Intro

[Mud Chucker]

Hi all,
I've been reading on the site for a few days, and my head is ready to explode from all of the great information! :shock: I've never owned an airboat, frankly I've REALLY avoided it . The excuse has always been that I did not have the space for it.. Well that may change so... I'm starting to try and learn more about it. I started duck hunting this year, and spent a fair amount of time north of the Stick Marsh. I have a 12' jon boat with a 5.5 go-devil on it. Dragging that setup over the dike was a pain in the fundament at 4 AM, took me close to 2hrs to get into the areas I wanted to hunt. I'd rather sleep an extra hour and a half thank you very much. :? I expect some of you may have seen me out there. I also have a serious addiction for fly fishing. I've got a 14.5' modified V-Hull with a 25 hp kicker on it. I spend a lot of time south of Hell n Blazes on the St Johns. It's fun to see guys in their air boats scratching their head wondering how I got it back there. I guess the bottom line is that I like to spend time in areas that are tough to get into (people keep telling me I'm asocial, I wonder why?), and I really should own a boat that is a bit more appropriate. I'm a garage sale tool junkie, and love to build/fabricate things, why buy it when I can make one. Oh I guess it should be obvious I'm pretty cheap at times. :roll: I spent a few years in high school (20 yrs ago) working on two cycle engines for a living, but I'm not a "gear head" by and definition. I expect there to be a significant learning curve. I know so little at this point, I don't even know what questions to ask!
You have an awesome site here, and I expect I'll be spending a lot of time on it.

Bjorn
in Melbourne FL

 

[jdotson]

Sounds to me like you've found the calling! Most airboaters are the "do it yourselfers" which is why you will see many stand by their setups and builds no matter who agrees or disagrees. There is a lot of info on this site and it is all good.

 

[Geneva0550]

Mudchucker, welcome to SA. Come on in, sit down , and absorb the info. offered on this site. You'lle be bustin up the marsh in no time.

 

[MikeP]

Welcome

 

[goldhunter_2]

welcome aboard ! you will find lot and lots of info here and the people are great you couldn't ask for a better crowd.

I was like you until this season the water got so low I could get there in my little tunnel hull and park on the mud but the getting out was the Xwife! :shock: of course I don't believe in pulling nothing over the dikes (see video ) But you will quickly find after the first ride you are addicted to this contraptions


Double click picture to play video

 

[jdotson]

Yep....you're already an airboater and just didn't know it!

 

[Whitebear]

Welcome to the site Mud Chucker.

Yes there is a bit of a learning curve, but it isn't as bad as ya might think. You never stop learning in an airboat though. Just about the time you think you have it mastered, it has you whipped.

Glad to have ya with us. Hang around and youll get all the help you can inagine.

I see you are in Melbourne, might coinsider coming to the Airboat club meetings. Dakota has the info, I have a serious case if CRS and depend on someone else to remind me when to go.

Welcome aboard Mud Chucker

Scotty

 

[sLeAzY772]

howdy there mud chucker, im pretty new to the site as well but its a good one! lots of info to be found from here.... any questions dont be scared to ask- ill try to answer them but i dont know near even half as much as most the guys on here so someone will answer it- the only stupid questions are the ones that go un-asked

 

[Mud Chucker]

Thanks everybody!


"I see you are in Melbourne, might coinsider coming to the Airboat club meetings. Dakota has the info, I have a serious case if CRS and depend on someone else to remind me when to go. "

Unfortunately I have a conflict with that evening All of the clubs I'm interested in seem to meet then. I'll have to figure something out

"But you will quickly find after the first ride you are addicted to this contraptions "

That's what I'm afraid of! :lol:

Is there an "airboat 101" file(FAQ)? Maybe something that covers some of the abbreviations and terms such as "running the hill" or how dry is "dry"? After I get my bearings, I'll start to ask things like at what angle should a prop be mounted in relation to the bottom of the boat etc.? Walk first run later.

Bjorn