# 1751 Polar Kraft reservoir boat



## dawgfish66 (Aug 28, 2013)

I bought this boat in June because of its size and all welded construction. After studying this site and a lot of your builds almost nightly, I decided to start my build with hopes of getting it done before January. That may be hard with hunting season and two tournaments on Stone Mountain coming up. Please feel free to comment with as many great tips as possible. It is going to be all electric, all aluminum and no carpet..... Thanks


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## dawgfish66 (Aug 28, 2013)

Got rid of the wood floor, wood deck and really bad carpet....


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## thudpucker (Aug 29, 2013)

Why change anything there?
Put the Wood Deck down, A Butt Seat up on the Bow deck and go fishing.


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## gillhunter (Aug 29, 2013)

dawg, I assume you are from Georgia. Looks like a great project!
If you haven't seen Brine's build take a look.
https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=6551&hilit=Rhyan+Craft


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## dawgfish66 (Aug 29, 2013)

Yeah, Gill, I'm in GA.....I think I came across it in my looking, but I'll check it out again, Thanks!!! Thud, It would have been fine if all I wanted to do is fish.....I have big plans, BIG I say..... I have $2500 in trolling motors going on this bad boy. They just came in.... A Motor Guide 109# for the front and two Motor Guide 105#'s for the rear. I'm gonna be running 10 batteries :shock:


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## dawgfish66 (Aug 29, 2013)

Got some work done on the trailer.....


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## dawgfish66 (Aug 31, 2013)

Got a few more things done....temp fixed the winch post and built my rear battery boxes. I know I said it was going to be all aluminum, but I used some 2x4s in their construction. I also saved some materials cost by putting the spoils of my troubled youth to good use........I used some old road signs that I had "acquired" about 20 years ago as the floor of my battery trays. [-X There will be 6 batteries in the rear of the boat.


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## dawgfish66 (Sep 2, 2013)

Labor day means a day free to work on the boat. I got the old letters removed and new letters on....also got the floor cut and fully installed today with the help from a friend. It went a lot easier than I thought it would. I learned a very valuable lesson today......NOTHING IN AN ALUMINUM BOAT IS SQUARE!!!!


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## Livetofish (Sep 4, 2013)

Why 6 batteries?? Just curious


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## dawgfish66 (Sep 4, 2013)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=328410#p328410 said:


> Livetofish » 04 Sep 2013, 18:09[/url]"]Why 6 batteries?? Just curious



It is going to be a reservoir boat. Most of the small drinking water reservoirs here in Georgia don't allow gas engines at all and some have a 9.9hp limit. They are any where between 100 and 500+ acres. I am also in an "electric only" bass club. I have two 105# Motor Guide motors going on the back and a bow mounted 109# Motor Guide going on the front....all three are 36 volt motors. I will actually have 10 batteries on the boat. The extra one will run my live well pumps, bilge pump and lights.


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## erictetterton (Sep 4, 2013)

what type of wax did u use on the paint to bring it back to life?


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## dawgfish66 (Sep 4, 2013)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=328430#p328430 said:


> erictetterton » 04 Sep 2013, 22:51[/url]"]what type of wax did u use on the paint to bring it back to life?



I just had this in the basement.....it worked pretty good.


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## Bugpac (Sep 5, 2013)

Looking good.


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## dawgfish66 (Sep 5, 2013)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=328443#p328443 said:


> Bugpac » 05 Sep 2013, 02:16[/url]"]Looking good.




Thanks Bugpac!! It is a definite pain in the butt, but taking some pride in doing it myself. It won't be as nice as some because of my lack of access to aluminum welders and benders. The biggest downfall of my build is the fact that my lids are not going to be flush with the deck. I'm using the hatch lids from T H Marine. Thanks again for the offer to come see your boat!!!


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## dawgfish66 (Sep 29, 2013)

I've been busy working on the boat, but have been lazy on posting the pics here. I have got almost all the framing done for the front deck. Started on the rear today.... I figured out that my welded aluminum live well is going to be 37 gallons. With the help of a friend, we got the frame done. There will be two inches of insulation all the way around the live well.


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## Flatbotm (Sep 29, 2013)

Dawgfish66 you work looks great so far. Keep it up!


