new guy looking for ideas

[3cells]

yamahauler,
I see what you mean about the upper lip, It's huge! think it's worth adding one?

[3cells]

P.S. This hull is really thin, so there's lot's of crazing in the finish, (really thick old gel coat) I'm thinking of reinforcing the really bad areas on the inside with some glass & epoxy. When I re-make the front deck it will help firm up too, it was part of the bracing and was sawed out, probably rotted. I'll sand down almost to the fiber, hit it with a couple coats of an epoxy primer, that has some flex, then a couple coats of epoxy paint, and see how it holds up. There's a lot to be said for aluminum hulls!

[yamahaulerG1]

No i don't think the upper lip is worth doing it's mainly for heavier motors that sit low in the water you can always add it later if you really need it and for the bottom my boat has a hinge bolted to the transom the other side is welded to a plate that i can manually adjust but I'm thinking of using a spring to push on the plate so if I run ground it will flex without breaking. That is also something you could do after the boat is running because I'm sure your build list is long enough as it is.

[3cells]

You're right about the list! I'll run it for a while, and see if it really needs a wave deflector, or a lower lip.
The sprung hinge is a really great idea though. I was wondering about the vulnerability of a small rigid diving board on the back of the hull! And it definitely can be done later!
I really need to get this beast going, I was just out with the wife this afternoon in the present (heavy) rig on the gulf, about a mile & 1/2 out, (beautiful smooth weather) chasing redfish, blues, trout, mullet and sharks.(Actually the sharks mostly chased us, but that's a whole different story) We came back at dead low tide, pitch black at 11:00 PM and almost stuck it in a mud flat, I felt it digging in, and was able to flip a power (sort of) U turn just in time to keep from having to get out and drag it to deeper water, we were in about 6-8" and it wasn't happy about it! I know the newer hull would have just danced over it, even under powered as it will be. the lighter wider, slippery-er footprint will make a real difference!
I just installed a tach and the max reading was 8500 RPM, which isn't possible for that motor, I think it defaults to 4 stroke, single cylinder so I'm estimating 2125 or 4250, I'm leaning towards 2125, as soon as I can decipher the owners manual, and figure out what I'm doing wrong, I'll update you. It seems to run comfortably at this speed, so now I need to figure out the actual rpm, then figure reduction advantage, & prop size and style etc. ,etc... 1 project at a time, just like eating an elephant!

Thanks again yamahauler! and bart & aerokirk, your experience and input is beyond invaluable, and greatly appreciated!

[3cells]

this was only part of the catch tonight, I really love Florida!
I have 2 special needs/diet kids that can only eat what we catch or raise ourselves organically, And, mini-airboating helps make it happen! I couldn't go out as easily or frequently with a regular big-dog airboat, to say nothing of the fact I could never afford one. I think they are going to gain in popularity, especially here in Dixie county, where it's mostly working joe sportsmen like myself, that don't have a lot of spendable income, but are heavy on common sense and redneck ingenuity! You wouldn't believe how many guys stop me to look at the clunky rig I have now, and ask about how i built it. They're amazed by the fact I tow it with a 4 cylinder Toyota Corolla, and I can launch it myself! It's great to have a resource like the mini-airboat association to refer folks to!

[yamahaulerG1]

Does your tach have the s1,s2 buttons it has 3 settings. I think to change the number of spark per revolution hold s1 until it flashes and press it again until it flashes 03 the default is 02

[3cells]

I wish it was that simple! I wanted waterproof and backlit, so, now I have to choose;
1-6 spark per rev. / 1 spark 2 rev. / 3 spark 2 rev. / or 5 spark 2 rev.
What kind of wacky motors are these things for?
The rockwell JLO/Cuyuna is a 2 cylinder 2 cycle, magneto motor, direct drive, so I'm assuming the spark is every rev. sooo... 1 spark 1 rev? Which is the default setting, which is saying i'm cruising at almost 2000 rpm over redline. I'm thinking the magneto has something to do with this, maybe a pulse coming back up the cable from the other cylinder, so I'm going to try 1 spark 2 rev. and see if I get some more realistic readings, let you know tomorrow!

[yamahaulerG1]

You will need to try 2 or 3 spark/ rev in order to bring those numbers down to the right rpm when i put one on my 2 stroke mercury outboard it did the same said it was revving 10000rpm with the default settings