# 21ft flat bottom The "Bucket"



## Flat Bottom (Jan 9, 2011)

Alright everyone, my post has been up here for a while, So i'm updating the first post. Boat was found on craigslist in a small mountain town in Oregon where it had sat for about 20 years unused. The pictures and the rest of the thread will basically tell the story. As of today It is up and fishing regularly. Works great for what I do, and I am still looking to improve things as it moves along.


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## Jim (Jan 9, 2011)

Welcome! 

Thanks for joining!

That boat is a beast! I am looking forward to seeing the end result.


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## bobberboy (Jan 9, 2011)

That's one sweet boat - I could fit both of mine inside it. Could you give a little more info about the boat, the dimensions, etc. Was it custom made by a boat manufacturer or in a shop like bassboy's? Pretty cool, and a jet boat too! You didn't put your location in, are you going to use this in salt water? Welcome and keep us up to date with the progress.


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## Flat Bottom (Jan 9, 2011)

Thank you much, the boat was made by a company that doesn't exist any more, semco manufacturing, from what i understand they were a working solutions company. So if you needed something to make your job easier they would attempt to make it... but i'm not absolutely sure. the boat is 21.09 ft long, the inside floor has a width of about 66" transom and wall height are about 22" give or take a little. I'm not sure about the weight yet... but it's pretty heavy. those are the only measurements i have on me right now. on both sides of the boat there appears to be air ballasts that run almost the full length of the boat. I'm still discovering things about this boat, there are some weird design features. When i did have it on the water earlier this year for fishing and duck hunting, i had the old suzuki running pretty darn good, and had it up to 34 mph, according to a gps unit.


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## jasper60103 (Jan 9, 2011)

Mann, that things a mile long. I bet it's fun to drive and handles big water nicely.


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## Flat Bottom (Jan 9, 2011)

haha, yeah it handles rough water like a champ. one of my very first initial test runs was in 3-4 foot rolling swells on the mighty columbia river, it didn't even faze it. I have taken it crabbing and broke the bar with it out of newport oregon. It does very well, not quite an offshore setup haha... but handles very nicely. i wish that i had enough money to put a jet in this thing, that would be sweet, however i'm going to stick with outboards, and with this suzuki for now... it has issues but i feel like i owe it to the engine to see it through till death... it sat in horrible conditions for nearly 20 years and then fired right up... come on haha. here are a few pics of the old motor setup, a makeshift jackplate that didn't work much at all... the boat has a little makeshift duck blind on it, so that's what all the burlap is.


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## Zum (Jan 9, 2011)

The "hump" in your boat would be some type of tunnel hull design.
It's so you can raise your outboard way high on the transom so you can miss some rocks.
Is the trim/tilt on your outboard?
Most tunnel hull boats lose around 3-5mph on top end...thats what I have been reading anyways.
Nice boat,be watching what you do 4sure.


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## Flat Bottom (Jan 9, 2011)

A tunnel hull was one of my thoughts, they didn't do it very well if it is. Either way, it took alot of room out of the inside, and didn't do much favors for the boat on the water so... it's out now, just gotta order aluminum and wait till it quits snowing to start the new bottom project 

Here are a few basic simple drawings of some of my brainstorming idea's thus far


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## Flat Bottom (Jan 10, 2011)

Here are a few pics of the outboard suzuki dt140


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## benjineer (Jan 11, 2011)

Nice boat. Tunnel hulls are very popular on the gulf coast where you have a lot of shallow flats. They are best used in combination with a hydraulic jackplate. You only jack it up high when you need to run shallow. It hurts me to see that big hole cut out. You may wish you had left it alone if you ever find yourself in some very shallow water. Keep an eye on those Nauticus Smart Tabs on the back. If one of the cylinders locks up (as mine did), it will steer you to one side. Also, be careful backing up around stumps, rocks, etc. Plastic is too easy to break, and you can't easily raise them like you can real tabs (hydraulic or electric). I gave up and removed mine. They helped plane my boat when I had a prop that was really too much for it. I got a lower pitched prop and I'm much happier with it now. Good luck with it!


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## Flat Bottom (Jan 11, 2011)

yeah, I understand what you are saying, however i didn't remove it just because i didn't like it, whoever put it in, did a poor job fabricating, it wasn't a very safe set up at all. It was kind of like someone just plastered layer on layer. It leaked, and the boat is pretty heavy, needing all the flat in the back it can to reliably plane. I still have the piece that i cut out if you want it haha  and i hear you on the trim tabs, i don't really like them, i'm hoping after my mods i may not need them as much, but we will see.


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## benjineer (Jan 11, 2011)

Ok, couldn't really tell from the pics although that extra stuff on the back looked weird. Apparently, it wasn't factory. Leaking is bad. Hope you get it straightened out.


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## Flat Bottom (Jan 11, 2011)

Yeah, i can really see how that was the idea making it a tunnel hull kind of set up, however it was done very poorly, and the welds were clobbered on in a bad way. It should clean up alright, Just have alot of welding ahead of me when it warms up here.


