2015 Alumacraft MV 1546 DD build

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chevyrulz

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recently, I took home the above 2015 Alumacraft MV1546DD hull to pair with an '06 Yamaha 25 2-stroke I scored off craigslist. I've been looking for one of these motors for a LONG time now, and I finally found a near new one, for a quite fair price, short shaft, pull start, & electric start too was a bonus! So naturally, I get this boat home & proceeded to drill lots of holes in it! 6 for cleats, 7 for nav/anchor lighting, 1 for bilge, & 2 for the motor. Here's the current look before any real mods begin. I just did the bare bones minimum that I wouldn't wanna be on the water without:

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below shows the bow cleat & nav light, there's 3/4" wood glued to the underside of this "duck bill" (or whatever you call the nose being flat like that), i assume this is to make your life easier mounting a trolling motor. it kinda ruined my plans for thru-bolting the nav light, but only because i bought bolts for .080 thicnkess lol. I did luck out buying long enough bolts for the cleat. this bow cleat & the 2 stern cleats are through bolted with stainless bolts, the largest stainless washers that can work with the distance between the 2 bolts, and nyloc washers. just like my last build, the plastic cleat itself is the weakest point, i cannot STAND a boat with a loose cleat & these ain't goin nowhere:
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I completely copied the Alumacraft 16 waterfowler sitting on the dealer lot when I chose my anchor light & bilge exit placements. unoriginal? sure, i kept telling my self it was for the resale value, lol. I was going to stick bilge tube over the transom & call it done, but i'd need to drill several small holes to properly secure the hose that way, so i figured why not just drill one big one...anyways, if you do opt for "thru-transom" bilge exit on this hull, WATCH OUT! i hit the crossmember at the top of the transom when I drilled it (an aluminum 2x3" i think, i didn't actually measure it, but if you need height measured, i can do that 4 ya). I was 1/8" too high with my hole, it stopped me dead in my tracks with my cordless drill & paddlebit. luckly, i was able to round out the bottom of my hole with a round bit & make up the difference & still manage to cover the not-so-round hole with the thru-hull fitting, so noone who doesn't read this thread or remove the fitting would ever know! also, the attwood brand thru hull, it's too short! so i drilled my hole then had 2 uh-ohs! thankfully the local boat store stocks a slightly longer thru-hull, whew! I went with black silicone instead of 5200. i only did this for color & cost, no other reason both are adequate for the job. you can get black 5200, but noone around here stocks it in caulk tube size, and black silicone is everywhere for about 1/2 the price of 5200. I will be painting the white fitting tan (eventually). also regarding the transom. There's no wood in it. it's hollow except for the structural framing within it, which I know to be for sure at least rectangle tubing at the top, and more at the bottom with a drain hole, between there appears to be just inner & outer hull skin & air. . i don't ever forsee having to re-do this transom in my lifetime. it's beefed up for holding a heavy 4-stroke 25hp motor. i suspect this boat would hang a 40-60hp 2 stroke without blinking (try at your own risk):

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on the above picture, you can see how I ran my nav light wire from under the rear deck, to the bow of the boat. i used extra leftover bilge hose as conduit for a cleaner look than the light wires just going down ziptied. I drilled a 1/2" hole (slightly larger) in the underside of the side tube (the top rail) to fish the wire through, the end of that tube dumps into the opening under the bow, alumacraft was nice for leaving it open like that. then once my wires were run, I stuck a 3/4" rubber plug in the outside of the tubing to cover the hole, mostly cosmetic, but it does help prevent water from splashing through the hole to the underside of my anchor light pole base too.

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as far as pondering before drilling, i definitely spent the longest on these rear cleats. i decided this was was best for my intended use, it maximized the area to step on, allowed me to get to the underside bolts (barely), & made it possible for both sides to be symmetrical without having the stern line competing with the anchor light pole at night time, they're mounted to the rearmost & outermost point on the flat part of the corner gussets:
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the factory rear deck hatch conceals the 6 gallon attwood gas tank, and the battery, with my switches on the battery box top. i had a proper on/off/on switch laying around for the nav/anchor lights, but i opted for separate circuits entirely since I didn't want to splice the 2 circuits together. it's easier to troubleshoot on separate circuits anyway. i oriented the switches to the placement of the systems they control (left=bilge, center=nav light, right=anchor light). this under-deck area is quite large, & locates the battery & gas tank forward enough from the transom to aide wait distribution & prevent porpoising (at least with the weight of my 2 stroke motor and 2 average size people sitting on the rear bench, with the motor on the lowest trim pin, I haven't upped the trim just yet):
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below, you can see that I pop riveted the anchor light mounts to match the spacing of the factory rivets. I had to either [A]find (or make) a perfectly sized washer to fit inside the underside of the pole clips for the rivet to bite on, or I could just clamp it kinda tight on the plastic pole holders with the pop rivet gun & then break off the rivet head & be careful when removing the pole light not to rip it loose. I opted for since the mounts were like $4, I can always redo that quite easily if necessary:

