# Buckethead's 1974 Duracraft 1720



## Buckethead (Jul 17, 2012)

Hello! I recently traded a tractor for a 1974 Duracraft 1720 flat bottom mod V. The 1720 model number may be a bit deceiving because it is actually a 1748. It's been sitting in a shed for the last 30 years or so with little or no usage. I know this since I got it from my uncle who bought it new. I am planning on keeping it the original color, adding things like live wells, maybe bait wells, battery boxes, lights, maybe even relocating or removing bench seats, everything a guy and his sons need to have a successfull fishing trip. All repairs or additions will be done with aluminum. There will be no wood in this boat including the transom. My buddy with the wire feed welder is key to the whole thing.

After I get the trailer put back together, I plan on starting on the outside with new paint and decals which I found on the internet. The rivets in the gunwales are in excellent condition as there is no sign of being loose and no flaked paint on them. The keel has almost all of it's paint still on it so other than the transom needing a little attention it's fishable now.

I don't have pictures to post since I am out of town with work but I'll post them when I get back home. My oldest daughter is headed to college next month so that will keep my money a little funny but I'll get through it.

So any help I can get about old Duracrafts would be great since the internet has very little at best, and not just paint but any accessories that may have attached to the groove in the top of the benches, kinda looks like a removable seat that went the width of the boat maybe went there, not sure really. 

That's about it for now, thank you all in advance for advice, help, info etc. and hopefully me and my youngest son will be filling it full of crappie next spring.

Buckethead.


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## earl60446 (Jul 20, 2012)

Inquiring minds need pictures of the boat and tractor.


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## Buckethead (Jul 21, 2012)

I won't be home until Aug 3 so its going to be about 2 more weeks so as soon as I get home I'll get boat pictures posted that weekend, as far as the tractor goes I'll get them when I can. It's an old Case tractor, a 30 series if I remember right, utility front end, gas engine, its sitting at our property near Stanton Mo, not sure when I'll be back there.

Don't mean to keep you hangin' but I'm 2 weeks and 600 miles from home, be patient with me my friend.


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## Buckethead (Aug 4, 2012)

Here you go, I hope I did this right. The pictures were too big the first time I tried to upload, this should work. Obviously I'll be starting with the trailer since I'll need a place to set the boat during the project. I noticed the front seat in the bow has probably half of the rivets popped out of place, I'm thinking that may be coming out and replaced with something able to support the bow and better suited for a trolling motor. I only have the tongue and the hubs off the trailer here so I can re-work them, I'll post pictures of the rest of the trailer when I get it home.

Let me know what you think.


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## Buckethead (Aug 12, 2012)

Last night I took out the bow seat since I'm going to have to re-shape the nose and the continuous flow of styrofoam has me fearing the obvious, I found what I knew I would but didn't want to see. Quite a mixed bag of spiders and bugs had found their way into the styrofoam and were tunneling in. They've done quite a job. I'm sure the other two seats are in similar condition so I'm going to clean them out too. I know if I don't it will be a never ending flow of styrofoam in the boat so better to do it now then later. 

Here's a couple pics from last night.


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## badboymonk (Aug 12, 2012)

Wow ! I have the same year boat except mine is 16 foot.


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## DaveInGA (Aug 13, 2012)

You've got a nice boat with a lot of potential. I think you made a good trade. Good idea to get the styrofoam out, but do replace it with some closed cell foam. It's extra work, but worth it if you happen to get swamped (does happen). Looking forward to watching your build.


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## Buckethead (Aug 13, 2012)

Badboymonk, I have scoured the Internet for some trying to find another like mine but like yours a 16' is all I could find. Even Duracraft info is non existent.

Dave I've been cruising around this site for some time looking at all the projects I could find that are similar to mine, definitely closed cell foam without exception. I only want to do this once. I'm thinking of doing the transom replacement with square aluminum and a high tensile strength foam. I found the link to it on here actually, I wonder if anyone on here has ever tried this. There is a guy in my town that rebuilds fiberglass boats, he's right next door to the guy doing my trailer hubs so I'm going to talk to him and see what he thinks. I'm not ripping on the guys on here who use wood because they've put a lot of work in their boats but I just can't do it. I'm headed for training again for 3 weeks in Sept so if there's a break in the action you'll know why. 

