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Thread: funny how things work out

  1. #1
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    funny how things work out

    Well, I was really pissed when on friday at the last minute I found out that I wasn't going to be going to wildwood to the airboat show as planned. There were some projects around the house that had to be completed for reasons beyond our control. While at the equipment rental place I noticed that the guy in back was welding some fenders on an airboat trailer. I of course had to ask about it and the weekend took a turn for the better. It seems that a neighbor happened to have an older mini that he was interested in selling and asked his buddy to do some welding for him. As it happened , you know who, has been in the market for a mini. A few words about my quest, a set of directions, and I was off to a house that was not 5 miles from where I live.

    A quick introduction and it was off to the back yard to fine an 11 foot alumineum hull with a cage surrounding a vw engine turning a 60X25 two blade wooden prop. It has a poly bottom and of course the afore mentioned trailer, It is definitely a project boat, but has a lot of potential. The price was definitely right and I will be taking possession later this week. I should be able to have the engine running by the end of the week and I will keep the site posted as progress is made. The original builder was airboats by little John in Florida. Well, it is funny how things work out and I may have some breeze on my knees faster then I was expecting. By the way, I am just putting the subaru back together after a close examination and only found a small leak in the one head gasket and it should be back together and ready to run this week also.

    John
    Harvest in circles

  2. #2
    Administrator Papee's Avatar
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    Re: funny how things work out

    Congrats John, we will need pictures of course.
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    Re: funny how things work out

    Hey guys,

    Well, as life would have it, here it is 2 months later and I am just now getting ready to go on my maiden flight and see if this rig will get up on step and float. The engine took a bit more work then expected and life kind of got in the way of my desires. Pappe, I will send ya a couple of before pics to post and I will get a couple of afters up to ya this week. I am really looking forward to getting it out on the water and will keep you posted at to the results.

    John
    Harvest in circles

  4. #4
    Administrator Papee's Avatar
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    Re: funny how things work out

    I got the photos John. I'll add them to your post as soon as I get caught up. Busy day today at the office.
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  5. #5
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    Re: funny how things work out

    So...... how did it handle? Were you able to take your boat out this weekend?
    Chad

    Live life on the edge! It's less crowded and there's a much better view....

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    Re: funny how things work out

    Hey Dave,

    Sent some upgraded photos to your work addy

    John

    Spida, hope the weather clears and I can get it out in the next few days.....John
    Harvest in circles

  7. #7
    Administrator Papee's Avatar
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    Re: funny how things work out

    Posting new photos for John. Work, home, all the same. I work from a home office and my employees telecommute.
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    Re: funny how things work out

    Hey guys,

    Well, I finally took the boat out for her second shake down run. I am sad to say that the boat once again never got up on plane. I am sending a few pictures to Dave to put up on the site for others to see. Hopefully someone will have some input as to a possible weight or balance solution. There will be one of the boat at idle, two of the boat at just above idle and three of the boat at wot. The speed never got more then a few mph. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks for your help in advance. Chuck I am about 2 1/2 hours north of you, if you think a trip to you with the boat might help resolve the problem. When all else fails......hire the pros.....lol.

    John
    Harvest in circles

  9. #9
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    Re: funny how things work out

    Hey av8or, when i see your new pictures of it setting in the water, we might be able to make some suggestions. When it is setting on the trailer and anchored down, what is the max RPM at wide open throttle? This info will let me know more about the problem.
    Thanks, Chuck

  10. #10
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    Re: funny how things work out

    I'll post the pics as soon as I get them. Chuck will get you fixed up I'm sure. it's a little to hard to tell but by the one photo of it on the trailer, I put two straight edges on the photo, and it looks like the motor angle has it pushing on the nose pretty hard.
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  11. #11
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    Re: funny how things work out

    Posting photos for John.
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  12. #12
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    Re: funny how things work out

    more
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  13. #13
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    Re: funny how things work out

    Hey av8or, How much does the complete boat weight? As Papee said, the engine looks like the rear is too low. Try shiming the engine to make it level with the bottom of the boat. Near the transom, is the bottom bent in? If so, thats what we call a hook. It looks like it is too heavy and sets too deep in the water. What is the RPM of the engine at WOT? The metalworks also looks heavy. Get these answers an we can suggest some miner changes for you to try. Thanks, Chuck

  14. #14
    Administrator Papee's Avatar
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    Re: funny how things work out

    Chuck I just went back through the thread looking for the width of his hull and found this photo look at the bottom of his hull in the back.

