PolarKraft 1648 Duck Boat Rehab

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bhwadeuk

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Hello guys. First post here so still trying to figure this out. I read Richg99's thread about lurkers who should register and join the fun so here I am. From what I have gathered from my time here, it seems a lot of projects are geared towards fishing rigs. I am mainly a duck hunter with a slight interest in fishing so my project boat will be mainly a dedicated hunting and scouting boat. I still think much of the information and content on this site can be helpful for my end goal. Anyways, to the project at hand...

I searched pretty hard for a boat over the last few months. I stumbled upon this 1998 PolarKraft 1648 with 1998 40HP Mariner and 1998 trailer a few hours from my house. The gentleman I purchased the boat from was the original owner and purchased everything in a package so I was somewhat confident that he knew the entire story on the boat. Turns out that he was retired and hunted many days out of the season from this boat but had recently ordered a slightly larger 17' War Eagle. Upon inspection, you could definitely tell it was used for duck hunting, but nothing that couldn't be fixed with some elbow grease, tools, and of course money!

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Being my first boat, I am a little overwhelmed with what all needs to be done to get this boat the way I want it. I keep telling myself "one thing at a time". First thing I did was pull the plastic box to expose a piece of the original floor foam. It seems pretty waterlogged so I will start drilling out the riveted down aluminum floor today. This will also allow me to give this thing a bath. There are years of mud, sticks, and leaves in this thing.

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I always have enjoyed following build threads so I will try to update this from start to finish. Please stop by and leave any comments, thoughts, advice as I am new to this and may need it! I look forward to it!
 
I have a 1542 that i'm currently building for duck hunting. Progress has been slow, but I'll be getting more time with it over the next few weeks. I agree with what you said though, many people build for fishing. I'll be following your build because I'd love to get ideas for mine. The only reason I have a boat is for hunting! Lol.

I like the boat layout you have though, looking forward to the progress.
 
Welcome,

Nice boat, Polar craft makes a good boat, very durable, you wont be disappointed. Your on the right track, get all that mud and crap cleaned out of it and see what your working with.
 
I like the rear bench. I bet it's great for sitting comfortably duck hunting.
 
Thanks for the responses guys. The weather was good today so I decided to get to work. My first order was to pull the aluminum floor and get the foam out. I popped the heads of the rivets with a chisel and will go back tomorrow and drill the rest out now that I have a better view of how wide they are.
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As you can see the foam is pretty rough. There was also a considerable amount of sticks and mud in the floor. I guess about 20 years worth.
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Once I got the foam completely out, I took a shop vac to it and cleaned it up a bit. I will take a pressure washer to it tomorrow and go over it with some sort of cleaner, simple green or some such.
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I took the trolling motor and mount off, took the gas tank and batteries out, and pulled some old wiring that served no purpose. I want a clean slate to start with. I also picked up an outboard dolly for around $40 on ebay. It seems to serve the purpose I am using it for and will pull the motor tomorrow with the help of a buddy. I also think it could be a good stand to clean and repaint the outboard. The previous owner painted over the hood decals so I am not looking forward to getting that cleaned up and removed.
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The wife is out of town so I will have plenty of time to work on it tomorrow and over the weekend. I am meeting with my fabricator/welder on Saturday to go over some idea I had for some gun boxes and pods. Paint will follow after that, then electrical, then some hydro turf. Thinking about some hatches for the back V seat to hide and access the batteries but not sure if I want to lose the room for a seat mount. I guess I could mount them on the front walls of the V seat but I don't want to lay on the floor in the dark if something were to go wrong with a battery. Since its a duck boat, I am thinking the less clutter and breakable items, the better. Until next time.
 
The only reason I bought my jon boat was to duck hunt out of it too.
 
Got some good work in over the weekend. Pulled the old registration sticker, numbers, and factory decals. Pulled the motor set it on the new stand. Pressure washed the mud out. Have a couple of questions after going over the boat a bit more.

I was somewhat interested in possibly adding pods to the rear. However, there are 2 bolts that run through the transom where I believe the pod would mount. Based on their location, can the bolts be moved and the old holes sealed over? Any thoughts/suggestions?
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There is a dent in the bottom of the boat towards the bow (Rake?). My questions is can the by popped out or fixed in some way? The problem is that it is beneath the welded on deck and would be difficult to access without removing the deck? If the dent is not fixed will this affect performance? Is it even worth fixing on a beater duck boat?
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Going to start the fabrication of dual gunboxes soon, currently toying with design and how much money I want to sink into that project.
 
