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Slimcowboy1978

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Aug 9, 2018
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Location
Eastern Oregon
Last summer I was given a boat for free by my friend because he couldn’t get the old Johnson QD-16 to run. First thing I did was to take it to the paddle lake to see if she floats.

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Well it floats and no leaks... I rowed it all over with great difficulty. Come to find out all the foam was waterlogged.

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Here she sets gutted out to a bare hull waiting for surgery

And here is where I was at with the build at the end of last summer. 40A703D0-9501-4479-9B9C-C55AFD09DD6A.jpeg53622003-B430-4336-8695-ED36A5339826.jpegAAF14E93-49B9-478C-8AD7-DEA9A9C96C40.jpeg5BBC70C9-6178-461D-BC3E-046A3651E4A7.jpeg

This summer I spent fishing her, sorry no pics of it in the water. I realized I needed to add more storage, reduce weight, and reposition weight to get the boat to sit back to level in the water.

But before work begins again on the boat I need to address the trailer... it’s about to die of cancer... it’s currently on life support the cancer is so bad.
 
Slimcowboy1978 said:
So far the only money in her is on gasoline
**************************************************************************************
So, that plywood you used to deck her with was free, too?
What he's saying is that the "free boat" will soon enough turn into an investment. You'll want to upgrade with different decking, perhaps newer seating, then have to add more storage, maybe a newer motor. Don't forget the rod holders. Then you might get ambitious and want to build a live well into the center section, and it just keeps getting "better".
Remember, "Boat" means Break Out Another Thousand.

Roger
 
GTS225 said:
Slimcowboy1978 said:
So far the only money in her is on gasoline
**************************************************************************************
So, that plywood you used to deck her with was free, too?
What he's saying is that the "free boat" will soon enough turn into an investment. You'll want to upgrade with different decking, perhaps newer seating, then have to add more storage, maybe a newer motor. Don't forget the rod holders. Then you might get ambitious and want to build a live well into the center section, and it just keeps getting "better".
Remember, "Boat" means Break Out Another Thousand.

Roger

The plywood was free, the foam sheeting under the deck was free as well.... I am putting an aluminum deck on in the spring time, the aluminum is also free. Funny you should mention rod holders and seats, I also got those free.
My livewell will also be a repurposed rv fresh water holding tank that was given to me in a camp trailer with severe water damage, the plumbing for the livewell wil also be free, but might have to buy the pumps (still looking for trades).

I have a 15 hp Evenrude in the works, im trading my time for it... if I go with a brand new motor that im looking at then yes there is a bit of money. I was offered 500 bucks for my '55 Johnson 10 hp by a friend of mine if I do upgrade.

The trailer needs rebuilt, but I can build a new one vrom scrap from work, so again free.

so all in all im out so far $0.00 out of pocket. Total build can either be $80.00 or $3200 depending on motor selection.
 
I work in a warehouse for an rv manufacturing company, so I find many usefull materials in the scrap bins. Anything I scource from the trash, actually saves the company money.

This boat build budget is super tiny. My wife didnt want me to get a boat because they usually are money pits. I convinced her that I could build a boat for under 500 bucks by using repurposed parts. When my friends heard about my build, they donated small things like seats and rod holders. My wive has agreed though that the motor needs upgraded to something more modern and has actully set me a very high budget because as she said it could be transferred from this boat to my next one.

Im not going to be updating this thread much u til spring... in the mean time im just sourcing more parts until then.
 
I lost my job this week, so my source of free materials is gone for the moment. Im still hunting for free materials though, just not as easy anymore.
 
The boat is going up for sale...

Just traded some junk for a 1964 14’ Mirrocraft Ski and Troll with a 1963 Johnson 18hp...
more pics and a new thread to come
 

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Boat is sold... the guy wanted the 10 hp motor and scrapped the rest of it...

Getting ready to get the MirroCraft in the water very soon... hopefully by the end of the week.
 

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