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## Flat Bottom (Feb 3, 2011)

Well here is a little bit of an update. The boat is still sitting with a huge chunk cut out of the bottom. Been waiting on weather to warm up a bit to start welding. Ive put a little bit of money into the motor, which has been a hard desicion for me, it's an 85 suzuki dt140 with it's share of issues, but it does run pretty good, and had good compression. I am just trying not to put more money into it than it is worth. New higher horse outboards aren't free haha  But ive been having a good time in the freezing cold inside the shop tinkering with it. It wasn't charging so i got a new stator (which was hard to find) but i got it for the right price just in time to figure out that wasn't the problem, so a new rectifier is on the way haha. But i do have some extra parts for this motor that way. Anyways, kind of a boring day here, thought i would report what little progress i have made.


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## Flat Bottom (Feb 5, 2011)

Ok, here's a little sketch that i've come up with, the proportions are probubly not exact. the boat is almost 22ft long, any idea's would be helpful on the locations of different things. I like this setup the best so far, however i have a question for those of you who may run your fuel tanks in the bow, or closer to the bow of your boats, espesialy those longer boats, do you have any problems getting the fuel to your motors? (ie poor motor performance do to distance fuel has to run in lines before it gets to the motor) thanks in advance.


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## Flat Bottom (Feb 17, 2011)

Finally some progress, sun was out today so i started welding. The welds don't look very good, but they are strong, it was difficult welding aluminum in the first place, and on top of that i'm repairing things, so i'm covering up what was there to begin with... some of it doesn't look to bad, but a few spots were so hard to get at with that spool gun anyways... oh well, most of the welds will be covered up by flooring haha.


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## Zum (Feb 18, 2011)

Glad to hear it's warming up so you could some work done.
140 hp sure is alot of power,probably why theres a few welds cracking.
I'm know engineer and don't really know all that much but maybe you could reinforce that area(rib/s)where most of the pounding is going to take place.
Just a thought seeing thats it's all apart.
Nice job.


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## Decatur (Feb 18, 2011)

I'm surprised to not see a livewell in your plan, unless I overlooked it? Looking good so far!


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## Flat Bottom (Feb 18, 2011)

Zum said:


> Glad to hear it's warming up so you could some work done.
> 140 hp sure is alot of power,probably why theres a few welds cracking.
> I'm know engineer and don't really know all that much but maybe you could reinforce that area(rib/s)where most of the pounding is going to take place.
> Just a thought seeing thats it's all apart.
> Nice job.



Hey zum, i will be reinforcing those front ribs somehow, it's only up towards the bow of the boat, i am assuming this is likely from chop and waves, bouncing around that has cracked them out, when the motor is running right it pushes the boat quite nicely, but i could actually go bigger if i had the money 




Decatur said:


> I'm surprised to not see a livewell in your plan, unless I overlooked it? Looking good so far!



Oh there is a live well in there Decatur, it's towards the back of the boat, plans not a for sure, but an idea as of now


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## Decatur (Feb 18, 2011)

GOTCHA! :wink:


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## Flat Bottom (Feb 18, 2011)

spent another day today welding...cursing...welding...cursing...cursing... and then i ran out of wire, and norco didn't have any more so gotta wait for it to come in. At least i didn't let the sunshine go to waste, got most of the ribs in the bow welded back up, there was a gelcoating of some sort on the inside, which is good, but a pain in the you know what to clean off area's to weld, nedless to say, my welds are by no means pretty, but they feel very sturdy and i will be covering them up with the flooring, so as long as i don't have to sit and stare at them and they hold, then i will be happy.


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## Flat Bottom (Jan 8, 2012)

Well... i'm not reviving a dead thread, just stopped by to say hey to everyone, and hit you up with some progress... bought a house and moved, boat is out back, havn't done much with it over the last year. started school, so money is pretty tight but hoping to start up this spring/summer. Spent a while and dialed in the motor, now its stored inside until i can get the boat setup. Priced out the alluminum a while back, i'm looking at about $300 for the materials needed to weld up the bottom. So i still have quite a bit of work to do but i have not forgotten about you guys!! and hopefully this spring i will have something better to report!


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## Flat Bottom (May 12, 2012)

Back Again, Today I got a steal on two back to back fold down boat seats, the coverings are a bit shabby, but price was right $10 for both of them. they should work perfectly. This dang boat is taking me forever to get back up and working. I have to pull it off the trailer and flip it over to weld up the bottom, so I think i'll put it right where i usually park the pickup as an incentive to get it done so i can have some fun this summer.


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## Kochy (May 12, 2012)

YAY! I saw your post before on the boat conversion list, I was like dang I sure hope he posts up again since he has a really big boat. Can't wait to see the finished product.


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## Flat Bottom (May 12, 2012)

Kochy said:


> YAY! I saw your post before on the boat conversion list, I was like dang I sure hope he posts up again since he has a really big boat. Can't wait to see the finished product.



I know, this thing has been taking me forever! My intentions of course were to have it done long ago... but then the house came, the engagement, etc... It needs to get done though. This thing is such a blast when it's in floating conditions! stay tuned as I will be working on her soon... I'll try to get some pics up of the boat seats I picked up. Nothing fancy, but should be perfect for what i need.


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## Flat Bottom (May 12, 2012)

Got a pic of the seats I picked up... plus a few pics of my 15 hp mariner. The block had a piece chipped out about 3 inches long. I finally got around to molding her pack up with some JB weld. It worked way better than I had thought. New Head Gasket and she's purring like a kitten.


