Another project to play with

[Bart]

at the moment i am fitting the old cable tray to the boat, i first was thinking of putting the edge below the G channel. but i didn't want to have any bolts on the outside to get hung up on anything. so i thought about how i could put an curved angle on the edge of the tray, so it would be a custom fit, and sit on top of the G channel. ended up clamping it to a 1-1/4" pipe and pounded out the curve with a dead blow hammer. just need to weld up the angle. at the moment i will bolt it to the back overhang and drill and tap it to the G channel. i could weld it. but i am wanting to see how it works, and some times it is nice to be able to take things apart with out to much headache. if it doesn't work out.
i may put a short piece to round it onto the aft of the boat. i am thinking with the slick bottom, when i let off the throttle. the boat should go forward far enough that i shouldn't catch the wake coming over the aft of the boat. ( at least that is what many have stated about these mini air boats.)
i am also thinking about putting a short cover on the bow also. just in case the nose ever dips into the water. (that is what the big piece of aluminum is for that is leaning against the other trailer.)
been thinking about a grass rake also. just trying to think of how to make the lines make a smooth transition. with compound angle the i have leading up to the bow.
it would be a lot simpler if i had an aluminum welder, but that will happen in time. but for the moment bolts and rivets will have to do the job.
i am liking this part of the build. for i can see an direction and how i am wanting to have it look. it has been good to think about the fit and finish over this last winter. i know that this is an narrow hull. and you can only do so much with it. but when they were building these hulls back in the 80's. i think they were experimenting just to see what might work, when I got this hull from my brother, he had another mini hull also that was even smaller. if my memory serves me right.
but with all this learning, i am starting to dream about building the second mini air boat.

[Coyotes-R-Us]

it would be a lot simpler if i had an aluminum welder, but that will happen in time. but for the moment bolts and rivets will have to do the job.

Man I hear you on that !!!!!

[Bart]

last year i purchased a few packs of the Hobart aluminum 4043 stick rod for a DC welder. i had watch a few things on the utube about some peaple welding with it. i had tried it on a few things and it just didn't want to melt into the base metal, and left a lot of gubbers.
i thought i would give it another try. this time i preheated the joint with a propane turbo torch. to between 200 and 300 degrees. but we had a good cold 45 degree wind blowing, so it was weld a little and and if i went to far, well you will see. but i was impressed on the inside joint, almost half the total weld looked clean and good, and the other parts, when the aluminum got too cold. doesn't look so good with the weld puddle not wanting to flow smooth and stick to both sides . (the pictures are of the poorer looking weld joints) but overall i am impressed with the penetration, i think i will pick up some more and practice, the other biggest headache is getting the flux off the weld. a wire wheel on a grinder works the best. just make sure you use a SS wire wheel, or you will contaminate the aluminum you are trying to weld.
the outside joint i ground the weld smooth and it looks like it should do the job. , and now one more item i can almost check off. i need to try this on a day when there is no wind and find a way to keep the heat contained a little longer on the base aluminum. and maybe i could make the whole joint look good.
this is an option i have been looking at. to see if it is doable.

[Corky]

Not bad for what you're working with there Bart...The panels themselves look like they'll look right at home on the hull...

[Bart]

i don't think i would ever use the aluminum stick rod for anything structural, i need to study up on it and see how it is compatible with the 5053 aluminum, the panels, i don't know what grade they are. but the price was right.
i have to chuckle a little about the water that came in the hull. as i was cleaning things up. there was 2, 1/4" holes on each side below the middle rib new the aft. so maybe most of the water that came in the boat was my own fault.

[Bart]

it has been a fun spring, wait it is summer. even with it getting light at 3 in the morning and getting dark after midnight, there just isn't enough time in the day. the job hours jumped up to 13 to 14 hours a day, it just doesn't leave enough time to do the important stuff, and it seems like it is taking forever to finish some of the touches on this boat.
this last week we had 2 days that got hot.. any way Valdez hot. and the vent on the fuel tank isn't working to well. on a brighter note. not all the paint has bubbled up. i remember some others talking about fuel cap on a certain boat tank not working to well. it just isnt a fun when you get off work and find a gallon of gas in the back corner of the hull. at least it skipped a day in between. i installed the rudder stop, just showed a picture of what could have happened if the linkage would have double back on itself. ( for the first trial run, i am so happy that didn't happen. )
i went simple on a rudder lock, just drilled a hole in the back plate of the boat and a bolt should do just fine.
then i decided to relocate the battery box. ( using the same battery for a 4-wheeler and other toys, and playing with the fuel tank, it got old having to unbolt it all the time.)
also have the bilge pump installed just waiting on a hard elbow to plumb in.
put a little anti skid on the deck plate, that made it a little nicer so the feet don't want to slide around. when driving the boat