Cut a hatch in the front deck and use your foot to push that dent out lol

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I had a 1648 1999 polarkraft. Sweet boat! I miss it, but I ended up getting a flat bottom sled to run the river instead.

Anyways my boat didn't have a floor in it, but other than that, and a straight back seat, it was the same boat as yours. I ended up putting down 1 and 1/2" inch foam board between the ribs and covered it all with horse stall mat. Was a great floor, and if the foam got soaked I would easily lift the mat and replace it.
 
derekdiruz said:
Cut a hatch in the front deck and use your foot to push that dent out lol

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Yeah that's pretty much what I am thinking. I am going to look up under there to see what kind of hatch lid will best fit in there with the existing deck bracing.

rotus623 said:
I had a 1648 1999 polarkraft. Sweet boat! I miss it, but I ended up getting a flat bottom sled to run the river instead.

Anyways my boat didn't have a floor in it, but other than that, and a straight back seat, it was the same boat as yours. I ended up putting down 1 and 1/2" inch foam board between the ribs and covered it all with horse stall mat. Was a great floor, and if the foam got soaked I would easily lift the mat and replace it.

I like it so far, seems to be built like a tank with the double gunnels and whatnot. That V seat is driving me crazy trying to figure out the geometry of seamlessly connecting a fabbed gunbox with the angles of the seat. Good to hear you liked it though!
 
Framed up dual gun boxes. image.jpegimage.jpeg
Have hatch lids coming tomorrow for the V seat for battery access and for the front decks. Need to close up the boxes but think I'm going to prime them first while they are open instead of having to reach inside while they are enclosed.
 
Looking good! I think Pods would be a great idea for that Hull. As for the bolts you were referring to, you can pull those 2 and seal them off, just drill 2 new holes and put them back above the pod, they just help sandwich the transom wood with the inner and outer skin.
 
boat looks great! I notice you mentioned pods and had a concern for the existing bolts in the transom. For my build i took a ball pein hammer and just put a small dent in the pods to fit them over the existing bolts. I put a new transom in my boat so i have no concern for every having to remove it again. If you moved the bolts, i don't see that being an issue either.
 
Took advantage of some good weather and got some the base coat laid on the exterior, interior, and outboard. Ordered KEM 400 from Sherwin Williams in Cobblestone. Also got Major Brown and Flat Black to use with my stencils I ordered from Redlegcamo.com. Used a Wagner HVLP electric sprayer and it turned out pretty nice I think. 15 minutes to paint, 1 hour to clean the sprayer though!
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Been putting some pretty good work in on the boat lately. We have been blessed with great weather this winter here in KY so my expected timetable for completion is much shorter than expected. My wife is happy about that. I framed in the boxes using .80 aluminum sheet. I used a rivet gun to attach it to the .125 angle. It's solid as a rock and light as well. My forearms are extremely sore from running that rivet gun though. I am going to add 36" hatch lids to them once they come in. I also used some leftover aluminum sheet to enclose the bottom gap in the front deck so things don't come rolling out. I added hatches to both sides of the V seat and a larger one to the front deck. I will drop my starting and deep cell batteries in the V seat hatches.

I wish I had taken photos of the sheathed gun boxes before I primed and painted them, but got caught up and forgot. Anyways, here is the boat with the entire base coat laid down. This KEM 400 paint is no joke and goes on great with a sprayer. It does cure quickly so as soon as I was done painting I broke the sprayer down for cleaning. I have stencils to do a timber pattern and should tackle that later this week once it stops raining. I have to say that the cobblestone base color is really nice and were I not using it for duck hunting, I would probably just leave the base color as is. It looks even better in person than in photos.
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Got the stencils laid down this week. Wasn't too bad for a first timer. Here is the first stencil.
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And the second (final)
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I ordered EVA foam flooring for the front decking, floor, and seat surfaces. Have the 2 hatches for the gun boxes coming this weekend so I will get those cut before I lay the flooring. All I need to do now is add the jack plate and floor insulation, stencil the outboard, and then run my electrical. I am thinking.
1. Bilge
2. front LED light bar
3. LED courtesy rock lights in the cabin
4. Plugs for anchor and nav light poles.
5. Maybe a Bluetooth stereo kit.

Also need to refinish the trailer and replace the bunks and guide-ons. I feel I am getting closer though.
 
Wow! I am really liking this build. Love the dual gun boxes! The paint and stenciling turned out great.


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