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    Re: funny how things work out

    It looks like a bad hook to me. The gas tank may hold too much gas also. A bent in hull will cause the boat to push down on the nose too much.
    Chuck

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    Re: funny how things work out

    What I was trying to show was the shape of the hull. You were saying about it sitting deep. It just doesn't look like there is much flat area there to float the weight he has. I'm not sure about the total width but it looks like there is only about three feet or so of flat area before the chines making it sit low in the water. It's hard to tell by the photo. It does look to be plowing a lot though. That motor should turn that prop is the motor is in half decent shape. That is the same pitch I was thinking of using on my 084.
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  17. #17
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    Re: funny how things work out

    Thanks guys,

    I will get the data that you have requested in the next couple of days and put it on here for you to see.

    John
    Harvest in circles

  18. #18
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    Re: funny how things work out

    Yep, Ill have to go along with Chuck and poppy on their suggestions. I would make sure that there is no hook in the hull near the transom. I would also adjudt or shim the motor so it's more paralell to the hull, if nothing else, a little higher on the rear of the motor rather than the front. I would also try to shed as much weight out of the boat as I could. Weight is key! You want to be as light as possible. I personally would run my exhaust out high on the cage, thus not requiring so much flexpipe between the header and the muffler. The pipe rack that you added on the bow, would it be possible to build it lighter? It looks heavy. The bow is definately not a place where you want to add weight if you can help it. I'm assuming that's a leaning post for bowfishing.. Is this correct? How's about making it a little smaller scale such as a thinner schedule of pipe or smaller diameter even? I would recoomend a smaller battery, such as an atv or street bike/atv battery. Although I'm not too farmiliar with the cranking amps of your motor. I'd get a smaller/lighter battery if you could get away with it. Also carry minimal stuff in your boat. Only bring what you need.
    I'm not sure on the weight of your fuel tank, but you may be able to shave a few pounds by replacing it with a plastic tank. As far as the size of it goes, well that depends on your fuel consumption. If you go and look at photos of my spyda, you'll see that I put a huge plastic tank in it. My thought was that I only had to put as much fuel as I needed in it, but I had room for plenty if I wanted to run for a long period of time, such as frogging from dark to daylight or harvesting nutria from daylight to dark. This way I wouldn't have to worry about carrying spare tanks for extra fuel. Unfortunately this didn't work out the way I had planned. The large size of the tank having no baffels in it allows all of the fuel to shift to the rear of the tank thus putting even more weight to the back of the hull. This made the boat want to stand almost staright up (bow high up) for a longer than desired period of time before getting up on plane. My solution to this is to remove this large tank and go back to a 12 gallon plastic tank from academy. One of those red see through tanks, they are super light weight and cheaply priced. This should solve my problem. Your tank however looks to be 12 gallons or less, so it shouldn't be too much fuel weight. But I would recommend you to see just how heavy the tank itself is.
    On the other hand, I do disagree about Dave's complaint about the flat surface area of your hull. Even though the hull may sit a little deeper in the water do to design, I think that it's plenty wide enough for the application.
    One other thing that comes to mind is that fact that you said the hull has poly. Poly is fine as long as its in good shape with no hanging cracks, splits, bellys, etc.... This may be something you want to take a look at. If there's a split in the poly and it's catching the water when you're running, that could be like dragging and ancor.

    Just my two cents guys... I Hope this helps a little....
    Chad

    Live life on the edge! It's less crowded and there's a much better view....

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    Re: funny how things work out

    Hey guys,

    Well, I will try this again. Papee, you were right about the flat surface being limited, it is about 2 1/2 feet by 5 feet. The attitude of the engine is being corrected and the cage is being repositioned to correctly protect the prop. I will elevate the hull to check for any areas of cavitation and correct them. The fuel tank is metal and 16 gallons, which will be replaced with a 12 gallon plastic and moved forward in the boat. Chuck, I am still looking for a place to weigh this thing.....not much up here in Dixie county....lol.

    I will try to once again upload some pics, but in a seperate email. I have lost all of my text in previous attempts to combine them. The pics will confirm the problems for others to see and learn from. If you see anything else that needs attention, please let me know while things are apart. Had to include the cage in a tree.

    Thanks
    John
    Harvest in circles

  20. #20
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    Re: funny how things work out

    A few pics from today.
    Harvest in circles

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