# Ouachita 1648 Duck Boat Build



## JustinS (Feb 8, 2015)

Last fall I picked up a 1963 Ouachita in a 1648 size. This is the third boat I've had in three years. First was a sneak boat from Mallard Marine, a Marsh Rat, second was a Coleman Crawdad. The first two boats were powered by longtail mud motors, and this one will be no different.






Here are some photos of my previous duck boats:
























































Beached lol






Now back to the Ouachita. I picked this boat up for $500 for the boat and trailer. Both of them need quite a bit of work, but I like projects so this boat was right up my alley. Here are some photos from the CL ad:


























Plans for this boat are:
22hp Longtail mud motor
Oznium LED flush mount bolts
Foam floor with 3/8 horse stall mat
Mounted fuel tank and battery
Complete wiring re-do
Bilge
Etc.

The main project will start in the spring but this post will catch me up to current from what I got done before winter. First thing I did was browse DrNip's thread and found out about the Oznium flush mount bolts for the nav lights. I got those installed the first week I owned the boat.






Next thing I did was decide what motor I wanted to run. I knew I wanted another long tail mud motor as they are significantly cheaper than an outboard and I'm really though on my motors lol. I chose the new vtwin from Harbor Freight and I'm pairing it with a longtail frame.






I got the motor fired up yesterday and here is where it'll sit till my frame comes in and I go and drag the boat out of storage.
[youtube]k6tgkVVHzic[/youtube]


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## Jeeper (Feb 8, 2015)

Congrats on the great buy!! Looks good only question I've got is you said your building your mud motor where are you getting your frame from? I would be interested in building one eventually.


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## JustinS (Feb 8, 2015)

I'll be using a Swamp Runner kit. It'll be my third one I've run, started with a 3hp, 6.5hp Swamp Runner and this 22hp kit should be awesome. 

I couldn't believe the boat dealer let the boat and trailer go for $500, I bright it home and hadn't told the wife yet.... heard about that for a week!


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## JustinS (Mar 24, 2015)

Got the boat pulled out of the barn this morning, guess it's time to start working on it. I've made the decision to fully assemble the boat this year and not paint it or anything. I think I will run it this way all summer and then make the decision if I want to paint it before waterfowl season. I really want to find replacement Ouachita logos prior to stripping the paint off as these are one of my favorite parts of the boat.






The first thing I did when I got it home was to assemble my mud motor and get it set on the transom (mainly just so I could get the damn thing off of the floor and out of my way). After wrenching down my transom bolts my transom squeezed in a bit so I'm guessing I'll have to replace the transom at some point but I'll at least get the boat out on the water a couple of times before doing that. 

This is a 670cc Predator Vtwin from Harbor Freight that is rated at 22hp and I'm running a longtail mud motor kit from Swamp Runner out of Florida.













The dog even decided she wanted to help out with assembling the motor.


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## hookedontronics (Apr 1, 2015)

where did you buy the mud motor kit from?


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## JustinS (Apr 1, 2015)

Mudmotorkit.com, Swamp Runner out of Florida is a great company to deal with!


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## JustinS (Apr 1, 2015)

Last night I started to clean the boat out. When it was sitting in the barn some mice got into the foam and made a few nests, needless to say....the boat stunk! I used a combo of garden hose and a strong simple green/water mix, I didn't finish it up but here is what I was dealing with:


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## JustinS (Apr 14, 2015)

Continuing on...

Stole an hour or so tonight to get my floor started. I'm going with a combination of foam cut to fit in between the floor ribs, with a rubber mat over the top. I'm going to paint the sides of the floor where the rubber mat ends black so that your eye isn't drawn to that area. Should drain water pretty will for when I'm getting in and out of the boat.

I'm debating how I want to hold the foam down so it provides flotation in addition to insulating my feet on those cold mornings while Duck hunting. Should I use aluminum flat stock laid over the top of the foam and riveted to the ribs, or rivet the rubber mat to the ribs?

Here is what I got done tonight:










This is going to be the layout for my gas tank and battery box. You can see where I ran the gas line and battery cables down the sides of the boat held in by the side ribs.





Tomorrow night I plan on cutting up some aluminum angle to finalize the battery box and fuel tank locations.

8)


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## JustinS (Apr 15, 2015)

Got some more time tonight to finalize the battery box and fuel tank mounting. Glamorous no, but it'll do for now until I decide what I really want to do with this boat.

I got my pieces of aluminum angle cut up with the miter saw (ears are still ringing lol).














Had to notch out the foam because it is about 1/4" higher than the ribs


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## JustinS (Apr 16, 2015)

Tough crowd. :lol:


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## Callmecaptain (Apr 17, 2015)

Lookin' good man! Love the build...Love that pic with your dog on the table.

"legally speaking" I don't think you need to have a fire extinguisher in an open jon boat, but if it makes you feel better, safe is good, haha.


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## derekdiruz (Apr 17, 2015)

I love reading through these. What're the plans as far as decking it or flooring it. As way more of a duck hunter than fisher, my boat I'm building now with gun storage. If I had a 1648 and planned on hunting from the boat though, I'd build a spot along one side with cup holders and general storage for she'll boxes to sit tight in case it's a rocky morning out. Keep it up though, I'm subbed to this and gonna sit back and watch the build unfold


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## derekdiruz (Apr 17, 2015)

Also, digi, in ohio you do have to have a fire extinguisher if you're running a gas motor. So im assuming it's something varying by state?


