Coleman Crawdad

Does anyone here have a Coleman Crawdad? I've had one for about 10 years and the internal framwork/floor boards are getting pretty beat up. I currently have it set up with a bow mount TM and fish finder. I am looking to make some upgrades to beef up the floors, replace the motor mounts, and possibly mount some battery trays and a storage box. Has anyone made any similar mods to Crawdads?

Nope, But I am buying one this winter. I have a Basshunter, but Im getting a crawdad for sure. Too bad they dont make them like they did. The newer ones suck. I belong to another forum (local MA) and 99 percent use crawdads for car topper tournaments. These guys move the front seat back about a foot, Put a new carpeted floor, trolling motor like yours. Its the perfect boat for those litlle tiny tiny lakes.

Glad to see someone here has one!

i had a crawdad as my first boat.
i bought it new for $250 and got a free cooler in the deal.
I pulled out all the original seats and put a battery tray in the back of the boat in the middle. i put 3/4" plywood floor in and pedestal seats
it was a real fishing machine i did a few other things also.
My main motor was a 24 volt 3hp moor from sears and had a 45lb thrust up front

you can do a lot with those things i even fished the main tidal Delaware river in it

Wayne

Thanks guys. I plan on adding new floors, I'm just not sure how I want to go about attaching them to the existing framwork without drilling too many holes. My current floors are a mess. Jim, why do they move the seat back? Better weight distribution? Do you guys have any pics of the mods you talked about? I would also like to get a bigger TM for the transom.

They are great boats. Jim, you should keep your eyes peeled for an older one maybe. What is different about the new models? I've had mine all over. Super stable. I've even heard of guys shooting rapids in the fishing for smallies on the Potomac.

don't attach the floor , just leave the 3 floor pipes in place and set the plywood on top of that. I found 2 stop signs and used them under the floor as a base for my pedestal seats . i used carriage bolts to hold the seats in place. i removed most of the foam from the front and made room for my battery
the floating floor will be very stable without attaching it once your dad is in the water

Wayne

Here is the new model Yuk!

https://www.directboats.com/ozsanjonboat.html

ALL Plastic, Does not allow any modification.


They move the seat back for better weigh distribution, Plus more room in the front. You can stand much easier on it too this way.

Jim, I've never seen the new model. Looks like the "Pelican" style boat. No real mods possible on that thing. I bet its much heavier too. Looks like no assembly though. That is the problem with mine. When we put it together, a lot of the pieces didn't fit all that well. I'm somewhat of a perfectionist, I don't like things that don't go together well and rattle around.
Wayne, thanks for the tips. I had some plywood in the center of the dad before as a floating floor, it worked out pretty well. I want to intergrate that into the floors in front of the seats this time. When you took the foam out, did it effect how the boat sat in the water? I wouldn't think so, but just wondering.

You said > you found two stop signs <..... uhhhh.... those weren't planted in the ground were they ? LOL

If so, I know a bunch places I can "go find some"

Seriously though, those little boats are COOOL !

I'm quite sure one could land the next WRB from one

Peace,
Fish

I caught a bunch of fish out of mine.

the signs were never planted not a scratch on them they just showed up when i needed them.

removing the foam will not affect the way it sits in the water
good luck with the mods.

Wayne

Redbug I cannot see you in a crawdad?


You have any photos :LOL2:

no but it wasn't pretty i only had an inch of free board lol