Buckethead


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## KRS62 (Aug 15, 2012)

I also have a 16 footer. While I would certainly love an 18 or 20 footer, I love my boat. I bought it in pretty good shape, so I haven't had to do any major upgrades. There is not much foam left in the boat to speak of. Just a little in the floor.

No, there is not much info on the internet at all. I think they died before the internet age. Apparently, one of the owners/sons is now at War Eagle.

FYI - you can make your own bolts to fit in the gunwale rails. Take a carriage bolt and grind down half of it. Just thought that might be nice info to have while you are rebuilding in case you want a Bimini top. 

KRS


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## Buckethead (Aug 15, 2012)

I was kinda entertaining the idea of a bimini top, we had one on a deck boat we rented on Bull Shoals and it was really nice, especially after being in the sun most of the day. As far as the rails I could definately see a carriage bolt working very well, I may play around with that this weekend. I think this weekend may be dedicated to working on the trailer, which depends on if my hubs are ready, if not I'll mess with the boat more.

Buckethead


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## Buckethead (Aug 20, 2012)

Today I got the transom out and went through and straightened out rivet holes. I was looking at the dent on the port side and wondering what I should do about it. I was thinking when I start framing the rod locker on this side I could use heavier gauge aluminum and just draw it back into place. My Uncle thinks I should drill all the rivets out and straighten the gunwales and top rail separately, that seems like a lot of work. I got a few pictures of the transom and the port side gunwale, any advice here would be great.

Buckethead


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## Buckethead (Oct 19, 2012)

Well, I haven't made much progress on the boat other than it's all stripped out. I've got a plan to make an all aluminum transom so I can stay away from wood. I talked to the fiberglass boat guy in town and he said it should work very well. In the mean time I've been trying to get the trailer done so I can put the boat on it, hurts my back bending over to work on the boat.

Here's a picture or two of the trailer. As you can see I need to get it lowered down about 10" or so. Going from 8" to 14" wheels is not going to be easy. If it proves impossible I may have to reconsider the 14" wheels, but not quite yet. 

Buckethead


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## Buckethead (Feb 20, 2013)

I know it's been a while since my last update and I'm not going to bore everyone with that info but I have been picking up materials and parts here and there. I've mainly been trying to get the trailer put together so I have a place to put the boat. I've taken quite a few photos of what I've been doing, though a little at a time. You all will remember how insistent I've been about not having any wood in this build, I'm sticking to that for the framing and decks but I've given in to the advice of a man who's been building and racing cars and boats all of his life. Taking his advice I had a friend contact someone he knows who works at a sawmill and I now have a 8' x 16" solid oak transom laying on the floor of my garage for the low cost of FREE! I looked into composite decking, aluminum tube and even a polyethylene plastic sheet installed in similar fashion to plywood. $365.00 for a 5 x 10 sheet was a bit of a turn off, oak will be fine. Anyway I'll put some pics up and after this winter storm tomorrow melts away I should be in a position to start making regular progress. I talked to a local recycling center today, he recently took in 2 huge pieces of an aluminum framed awning from a building front that has more than enough structural material for my build. The owner said a local church is considering buying the two pieces to attach to their building and will let him know on Friday this week if they're going to buy it, if not it's mine. Guess I'll wait and see.

Some of the things I've picked up off of craigslist have been a brand new winch, jack, switch and fuse panel, and my best find yet has been the 4' x 4' road signs for $10 each. I was talking to the man I bought the signs from and he asked if I had an outboard yet, to which I said no, he began to tell me about a 1974 Mercury 25hp tiller he bought brand new, used regularly, maintained regularly as you're supposed to and stopped using it because arthritis kept him from being able to pull start the motor. He replaced it with an electric start motor he still uses today. He's hanging on to it for me until I get the cash together for it. Funny how you stumble on to things sometimes.

Enough of that, here's some pics.

