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I was planning building a new boat using my old Sportjet 120 this winter, but saw this one for sale, and decided to go for it instead. It's a 15' Bratt Trapper kit with a Kawasaki 15F (4 stroke fuel injected)... with UHMW bottom. I can't wait for spring to try it out on the water, it looks...

Update 10/20/2020... I posted this whole mess of a project, still sitting around my shop in pieces, to the for-sale section: If you're interested: https://forum.tinboats.net/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=48140 Thanks!!

This project has just sat and sat, I don't see me doing anything with it this winter, so I'm offering it for sale. See my build post here for pics: https://forum.tinboats.net/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=24908 I basically stopped doing anything at the end of that thread, short of putting the 120hp...

The dimensions are a little unusual ...

This isn't mine... but I like the 3/16" bottom! Looks like a jetski powerplant? What do you guys think? https://www.ebay.com/itm/19-foot-custom-aluminum-boat/183438309259?hash=item2ab5c6778b:g:51gAAOSwCmlbhdLE

VERY COOL DRIVETRAIN... Looks like a fun project, I'll be following your progress. I had a 90 hp Sportjet 18' aluminum boat that I rebuilt the intake to be a tunnel intake and I repowered to a 120 hp Sportjet, so I'll chip in with any advice I can give as you go. The one piece of advice is...

I'm just debating options... I generally keep them alive in a bucket of water until I get them home and clean them, but I think a cooler of frozen/dead fish would be easier to handle than a bucket of live ones during the trip home.

I really need to fix my larger boat that has a live well... Thanks!

Hmm, interesting... I should get one of these. So you just wack 'em? Does that work for catfish?

I usually just fish for panfish, where I bring a bucket of water and bring them home live and wack 'em on the head with a hammer before cleaning. I tried bringing a cooler of ice so I could kill the fish in the boat, and put them on ice, but I caught a catfish and I couldn't figure out how to...

Nice boat! Got any more info, build pictures, etc...?

Yep, pay a welder to fix it. A lot of welders won't touch aluminum boats, though, so call around. They'll need to be skilled with tig to repair most of these thin boats. Short of that, you can use an aluminum patch with silicone or something and rivet it on with closed aluminum rivets... You'll...

That is an awesome boat. I am contemplating my next project boat and I think that a 1/4" bottom would be just about right. I don't know enough about water flow to predict how a sportjet would run with a flat bottom. My guess is that it would do ok, but cavitate a lot in turns and choppy water...

Does anyone know what Sportjet engines can be swapped around based on the shape & size of the "box" that the sportjet mounts to? For example, I have a boat with a 1997 95XR and I swapped in a 120XR and everything is the same. Are all sportjets the same or are there breakdowns for different...

I bought the last new one Mercury had last year, so eBay is your best shot. Just a thought, but if you're going to be running the boat a long time, look for a 95-97 fiberglass sport jet boat with a 120 that runs... you can pick them up pretty reasonable, 1-2k ... and use that engine and pump...

Here is the Fast Track vehicle.... fairly fast on land and water. But I don't think it'd handle rocky shallow rivers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWKbS99fBH4

I've had the same thoughts about a track driven boat. I think the top (return) track would be ok because it would be out of the water flow and cavitate, which is good. There's a video on YouTube of an amphibious car driven by two tracks that hits 60 mph if I remember right. But it is built more...

I think the 2000 Bass Tracker uses a slightly thicker hull than my 1997, but I'm not sure, and I think it may be all welded instead of rivets, so comparing it to mine may not be valid. Mine, I don't think UHMW would have helped much -- the hull is still too thin to be banging around on any...

Some pics of the event, in no particular order: Next morning when I went to retrieve it from the field "What is a BOAT doing in the middle of a field?": Here is the place we hit... just looking at the river, it certainly looks navigatable... but if you look close you see those hidden rocks...

Here are some pics from my brother's camera phone from the night. I'll get better ones off the real camera later...