up with a load now. My old boat would just plow through the water and was very hard to drive. This new one is not perfect by any means, but light years better than what I had. I will start this next one a little more prepared and know what to expect. It is cheaper to get the 2" sch 40 pipe whole than half. I can split on my table saw. The pipe is also cheaper than the angle for the sides. The next will have the half pipe on the sides. The top 1" pipe, I splt on the table saw. Then used a flap wheel to buff and take the edge off the sides. Using a rubber mallet, tapped it down.

I have noticed that the boat runs better with a load up front and that is another reason for the hatch and storage up in the bow seat. I used the Tempress cam hatches from Amazon.com. They work great. Now, I just have to get home and do the finishing touches and stip it for paint. Then I can wire it up and plumb it in for a fishing trip.

I could run faster, but I can't run trot lines at 40 mph and some of the back water is tight. I wanted a boat that would stay on plane and handle good. It runs fast enough for me and will carry my loads of fishing gear.

 

How much did all the material cost you including gas and wire for your machine? Please email me some pictures of the next boat you start because what I see you do on this one has given me some idea on what I want to build.

 

Building Aluminum Boats

I have built two aluminum flatbottom boats. One is a vented tunnel hull. 16'X5' Scooter. floats in 6" and will take off in 8" with a 50 hp ETECH. The other is a 12'X4' poling skiff, weight is 200 lbl 16 hp copper head mud motor not in this pic. I drew the plans and built from that. The main problem I have and would like feed back is sliding around bends in narrow creeks. This week I am going to try something on the 12 ft. and if it works I will do it to the 16ft. New to the web site and will try to post pic. Also the 16ft. is for sale.

 

Thats pretty cool, I've never seen any boats like that in Louisiana but have seen a few down in Florida.

 

I used 2" sch 40 half pipe on the bottom for ribs. They work much better than expected and the boat handles great in tight turns with no sliding. They also help in sliding over logs, which I do a lot.

Also, by leaving the half pipe open at the back, I am able to use that for the live well drain. No more hitting a wave and plowing the plug out. Works great.

 

Thank you

food for thought

 

Looks good Scott. I just got a Miller 211 this past christmas and am hoping to start a small boat project as soon as i get my 220V wired into the shed so i can use the machine on some thicker stuff. I want to start with something small and eventually build the 30 ft center console i drew up. How many hours do you think it took to build that flat bottom?

 

The 16' scooter I started April 2 011 and put it in the water the first week of June working on the week ends. .125 5052 aluminum. The 12' 5052 .090 took 2 week ends. After that you will be doing modifications for a few months.

 

That 16' scooter is a nice looking rig. Do you have any under deck storage in the raised front deck?

 

I'd like to see more picture angles of the mud boat you built?

 

The scotter does have storage under two hatches on front deck and even more in and under the CC. The storage was one of the reason for the design, the other a good fishing platform.
Attaching what I have, I will try to take pics after I put the mud motor back on this week end.

 

Very nice I like the pictures of the one for the mud motor, I bet it really would fly with like a 30 outboard. Did you just dram up these boats or built them from plans or just a copy of another boat?

 

Just dreamed it up. and drew the plans myself.

 

Cool, nice work on both of the boats, the boat with the e-tec for shallow water does it ride good? I mean in turns just seems like with a higher center of gravity seems like it would want to roll.