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## Flat Bottom (May 16, 2012)

Well, I got my first bit of progress done in quite a while. Got the boat off the trailer and flipped over. When I cut the tunnel out I did it by eye, so it wasn't very square. I want to butt weld/ seem weld the new piece in so I squared it all up pretty good, should make fitting the new piece alot easier. Besides the obvious Huge hole in the bottom of the boat, the rest of the bottom is in pretty good shape, not too much pitting, and only 1 crack that I had no idea about. I'm getting pretty pumped as a new "wind" of motivation to get this thing going has hit me pretty hard.


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## hsiftac (May 18, 2012)

Looking forward to more progress Flat Bottom. When you add the new bottom piece in will you be adding continuations to the strakes as well? or will you just weld in the flat piece and leave it at that?


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## bigwave (May 18, 2012)

I think the welds look good.


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## Flat Bottom (May 19, 2012)

hsiftac said:


> Looking forward to more progress Flat Bottom. When you add the new bottom piece in will you be adding continuations to the strakes as well? or will you just weld in the flat piece and leave it at that?



I will be leaving the new piece just plain flat



bigwave said:


> I think the welds look good.



Thanks, I'm trying 


Here's a couple of progress updates, she's coming along nicely.


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## JBoze (May 20, 2012)

Looks good. Can't wait to see the finished product.


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## Flat Bottom (May 20, 2012)

Little more progress, The aluminum sheet I'm using puckered alot when I welded it in. I figured it would but what do you guys think? I had to cut a relieve line down the center of the new piece because it bowed to much, now i'm just sucking it up to the angle pieces, but I ran out of wire today so... maybe I'll get some more done tomorrow. Slowly but surely... guess i'm gonna have somewhat of a wavy bottom


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## BrazosDon (May 21, 2012)

Flat Bottom, is the thickness of the metal that you're welding in the same thickness that the boat is made of? If not, there will be a deferential distribution of heat between the two pieces of metal causing the metal to warp the thinner metal. Also, you might be welding in one area too long so the metal can't cool sufficiently as you weld. Remember heat range and speed. The trick there is to weld about an inch then go to another spot(maybe on the opposite side) and do the same thing and keep doing that until the welding is done. Also practice on some pieces before you start on the main project. Practice makes perfect


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## Flat Bottom (May 21, 2012)

BrazosDon said:


> Flat Bottom, is the thickness of the metal that you're welding in the same thickness that the boat is made of? If not, there will be a deferential distribution of heat between the two pieces of metal causing the metal to warp the thinner metal. Also, you might be welding in one area too long so the metal can't cool sufficiently as you weld. Remember heat range and speed. The trick there is to weld about an inch then go to another spot(maybe on the opposite side) and do the same thing and keep doing that until the welding is done. Also practice on some pieces before you start on the main project. Practice makes perfect




Thanks for the feedback Brazos, Both old and new are 1/8" thick. Nothing on the cutout, or my welding job is perfect  I weld aluminum like I'm tightening lug nuts, all over the place. but you are right. The pucker is a combination of the boat's bottom not being level, a little un square, and of course heat. But at least I got the dang thing in there, now just have to fight it a bit.


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## Flat Bottom (May 21, 2012)

Got the last piece of the puzzle bent today, 66degree angle, got a bit more cutting and welding to do but she's nearing the point of water worthy once again. Guy at norco said the alchoa (sp?) plant that is the main provider of my beloved 5356 aluminum wire burnt down so there is a national shortage of the wire. Luckily i should have 3 more 1lb rolls coming tomorrow that is under a different name so other than it raining today, i'm waiting on wire to get the project wrapped up.


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## fool4fish1226 (May 22, 2012)

Starting to take shape and looking good too =D>


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## Flat Bottom (May 22, 2012)

Yeah, it's been a long time coming


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## bigwave (May 22, 2012)

I am curious. You are welding that piece back into the hull. Why don't you weld some angle iron over the smooth area on the bottom, It seems that you could get close to the original strakes with the correct size angle iron. To me it seems that that much smooth area might affect the boat, and maybe even let the ass end slide under a hard turn. I have already made up my mind, I will learn how to weld aluminum for my next project. It makes me jealous watching this build, like you I do not have that much experience with welding, but I do have some good ideas. I don't mind making mistakes, but I sure do wish i had the ability to weld on my current mod.....why you ask? I would make the boat bullet proof for years of hard use, might even put in some rocket launchers and battering rams for the weekend clowns around here....... :lol: 


Good job so far
Kevin


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## Flat Bottom (May 22, 2012)

bigwave said:


> I am curious. You are welding that piece back into the hull. Why don't you weld some angle iron over the smooth area on the bottom, It seems that you could get close to the original strakes with the correct size angle iron. To me it seems that that much smooth area might affect the boat, and maybe even let the ass end slide under a hard turn. I have already made up my mind, I will learn how to weld aluminum for my next project. It makes me jealous watching this build, like you I do not have that much experience with welding, but I do have some good ideas. I don't mind making mistakes, but I sure do wish i had the ability to weld on my current mod.....why you ask? I would make the boat bullet proof for years of hard use, might even put in some rocket launchers and battering rams for the weekend clowns around here....... :lol:
> 
> 
> Good job so far
> Kevin




I have alot of experience welding... just not aluminum, and it's a monster of it's own lol. I hear what your saying about the strakes, but I think i'm gonna give it a try without them, mainly $$ but it will still have side runners, i dunno we'll see. I hear you on the battering ram and rocket launcher mmmmmmmm..... Hopefully My work now will last a long long time on the boat.