Buckethead


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## Buckethead (Mar 10, 2013)

I was able to take advantage of nice weather and a lot of time this weekend, finally got the trailer finished other than another roller or two, me and my son put the boat on the trailer tonight, its good to be this far along. I know there's a lot of work left to do but I'm so glad to be at this point. It rained like a SOB this afternoon so I was unable to do a leak check. I'm going to get into that next weekend if its dry. Here's a couple pictures from my progress this weekend.

I also finally figured out what kind of trailer I have, it's a Magnolia Craft made by Moody Mfg. of Maben, MS. Lots of M's. I took a couple screen shots of the old brochure I found on a thread on another site. I'm still going to register it as a homemade trailer. I'd be interested to know if anyone knows where parts could be found at, I haven't really pursued it very hard yet.

Buckethead


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## Buckethead (Mar 11, 2013)

I almost forgot, with all the years of styrofoam, dirt and misc. nuts that have accumulated inside the cross braces, I was wondering if anyone knew of an easy way to get all that out from inside the braces, I was thinking a piece of wire with a piece of cloth pulled through. I know I'm not the first to run into this. 

Buckethead


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## Buckethead (Mar 16, 2013)

Well I've got great news, I did my leak test in the driveway last night and the only leak I had was from the plug I didn't tighten enough, needless to say I'm very excited about that. I'm going to try to get my last two rollers installed and guides finished and the trailer will be finished. 

Buckethead


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## Buckethead (Mar 20, 2013)

I'm thinking this weekend may be transom replacement weekend. I have a few options available and am throwing them out here for comment. I'm leaning toward removing the knee braces so I can install the transom without cutting the corners off then reinstalling the braces with SS hardware and 5200. Cutting the corner braces then welding them back in place is another option, my third is to only make the transom as wide as the width between the corner braces. I think there is a picture of the transom from an earlier post.


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## bigwave (Mar 21, 2013)

I say if you choose to cut the corner brackets off, go ahead and have someone fab up a new all aluminum transom out of square tube. You will then never have to worry about the transom for the life of the boat.


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## Buckethead (Mar 21, 2013)

Yea I thought of and considered that, there's a guy in the area that does that very thing, you take him your boat and in a couple days you've got a nifty new custom built transom. Given my financial limitations at this point my free oak board is looking better and better. It may be something I'll have to do at some point anyway, I was measuring this afternoon since I'm going to try to get the transom done tomorrow, and noticed a half dozen or so places where the aluminum is pitted pretty deep behind where the old transom was. It almost looks like treated plywood may have been used. I'm pretty sure it wasn't in 1974 but who knows. We're supposed to get more snow and sleet at some point over the weekend, looks like I'll be moving the wife's suburban out and putting the boat in its place. Should make some decent progress this weekend.


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## Buckethead (Mar 24, 2013)

Well, between Friday and part of Saturday I managed to get the transom in. I was going to start on the floor but old man winter had other plans for us. I'll get transom pictures in a day or two when the snow melts. Here's a couple of pictures I took from the garage a little bit ago.


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## Buckethead (Apr 18, 2013)

Well I've been making progress as time allows, got the transom installed, got the frame pieces installed on the gunwales, was wanting to get my floor and foam installed today but with all the rain we're getting I decided to wash out metal shavings from inside the ribs. I'm sure the neighbors thought I was off my rocker when they drive by and see me with the garden hose in my hand washing out a boat in a rainstorm, seemed like the perfect time to me. I didn't get a lot of pictures of the transom while I was putting it in but I went ahead and removed the knee braces and put it in in one piece. Since then I used 1/4" x 5/8" button head stainless steel screws with nylon washers and nylock nuts and 3M 5200 in place of the rivets I drilled out. I decided to mount the frame pieces on the gunwale in the horizontal holes left after bench removal, I figured the holes were there and had to be dealt with so I made it work. There are 3 or 4 on each side that couldn't be covered by the 1 x 2 but should be fine. You'll see where I drilled a 5/8" hole on the inside of the frame piece, my thought is that when I get the floor installed I'll run it up the side and cut it off flush with the top of the new frame piece, this will hide all the holes and only have the screws used to mount the floor piece with exposed.