the check list of things still to do
still looking at how i want to secure the control box. and incorporate a grab handle on the right side.
purchase and install lights.
put a hard cover/lid on the front 2 feet of the boat,
lighting and side rails for the trailer
some days it seems like the list could go forever, but it is fun just trying to find a couple hours in the evening to tie up all the loose ends.
then i look at all the other things that are piling up and need attention. but that is what keeps a person young. i cant wait to get most of these things out of the way and get my other motor ready to start up, and see if my additions to it will work or not. and all that comes between rebuilding 4 wheelers, lawnmowers, plumbing and then the everyday house entertainment.
i can't believe it is almost the longest day of the year again. time does go fast.
hope every one is staying safe, and having fun this summer.

[Bart]

Well I came home from work today, and I found that I may have lost my air boat,
my better half was out doing yard work. It was a hot day, and the bugs were out. Not a fun Combination
She looked over at that perfectly good fan, now she has a cool breeze, and no bugs.
It is a good thing I have a spare motor, now I have a good excuse to get it running
Life is fun

[Corky]

It's amazing how much air the prop moves even at an idle...I can blast pretty far when I rev it up...Just tell her to watch out for the bugs IN FRONT of the blades coming through !!!

[Bart]

well after working on 4-wheelers, trucks, snowmachines, i finally got the lights on the trailer and went out and played tonight.
i was thinking of going out to the gravel pit pond. but i am glad i listened to my son and we went to Robe Lake instead,
this time, we had a few more things, besides just a tool bag, like a life vest, & ear muffs.
i had moved the motor & seat frame forward about 1 inch from where i had it the first time out playing. as soon as i would get on step, and start to get some speed, the porpoise action would begin. so do i slide the frame back to where it was before? or which way would i want to trim the motor? but other than that it was fun. put the kid out on it for a while, and he couldn't stop smiling, he has been real good at "drifting" his truck on the dirt roads. but he is starting to get the hang of drifting the airboat, it caught him by surprise when he caught a wake coming back at him. he even put the nose under the water a couple of times. I am glad i put a cover on the bow of the airboat. or he might have filled it up.
attached are a few clips that i uploaded to Utube.
putting the side boards really helped out a lot. I did't have to turn the bilge pump on.
having a 4 foot wide boat, is not very stable, and the corners do dip as you can see. i need to slow down the video and see just how high the water is coming up on the side.
but with practice and getting the motor trimmed correctly, this could be a fun little boat. not much good for hauling much of a payload,
an other small item of interest. my son mentioned it also. for what ever reason. the boat will turn left real easy, but it takes a little' to make it turn to the right. i don't know if that is because of the linkage stop that i put on it.
it does take some getting used to it seems as i push or pull on the stick, it is not turning, but then before i know it. i am going sideways. what a rush.
i even had time to look at the couple of gauges this time, i think i blew the tach. it is stuck at 6000 RPM'S, and i think that i might running rich. my EGT gauges are not registering much of anything. i think i will be springing for a Holtzman tempa-flow http://www.holtzmaneng.com/carburetion-products


but then i haven't really been able to open it up for too long of a time, with the porpoise action.
but it is fun, tomorrow i should be able to get my youngest son & daughter out and playing on it. we will see what he thinks about it all.
https://youtu.be/vS5R9riifiQ
https://youtu.be/wfeckijHF4A
https://youtu.be/AlCdMtzai2U
https://youtu.be/8ht_cp6Q1Uc
https://youtu.be/UFuZQ8PMA60

