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Advice on hull length

Bob in Canada

Bob in Canada

Well-known member
Thanks to everyone that has been so helpful to me over the phone. I live it a remote area of Northern Ontario , deep lakes, rocky shoreline ,some giant swamps. I'm coming to Florida mid Jan to try and find an airboat . A 14 ft aluminum hull with a 350 GM is what I was thinking. Aircraft powered is too uncommon for up here. My friends think gone nuts bringing an airboat here , but it might start a trend! Now the questions: Would a hull under 14ft be too unstable in deep water? Belt or gearbox in the wilderness ? If there is any "first time" advice you could give me that might save me from a bad experience or the wrong boat sunk in deep water ,it would be appreciated .
Thanks
Bob
 
A 13-14 ft hull is fine , make sure it is a high sided hull if your gonna be runnin deep water especiallt with a carmotor and gear box , and if it's a lot of rocky terrain you want polymere on the bottom just my advice I'm sure others will chime in
 
14x8 ft would be a good choice for a car motor/gearbox boat. If you are going to be hauling a lot of gear I would even consider a 15x8 ft boat. More square inches of bottom surface, more stability. safer in deep water. especially if it is your first airboat.
 
I would say 15-16 feet with deep sides. One of the wider hulls now maybe an 8' wide or a 7.5' wide. Likely a metal hull will suit your needs better than a glass hull.

Since you may be running some ice, I would suggest additional (more than normal )runners in the bottom with a couple of extra cross braces.

Thicker bottom than sides.

Off the top of my head I'd say either fo the BIG-TWO here would build ya a boat for your needs. Diamondback or Hammant both are top of the line Florida Built Hulls.

I wouldn't rule out American Airboats either, though they are in Tx. If your trip is for the purpose of buying a boat then a trip to TX could be worth your while.

Before you spend money on the trip and a boat, I recommend some time on the Telephone with the builders.

They all have had numbers posted on the forum at one time or another.

Certainly and by all means dont rule out Dakota airboats. They can get your hull from a manufacturer and rig it to your specs, and if Top Shelf is in your budget, have it rigged with a Waterthunder Engine, gearbox and prop.

Scotty :idea:
 
This is just the kind of feed back I was hoping for. "Top Drawer" isn't in the budget unfortunately . A boat that could haul moose quarters or a 45 gallon drum of fuel oil if it had to is more what I have in mind . What about a belt or gear box ? If you were in the middle of nowhere , 50 miles from cell phone service , Would you want a belt or gearbox on the back ?
Thanks
Bob
 
gearbox. they won't break a belt. they perform better and way half as much. we have them all over Alaska and Siberia so cold weather is not a issue. they almost never fail! either would be much better than direct drive. GTOAirboats builds a good boat to. check them out when you come down.
 
If your talking about hauling moose and 45 gal drums of fuel in deep water,I would definitely go 15x8 ft Alum. hull with a gearbox. like Dan said the gearbox is half the weight of the belt drive.
 
I also strongly recomend a 3/16 tempered bottom and 3/8 or 1/2 polymer on the bottom if your running in an area with alot of rocks. Also alot of people don't think about the need of extra stringers and gussets from the transom to the stringers. we have found that all of this is a good idea if you have rough terrain as we do here where I live. alot of experience with dented bottoms proves that its nessisary to do If ya will be running in this type of area. I agree that this all adds weight and weight makes a difference but if your bottom gets dented it will cause alot of problems with the way it rides and performs.
 
In 2000 a new friend of mine in Ocala took me out on lake George in his Caddy powered airboat . I was down for Daytona Bike Week that time with a buddy from Canada.
Being a small town boy it was nice to get away from the crowds and noise of Daytona.
The airboat obsession started then . Rick from Ocala and his family treated us like family. Airboat people are as nice as the old school motorcycle people that I've known for years. Thanks to Rick jr. for pointing me to this site.
Bob
 
Great advice given here. For the mostpart to answer the question you initially stated I think Dave (Waterthunder) gave some straightforward advice or at least what I was thinking.

As for manufacturers, in my honest opinion they're all good. GTO, Alumitech, Panther/Classic are great choices as well. Combine those with the two you mentioned and the other builders out there, you'll find everything from overpriced bling-bling to light-duty Florida style boats. But face it, all of em are in business still because they build a good product, and have earned their reputation.

The key in my mind here is dealing with a manufacturer who builds a boat to suit YOU. Just like crate engines, there are crate boats in my opinion. You're spendin your hard-earned cash.....You don't have to settle for a cookie-cutter boat that is what that manufacturer makes the most profit on. Of course, sometimes the cookie-cutter route makesthings more affordable, but that's where you need to do your homework. See who actually works with you, and doesn't just put their best salesman on ya.....Then I think you'll be where you need to be. JMO

Felber
 
Here a big one in Alaska. Dan is right I have several motors and Gearboxes in Alaska and not one single problem. In some areas People are scared of something new I have noticed every-time I hear someone say gearboxes break I ask them oh you saw one break and as always it's my neighbors cousins brother broke one! Anyway this gearbox has been out in Alaska for years now in the middle of noware.

photo151.JPEG
 
White bear brought up a good point I will say it's way easier to just build a heavy boat to make it strong but you give up performance you need to go with somebody who will design a better boat for strength just not throw more metal in it. I would run a 3/16 bottom and 1/8 sides. Something I know Hammant does that's sweet and they did on my boat is most people run a standard stringer Tb bar and on their bigger boats the just run all huge stringers making the boat to heavy, well instead of making all the stringers ridiculously heavy Hammant uses standard accept in the middle and on the two the rigging mounts to so they have three major heavy duty stringers and the rest are standard. I would want a 3/16 bottom in your area with some extra T bars and the center Tbar and outers be heavier! Speak to Doug at Hammant, , Dave at Alumitec, Keith at GTOand Bud at Classic. I have worked with all of them and they will build you what YOU WANT! Call them all and start shopping!
 
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