My friend who lurks this site, along with my youngest son and I are headed out this weekend to try to fill his boat full of slabs, should be a great time.

Enjoy the photos.

Buckethead


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## jvanhees (Apr 18, 2013)

Nice work on the framing on the gunwales =D>


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## Buckethead (Apr 22, 2013)

Thanks. It should help stiffin the sides since I took the benches out. They installed the cross braces on 12, 13, 14.5 and 15 inch centers for some reason. I was looking at my uncle's 1436 Duracraft and it's the same way. I was able to start with a 48" sheet then the next two will be 38" each. Sure would have been easier to work with 12" centers throughout but I'll make do. I managed to get 2 pieces of the floor installed on Friday before we left to go fishing, I'll post pictures later this week hopefully with all of the floor pieces installed.

We had a fun and successful crappie adventure last weekend, my son, my friend Bob and myself all in his new Lowe Stinger, we were a bit ahead of the spawn and had to work pretty hard to put fish in the boat but it was worth it. A great time was had by all.

Buckethead


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## Buckethead (May 12, 2013)

Well it's been a few weeks since my last update, I've gotten quite a bit done recently. Floor and gunwale including foam is in, hose to the front livewell is in place, rear bench seat with fuel tank in place. The tank isn't permanently mounted yet but it sitting where it's going to be mounted. I need to get a new sending unit, vent hose, and fill hose dry fitted before I put it down permanent. I took one of the bench seats and fabbed it into a 20 gallon livewell. I'm picking up the outboard on the 25th since the guy I'm buying it from is in Washington D.C. Here's some pics of my progress over the last few weeks.

Buckethead

Sorry about the reverse order of the pictures.


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## Badbagger (May 13, 2013)

Coming right along!


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## bigwave (May 13, 2013)

What are you going to use for the lids on the baitwell.....I saved my old bench seat....might just have to copy what you did.....I like it.


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## meonline06 (May 13, 2013)

I love what you did for the livewell! I've been considering paying to have a shop weld one up for me but I think I'm going to steal your idea. Great work!


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## Buckethead (May 13, 2013)

Not sure on a access door yet, I'm probably going to fab it out of 1" tube or angle that way it will be the size I need. I thought about the lids from the livewell but they're too wide. 

As far as stealing my idea, have at it. It was really simple and took less than an hour to do. I don't think I mentioned it but I used my orbital sander to remove all the paint where the two pieces of aluminum came together, lots of 5200 and riveted from the bottom up. I think it made a good enough seal to hold water but I had some leftover silicone from foam placement that I put on the inside seams and the rivets. You can figure out your gallons by taking L x W x H, then divide by 231, that should be pretty close. I'm gonna leak test it this weekend, I'll post results. 

Gonna try to get the fuel tank placed and refit this weekend, maybe more framing, just have to see how much time I'm going to have. Daughter coming home from college, graduation parties. Amazing how so many things come up when you really want to get a project done.


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## meonline06 (May 31, 2013)

Hey Bucket did you ever get around to leak testing your livewell?


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## Buckethead (Jun 2, 2013)

Yes I did get the leak test done and it went good. It sat it on my patio filled with water from 6 am until after 1 and it did not leak. I got it mounted along with most of the framing in the bow since my last update. I've got quite a few pictures from the last few weeks but forgot to update. Also got my outboard picked up last Friday night. Had a surprise waiting for me when I got to the sellers house, he said it has not been ran since it's last service last year, new plugs, clean carbs, basically ready to go all for $250. Got it home, hung, it on the boat and somehow broke the kill button. Not sure if it was riding on it somehow on the way home or if it was already broke, either way it has to be replaced. I got the tank all cleaned, vented and permanently mounted and when I installed the vent I blew through it just to hear the air flow and discovered that there is a small screen inside the pick-up tube that was completely full of rust, leaves, and lord knows what else. Got that all cleaned out, re-installed and now a fuel line is all that I lack. I'll pick that up this week along with a kill button and hopefully finish the framing in the stern and we'll be just about ready for a trashcan water test then maybe sea trials. Here's a few pictures.