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## Flat Bottom (May 24, 2012)

Progress report, just about in floating condition some of the welds are uglier than I would like but oh well just a little more welding and a big transom board away from seeing if it will indeed float. This thing is a pain in the ..... To flip over.


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## BrazosDon (May 24, 2012)

Looking good, Flat Bottom. Is there a wooden transom board that goes in there? Also, what kind of wire feed welder are you using? What type of gun, spool gun or other? I have the Millermatic 130 with the standard welding gun(M15) that came with it. I would like to have a spool gun but there is not one for the MM130.


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## Flat Bottom (May 25, 2012)

BrazosDon said:


> Looking good, Flat Bottom. Is there a wooden transom board that goes in there? Also, what kind of wire feed welder are you using? What type of gun, spool gun or other? I have the Millermatic 130 with the standard welding gun(M15) that came with it. I would like to have a spool gun but there is not one for the MM130.




Hey brazos, I'm using a mm180 with the 100 series spool gun. For the amount of welding I had to do it was alot easier than trying to push aluminum wire through the normal leed. If you were to upgrade in the future the 180 seems to be a fairly well rounded machine


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## Flat Bottom (May 27, 2012)

Not much to report, the wind has been blowing constantly so I can't get any welding done, hopefully we have some calmer weather coming up here as I'm very close to testing this bad boy out in the water. I'll report back soon


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## Flat Bottom (May 30, 2012)

Update, back on the trailer, slapped some paint on the bottom and decided to go see if it would float. Floats good, a couple small leaks through the transom where i tried to weld some holes, so after a couple failed attempts to weld them back up, i went with jb weld... leaks solved. Today were gonna work on the transom board, hopefully get the boat ready for the engine within the next day or two.


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## Flat Bottom (Jun 1, 2012)

More progress, I have managed to get alot done in the last few days. painted what was left to be painted (at least the first coat) got red oak hardwood plywood cut and drilled for the transom and coated 4X with spar urethane (that stuff makes a beautiful looking durable finish) cut and coated a few wood cross members i'm using on the new part of the hull. as of now, transom is ready to accept the engine, and i need to start modifying the console and get it riveted in so i can plumb everything for the engine. I'm going to leave it floorless for the first few test runs just to make sure the hull is good and sound. Here are a few pictures.


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## fool4fish1226 (Jun 1, 2012)

Looks great =D> You should be on the water before you know it.


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## Apex Predator (Jun 1, 2012)

You gonna add any bracing to that big ole wide transom?


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## Flat Bottom (Jun 2, 2012)

Should be very soon.


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## Flat Bottom (Jun 2, 2012)

Apex Predator said:


> You gonna add any bracing to that big ole wide transom?




it's 1/8th" aluminum with 1 1/2" of red oak plywood and 28 stainless steel bolts it has plenty of support, when I got it the transom wood was rotten and didn't cover near as much of the transom and that still worked. i thought about adding some sort of support, but honestly the hull is probably weaker than the transom


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## Andy Taylor (Jun 2, 2012)

Red Oak plywood? Is that a common choice for that?


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## Flat Bottom (Jun 2, 2012)

Andy Taylor said:


> Red Oak plywood? Is that a common choice for that?




I couldn't tell you for sure, I went with it because it looks nicer than regular, and it looked like it was constructed with a higher standard. It's stout, and i put 4 coats of spar urethane on it, so far water just beads right off it.


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## Flat Bottom (Jun 4, 2012)

Rainy day here at the dry dock... I got the engine mounted started it up, it sounds pretty dang good, wasn't pumping water though so i dropped the lower unit, the impeller was in sad shape... all it took was a little movement for 2 of the fins to break clean off. Its been in that water pump for the last 20 years... time for a new one haha. Have that on order. Other than that I need to get to work on the console so I can get all the wiring plumed to it. Here are a couple pics let me know what you guys think.


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## bigwave (Jun 4, 2012)

Looking real good, what you going to do on the inside other than a center console?


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## Flat Bottom (Jun 4, 2012)

bigwave said:


> Looking real good, what you going to do on the inside other than a center console?



Well as of right now my plans have changed from earlier on in this thread. The boat is going to be simple, and have kind of a utility boat feel to it. It will be used primarily for fishing and just having a good time. The center console is going to be moved over to the side to allow better movement through the boat. It is basically going to be open, with the sides of the boat being used to hold life jackets, extinguisher, possibly some lighting. Going to use foam insulating board between the ribs for sound and vibration dampening with regular plywood over that. I have yet to 100% decide what to use as a flooring material. I am toying around with the idea of textured painting of some sort, rubber matting, or possibly just wood. I am also going to be figuring out some means of storage, for tools, personal gear etc... weather that will be a built in of some sort or something removable. I will also have a live well. Most likely one that I can remove when i'm not fishing. The open concept in the boat is going to be good for more temporary seating for now ie lawn chairs, cooler... whatever can be used. Fuel tank will be in the rear with 1 big deep cycle battery strapped down. And a second deep cycle will be further up front for accessory power (lighting, fish finder, possibly radio in the future etc... Other than that, I am kind of thinking as I go. It is going to be pretty neat... at least according to what I am visualizing.


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## bigwave (Jun 5, 2012)

Well it sure looks good already. I really like this style of boat, lots of potential.


