16' Dixson Twister with a big touch of Chuck!

[George/Land O' Lakes]

All,

I finally found a recent pic of my boat. It started off it's life as a stock 16' Dixson Twister with a raised drivers platform and powder coated cage (which is for sale cheap cheap by the way).

After three seasons of redfishing, and two bottom jobs (FlexSteel) I decided to get a little creative. That's where Chuck Rackley fits in. I first met Chuck when redoing my bottom for the second time. I told him I was going to save my dimes and nickels and get back with him. This fall Chuck and I did the following:

Stage One mods to the 35 HP Briggs to bring it up to about 54 HP

Stainless Steel Cage and further elevated driver's seat. No fixed passenger seat.

Stainless Steel exhaust X pipe. This was an experiment and while it resulted in no apparent HP gains, it did reduce the exhaust note by 2 db.

A set of Chuck's stainless mufflers with flex and other needed stuff.

Diamond plate aluminum floor to replace the carpet covered plywood.

10 gal diamond plate aluminum gas tank

Three Blade Ground adjustable IVO (with the cool looking polished aluminum spinner) replaced the Sensenich wood prop

And that's about it. With the mods I've seen a 6-7 mph increase in top speed but more importantly, I can now cruise at 3200-3300 RPMs at 20 MPH. This is a 6 mph increase in cruise speed. Fuel comsumption is down too!

I couldn't be happier with this boat.....V/r

[Duane Scarborough]

George/Land O' Lakes,

It sure looks nice, and sounds like it performs pretty decent also.

How about looking for a photo of the diamond plate floor? I'm still trying to decide how I'm going to do mine.

Thanks,

Duane

[George/Land O' Lakes]

Duane,

I'll post something here in the next few days. So far I like the diamond plate and it saved me about 30 pounds over the plywood and carpet I originally had. It isn't as noisey as I had expected. Chuck used plenty of RTV Silicone before screwing it down and that has prevented any rattles in the deck.

V/R

George

[George/Land O' Lakes]

Duane,

Here's a few pics that give you an idea of the floor and the rest of the boat. I was looking for easy clean-up and light weight. When I have passengers, they used a folding chair that allows for lots of fishing room for two or even three anglers.

V/R

George

[Duane Scarborough]

George,

That looks very nice.

But I knew that it would. Chuck doesn't build junk.

It gives me another idea for how to do my floor.

Thanks,

Duane