Lowe Roughneck 1755 Jet boat

Some of you may remember the mod on one of my personal boats the "HEAD HUNTER", If not I'll bring you up to speed. The boat is a 1755 Lowe roughneck tunnel hull, supporting a beast of a Mercury 90/65 2 stroke jet outboard. This thing is a rocket and running 6" of water is no problem. The previous mods were good for a while but it just wasn't what I was after. The purpose of this boat is to navigate some really shallow stretch's of river we fish, and it will do it but she was heavy, still running low 30's it was nose heavy and didn't react like it used too. I started the tear down before Christmas and intend to have her finished before March. Customer boats are coming in so I'll be moving her in and out the shop until then but I will be on it steady. The plan is a total rebuild, front to back, Permanent forward 19 gallon fuel cell, rear mounted dual battery's with charger, custom paint, hydraulic steering, the works. I know where I screwed up, I used .125 plate throughout the entire boat, it was rigid no doubt, but 1/8' plate is heavy, like 1.80 lbs.per sq. ft.The new mods will incorporate a mixture of .80 and .90 plate with more bracing. This plus weight distribution should get me back up to speed and better flotation at idle.

The Head hunter after the last Mods.....





And this is the clean slate as of last week.....

To give you and idea on the water level fluctuations, this is a shot of the boat sitting in the same spot the next day.



This is a 4' drop in 24 hours. This happens a lot during the summer and we fish a lot of overnight Tournaments in the summer so you can see the issue I'm working with.

Can you turn that thing around and get some pics of the pocket in the tunnel... Thx. Does the jetdrive sit in it like a prop would?

It sits like this....

stinkfoot said:

It sits like this....

Click to expand...

Exactly ^^^^ but mine has a 6" offset with the hydraulic jack plate, so I built a tunnel extension for mine. You can see it in this picture between the pods.




Got alittle done last night, got the forward deck framing in, waiting on the new fuel cell to finish this up. I cut the bow deck some to utilize the wasted space and give more deck room. It used to be squared off, looks better this way. Also got the motor removed to do some sanding for new paint. Rear deck is taking shape. The rear .80 bulk head is here, waiting to finish up welding the bracing, picking up the .90 plate Friday. Should look more like a boat this time next week.

Front deck before....


After....


Rear deck and live well bracing taking shape.

Very cool. ThankYouSir.

Fuel tank and fuel fill came in yesterday, trying to get a feel for the bracing that's going to be needed. Going to finish cleaning up the front floor for primer and paint. .090 Plates ordered to finish the rear deck and construct the 40 gallon live well. I gotta move on this boat the rest of the week and weekend, got another big SeaArk coming in first of next week.

Finished cleaning up the front bow area, got all my metal in and cut. Built the supports for the fuel tank. Front deck is complete. Hope to finish installing the 40 gallon live well and rear deck supports today. A good coat of etching primer and then its off the trailer and flipped for bottom prep and paint.

Awesome work :beer:

Well, that went smooth. Rear Deck is done, also got the truss built for battery support. Going to cover that with some .80 plate and screw it down. I still have some buffing to do but for the most part she's ready for primer on the inside. Hope to get at least 1 bulkhead in tonight, maybe 2 then she's got to come out the shop. Another Big SeaArk Mod starting tomorrow.

Battery support Truss....



40 gallon live well ready for water...



Truss installed....



From the rear...



From the front...

I did manage to get 1 bulkhead installed last night, Probably going to install the rear bulkhead also before I flip it. Customers boat showed up a day early so probably be a week or so before I get back on the jet boat.

Got back on the Jet boat finally. Got the hull off the trailer, flipped, bottom was prepped with zinc chromate, and 3 fresh coats of shiny black paint. The bottom had numerous imperfections in it from rocks we've "found" over the years, I got as many out as I could, a lot better than it was. I also Removed the old running boards off the trailer, installed new boards, new carpet and new trailer bunk slides.
Plan to get the boat back on the trailer tonight and start putting her back together. I got a huge live well to build and install in a 24/72 SeaArk next week, so I gotta move on this thing.

Got the boat back on the trailer yesterday, Also the transom area was primed and painted, installed the rear bulk head, installed the fuel cell support plate. Started primering the area under the front deck, ran out of primer. Set the console temporarily to see where the fuel cell needs to be mounted permanently. Plan to cut the rear deck plate tonight, and finish sanding and primering the console, and mount the fuel cell.

Transom paint...




2 tone float pods...




Rear Bulkhead...


3/16" fuel tank support plate...




Console...

Moving right along...Got the rear deck transom support plates broke and installed. Also managed to get the fuel cell permanently mounted. I installed a 1/4" rubber mat under the fuel tank to help cushion the tank and prevent movement then screwed it down. Plan is to get the rear deck plate cut today, and finish the console sanding and primering. I need to get my rigging tubes installed, I'm going with 2" rigid aluminum conduit up both sides, starboard will be rigging and electrical, port will be fuel and hydraulic lines.

Can't wait to see more progress on this. Looking awesome.

WOW that's some nice fab work looking forward to seeing how it turns out, I fish down at table rock lake below the Dam and the water level drop a few feet in a few hours, lost a few props and went to a jet and it worked out great.

If you fish the rivers around here you better have a jet, some ole timers still run props, but they know every rock in the river Lol. All my buddies run jets, mostly Yammi's but a few Merc's. Here's a low water shot of one of many rock shoals you have to cross to get to some good flathead waters. The gaps you see is where we run when the waters up, it'll come up a foot or 2 above those rocks but not much more.

I'm up the road in Halifax, VA. What river is that?

Yadkin/Pee Dee

I've been working on a trip down there for a couple of years. Each time I say I'm going but never make the time. Going mainly to check it out for bowfishing. I've got all the flatheads I need in my own backyard.

Looks like a cool river. I always enjoy seeing new water and sights.