[Bart]

what a fun day, found out in thinking about adjusting the trim on the motor, I didn't think about that enough. have to undo all 4 motor mounts, lift up the motor off of the base, then i can add or subtract shims. not a good plan, but i hope i don't need to do that to many times.
so today's agenda was to do a little more tuning. on top of that i felt the need to fill in some of the gaps on the cage, had some plastic coated chicken wire, so i zip tied it on, temporary of coarse. the kids wanted to see if the boat would pull a tube. didn't know if it would or not so we took a tube also. up to this point the day was going great.
pulled up to the lake, the kid jumped out to back me up. then it started on the slippery downhill slope.
a bottom bolt fell out on one of the rudders. beat up a corner pretty good. no problem. we could still play with one rudder.
so while i was undoing the rear straps, the boat started sliding off the trailer. one of the kids undid the front latch. just glad the trailer wasn't on the slope going down to the lake. we were able to stop it from sliding off the trailer. think we would have stopped on that note. but hey, why stop now.
so we got the boat in the water. I had decided to wait and start it up after i got away from the trailer. well i forgot to pull the rudder pin. and with the chicken wire in the way, i couldn't reach it. we are on a roll.
figure next time i better be wearing chest waders.
so we took a few turns on it. kind of fun with only one rudder that is offset. it would turn great to the left. turning right, that was kind of fun. ( thinking that maybe i might make a mount for just one rudder in the center of the cage. and have a spare linkage just for situations like this. )
well the younger son maybe was a little smarter than his older brother and Dad, he didn't want to drive it today. I don't know why?
but we did talk him into riding on the tube. ( i didn't tell either of them the rope needed to be another 50 feet longer at least, just to stay out of the prop wash. but they need to learn sometime.
personally i thought it might have pulled it a little better. maybe the chicken wire was restricting to much air flow. the motor was working a lot harder today, just to do anything.
but i found out that that tube has some drag on it. probably lucky i didn't sink the boat. i would turn a corner get enough slack in the line to get on step. but when i hit the end of the rope. i guess at least i can say we tested the frame mounts, or we would have been air borne. the boat would come to almost a complete stop. i wish that i had done this (when i got out a ways i stopped and let my son know that this was just to hard on the motor and he might have to paddle back) i can imagine the look i would have got both from him and my wife. but it still was a fun thought.
so we got back and decided to call it a day, only the trailer was listed at a sideways angle. but it all ends well. sometimes i let things go like that so my sons can learn what not to do. or do. to make life simple.
i know next time my son backs a trailer in the water he will choose a level area.
as far as adjustments i had tilted the rear of the motor up. about 1/8th of an inch and moved it back 3/4" of an inch. it was almost like riding a rocking horse. once it would get up on step, it couldn't make up its mind. i am getting the sliding or as the kid says drifting through the corners. pretty good.
so i took out the shims. slide the frame just a little further forward than what i had it yesterday.
turned a new pin out on the lathe. fixed the rudder. with a little metal bondo. who knows it might be hard to spot the damage. (lucked out on that one.)
but if i do go to a one rudder set up that would loose almost 12 lbs off the back of the boat. (so there are pros and cons to that.)

any way i had to post a couple of shots on utube of pulling the tube out and back.

https://youtu.be/VTvs3DBmCTE
https://youtu.be/qYVo3RFSpfA

[Bart]

the adventures continue, its my last full day off for a while, we had to go out and play some more, the weather was even almost sunny. it was a day of first drives for my wife Tina, 3rd oldest daughter Jessica, and youngest son Hayden. and of coarse Zach the showoff. the boat was running great, downloaded an app on the phone, using GPS to get the MPH. i had it up to 30 miles an hour. still dealing with the porpoise. but we are getting a little used to it. i think trim tabs are in the near future. there is a lot of grass growing in the lake, but for the most part it is 15 to 20 feet deep, so i havn't found a place to play in skinny water, as fun as this is playing in 10 to 20 feet of water, if we had some skinny water, that would really be a hoot.
and of course we had some unwelcome events, when Tina was out driving it. we heard a loud pop. like a rudder strike. but by the time she came back, it was on the back burner, then Zach got in, and took off. and we heard just a little louder prop strike, when he came back to the bank we looked at the prop. and sure enough one of the props had 2 good dings in it. I know we claim that that the mosquitoes in Alaska are big, (and a friend of mine on his small plane, has had bugs take out small pieces of his prop.) looked all over and couldn't see anything that was missing or came loose. so we decided to call it a day, the kid pushed me off the bank, hit the start button, and things just didn't sound right. i am glad i had a pull start.
this is becoming a family affair, the video of Jessica, she really doesnt like boat, but it put a smile on her face, and same with Tina, but seeing the smiles on their faces when they came back, made the last 2 years, worth it. life is just great.
Jessica's first attempt at driving
https://youtu.be/AxEjzqNAdYc
Haydens first attempt at driving
https://youtu.be/UGbpN-2ahJw

zach showing off as usual, at least there are no trees close by.
https://youtu.be/nW1tVmLyZzI

[Corky]

It looks like a blast !! Glad everyone had fun....Zach sure was spinning it around, the water looked like it was right there waiting to come over the top !! It appears to have plenty of power and I'm sure that hull is holding it back from it's true potential...Did you figure out what struck the prop ???