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## Flat Bottom (Jun 5, 2012)

bigwave said:


> Well it sure looks good already. I really like this style of boat, lots of potential.



I sure appreciate the compliment, I love the style of boat too, gotta get it out on the water soon, as it's bound to get hot fast and it will be nice to have some fun on, and fish with.


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## Flat Bottom (Jun 5, 2012)

Alright today the rain was temporarily blocked out by 30mph winds... so i said heck with it and did a little work anyways. Got the console cut and a couple pieces of unnecessary angle aluminum removed that used to hold the console in when it was centered. Here are some pics


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## bigwave (Jun 6, 2012)

I like the way you moved the console to the side.


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## fool4fish1226 (Jun 7, 2012)

bigwave said:


> I like the way you moved the console to the side.




+1 looks great


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## Flat Bottom (Jun 7, 2012)

Yeah I like it too makes for alot more room... I decided to put a floor in first then the console, working on the console today, heres what got done yesterday. 2" foam board between all the ribs, 1/4 " plywood primed and three coats of deck and patio paint with non skid additive... We'll see how it works.


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## Flat Bottom (Jun 9, 2012)

Alright tinboaters... floor is about as done as it's gonna be. I have not put any side material on yet, waiting on the initial test run to make sure everything is legit. Today I got the console fastened down good, got the engine controller attached nicely and got the piece i'm going to place over the old console face cut and coated with urethane (1st coat) Got the old console face cut out so I'll have room to put the steering wheel and either a switch board or some independent switches. Foamed in some spots on the bottom of the sides next to the floor. Tomorrow the plan is to get the last coat or two on the new console face, and get the steering wheel installed to i can take the boat on a test run. The weather around here has been extremely [email protected]#$%^ lately so it's hard to get stuff done, and i may be doing a test run in 3" swells... (that's how i seem to test everything out for some reason...) Here are a couple pictures of the progress and with any luck tomorrow i'll be out on the water.


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## novaman (Jun 9, 2012)

Lookin really neat with all that space wide open. I like it much better with the console moved to the side to open up the center as a walkway. Keep up the good work and of course the pics. The pics are what keeps us all jealous. :wink:


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## Flat Bottom (Jun 10, 2012)

novaman said:


> Lookin really neat with all that space wide open. I like it much better with the console moved to the side to open up the center as a walkway. Keep up the good work and of course the pics. The pics are what keeps us all jealous. :wink:




 haha the pics keep me from feeling like nothing is getting done... I can scroll back and think alright... It is moving along... just slowly.


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## novaman (Jun 10, 2012)

I think we all have to do that from time to time, just to see how much we've really accomplished. The saying, "Rome wasn't built in a day", or a summer or 3. :wink:


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## Flat Bottom (Jun 11, 2012)

Well it happened! Finally got out on the water today, took my fiance and my good friend and of course the chocolate lab. Didn't have a real boat fuel tank for the big engine, so i duck taped the primer hose into the spout of a normal 5 gallon can haha... it worked. Much to my dismay, the boat did awesome, went right up on plane every time, engine ran great, we spent a good couple hours out on the boat just enjoying the sunshine and thinking of ideas to finish the inside of the boat off. I really was impressed at how well the boat did, makes all the hard work blood and sweat worth something. Here are a couple pics.


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## Bigkat650 (Jun 11, 2012)

Glad you got some use on it over the weekend! It looks like it would be a fun boat to run on, nice and stable and I bet that motor scoots it along nicely. =D> =D> =D>


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## Flat Bottom (Jun 11, 2012)

Bigkat650 said:


> Glad you got some use on it over the weekend! It looks like it would be a fun boat to run on, nice and stable and I bet that motor scoots it along nicely. =D> =D> =D>



Yeah, everything came together nicely. The engine pushes the boat perfectly, very stable and just all around fun big enough for lots of people. It will work great for bass fishing, sturgeon fishing, cat fishing... potentially some bow fishing, just a great rig to get out on the water and enjoy a little peace and quite. Once it gets really hot around here it will be awesome to swim off of too!


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## Flat Bottom (Jun 12, 2012)

Finally got an at least temporarily permanent fuel tank, 9 gallon. It should work better than the 6, i would love to have a bigger one, however that just means i'll be dumping a ton more money worth of fuel into the thing haha... I figure any kind of long trip planned i'll put an extra 5 gallon can of gas in, that way it will be like a reserve tank, hopefully enough to get me back to the dock. Plus I will likely always have the kicker on there, and that thing pushes the boat nicely and sips fuel in comparison to the 140hp suzuki. I've had alot of fun with the boat so far, only had it out twice but plan to do a little bass fishing on Thursday. I really like the boat being open, I may end up building some permanent compartments primarily around the fuel and battery near the stern, but for now everything is opened and exposed, and besides not looking as nice and professional it is actually kind of the look I am going for so... Anyways here are a couple more pics... Still have to get some siding put on the inside and fix up the seats a little bit. What do you all think so far?


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## bigwave (Jun 13, 2012)

I think the boat turned out awesome, a functional boat is better than a pretty boat. Do you see any issues with the flat part you replaced on the hull, I have been curious about that since I started watching your build. What lake is that? Reminds me of some country my cousin has in Moab.


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## Flat Bottom (Jun 13, 2012)

bigwave said:


> I think the boat turned out awesome, a functional boat is better than a pretty boat. Do you see any issues with the flat part you replaced on the hull, I have been curious about that since I started watching your build. What lake is that? Reminds me of some country my cousin has in Moab.




