Bass tracker II to Flats skiff

[Texas Grown]

That gotta chuckle! But would be unique.

[bobc]

This is a really cool thread. Following for sure. Are you gonna end up going with the pods?


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[Notaguide]

In for the finish on this! Rebuilt a older aluminum scooter several years ago and projects like this makes me want to build another.

You may have a handle on it, but water testing the hull is a good idea with any welds before continue too far into the project as previously mentioned . I've seen seasoned welders struggle with water tightness when working with older 5052 substrate and 6061. I had a few spots when repairing my project that gave me fits before sealing them tight.

[Eagle19]

This is a really cool thread. Following for sure. Are you gonna end up going with the pods?


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I'm not sure yet. I figure I can always add pods later. If I do add pods they will be able to flex like trim pads.

I just saw something about a new thing called zipwake. Going to do some research on that!


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[timoub007]

So I've read about this and have seen several videos where people add vents but literally see no change. So I'm going to wait and see how she performs and go from there.


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I built my boat w/o a vent and with a different style of tunnel initially. Then I tested it and was pleased with how shallow I could run but not the speed. So I did what any builder does and cut a hole in my creation. Literally I took a hole saw and drilled a hole in the leading edge of my tunnel. I added a sweep ell piece of PVC and went for another test ride. I could feel the vacuum the tunnel makes pulling the hairs on my leg in the pipe. When I put my hand over the end of the pipe I gained about 5 MPH (IIRC).

Anyway, go here and search my same user name. https://forums.bateau2.com/?_ga=2.20...558.1595384855

I eventually took a chainsaw to my boat and replaced the tunnel altogether with a better design.


I had a build thread there that I had a lot of pics in many years ago. Not sure if the pics will still show but all my text should still be there. The search will show where I tried to educate others on the tunnel too like I am saying here.

Would love to build another boat or three, but kids, time and money are all detractors right now.

Take care and keep making progress.
Tim

[Eagle19]

In for the finish on this! Rebuilt a older aluminum scooter several years ago and projects like this makes me want to build another.

You may have a handle on it, but water testing the hull is a good idea with any welds before continue too far into the project as previously mentioned . I've seen seasoned welders struggle with water tightness when working with older 5052 substrate and 6061. I had a few spots when repairing my project that gave me fits before sealing them tight.

Yeah that's the plan. I already water tested once inside the boat. Had 5 spots that leaked. 2 of them were actual holes in the hull from electrolises where the boat sat on carpeted 2x4's for so long. I'm pretty sure I got 2 of them covered after I welded the tunnel with a bead from the inside. I'm going to water test inside again.

My biggest problem is I've got two big holes in the sides of the hull from the old livewells. I'm waiting for drain plugs to come in but even then, those won't be water right until paint. I want to paint and then silicone the plugs in.

So I'm having to teeter totter the boat on the trailer to test inside. I may see if after I weld the bait well holes closed if I can head out to a lake to pressure test. I know there's a difference on leaks when done filling up vs standing in the boat creating pressure.


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[Eagle19]

I built my boat w/o a vent and with a different style of tunnel initially. Then I tested it and was pleased with how shallow I could run but not the speed. So I did what any builder does and cut a hole in my creation. Literally I took a hole saw and drilled a hole in the leading edge of my tunnel. I added a sweep ell piece of PVC and went for another test ride. I could feel the vacuum the tunnel makes pulling the hairs on my leg in the pipe. When I put my hand over the end of the pipe I gained about 5 MPH (IIRC).

Anyway, go here and search my same user name. https://forums.bateau2.com/?_ga=2.20...558.1595384855

I eventually took a chainsaw to my boat and replaced the tunnel altogether with a better design.


I had a build thread there that I had a lot of pics in many years ago. Not sure if the pics will still show but all my text should still be there. The search will show where I tried to educate others on the tunnel too like I am saying here.

Would love to build another boat or three, but kids, time and money are all detractors right now.

Take care and keep making progress.
Tim

Lots of good stuff to read there. Wish I had saw it before the build!