[Bart]

i had 2, 6mm socket head cap screws holding the starter motor to the motor. there was 1 laying in the hull, and it wasn't damaged. the 2 strikes i heard were about 20 minutes apart in running time. until i found the 1 cap screw i was thinking that it was the 2 screws. but i have looked the frame and motor over, and i still can't find another missing bolt or nut. (at times i wonder if it might have been a big dragon fly, but i am glad that what ever it was. that it didn't ricochet back at my wife or son.
it goes to show that loctite would be good on a few things. this is a lot simpler motor than the 084, not near as many things to double check. ordered 2 blades today, along with a new tach. i was hearing stories today about what others have used to repair nicks and dings in the props. but with as deep as these are, 75 bucks for a new blade is worth it. but man it was a nice and sunny day today, and the kids were wanting to go and play again. it is bad when on a calendar, you mark the days sunny or rainy, and since May i have only 10 sunny days marked, and this was one of them.

as far as water coming over the top. the videos show it rather well. i know if he had let off the power, it probably would be sitting on the bottom, and he is doing it on purpose. i have done a few of these sharp turns myself. in trying to learn how far i need to turn the rudder and run the throttle. with this narrow hull. it is a gamble. i know with out the side boards, it would have already gone down. it is kind of interesting to slow the camera down and really see how far up the water goes on the sides in slow motion, the other item of interest, is that when Zach or I have been out playing, we haven't needed to pump any water out when we came in and changed out drivers. but when my daughter and wife took it out, by going slower or not being on step when turning, there was enough water sitting in the hull, that it needed to be pumped out.
talking with Tina, about this, for she would really like to have an airboat large enough so 2 people would feel comfortable ( i would hate to see the cost of shipping a Marty Bray hull to Alaska) but thought process is now to widen this hull, build a new one, or maybe come across a (Mini)larger hull that someone has outgrown. ( it is getting closer to fall, and usually there is a spike in airboat stuff on the craigslist pages).
but it is kind of like driving a little sports coupe, it is very responsive, and as my son says it can turn on a dime. anyway don't mean to ramble on. but after sitting on this for more years than i would like to think about. i am just having to much fun. the funnest thing about this, is that so many people are scared of the idea that you can actually build a boat, but it gives most of us, a lot of satisfaction, to say that i put this together, and yes, i have had some good learning curves, and more are on the way. and i enjoy seeing what others on this forum had done and are doing to follow their dreams of building their own airboat.
be safe out there and have fun

[Corky]

You know, I stared at that pic for a while and couldn't see the starter wasn't fastened until you pointed it out...I'm not sure how I missed that...

I'm with you I'd want a new blade with that type of material it's not worth the risk with those two deep hits...I'm sure the tip is stressed more than it appears also...

I'm glad you found some fun for the whole family with your build...

[Bart]

don't worry, i was counting the springs on the exhaust, and looking at all the head nuts, and every bolt on the gear box and adapter plate. i think i even had my hand on the starter a couple of times, and missed it also. it wasn't until i hit the starter button. that i realized the culprit. i wish i could blame it on some big mosquitoes, and not taking time to double check the nuts and bolts on every piece. i still find it a little strange that it hit the same blade twice. my luck usually doesn't go that way.

[Bart]

so i got the new prop blades, and 2 tach's, a Tiny Tach and a Faria one. and went out and could finally see what was happening. also put new plugs in and indexed them. the motor is sounding smooth.
found out from what i was leaning towards, just past 1/2 throttle the RPM's were at 6000. a year ago i was visiting with ultra-prop. and with the set up i had, 3.06 to 1 gear ratio, and 15 degree blocks. he was thinking that i would need at least 18 degree blocks, and that, this might not even work.
but i was wanting to see what the motor would do with the set up that i purchased it in.
lucky for me, last year i came across some more gear boxes with some taller gears, 2.65 to 1 ratio.
visited with ultra-prop again, and with this taller ratio he is thinking that 15 degree blocks might be to tall, and might have to go to 14 degrees.
so maybe tonight i will get the taller gear box on and see where it all sits.
I don't know what I will do if at 1/2 throttle it will do 30, what will it do at full throttle??? this could be more entertainment than i am ready for. maybe i will be able to pull the kids on the tube. who knows.

as you can see, now i have some duct tape, before long, there may be a blue tarp on it also.