Buckethead


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## meonline06 (Jun 2, 2013)

That old Merc is looking good. Mine is older too but it runs like a champ ever since I replaced the fuel system. What did you use to bend the metal for your livewell?


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## Buckethead (Jun 2, 2013)

I made my measurements, cuts and just pushed it in place by hand. I guess you could use something to start the crease in the bottom but I didn't see a need to. I would definitely sand the pieces that will be fastened together to make the corner seam, a generous amount of 5200 and rivet starting at the bottom. Can't wait to see your results.


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## Buckethead (Jun 16, 2013)

Took a ride on the Meramec with my wife and 2 younger kids, motor ran well but just couldn't quite get up on plane. Upstream, downstream, moving people around, nothing seemed to work. So here we go, I'm going to lean on my fellow tinners for help, when running the water intakes on the lower unit are 4" below the water line. There's a plate on the lower unit about 2" down from the top and another plate 2" up from where the lower unit bolts to the housing. It's running at the upper plate. Is it too low in the water? It has a 2 blade 11 pitch prop, should I look for a different prop? I talked to my uncle last night who bought the boat new and he said he bought a new Johnson 25 horse at the same time, it never was able to get it on plane either even when he was alone in the boat. This makes me believe that I need to go to a bigger motor. I'm not looking to set any speed records I just want it to perform the way it should. Any help would be appreciated.


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## bigwave (Jun 17, 2013)

Hey bucket, is the cavitation plate 4" below the water line? If so the engine needs to be raised so the cavitation plate is level with the bottom of the boat. I am not sure about the prop, but I would bet the correct pitch 3 blade prop will make a huge difference. Does the motor run good? I would get a cheap tac and see what rpms your getting at WOT. I still need to do the same for my engine so I can get the correct prop to weight ratio. If that is a 20hp motor it should easily plane the boat out.


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## Buckethead (Jun 17, 2013)

Bigwave, it runs excellent, starts on the third pull from cold and on the first every time after. My only issue is the planing out. I'm sure that 2 blade 11 pitch aluminum prop is original equipment because the PO gave me an extra prop that was brand new, never seen the water and he said it came with the motor when it was new. I measured the cavitation plate in relationship to the bottom of the hull, it's damn near exactly 4" below. I put a piece of 1" square aluminum on the top of the transom and adjusted the trim angle to where the prop is at a 90 with the hull. I'm going to try that this weekend and see if it makes a difference. A little trial and error, try one adjustment at a time, ask questions to anyone with any knowledge, I'll get there.


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## bigwave (Jun 18, 2013)

I think once you get the engine in the sweet spot you should see better results. What is the maximum hp your hull is rated for?


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## Buckethead (Jun 18, 2013)

The tag on the hull says 30 hp. Most newer 1648 boats I've looked at are all rated around 50. I've got to believe I could put a bigger motor on and the hull would handle it just fine. I've even seen 115's, 125's and so on hanging on 1648 mod v's. The only difference I can see is transom height. I know my boat is built as good as the newer ones.


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## meonline06 (Jun 18, 2013)

I would definitely recommend getting yourself a tachometer. That will help you figure out if you have the right prop on there. I just picked up a Trail Tech Tachometer off ebay for $40 last week. You may want to try installing a hydrofoil on the motor. They are relatively inexpensive. I have ran my boat with and without one and it planes far better with it. It helps me get on plane faster and my bow is lower on plane as well. A jackplate could also help you raise the motor up so the cavitation plate is level with the hull bottom.


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## Buckethead (Jun 18, 2013)

Well that's two people telling me the same thing now. So, the search begins for a tach. Still gonna play with adjusting height and angle this weekend. Crap! I just remembered we've got a family reunion this weekend AND next weekend. Well now it's going to take longer than I thought to fix this. Does it make me a bad person to say I would rather take a good beating than to go to my wife's family reunion this weekend and then my family next weekend? I sure hope not because I'm a sayin' it!