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the only other thing i did was cut the blue/purple yamaha stripe off the factory sticker on the sides of the cowling, last time i did this was on a 90hp, & it was a separate sticker, but i liked the outcome so i took the razor knife to my 25 since all was one sticker, & i hate when people "debadge" their motor, lol. so the floor, the deck & the "duck bill" are waaaaay too slippery. i have almost gone down several times knowing they're slick. it's fun fooling around with my dog, letting off & flooring it, but that's getting old & I can't image them covered with ice wearing waders if i can't keep my footing during summer. oceangrip, hydroturf, seadek, or something is in the near future. also possibly a custom fab gun-box, and tempress slam hatch or 3...i need some type of storage.
 
Sweet rig!
My Alumacraft dealer didnt have that one when I went shopping for a tin hull....
I seen theyve changed the logo for 2015!
HowSnazzy.

Im rockin a 25hp aswell. 4Stroke tho, but still.... YamiPower my friend.
 
15 or 20" transom BTW?
Could u snap a pic of the motor and hull sideways so i can see how low ur prop is vs bottom of boat?
Thx.
 
The cavitation plate is even with the bottom of the hull. It's a 15" transom but it comes in 20" too. The dd stands for drop deck, I thought I wanted the regular deck since it has a storage area under it, but when I saw it in person the storage area was so small I couldn't fit much if anything in there and most duck boats have a low front deck so I figured why not give it a shot. I like it so far. Much easier to get around in the boat with the low deck.

The hull has a funny story. Alumacraft totally screwed up the design where u put the plug in. Checkout this picture:

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I was like how the heck do u put the plug in?! From the outside?? Nope it wouldn't fit, I was like don't tell me a $3k hull I have to cut it up to put the thing in water! I took it back to the dealer and he was equally perplexed, he cut that support to allow clearance to put the plug in, and painted it up nice like it should have been from the factory. I told him to be sure and send a bill to the factory lol.
He had to do it to the other one on the lot too after I left!
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Will b following this with great interest...just bought the same boat a couple weeks ago and am just getting started.
 
so dwbiggs, did u have the same issue with the plug? & what are you putting on the back for power?

here u go leftcoast:

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Ihavent had the boat in water yet but I thought the plug was put in from outside the boat...this is my first boat though and I know little about it. I plan on running a 23hp mud motor on it...mudbuddy or copperhead. Just bought lights last night...same cushion as well.
 
not on any tinboat I've ever seen, the plug should go in the inside on a tinboat so you can use the redneck bilge pump (go fast & pull the plug)

anyways, if the Alumacraft welders weren't so sloppy, there'd be no issue, I'd have simply put the plug in the outside, but the plug tube was not welded quite flush & has gobbed up weld to make up for it so it ain't round enough to fit the plug in! =D> the important welds look great around the transom & the corner gussets, etc...BUT, the floor welds, & non-structural stuff, I'm pretty sure someone learned how to use a welder on my hull. I mean literally there are spots with mig wire sticking out of some of their welds that will cut u! [-X I made sure to ask the dealer bout the warranty, he said he hasn't had em coming back with cracked welds & that they'll stand behind it for 5 years. Another funny story on this hull is where they welded the keel. I almost asked for my money back when I put it on the trailer & saw it had foam sticking out there (bottom of hull). The dealer told me they ship them on foam & that's what that was, not the foam filled floor leaking out of a bogus weld, I doubt it, the foam I saw was yellow like the in-hull foam, not white, like the styrofoam blocks they ship on...anyways, I just said ok & took my boat home. The area I'm referring to isn't in the water on plane, so it's not like it slows me down, it looks ridiculous, but it's manageable for now if it doesn't leak...and it doesn't...yet. I'll have to post a picture, it's just lazy/incompetent, trying to make too many too fast, something stupid. There's a HUGE glob of weld where the keel meets the bottom of the hull, I mean straight up horrible craftsmanship, it's not a seam, it's a giant mound of laziness, & personally, I'd be ashamed to have my name on it. Maybe that's why they're using the "snazzy" new logo? :mrgreen: I'll have to put some pictures of the atrocities they call welding on here & maybe they'll get their act together in the future. Rather than give up my boat just before I need it most, after duck season, I will try to get Alumacraft to do the right thing & take this hull back to the factory as an example of improper quality control, & fix it & send it back or something, if they won't touch it, I'll probably just grind it down myself & pay the local prop shop that welded my 1436 bow's crack to weld it up proper, they only charged me $50 to tig it up nice, not cheap, but not gouging either & the seam was top notch. Alumacraft's decision on this will decide for me which brand my welded next boat will be. Either way, I'll still stand behind them on their 1436L, that thing is built like a tank for what it is.