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## JustinS (Apr 17, 2015)

digi said:


> Lookin' good man! Love the build...Love that pic with your dog on the table.
> 
> "legally speaking" I don't think you need to have a fire extinguisher in an open jon boat, but if it makes you feel better, safe is good, haha.


If you're over 10hp in Iowa you have to have an extinguisher. That one is getting tossed though. ..along with the seats, they are from the previous owner!


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## JustinS (Apr 17, 2015)

derekdiruz said:


> I love reading through these. What're the plans as far as decking it or flooring it. As way more of a duck hunter than fisher, my boat I'm building now with gun storage. If I had a 1648 and planned on hunting from the boat though, I'd build a spot along one side with cup holders and general storage for she'll boxes to sit tight in case it's a rocky morning out. Keep it up though, I'm subbed to this and gonna sit back and watch the build unfold


I'm just going to use the rubber mats you see in the photos above. They are from home Depot, 4x8 and 3/8 thick. I wanted aluminum but didn't think the cost was with it for this boat. 

I got some more done last night but haven't uploaded photos, cut my thumb pretty good while trimming the rubber mats lol


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## Callmecaptain (Apr 17, 2015)

Oh wow, yea, you're right, it does vary by state. I'm in California, that must be the one and only good rule that we have here. Anything under 26' with open construction (i.e. jon boat) doesn't require a fire extinguisher in CA.


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## JustinS (Apr 17, 2015)

digi said:


> Oh wow, yea, you're right, it does vary by state. I'm in California, that must be the one and only good rule that we have here. Anything under 26' with open construction (i.e. jon boat) doesn't require a fire extinguisher in CA.


That is surprising.


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## JustinS (Apr 17, 2015)

I had six holes in the boat that I needed to plug up. 2 on the bow and 4 on the transom. I figure the holes in the transom were from the previous owner bolting on a motor (3/8") and transducer (drilled out to 1/4"), but I have no idea what the holes in the bow were from. You can see I already placed stainless bolts (as a test fit) in the bow holes. I used a combo of 3M 5200 and stainless bolts to plug all of the holes.














I also got my LED light bar installed and some wiring tidied up. I have oznium led bolts in the corners under the gunnels.













Here's an overall shot of the boat as it sits right now.









Still on the list to do:
Cut the last section of floor
Battery wiring
Shorten fuel hose
Wire up the switch panel
Tidy up trailer tongue wire harness

I think tomorrow morning I'm going to take it to the boat ramp and leak test my fixes.


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## JustinS (Apr 17, 2015)

Also need to pick up a new trailer winch. The one that is on there now is terrible. :lol: And yes, my battery cables are re-purposed jumper cables!


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## Abraham (Apr 17, 2015)

I went with this for a winch. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016KABFC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I could have sworn it was $25 but apparently not.

Boat seems to be coming along nicely. More pics?


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## frydaddy (Apr 17, 2015)

not that it matters since you are replacing it, but did they mount that wench upside down? I don't think I have ever seen a crank on the left.


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## JustinS (Apr 17, 2015)

frydaddy said:


> not that it matters since you are replacing it, but did they mount that wench upside down? I don't think I have ever seen a crank on the left.


I think so, it bugs the heck of of me.


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## dwwscran (Apr 18, 2015)

good looking boat. looking forward to seeing it all done.


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## JustinS (Apr 18, 2015)

dwwscran said:


> good looking boat. looking forward to seeing it all done.


Thanks man!


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## JustinS (Apr 20, 2015)

Looks like I'm going to need an e fuel pump, picked up a Mr Gasket 42s over the lunch hour today.


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## frydaddy (May 4, 2015)

how you coming on your build?


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## JustinS (May 6, 2015)

ive been moving to a new house for three weeks so I had to throw it back in the barn, hope to start back in on it this weekend!


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## ringneck5499 (May 14, 2015)

digi said:


> Lookin' good man! Love the build...Love that pic with your dog on the table.
> 
> "legally speaking" I don't think you need to have a fire extinguisher in an open jon boat, but if it makes you feel better, safe is good, haha.


In IL you do. Our GW's check for it every time.


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## amk (May 14, 2015)

I had a 9.9 hp tohatsu on the back of an old Ouachita and I'd hit logs and sandbars with it in about a summer I destroyed the transom. Point being you might want to consider beefing it up especially with a 22hp long tail while your into working on it. Better than finding out you need to in the middle of hunting season. Awesome boat though it should get you places.


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## Gators5220 (May 14, 2015)

Love that light bar dude, I've thought about tryin to mount one on the front of my boat somehow for campin trips...


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## JustinS (May 22, 2015)

amk said:


> I had a 9.9 hp tohatsu on the back of an old Ouachita and I'd hit logs and sandbars with it in about a summer I destroyed the transom. Point being you might want to consider beefing it up especially with a 22hp long tail while your into working on it. Better than finding out you need to in the middle of hunting season. Awesome boat though it should get you places.


I think I'm going to run it how it is right now and if it gives me problems I'll have an all aluminum transom welded in!

I have the afternoon off so I plan on finishing it up and getting on the water today before dark!!


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## trapsteve (May 26, 2015)

So how did the test run go?


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## JustinS (May 26, 2015)

A little disappointing, had some motor issues. A funny part of the day was that we got a little too confident in the shallows and ended up beaching the boat in about an inch of water lol. We had to get out and drag the boat backwards about twenty yards!

I've got some photos to upload but haven't gotten to it yet.


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