Recent content by Drothgeb

I do a fair amount of mig and tig welding on aluminum. Contaminants in old aluminum can sometimes make it a challenge to weld. Yours doesn’t look too bad. But I would definitely take it to a shop that has good experience with this type of repair.

Yes I have. With just me in it, it will do 25 mph. With a second person, it’s more like 22-23 mph. It does ride on the sponsons at top speed. But, they also act as a fixed rudder, so it’s not the best turning high speeds. All in all, I’m very happy with it, except…. when I use it on the Potomac...

I currently have a 112 lb thrust trolling motor with a high speed Kipawa prop currently mounted on the boat, it does 4.9 mph. Adding the 55 lb mounted on the transom gets me to 5.1-5.2 mph.

I have a Humminbird M360 bow mounted on a trolling motor mount, with the SI transducer mounted to it with a bracket I made. It’s only for slow speeds but, works very well. I have an additional high speed transducer mounted on the transom.

I used pressure treated for the raised decks on my boat. But, l keep a supply of pt plywood in the barn, so it’s been dried for months. And, I coat it with several coats of epoxy primer. Plus, I isolate it from touching any aluminum. For the floors where there could be standing water, I used...

I managed to get the boat on the water a few days ago. This was on a local electric only lake, so there’s not really that much to report. I was a little concerned about the weight that I’ve added but, the extra buoyancy from the sponsons made up for it, and the waterline is more of less where it...

I’ve done the conversion a few times on Jon boats, but it was with cables and pulleys. I assume you are using the Ezy system. In that case, I would just surface mount. If it really bothers you, just make some covers out of aluminum angle or tubing.

I got started on the carpet over the weekend. Just using the cheap stuff from Home Depot for now. Hoping to switch it out with vinyl later on. Still have to complete the control and steering cables for the gas engine, but it’s now ready use with the electric motors on the local lakes...

This morning I decided my front trolling motor mount was a little heavy, so I made another one out .090” aluminum. Much lighter, and seems to be plenty strong for a trolling motor and anchor roller. Only a few more things to do, and I’ll be ready to install the decking.

I’ve been really busy lately, but finally got a chance to apply the final coats of “Monstaliner” to hull. Monstaliner is a truck bedliner material that stays pretty flexible after it hardens. I did it for scuff resistance, to ensure there’s no leaks around the rivets, and it looks cool too. I...

They should be watertight. I was on the fence about filling them with foam. But the river has lots of rocks, and I have knocked a couple of holes in boat over the years. Finally decided if I knocked a hole in one of the sponsons and it filled with water on the river, it would be bad.

I’ve added about 150lbs to the boat, the sponsons add 150lbs of buoyancy to somewhat compensate. They also add 9” of width to the boat for better stability. I plan on flyfishing from the bow, so I wanted as much stability as I could get. They look like hydrofoils due to some of the lakes around...

I’m just designing as I go. This week I set pvc pipe for wire and cable chases, and started pouring foam. Filled the sponsons and some of the cavities in the boat, 8 cu ft in all. Poured most of it with 2 part foam, then topped it off with spray foam.

I got more done on boat this week. Bought batteries and a battery charger, then got started on wiring. Two group 29 batteries for power. Running 2 60a circuits for a front and rear trolling motor, and a 30a circuit to a small breaker panel for misc elec. Also worked on a bow mount for the...

I used layers of 1/2” pressure treated plywood for the transom (I let the plywood dry out for about 6 months before using it). The plywood and the boat aluminum were coated with epoxy primer before installing it. Three layers fit where the original piece of wood was, then I sandwiched another...