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## bigwave (Jun 19, 2013)

You are walking a fine line with the wife my friend.......the boat will be there when you get back....family first even though you want to play on the boat.


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## Buckethead (Jun 19, 2013)

Well the beauty is that she doesn't want to go to either event either, it's just that her guilty concience will bug her until we go. This weekend's reunion is Sunday, next week's is Saturday. I may get an hour or two in on Saturday, luckily there is a river access 3 miles from my house, very convienient. Guess we'll see how it goes.


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## Buckethead (Jun 22, 2013)

New 3 blade prop, me and the wife, raised the motor 1" off the transom, got 17 mph up river, 19 mph down river. Jumped on plane immediately without hesitation and the cavitation plate about 3" under water. Looks like I definitely need a jack plate. Still happy that its getting dialed in. Got caught in a huge thunderstorm while we were taking out, wife was standing in the water when lightning hit close by, said she could feel it in her legs. Short but productive trip. 

Buckethead


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## Buckethead (Jul 14, 2013)

Not much to update lately, been playing on the local rivers when we can. Been out a half dozen times or so, motor and boat perform as they should. I was talking to a coworker about possibly needing a jackplate and that I was planning on building one, he informed me of an old jackplate he had at his parents house, was going there this weekend and would bring back for me to try. Meanwhile I fabbed out a hydrofoil from a piece of 1/4" diamond plate I had. Last few times out I've been noticing the cavitation plate is still running 3" below the surface at WOT. The 3 blade prop gets it up on plane with no problem but runs too deep. I'll play with the hydrofoil until I get the jackplate then I'm sure more trial and error will continue. The 14" tires I had on the trailer had the boat sitting 29" off the ground, most boat ramps around me are very shallow which had the rear wheels of my suburban in the water, no good. I bought two new 12" tires and wheels from Orschelns, look good and I was able to put the original fenders back on the trailer. Smaller tires and wheels got me down quite a bit and really helped but I'm now considering taking out 3 of the seven leaf springs from the trailer, that should drop it another 1 1/2" and there should enough room between the tires and fenders. I might have to get fenders made for 12" tires instead of the originals that are for 8". Also new bearing buddies and dust covers installed. Anyway, here's a few pics from the last few weeks.


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## Buckethead (Jul 14, 2013)

Well, went out for a boat ride / float trip today, me, the wife and 3 kids it did not get on plane, obviously due to 5 people, 4 adults and a 11 year old. I did leave the family on a gravel bar and WOW, what a difference, hydrofoil got the stern up but the boat is still running too deep. My co worker should have the jack plate for me tomorrow, hopefully I'll be able to get it installed and tested this next weekend. I'll post results. 

Buckethead


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## Buckethead (Nov 11, 2013)

Man, where did I leave off. Not only did I get the jack plate I've been doing quite a bit since I last posted in July. We had numerous river trips, my son was home on leave during August so naturally me and the boys had to go on a fishing trip. Didn't catch a lot due to the August heat but he was happy to be on the river, obviously ole dad was pretty tickled too. Anyway I've fogged the motor and put it away for the winter and have started working on the boat again.

As you'll see I decided to not rivet the hinge of the livewell lid, I'm going to use 5200 to attach the hinge. If you look at the lids to the battery access they rest on half of the livewell hinge. I want them to sit flush as possible so I used 5200 instead of rivets. I looked up specs on 5200 and it said it's 394 psi for an aluminum to aluminum ahesion. The stuff elongates 1350% so naturally a 1 lb. livewell lid is not going to put that kind of stress on it. If it fails at some point I'll rivet it. If anyone else has ever tried this way before I'd love to hear from you. Here's some pics.

Buckethead


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## Buckethead (Feb 23, 2014)

Well I was able yesterday to get my bow seat base mounted finally, between work and weather I honestly wondered if I'd ever get it done. I was able to get to BPS in Springfield last weekend and get my stern seat base, the plan yesterday was to get both mounted but I could not find the stainless steel bolts I needed for the stern. I had what I needed for the bow but finding 6 more bolts was a little tough but Lowes in Fenton came through. I'm gonna try to get the stern done this next weekend. I also mounted the livewell lid to the hinge as well, a little additional grinding and it fits like socks on a rooster. Here's a couple pics.

