Smackdaddy's "Pole Dancer" 1652 Polar Kraft flush deck jet b

[smackdaddy53]

I have a merc 60 so the foot is about 8" wide, based on design schematics per Outboard Jets, my tunnel should be 20" long, 2 1/2" deep and 14" wide. Problem is that my inside to inside rib measurement is only 12"...I am wondering if I can make the top 12" and bottom width 14" without sacrificing performance.

 

[smackdaddy53]

 

[Paul Marx]

Can you explain the 12" inside to inside you are talking about ?

 

[smackdaddy53]

Can you explain the 12" inside to inside you are talking about ?

The flat spot between the ribs is 12" wide.

 

[Country Dave]

Hey man it’s looking real good,
You stole the polling platform. I give you $151 for it. :LOL2:

 

[smackdaddy53]

Hey man it’s looking real good,
You stole the polling platform. I give you $151 for it. :LOL2:

Thanks Dave! I think I can let it go for $500...
I could not wait, I had to set it on the boat and see what it was going to look like...I like it too!
How about that extra wide trailer? It had a Shallow Sport boat on it and the guy had a welder build the trailer on a 3/16" C channel frame...I picked it up for $400 and it has a new 3500# lowrider axle, two new tires plus the spare, turbo lube hubs and it was not in bad shape. I took a wire wheel to it and stripped off the top layer and re galvanized the whole thing and added new bunks with teflon bunk covers. That was a project in itself...

 

[WildCard07]

Looking good Mac. I've been following your build. Interested to see how it turns out. I am thinking about doing the same thing to mine. I am new to this forum but I recognize your name from 2Cool.

 

[smackdaddy53]

Looking good Mac. I've been following your build. Interested to see how it turns out. I am thinking about doing the same thing to mine. I am new to this forum but I recognize your name from 2Cool.

I just got in from working on it today. Finally got my bracing complete and cut/fit my sheets.

 

[smackdaddy53]

I thought I took pics after I scribed my sheets and cut them. Oh well, I will get some tomorrow after I get back from fishing.

 

[cva34]

Just found this all .All I can say is Wow it looks great and plans look/sound good.. too ..You mentioned that power rivet gun ..I am in the finishing stages of by re-do and I used the small manual gun on 1/8 and 3/16 and the large long handled (like a 18" bolt cutter on the 1/4 rivets..They worked Great BUT if I was going to go it again I would for sure get a power rivet gun and give My hand a break ...after a day riveting your hand felt like you shook hands with a GORILLA....cva34

 

[Country Dave]

Slow and steady wins the race brother,

Just be patient, I know that’s easier said than done. :LOL2:

A good fabricator has to be able to make changes on the fly and I don’t think you’re going to have any issues with that. I’m a firm believer in build it the way you want it but I will say this much, you’re probably going to run a little shallower with the tunnel and float a little shallower without it.

Everything is a tradeoff. Same thing with my build, you can’t have the best of both worlds. I’m not going to be able to float as skinny as my flat bottom 1448 but that boat and all flat bottom non mod-V boats can’t run in a chop worth a chit. When it gets a little snotty out you get beat up and you have to go slow, I hate going slow. :LOL2:
Keeping the boat light, the float pods and a low water pick up and I can run pretty freaking shallow and float really shallow as well, but I can also run that boat where I would never take a flat bottom Jon.

I can run a cross a choppy bay, I can take it way out in the gulf and fish the reefs, that’s something I would never do with my flat bottom 1448. I can get and run an inch or two shallower with my other boat but for me the advantages of the 17 Mod-V far out way two inches.

If you want to run in three inches of water then a tunnel jet drive is the way to go. If you want a more versatile boat get a regular lower unit and on a jack plate and keep the build light.
Just my 2 cents brother. Good luck with your build.