So far I have not seen any issues related to the repair work I did on the hull, Before I could barely ever get it up on plane, I even tried trim tabs, the tunnel that was in it just sucked it down into the water, Now it pops right up on plane every time without an issue. As for the lack of strakes on the piece I replaced it may be somewhat noticeable that it slides a bit more, but for a completely flat bottom it feels just like it should, and it still has lots of strakes throughout the bottom, just not on the replacement piece. The body of water is the Columbia River between Washington and Oregon, I'm on the Oregon side It is a very large river and a great place for boating, fishing, watersports... whatever. Thanks for the comments!


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## Flat Bottom (Jun 19, 2012)

Working on wiring and siding the last day or so. The wind is back blowing like mad... Went out sunday and finally caught some fish off the boat. Caught half a dozen bass even tho we were walleye fishing it was nice to catch something. I got 1/4" rubber mat for the sides its turning out pretty good.


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## Flat Bottom (Jun 22, 2012)

Well, I got some fishing in the last week, good weather, good beer, good friends. Caught the heck out of the shad. Got my lights and switch panel in, so were moving right along.


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## hsiftac (Jun 23, 2012)

Boat is looking fantastic, what do you do with the shad? around here we just use them for bait


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## Flat Bottom (Jul 7, 2012)

I will either use them for sturgeon bate, or crab bate when I make a trip down to the oregon coast. We just got back from 8 days up at a lake in eastern oregon. caught lots of big trout and some nice kokanee's. The boat is working great. Also went out and did a little more shad fishing last night. The current was ripping, and there was alot of debris in the water so we only caught a dozen or so before giving up. My anchor won't hold this beast back, so i had to add a huge concrete weight to it to hang the boat up in the swift current below the mcnary dam. It sucks dragging it back into the boat, but it makes for much better fishing when your not dragging with the current. I need to get a getter anchor system setup. Anyways, there is the update for now. I got lights and bilge pump installed along with a seasense 4 toggle marine switch. I'll try to get some pics up.


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## Flat Bottom (Jul 13, 2012)

Havn't got any progress pictures up, but here's a video of our sturgeon fishing trip today. We had 3 on total, 1 up to the boat, and several missed bites. My uncle had a nice big on that jumped twice and threw the hook, I hooked something big that drug line like crazy then snapped the leader as we unhooked from the anchor. Here's the vid.


[youtube]-xFQ5-1c5x4[/youtube]


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## Flat Bottom (Jul 28, 2012)

Here are a few more sturgeon fishing video's. The Boat is working out great so far. I'm going to try to get a little video tour setup on it. It's still a work in progress but that's half the fun. Enjoy Let me know what you think!


[youtube]lExPouplk7M[/youtube]
Nice big sturgeon jump at 3:47, And check out the end of the video for the Biggest damn fish to date up to the boat!!!

[youtube]aLNtzan-MHs[/youtube]


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## novaman (Jul 28, 2012)

Nice fish! How much anchor line do you typically have out when setup to fish? How heavy of an anchor do you use? Do you use a winch for retreiving the anchor, or the ole' armstrong method?

Here's an anchor winch we use for our 20' in good current, steelhead fishing here in N.W. IN., AND S.W. MI. fishing the Saint Joseph river. We use a 68# homemade style similar to a Richter anchor.


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## Flat Bottom (Jul 29, 2012)

novaman said:


> Nice fish! How much anchor line do you typically have out when setup to fish? How heavy of an anchor do you use? Do you use a winch for retreiving the anchor, or the ole' armstrong method?
> 
> Here's an anchor winch we use for our 20' in good current, steelhead fishing here in N.W. IN., AND S.W. MI. fishing the Saint Joseph river. We use a 68# homemade style similar to a Richter anchor.



I use a 30lb columbia river anchor, its the only anchor that will hold good in the fast current. Pulling the anchor is the easy part. I have an anchor float with a puller on it. You use the boat to pull the anchor. I have a 100 ft anchor line as well as a 200 ft for the fast fast current or deep holes.


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## Flat Bottom (Aug 18, 2012)

Here are a couple pics of the biggest fish to hit the boat thus far. Enjoy!!!


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## Flat Bottom (Aug 20, 2012)

Ok Tinboats, here's the quick walkthrough of the boat. As always it's a work in progress, but this is the jest of it. Enjoy!

[youtube]7MRqNfX464w[/youtube]


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## Gators5220 (Nov 12, 2012)

That boat is lookin sick man! Love how open it is, great for a little drinkin and fishin! Just my style haha...nice job =D> =D> =D> =D> :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer:


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## Kochy (Nov 25, 2012)

Nice progress! That is a huge son of gun. Good job on the mod.


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## rabbit (Nov 27, 2012)

That's a really nice boat.


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## PSG-1 (Nov 27, 2012)

Wow, that's a HUGE boat! A boat like that would be perfect for a set of 215 HP Rotax engines. :mrgreen: 

Seriously, though, nice work! =D>


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## Flat Bottom (Mar 26, 2013)

Hey tinboaters season is rolling back around and its about time to get back out on the water. Thanks for all the nice comments and stay tuned for updates as we roll slowly into summer!


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## jvanhees (Mar 26, 2013)

BEAST


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## Flat Bottom (Mar 28, 2013)

Yup still a beast in progress, cant wait to do some fishing this year, the sturgeon are calling my name.