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## dawgfish66 (Sep 29, 2013)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=330791#p330791 said:


> Flatbotm » 29 Sep 2013, 23:47[/url]"]Dawgfish66 you work looks great so far. Keep it up!


Thanks...It is very slow going and time consuming.


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## typed by ben (Sep 30, 2013)

interested to see the end of this one. looks like you are going to have one nice electric boat when its finished up.


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## dawgfish66 (Sep 30, 2013)

Got some of the wires run this evening....


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## dawgfish66 (Oct 5, 2013)

Got one of the sides cut and installed this morning.


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## dawgfish66 (Oct 7, 2013)

Got home tonight and started trying to think of some way to mount my switch panels in the side of my boat and still be able to access the wires. This is what I came up with. I used another road sign..... I can paint it the same as the rest of the boat.


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## dawgfish66 (Oct 8, 2013)

More work done tonight.... 

Got some of my holes drilled for my rods. I'm going to come in with another row of holes later after I finish the rear deck/livewell area. I used golf club tubes for the inserts. I also cut the hole for my switch panel and the wiring in the side panel.


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## typed by ben (Oct 8, 2013)

shes lookin sharp. making small bits of progress is still progress

at least thats what i tell myself!


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## dawgfish66 (Oct 8, 2013)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=331646#p331646 said:


> typed by ben » 08 Oct 2013, 22:02[/url]"]shes lookin sharp. making small bits of progress is still progress
> 
> at least thats what i tell myself!



I totally agree Ben.... I try to work a little on it every night. It's a slow process, but its starting to look more like a boat.


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## typed by ben (Oct 9, 2013)

out of curiosity, what did you end up using for the insulation under your deck? im interested in using something under mine when i get to that step, just to cut down on the noise/drum effect that you get when you enclose a space.


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## dawgfish66 (Oct 9, 2013)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=331660#p331660 said:


> typed by ben » 09 Oct 2013, 08:42[/url]"]out of curiosity, what did you end up using for the insulation under your deck? im interested in using something under mine when i get to that step, just to cut down on the noise/drum effect that you get when you enclose a space.



A buddy of mine had access to a bunch of closed cell packing that just happened to be the right size with very little cutting. It's not perfect, but it was free. If I would have had to buy it, I would have probably used the closed cell insulation that everyone else uses that you can get at Lowes or Home Depot.


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## dawgfish66 (Nov 11, 2013)

Just checking in.....I'm still alive and the boat is still in pieces. I got all the leaves cleaned out of it and moved it inside tonight. Time to get motivated....


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## dawgfish66 (Mar 28, 2014)

I have been very lazy on updating here, but the boat is pretty much done. Final assembly Saturday and on the water Sunday afternoon. These are some random pictures that I took....like I said, I got lazy.


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## typed by ben (Mar 28, 2014)

sweet. whatd you use to apply the tuffcoat? hvlp?


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## dawgfish66 (Mar 28, 2014)

I bought a hopper sprayer from Harbor Freight.


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## dawgfish66 (Mar 29, 2014)

Boat is DONE!!! Going to the lake tomorrow.


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## dawgfish66 (Mar 29, 2014)

Done...done...done!!!


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## dawgfish66 (May 27, 2015)

Ok folks....my boat has been finished for almost two years now and overall I'm still pretty happy with it!! Looking at repainting the deck this off season...the Tuff Coat was OK, but the rubber particles come out easily. Any suggestions on another type of paint?? Or....do you guys think another coat of Tuff Coat would be the best way to go? Any advise or suggestion would be greatly appreciated....


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## Callmecaptain (May 27, 2015)

Just want to say how great of a professional job you did on your boat! =D> 

I also have a Polarkraft, it's a 97' 1751 (tunnel), love it.


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## dawgfish66 (May 29, 2015)

digi said:


> Just want to say how great of a professional job you did on your boat! =D>
> 
> I also have a Polarkraft, it's a 97' 1751 (tunnel), love it.





Thank you!!!


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## henro (May 29, 2015)

What speeds have you logged? Sick build!


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## dawgfish66 (Jun 1, 2015)

henro said:


> What speeds have you logged? Sick build!




Thank you!! When the motors were brand new, I would hover between 6 and 6.2 at blast off with two people and an empty livewell. Now that they are two years old, we are 5.8 to 6mph.... I tried 2 Kipawa props on the rear and they were the same or a little slower than the stock props.


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