Buckethead


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## Buckethead (Apr 6, 2014)

Here's a few pics of my latest progress. I finally found a livewell for the stern at a place that scraps out old boats and sells the parts. I was able to reuse the original bench seat livewell lids on the stern, one for livewell access and the other for the fuel tank access. I've since put a coat of self etching primer on the pieces getting ready for my interior nonskid coating. I sure thought I'd be closer to finished with this project by now but it sure is fun. One of my buddies who has no patience for stuff like this keeps reminding me that I could have just bought a boat and would not have to mess with all of this, what I remind him of is that not only do I enjoy it I also know every inch of the boat and trailer and the layout will be as I want it.

Also if anyone knows where I could find edging for my aluminum pieces and some sort of rubber sealer to use to keep my rod locker and storage as dry as possible. I've seen it on tracker boats' livewell lids. It's like 1" wide and has adhesive on one side. Thanks

Buckethead

Well I'm only able to upload one picture, my new iphone takes pictures that are bigger than 2 MiB and they won't upload. I'm gonna have to come up with a different plan. I'll try to take smaller pics and get them posted.


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## Buckethead (Apr 6, 2014)

I found my old iphone and took a couple pictures with it. There are some shadows in these pics since it's early in the morning but I think they can be seen ok.

Buckethead


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## Gators5220 (Apr 6, 2014)

Man that boat is coming together nicely, good work!


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## Buckethead (Apr 29, 2014)

Thanks Gator, I'm very happy with it. Since my last post I was able to get my rod locker fabbed in as well as the switch panel and fuel guage. Here's a few more pics of my latest progress.

Buckethead.


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## will15120 (May 13, 2014)

The boat sure is looking good! Had that same engine but in a 9.8HP not a bad engine as long as you got a clean carb.


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## Buckethead (May 13, 2014)

I had a mechanic friend tell me about fogging it with WD40 before putting it away for the winter and the carb will be ready for the next season. He was right, once I cleaned the plugs and rinsed the WD40 from the cylinders that thing fired up and runs as good this year as it did last. I've got fresh gas this year which we all know won't hurt a thing. No complaints about the Merc.


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## Scout27 (May 18, 2014)

Did you ever get the jackplate installed? That should make a big difference in planing and carrying weight. I assume it's a fixed unit, or can you adjust the height manually? Adjustments will give you a lot of options as well; different heights for different loads. Also, with the larger cavitation plate, you should be able to play with the trim angle as well; moving the pin up or down a hole or two for releasing the hull from sticking to the water, again, based on the load.

Everything looks great. Gonna be nice when you're all done. Keep up the good work.


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## Gators5220 (May 18, 2014)

That rod locker is a nice touch, I like it.


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## Buckethead (May 19, 2014)

Negative on the jack plate, it's made for a larger horsepower motor so I haven't done anything with it yet. Since I have the batteries in the front now I'm gonna have to lower the motor to where it sits right on top of the transom. I played around with it and was able to raise it 3/4" and it ran fine. Now that there are 2 batteries in the bow the prop loses it's grip at WOT. With just me and the batteries I'm running 22 mph without the prop cavitating, as soon as I have a passenger it starts cavitating. My next trials will be as you suggested playing with trim angle and with or without plate. I'm actually going to try to fix that this week end as well as try to get my nonskid painted on. I'm picking up a gallon of battleship gray nonskid from the manufacturer in Cuba Mo on Thursday. The plan now is to finish prepping the inside and get 'er covered. That plan may change with the holiday weekend but I'm sure gonna try. I'll post pics of it before and after. You can see my choice of nonskid at www.bipacco.com


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## Buckethead (May 26, 2014)

I didn't make it on the water but I did get 2 coats of nonskid painted on. The product went on very thick so I had to work a little harder to keep the coat thin. I thinned the mix with water for the second coat and it went on a lot better. I am very happy with the end result. It's a non toxic "green" product, not that "green" is at the top of my priority list but not having to worry about toxic vapors and fumes is a definite bonus. My surface was already sanded and primed so it was suggested by the owner of bipacco to wash down the surface to be covered with Dawn dish washing detergent to get rid of any oil. You'll see in my before and after pics I started outside then moved back into the garage, about halfway through the first coat, outside, one of the river birch trees and a gust of wind spread 10,000 seed pods about half the size of a pea all over my freshly painted surface. I was able to get them up with the shop vac and my pocket knife without too much trouble. Here's the pics. I don't think bipacco is a sponsor here but they should be, great product, easy to use and priced right. The product I used is called eco-tread in haze gray.