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## Flat Bottom (Mar 31, 2013)

Well, the first two sturgeon fishing trips of the year have been a bust, yielding only a couple of good bites... it's pretty slow out in the cold water. And to top it off my old humminbird 550 basically bit the dust. Got a new 561 on order, and hoping they start biting again. As for progress, i did get a trolling motor seat installed which should make trolling the lakes for trout and kokanee a little more pleasant this year!


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## Flat Bottom (Apr 3, 2013)

New fish finder came in today.


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## Flat Bottom (Apr 14, 2013)

Here is a shot of the trolling seat I added in the stern. It should work out really good. Before there really wasn't much of a way for a person to sit comfortably back there for long periods of time while running the kicker.


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## Flat Bottom (May 6, 2013)

The latest catch, this one was 5 inches under legal size, no keepers to the boat yet this year.


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## Alex_c (May 6, 2013)

Nice dino! I can't wait to get my boat done and chase one of those down the river. What do you use for bait?


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## Flat Bottom (May 10, 2013)

Alex_c said:


> Nice dino! I can't wait to get my boat done and chase one of those down the river. What do you use for bait?




Lots of different baits, sand shrimp, squid, shad, worms, herring it all kinda depends on different factors, where abouts are you located?


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## Alex_c (May 10, 2013)

Vancouver Canada, we catch them in the Fraser River


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## Flat Bottom (May 11, 2013)

Alex_c said:


> Vancouver Canada, we catch them in the Fraser River




Man ya, they got some monsters up there


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## Flat Bottom (May 13, 2013)

Picked up a new anchor float, for those who have never seen them they have a one way slider attached to them so when its time to pull anchor you use the boat to pull, then the flotation of the float pulls the anchor as you move forward. Once the anchor has been pulled up to the float you stop the boat and the one way slider holds the anchor at the top while you effortlessly pull the float and anchor to the boat. It saves your back and arms big time.


This is the new one compared to the old one. The old one was rated at 30 lbs lifting capacity, my anchor would easily sink it after pulling it to the surface with the boat. New one is rated at 80lb lifting capacity, it easily holds the anchor at the surface!


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## Pweisbrod (May 13, 2013)

That's awesome!


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## jvanhees (May 13, 2013)

Nice fish and cool anchor system! Boat is looking good, at least your fishing out of it!


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## bigwave (May 13, 2013)

We call that a poor mans windlass.......a must when fishing offshore. One time we put the anchor down in 350ft of water and forgot to bring the anchor ball.......that will never happen again. The first thing I always ask my buddie is....did you bring the ball? Try lifting a 35lb danforth with 40' 3/8 ss chain up from 350' buy hand.......it really sucks....took me a day to recover. #-o


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## Badbagger (May 13, 2013)

bigwave said:


> We call that a poor mans windlass.......a must when fishing offshore. One time we put the anchor down in 350ft of water and forgot to bring the anchor ball.......that will never happen again. The first thing I always ask my buddie is....did you bring the ball? Try lifting a 35lb danforth with 40' 3/8 ss chain up from 350' buy hand.......it really sucks....took me a day to recover. #-o



I'm hurting just thinking of that! Great tool for sure!


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## Flat Bottom (May 13, 2013)

bigwave said:


> We call that a poor mans windlass.......a must when fishing offshore. One time we put the anchor down in 350ft of water and forgot to bring the anchor ball.......that will never happen again. The first thing I always ask my buddie is....did you bring the ball? Try lifting a 35lb danforth with 40' 3/8 ss chain up from 350' buy hand.......it really sucks....took me a day to recover. #-o




Last year when the columbia river was ripping and the dam was opened wide I couldnt get my old style anchor to keep hooked so I attatched a 75lb concrete block to my 26 lb anchor, it finally held and was great for catching lots of shad. When the time came to pull the anchor we didnt have the float so we pulled in 100ft of that heavy bugger... needless to say I went to the 30lb columbia river anchor with the ball float and have not looked back lol.


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## Badbagger (May 13, 2013)

I bet you haven't lmfao.


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## Flat Bottom (May 15, 2013)

Found some spare time today to work on the casting/bait deck. I picked up a 4 x 8ft 1/2 inch thick rubber mat from a feed supply store. It had dimples on one side so I put that side down to drain and vent underneith it. It is heavy, I'm guessing probably 40lbs worth on the boat which is what I wanted, the boats a little aft heavy. Let me know what you think.


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## Flat Bottom (May 24, 2013)

A few pics from fishing today, the weather turned a little crummy, and a shot of the boat as it currently sits.


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## Pweisbrod (May 25, 2013)

That thing is a barge yo. Love it!


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## cgaengineer (May 25, 2013)

The Polaris engine stand is the same one I use!


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## Flat Bottom (May 26, 2013)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=316042#p316042 said:


> cgaengineer » Today, 03:22[/url]"]The Polaris engine stand is the same one I use!




Yeah, its an 05 700efi engine stand lol.

Here are a few pics from todays fishing trip, things are picking up a bit.


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## cgaengineer (May 27, 2013)

Flat Bottom said:


> [url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=316042#p316042 said:
> 
> 
> > cgaengineer » Today, 03:22[/url]"]The Polaris engine stand is the same one I use!
> ...



