4x8 Mini

[PineStumps]

My first build, an economy 4x8 build (already thinking of the next airboat build in aluminum uh oh!).

It is a homemade 4x8 wooden hull sealed with paint, 13hp Predator engine, and a homemade 43"x20" prop.

Yesterday some floodwaters came up on and turned the banks into a marsh so I got to test it in shallow and deepwater! Overall for what I put into it, it performs pretty well. Gets up onto plane easily at full throttle in deep water, stays on plane even at half throttle, doesn't run dry though .

https://youtu.be/VNGyVtfb_8g


Issues:
- Needs bigger air rudders
- A bit scary high speed turning, is that why some hulls have the chamfered bottoms? it feels like its on ice during a turn...
- After a few hours of use the 1/4" bolts sheared! I will hog out the remaining damage to the prop that will end up countersinking the hub to the prop. This time I will use grade 8 bolts not grade 2! No damage was done thankfully to working surfaces of the prop .






I don't think I will end up putting more resources into this build, this is more for testing the waters into the world of airboating. What I would really enjoy is building an aluminum 5x10 or 6x12 with a rotax motor. If polyed and with good gear reduction, I would think a rotax 503 from a sled could run dry? I look forward to learning more from this community and maybe showing my learning experiences as well!

[Corky]

Welcome to the site !! Nice first try...The wooden hull was the granddaddy of the airboat hulls and there's still plenty of wooden hulls flying around today... A homemade prop !!!...I'm adventurous but I've never thought about making my own prop...And it's the hardware's fault the fun ended not the craftsmanship of the prop so I'd say you did well with the effort...I'd think about keeping it simple and make up a single rudder for the steering duties{check out my kohler powered mini on this site}...You'd end up really close to the same weight as you've got there for the dual rudders it would be just like "stacking the two" together in the center using one single piece ...

Again, great work I'd love to make a quick and simple mini like that to fly around in...Heck, two would be a blast to chase each other around in !!

[PineStumps]

Welcome to the site !! Nice first try...The wooden hull was the granddaddy of the airboat hulls and there's still plenty of wooden hulls flying around today... A homemade prop !!!...I'm adventurous but I've never thought about making my own prop...And it's the hardware's fault the fun ended not the craftsmanship of the prop so I'd say you did well with the effort...I'd think about keeping it simple and make up a single rudder for the steering duties{check out my kohler powered mini on this site}...You'd end up really close to the same weight as you've got there for the dual rudders it would be just like "stacking the two" together in the center using one single piece ...

Again, great work I'd love to make a quick and simple mini like that to fly around in...Heck, two would be a blast to chase each other around in !!

Thanks! Maybe I should put together a tutorial for prop making? My first prop I made was for my snowplane, which I still need to finish (leaf spring suspension and aluminum skin)


I took the boat out in the river this weekend and I decided to put a homemade longtail as the usefulness in deep water with an airboat is nill. I think I've become a believer that my next airboat will HAVE to run dry! I have a prop now to hang on the wall tho!

[Corky]

Well it looks like you can make some fun toys !! The snowplane looks like an interesting ride..I see there's even a reduction unit {?} on there...

I'd like to see how you made the props so I'm sure others would like to see how you're doing it too...

Yes, any help for the turns is a big plus...I've got a small rudder in the water on my 13 HP mini and it helps with the low speed turns...Even a slightly radiused transom bottom profile will help "lean" the boat in the turns...And of course there's always the softened chines to keep the boat from "digging in" and trying to flip but it seems there's a happy medium between too much and not enough...Where that lies depends on the hull design..But no doubt about it wood would be the easiest for experimenting and making mods to get it right...