Buckethead


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## bthompson92 (Jul 1, 2014)

Awesome build! I just purchased a duracraft around the same year and size. Might have to steal some of your ideas!


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## Buckethead (Jul 2, 2014)

Great to hear about another duracraft destined for the water again. Lots of good ideas on this forum. Good luck with your build and post plenty of pics.


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## Carolina (Feb 19, 2015)

Great mod, Buckethead. I just got a similar Duracraft myself. I'm wondering the exact length of yours. Mine is about 14.5' long and 40" wide. Not sure if this classifies as a 1540 or what. I got a 25hp Mariner that I went through and refurbished. Runs great now. I get about 29mph according to GPS. I already removed the live well and welded up the holes. I don't have a real need for it. I want to remove the front bench seat and extend the bow seat out to make a deck just like yours. I was wondering if you noticed any side flex from the removal of that bench? I'd imagine the new front deck helps some. I'm going to fab the framing up from aluminum angle and rivet it in so it's structural. Then I'm going to add a layer of foam to the bottom and cover with aluminum like you did. Finally, the plan is to strip the whole thing down to bare metal with a wire wheel on my grinder, shoot it with Kem400, stencil it with bottomland camo, and cover the horizontal surfaces with hydroturf.


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## Buckethead (Mar 3, 2015)

No, my boat has no side flex, you can't tell a difference with the bench removed. As for you model number I was told model numbers placed on boats years ago by Duracraft reflected the length and gunwale height. My boat is a 1720, it's actually 16' 6" long, 48" bottom, a 1648 or 1748 by today's standards. If your boat is older like mine it may be a 1520 or 1518, just a guess.


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## DarynCashmark (Mar 3, 2015)

Buckethead:

I am really impressed with your build. Looks like it turned out really nice. Did you ever get all of the trim/ jack plate stuff resloved, and if so, what did your top speed end up at?


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## Buckethead (Mar 15, 2015)

Well, as it turns out I sold the 20 and bought a short shaft 50 with a jet. I got the transom built up Friday night but was unable to test it due to heavy rain here over the last 2 days, local rivers are a bit nuts right now. We'll be having corned beef and cabbage on Saturday and sea trials on Sunday, weather looks like it'll be just fine. I'll post pics when I find my old iPhone 3, pics with the 5S are too big to post on here. Thanks for the flowery accolades.


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## frydaddy (Mar 16, 2015)

bucket head this is a new guy question. my boat has the same 3 seat configuration you started with. my plan is to have a small deck up front and back mostly for storage and to keep my dog off of the battery and gas tank. I want to open the center of the boat up by removing the middle seat. i have buddies like we all do who have not done this nor taken time to research it who say that will cause the boat to flex and pop rivets or worse. 

so here is my question if i run a support down the side. or use L or triangle shaped braces similar to some transom braces to build a gun box and rod holder on each side would that stiffen the sides enough to stop twisting or flexing? it is not a deep sided flat bottom boat.

forgive me asking a similar question to an earlier post. mainly wondering if bracing is necessary.


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## Buckethead (Mar 21, 2015)

I can't speak for every build on every boat but my boat does not flex with the bench removed. I stripped my hull and rebuilt the front deck in and the rear back in the way I wanted them. Along my gunwales I used 1" x 2" aluminum from the front deck to the rear, attached it through the top row of bench seat holes and used stainless steel button head bolts instead of rivets. I would do it this way again and recommend anyone to do the same. There's pictures on my build when I was there.


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