 

[smackdaddy53]

Thanks for the kudos and advice guys! It is not the coolest boat to start with or even welded for that matter but it will be a cool project and should get me out to the fish...im not worried about the riveted hull either, the way I framed it there will be minimal flex and the Gator Glide G2 bottom coating (and ~10" up the sides) will take care of and pinholes but it didnt leak before.
With the dimensions of the tunnel there is not much displacement lost to effect draft and the float pods will take care of that little bit. A cubic foot is 1,728 inches, the tunnel's approximate volume is 700 inches at 20"x14"x2.5". A cubic foot floats 60 pounds, in the end I am only losing less than half of that, about 25 pounds or so.
Here are the pics of the trimmed top sheets and gunnel caps. The caps are 1/8" thick. I know the transom looks rough but I already replaced the transom on the inside and I am reskinning the outside with 1/8 sheet and the pods and jackplate take up most of that. The nose will get a new skin as well.

 

[smackdaddy53]

Got a little more done this afternoon abd I am taking a beer break. I cut the 1/8" transom plate and fit it to be welded over the old transom, 1/8" front nose piece to be welded over the old one and I am about to mount the motor and jackplate so I can see how to lay out my jet tunnel cutout. The actual cuts are going to have to be dead on...hope it goes well!

 

[smackdaddy53]

Got some pics of the bow plate after fitting it. I did not get around to mounting the motor, maybe tomorrow.

 

[TimRich]

Man that looks great! She's coming along nicely!

 

[smackdaddy53]

This is what Im shooting for as far as her rear end...

 

[smackdaddy53]

I got my motor mounted today and got a pretty good idea on how far back my tunnel should extend past my transom. It is a great feeling to see the motor mounted, next is laying out my deck to see where my console, ice chests and platform should go so I can figure out how many and where my hatches should go. How many of you have used the Tempress hatches and how do you like them? If they are not great, what is a good waterproof hatch? I know cheap stuff isnt good and good stuff isnt cheap so let me have some ideas if you have some hatches you like. I am kicking around the idea of one custom hatch in the rear to access the transom and at least six more on the deck. I have 14" between my stringers and as wide as the boat is to mount them.
I got to thinking about my fuel line, wiring, throttle and shifter and where thry are going to penetrate the deck under the console and come back out in front of the motor...on a flush deck I imagine a short piece of 2x2 aluminum square tubing welded to the deck under the console and coming out in front of the motor would be ideal...anyone have the same idea/pics of their boat? I know someone has done this but can't find pics of it. U have seen the rubber "boots" that slip over the cables but only in fiberglass boats.

 

[bigwave]

Man this boat is starting to look sweet. You asked about the tempress hatches. They are at the top when it comes to drop in hatches, they work great but one thing you need to think about would be the UV......they will fade and crack over time even though they use UV inhibitors, especially in the south Texas sun. I would suggest that you do a price comparison on aluminum drop in vs plastic. You look like your sparing no expense with the build and you obviously know what your doing with the aluminum. I would go with custom fabricated hatches like bassboy makes or make em yourself. They will never go bad and you can always repaint over time. I like how your making the deck......growing up in Corpus Christi I remember the flats skiffs as a kid. I don't ever recall one made with an aluminum hull.......great job. =D>

 

[smackdaddy53]

Man this boat is starting to look sweet. You asked about the tempress hatches. They are at the top when it comes to drop in hatches, they work great but one thing you need to think about would be the UV......they will fade and crack over time even though they use UV inhibitors, especially in the south Texas sun. I would suggest that you do a price comparison on aluminum drop in vs plastic. You look like your sparing no expense with the build and you obviously know what your doing with the aluminum. I would go with custom fabricated hatches like bassboy makes or make em yourself. They will never go bad and you can always repaint over time. I like how your making the deck......growing up in Corpus Christi I remember the flats skiffs as a kid. I don't ever recall one made with an aluminum hull.......great job. =D>

Thanks Big! I was hoping to make it one of a kind and very functional and it is taking shape nicely. I may go with custom aluminum hatches because for the price of Tempress hatches I could buy some aluminum C channel, angle and aluminum piano hinges and use the cutouts as the actual lids. I think I am going with Ultra Tuff for my deck, console and side coating so I could probably rivet the hatches and not mess with welding them because the coating will be thick enough to cover the rivets and small joints.

 

[RiverBottomOutdoors]

I put 3 tempress hatches on my last boat. All 3 leaked in the rain.