Frankly, the Alumacraft welders should go visit the Alweld factory & learn a thing or 2. The Alweld hulls I have looked at have excellent attention to detail. The welds are as near perfect as you could hope for, & not just the structural ones. Anywho, the hull is definitely nice, just minor Alumacraft QC complaints I thought worth mentioning. I know it's not just the "lemon" excuse either, because I looked at 3 different MV1546 hulls & they all were the same. 2 were drop deck, and 1 was regular deck, each one had numerous "wyotech practice scrap grade" welds on non-structural seams. Prior to this hull, I never had a bad word to say about em!

enough complaining haha, as far as the grip problem, I still haven't decided on camo versus tan seadek, hydroturf, oceangrip. stuff ain't cheap!
 
Ha! Now I will have to look at my welds...d
Nothing jumped out when I bought it. Struggling with the floor thing myself...like seadek but not sure how long it will last before breaking down. Friend HSS Hydraturf and after a couple seasons his is starting to break apart. May just get some removable safety mat or something to try out. Trying to figure out how to install a grab bar...no side ribs to bolt it to...figure I have to go through the floor and attach it to ribs under there. Have u taken yours out? How's it ride?
 
Yep, I have taken it out a few times on the lowest trim pin. Just put my reg sticker & numbers on it last night. I'm about 165lbs, and my buddy weighs more than that & it jumped on plane no problem with both of us sitting in the back. it stays on plane with about 1/2 throttle possibly less, & it never porpoised once, even into a head wind at various speeds. I was surprised about that, and thought for sure I'd have to add weight to the bow, but I don't thankfully. The hull rides great, turns well, takes chop as smoothly & quietly as the 16' xpress my buddy owns, the foam under the floor really solidifies the hull & makes it feel solid over rough water & wakes. It's a fast hull for a weep channel hull without a pad (flat area center-rear of bottom of hull) because it only has 5 weep channels, some hulls have more than that, and while they add rigidity, they slow u down. this hull is plenty rigid. the placement of these outer 4 weep channels actually helps to center the boat on the trailer too, I setup my bunks to glide between the weep channels on the advice of the dealer, saved me $100 doing myself too, and took all of about 10 minutes with the Milwaukee impact gun to move each bunk outward an inch or so, lol. Next time out, I'm going to play around with the trim & the GPS speedometer app on my iPhone, I'll report back on that.

seadek & oceangrip seem more durable than hydroturf

hydroturf is softer & comes in a variety of colors & grip patterns, unlike oceangrip or seadek

I have no firsthand experience with oceangrip , but it's apparently about the same stuff as seadek under a different brand for a marginally lower price.

hydroturf is good stuff, it seems to be just EVA foam with glue on the back, same as your surfboard grip pad, or your jetski foot area, not exactly delicate, although not what I'd call heavy duty either...& I have read some hydroturf colors deteriorate from UV rays, namely the tan on their camo, and after 1 year warranty is up, it's your problem, not theirs...decisions, decisions & then how do i finance them? :mrgreen:
 
Look forward to seeing the GPS results. Glad to hear its a solid hull and you had no problem getting on plane. I am kinda worried about putting a mud motor on mine...the lightest surface drive 23hp is 140lb...hope it will prove not too heavy that it causes problems. May pick up a 2 stroke later on for fishing. Going to be wiring up lights this weekend.
 
30mph on the 2nd trim pin with 2 of us in the back, still no porpoising & plenty of holeshot.
 
Nice! Picking up my mud motor tomorrow...will have to get some GPS numbers. You got any more additions planned?
 
Got the motor today...BTW...looked at the plug situation and I have no problem with clearance to get plug on...guess they didn't run the stringer as far back.
 

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Looks good man, yea I figured something was up the way mine was made by the plug haha. If that stringer was shorter there'd be no issue. Lemme know how that mud motor pushes you.
 
The motor is on the heavy side...200lb...going to put pods on it. Dealer said there would be plenty of power to push 2 with a load. Will find out real soon.
 
so the back area serves a dual purpose as a cooler:
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forgot my minnow keeper so had to use my actual cooler as the baitwell, put about a dozen finger mullet in there after snapping this pic:
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caught an overslot red we had to throw back, then this keeper flounder:
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then a nice mid-slot red:
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the motor makes a decent rod holder til I install some:
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nother lower slot red finished the day:
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sheepshead around these pilings didn't want my shrimp, but I snagged this pic just before dark, cell phone pic with a poor photographer makes it difficult to see the shape of the perfect crescent moon:
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