[Bart]

well i am so much closer to having this dialed in. i can almost do my happy dance.
it was raining all day long, and i wasn't really looking forward to trading the gear box out in it. but as i got off work it stopped.
by the time I got to trading it out, a 2 year old granddaughter thinks walking around the house and holding her had is more important.
so the 2.65 ratio with 15 degree blocks are keeping the max RPM almost 6200, i don't know if the neighbors liked me doing this at the house.
but it felt like it dropped the power curve down to around 3000, where yesterday on the lake it was around 5500 rpm for it to stay on plane.
tomorrow i should have time to run out to the lake and see what this will do.
where the specs have the max rpm at 6750, i am thinking that 14 degree blocks will be coming soon.
and that extra 400 prop rpms really make a big difference standing behind it at idle.
after running it up to full throttle twice tonight, and feeling the thrust that it is putting out. i am real curious about what the rpms will be to put it up on step and what a comfortable cruising will be. i am thinking it is going to have a wicked hole shot.
on having the 2 tachs, it was worth it to have the Tiny Tach, and know what setting is to be on, and then i was able to set the scale on the faria tach to the correct setting. that big dial is so much easier to read, i am almost glad that the tach i was attempting to use got water logged. and stopped working. just haven't had time to figure out what to put in its place. but i am thinking that a brand new panel may be showing up later this fall.
if i didnt have to be to work at 5 in the morning, i think i would head out to the lake now. it is almost like Christmas Eve. life is fun.

[Bart]

what a difference it made, with getting the rpm's in check, well it is close, now i am waiting on the 14 degree blocks. but it handles totally different. as you can see from the couple of videos that are below.
on a side note i need to get some new EGT sensors. the ones i picked up last spring well, they never really have worked, i guess the saying is true, you get what you pay for. with welding a boss on the pipes, i couldn't reuse some of the ones that I had already, (they were the clamp style)
anyway last night i put the ohm meter on them to compare. the old good ones are at 2.5, and the new cheap ones were reading 20.8. needless to say i got what i paid for. and some better quality are on order
then i was so excited about seeing what the speed was going to be, i turned the phone on to the app, but forgot to start it. but all i know is with just a little chop it didn't porpoise and yep it goes along at a pretty good clip.
https://youtu.be/ndyEOQvDqoI

https://youtu.be/-ItapjXUYrw

[bgmcl60]

Bart that little boat really surprised me. never thought it would run that good. man it goes good. glad you got it whipped. and that wild man on the second video look like he is having the time of his life.

[Bart]

it is surprising me also. when i picked up the motor, like many i assumed that it was good to go as far as the gearing and prop. but like i found out. there were a few changes that need to be made. i can see the frustration, that many have when they put things together and the boat will not get up on step. i imagine that who ever put this together the first time, sold it because they couldn't get it dialed in. and then it was passed on to a couple of others then on to me. i am just glad that there is so much help and information on this forum. this might not be the 084 motor, but it has been a fun & learning project,
so last night, the motor was running kind of hot on the top end of the rpm range. and there again, i don't think that this motor ever was put through the paces
that we have done this last week. so tonight i will put some bigger main jets in, to richen up the top end. in one of the videos, at the end, you will see the kid looking back at the motor and around. the reason was the motor was running to lean, and more or less lost all throttle. upon checking the spark plugs they were very white. just happy that there was not any aluminum flakes. put a little 2 stroke oil in the spark plug holes and dumped 5 more ounces in the fuel tank. got the motor running again.
tonight will check the compression. and determine if any major damage was done.
but i idled it for a good while afterwards, and it still sounded good and healthy maybe i lucked out this time.
an other observation. with using a temp gun there is a 50 degree difference between the front and rear jug, at idle. with the front being the cooler one.
so there are some skeletons in the closet that i still need to figure out and find answers for.