One of the boat dealers in town got in a shipment of John Boats that from the road passing by have a real good shape to them. What are the drawbacks using a john boat hull for a mini.

The ribs make it hard to turn?
They are usually to narrow? What is the least width you would use?
What other things can you think of?

Thanks in advance.

A hull should be at least 5 foot but I have built some boats with only a 3 ft wide hull. I just did a 14x4 with a 23 hp Briggs and 42" stick prop that works well for one person.

I was just going to ask the same question about jon boats. I often see them for $500 or less on Craigslist.

Don't let a thread die too young. :)

I'm going back 40 years ago when I was a kid wanting to build an airboat with a VW engine and a Jon boat.

I may be there now. Let's hear about those who have tried it, and how it worked out for you. I know it's not the ideal airboat, but I may be able to afford something like this, but never will be able to afford the idael airboat.

The smallest I had was a 14 ft sears Jon Boat with an 8 hp Briggs, 36x17 prop. It would plane out an move pretty good. It took some playing around but it got plenty of looks when people saw it planing out.