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Thread: Here's my old faithful mini airboat

  1. #1
    Super Moderator Corky's Avatar
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    Smile Here's my old faithful mini airboat

    Hi guys !!! Well I just finished up refreshing the old girl and wanted to post some pics...I converted the kohler 14 HP{K321} from a rope start to an electric start and added a bilge pump and a battery tray...This was my grandfather's boat and I've been using it since the mid 70s... It's a Sears 14Ft hull....It's going in the water tomorrow...
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  2. #2
    Super Moderator Corky's Avatar
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    Re: Here's my old faithful mini airboat

    The controls are simple...Stick on the right...Throttle and choke on the left as well as a watertight ammo box to serve the cluster/ignition duties...And yes believe it or not this thing planes out with me sitting in the seat{230LBs}...It was raining earlier and I forgot to take the seat cover off for the pics.....
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  3. #3
    Super Moderator Corky's Avatar
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    Re: Here's my old faithful mini airboat

    This engine is very reliable and is great on fuel...The new starter spins the engine over faster than I could ever pull the cord...Yeah, I know there's no cage on the front but it's been that way for 30 years and I've been known to trim some leaves from the low hanging branches now and then...
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  4. #4
    Super Moderator Corky's Avatar
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    Re: Here's my old faithful mini airboat

    Last one for today... Here's the new battery tray and bilge pump...I put a lawnmower battery in a plastic storage container and used some sprayfoam around it so it does'nt slide around in there...And fabbed up a fiberglass lid and a rubber cover for added protection from the rain...No more babysitting the boat when it downpours...With this narrow hull it seems if it rains 2 inches there's 4 inches in the boat !! One nice thing this old boat will go anywhere you want to fish...
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  5. #5
    Administrator Papee's Avatar
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    Re: Here's my old faithful mini airboat

    That steering was on a lot of boats back then. My old boat had the same setup. I think I even used it on my current hull for a while. I wouldn't change a thing on that old girl except for some wire on the cage as you mentioned. I had some good memories on my old boat like that. Mine had a water rudder on the bottom of the pulley.
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  6. #6
    Super Moderator Corky's Avatar
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    Re: Here's my old faithful mini airboat

    Yep, this one has the water rudder also...It's set up so it can flip up if you slide over the rocks...It actually steers quite well with the air and water rudders...Here's another pic that shows part of the lower rudder...
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