Buckethead's 1974 Duracraft 1720

[Buckethead]

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

 

[jvanhees]

Nice work on the framing on the gunwales =D>

 

[Buckethead]

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

 

[Buckethead]

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.

 

[Badbagger]

Coming right along!

 

[bigwave]

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.

 

[meonline06]

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!

 

[Buckethead]

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.

 

[meonline06]

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

 

[Buckethead]

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

 

[meonline06]

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?

 

[Buckethead]

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.

 

[Buckethead]

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.

 

[bigwave]

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.

 

[Buckethead]

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 **** 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.

 

[bigwave]

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?

 

[Buckethead]

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.

 

[meonline06]

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.

 

[Buckethead]

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!

 

[bigwave]

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.