1st Airboat for hunting.

[DairymanNM]

I am looking for an airboat to use for waterfowl hunting. Due to the drastic drop in our lake levels my current boat is not getting to the ducks despite all my efforts to help it run shallow. I need a solidly built boat to haul decoys a dog and two or three (total) people over mainly mud flats with short grass when reaching the lakes end. As I am new to airboats, I am looking for advise as to a proper size, hp, and all the necessary items that I would need to have a usefull and dependable boat. Any leads to used airboats that may fit my needs would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for all the help and opinions.

John

 

[Anonymous]

This is an easy one and I cannot believe that no one has yet jumped on this one with an answer. Of course any answer will be strictly a matter of opinion and you know what they say about opinions. Anyway the following is mine.

I am going to assume that the "NM" in your name means New Mexico. That being the case airboats are a bit harder to come by in that neck of the woods . . . . or marsh being the case.

To comfortably haul the load that you anticipate you will require a 16-18 foot aluminum hull boat, with a 3/4 walk-around deck that has fully enclosed built in storage compartments. With a 16-18 foot boat, you can have two each large hatches and port and starboard with a large hatch and compartment forward just aft of the bow. You can stow a lot of decoys in that compartment. Also I would recommend a 4 foot solid grass rake. That rake will make your 16 foot boat a 20 foot boat and your dogs and passengers will love it for a variety of reasons.

As far as the engine is concerned, I personally would go automotive. Automobile engines are easy to work on, parts are available just about anywhere at an affordable cost. Compare an $80 automobile starter to a rebuilt $475 aircraft starter, with exchange, and we are not discussing fuel costs and the availability of AV gas.

Regarding engine size, if you are not partial to the Chevy 502/502, with aluminum heads that comes either carborated or fuel injected and runs on "premium" 93 octane, I would suggest the Chevy/GM Levitator 496 cu. in. that puts out approximately 454 hp and runs on reguar 87 octane fuel. Combine that with a 2:1 belt reduction drive unit and a 3 or 4 blade "wide blade" composite prop and you will have an airboat that will take you anywhere you want to go and bring you back again.

Just my opionion.
WaterLizard 8)

 

[marshmaster pat]

The use of the 496 instead of a 502 or 454 will cut costs down and just in case premium fuel is not available, you will not have to put up with mixing octane boost to get regular 87 octane up to stop the dieseling when you shut down with a warm engine. Otherwise you end up idling the engine for about 10 minutes to cool it off enough to stop the dieseling.

The solid grass rake keeps all (most) the grass out of the boat when running vegetation, especially the cattail heads and seeds. Get one grass seed in the eye at 35 mph or in the dog's eye and that has paid for the lack of a grass rake.

I would agree with WaterLizard that a 16 footer would be the smallest hull I would consider, especially for a new operator. Things get hairy real fast in open deeper water when waves kick up, especially in a smaller 14 footer or even a 16 footer, so that is something to remember.

Lots of the guys running Laguna Madre and Matagorda Bay in TX are running boats similar to what WaterLizard suggested. The enclosed deck and storage areas are nice but not a have to have option. It can add some additional costs to the boat if price is a concern. It makes storage a bit more secure, but can limit the amount of storage. A small walk around rail would work as well, giving you usable storage area from the front of the cage forward. Just some additional ideas for thought.

A buddy has a 4 inch walk around rail on the side that is great and the rest of the boat is open. With a 20 footer we can store 2 piroques and 120 decoys and still have room for dog on the front deck and three men with gear.

American Airboats in Orange Texas is the largest name builder near to you that I know of. The hulls are tough and have a great warranty. They are custom building us a hull right now. Check them out and give them a call.

P.S. for Water Lizard. - We are using those high torque toyota starters on our Lycomings. You can get the bendix gear changed out for either a coarse tooth or fine tooth flywheel for about $15.00. The starters are about $100.00 to $120.00 new and you can get it rebuilt for about $60.00 or get one of the discount auto part stores starter for about $85.00 with a lifetime warrenty. They don't last a life time but a new starter every spring is not a bad deal. Just keep the sale reciept, yank off the old one and bring it in for a trade in. We were getting about 100 hours off one store's starters which is not to bad considering the salt spray we run in. Found a local rebuild shop that does a excellent job and have not had a problem since. Probably near 300 hours on the current starter with no problems. Just need a new starter bracket for about $35.00.