My tunnel is about 12" at the mouth. At exit the top part is 8" and slopes down to 12" wide at the very bottom. I'll be curious to see how it runs compared to yours. The funnel is not as agressive. Worst case rewelding the tunnel wouldn't be that hard.

When you would vent the tunnel did you have it spitting out through the transom? While I get that it vents air while running I would assume that coming off a plane would shoot water in?


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[timoub007]

Yes, I attached a hose to it and intended on running it to a thru-hull out the transom. In reality I just put a few feet of hose on there an laid it under my seat towards the transom (will make sense if you look how I built my rear seats).
When I come off plane some water will rise in the hose but typically not enough to come out the end.
My boats static draft is only about 3-4" so that helps too.

Like I said before, some people bother with putting a valve in the hose. You can get on plane a little more shallow with it closed (not vented) but then gain speed and efficiency if you open the valve while on plane. I can hear the RPMs of my outboard change if I block the hose.

Happy to help you or others if I can.
T

[Eagle19]

Well the tropical storm is coming through now. Which sucks on multiple ends. I think two full work days could have me ready for paint.

I took the top cap off the boat and tackish welded on the spray rails. Enough weld to hold it in place but not enough to make it permanent. I wanted to get it on top of the boat and make sure the splash rails had good lines down the side and bend them if need be.

Went to try and put it on the boat and it's just too heavy/wide to try and put it on myself. Unfortunately, my college neighbors were all still asleep at 12pm. The other side to that is with these winds coming I would rather have the too laying flat in the driveway and not have the risk of it catching wind.



The good news is the top is stout.

I've ran into a road block with the hitch reciever idea. I can't find an aluminum hitch reciever anywhere. All the metal suppliers I went to didn't have any square tubing to see what I could get. So my next thought was just buy a bolt on steel hitch reciever and go that route. Then I thought more on it today only to realize that would be a bad idea for saltwater use. The way I would install it would be a nightmare to change out down the road if it rusted out. So the search for a reciever size aluminum square tube is on.


With all this rain the this week I will probably work on getting the motor with the extension kit back together.


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[Texas Grown]

. This is the place I use most often since they have a store just north of Ft. Worth. They do shipping as well. They are a bit expensive. But were cheap before being bought out about a year ago. They carry a lot of different sizes/shapes of tubing in different materials.

https://www.coremarkmetals.com/?utm_source=discountsteel.com

And here are a couple more. Book mark them all so you'll havem later.



https://www.onealsteel.com/ (multi metal dealer/fabricator)


https://www.rsac.com/ (very large company that carries a lot when "Alcoa" can't get it to you)

https://www.alcoa.com/global/en/home.asp

[kmack]

Or if Austin/San Antonio is closer to you....

Westbrook Metals

[Eagle19]

Double checked for leaks yesterday and cleaned up the bottom of the hull.

I got some total boat aluminum epoxy “rivet” sealer. I applied it to the hull in areas where corrosion was causing pitting. There was a little pitting all across the bottom of the boat. But not enough to worry about. The heavily pitted areas were where the carpeted bunks were. I’ll sand some of the epoxy down before I put on coat-it, but since it’s on the bottom I’m not too worried about it being pretty.



I also picked up the topside paint today. Went with flat olive branch gold. Bottom half will be black epoxy paint. I had a hard time between the caramel gold and the olive branch. I think I liked caramel better. But when it comes to duck hunting the darker the color the better.




Going to put the coat-it on this afternoon. Even though my trailer is galvanized I just hate the way they look. So I’m going to put a rubber coating on it. I’m also going to remove the bunks, and put on treated lumber. I have some plastic pieces that will be screwed on but they are on the way from amazon. But since the coat it has graphite it should be able to slide on and off pretty easily.


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[Eagle19]

Haven’t posted in a bit.

Finally starting to wrap up the topside. Work has been getting in the way lately.

Added the receiver hitch aluminum today.

Should wrap up the splash rail tomorrow night.

Then paint prep starts next week.




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[Grulla]

That’s slick

[Palmetto]

Dude.....your spoon feeding us here! Come on with some more pics!

Progress looks great.