I have two 4 wheeled engine stands, both 500cc...plenty fast for me...sometimes I forget to ride with my brain turned on!

Nice looking fish you got there!


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## Flat Bottom (May 30, 2013)

Been stressing the thermostate in the 140 suzuki lately. It appears to work fine, but it sat for 20 years and i cant afford another one so I decided better safe than sorry. So I ordered the new stat and gasket and decided to start removing the old one so I could have a while to drill out the damn bolts I knew were gonna break off. 2 came out like they were brand new, 2 broke nearly instantly... drilled out a small hole in one of them and the son of a ×$#@×÷ drill bit broke, like 2 inches of it. So I spent several hours with chizels and drivers making it worse before giving up. Came back later and used thin strands of cable from an atv winch to jam in the flutes of the drill bit twisted and pulled, after about another hour or two walaa drill bit came out. Happy as a clam now tomorrow I just have to finish drilling (more carefully) tap the wholes out clean up the surfaces get new bolts and she should be good to go. Ill report back when I #$÷× things up again.


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## Flat Bottom (May 31, 2013)

It got worse.


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## Flat Bottom (Jun 1, 2013)

So the preventative maintenance plan to improve the longevity of the ol suzuki went as planned... Horrible. After broken bolts and cracks and everything horrible I wound up with a broke tap in a drilled out bolt hole. End of story for that hole. With my luck gone I used all the naval engineering I could muster to come up with a solution that will hopefully work just waiting on the new thermostat and gasket. I drilled and tapped a new hole into the face of the water jacket and jb welded a small stainless stud in the hole sealing it back up. This stud will be the anchor point for that corner of the thermostat cover. An aluminum piece will run across the stat cover from the opposite bolt to the new stud hopefully allowing the cover to properly seal. The only good thing about this situation is that I didn't really even count on this engine working in the first place so the fact that its been going strong for several years is a bonus. Its not in very good shape and I'm going to eventually need a re power. Hopefully this fix will at least hold the suzuki over while I save for the re power.


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## Flat Bottom (Jun 1, 2013)

What I find a bit humerous is that the inside of the water jacket actually looks cleaner and less curroded than the exterior of the engine. The 20 years of sitting out in the open really had a heavy toll on the engine. Tho she runs pretty good for the shape shes in, she is in pretty poor cosmetic shape haha.


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## Flat Bottom (Jun 3, 2013)

Got the thermostat replaced and sealed up nicely hopefully it will hold out for a while longer.


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## riverrat174 (Jun 4, 2013)

Genius fix. Give me your brain for a couple weeks. you can have mine!!!


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## Flat Bottom (Jun 6, 2013)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=317342#p317342 said:


> riverrat174 » Yesterday, 10:10[/url]"]Genius fix. Give me your brain for a couple weeks. you can have mine!!!




Lol... I have to be resourceful because I can't afford brand new shiny things haha


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## Flat Bottom (Jun 7, 2013)

Added some rod holder's, plan on adding another 3 rod holder to the front of the console when I make some room for it.


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## Flat Bottom (Jun 13, 2013)

Had an interesting couple of weeks. Played tug boat for a family of 8 people stranded out on the river in a big fiber cabin boat, pulled them a mile or more through the current to their launch then ran out of fuel 1/2 mile from my launch and had to use the kicker to get in the last bit. Also had the biggest fish ive ever hooked on the end of my line. Spent over an hour and a half in the fight, the fish tried every trick in the book and nearly out smarted me a couple times. It surfaced three times so we got a decent look at it. It was the biggest sturgeon I had seen in person. During the fight it never tired and eventually pulled us several miles from the anchor into a rocky bottom where it loded itself in the rocks and didnt move. The line eventually cut on the rocks and the monster remains at large. The videos dont do it justice, we have pulled 10ft sturgeon to the boat after an hour, this one however never slowed down. Cant say how big it was, but it was the strongest fish ive ever seen fight.

[youtube]EzkOXukf8pw&sns[/youtube]

[youtube]3SrU4yl3RqM&sns[/youtube]


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## SCARNG2011 (Jun 13, 2013)

GAH!!! FREAGIN MONSTER!!


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## Flat Bottom (Apr 9, 2014)

Well were back for another year tinboaters! just went out the other day and started charging the batteries up. The weather in my part of the country is starting to warm up and I'm looking forward to getting out there and catching some sturgeon. This year I will be adding radio and hopefully some new seats. I was able to store the boat under cover all winter unlike the winter before, so the DIY plywood flooring will likely hold out for another year. Can't wait to get back on the water. Summer is almost HERE!!!


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## Flat Bottom (Jan 10, 2015)

Well... Here I am yet again with another update... This one, not so good hahaha. The lower unit on my miracle 1985 suzuki dt140 that has been brought back from many deaths finally flat-lined. I went out today doing some preventative maintenance stuff, fired up the engine after sitting for a couple months and it had trouble transitioning from forward to neutral etc. it got stuck in reverse and the rest is history. 

took the lower unit off and inspected everything, turns out that an internal sleeve that holds the shifting rod blew out (cast aluminum) and there is no way that it is fixable lol... engine still runs strong, however, no lower unit, and not much hope of finding one online cheap.

The future looks unclear for the Bucket as of now. newer 100+hp outboards are not cheap and finding a replacement lower unit that is cheap and in useable shape that doesn't cost an arm and a leg is going to be a real PITA!


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