# New Member, New Boat- Kind of



## fm525 (Nov 9, 2009)

I just became aware of this website and have been poking around on here for a little while. Seeing all of the builds and all of the little customs boats on here inspired me so I started a project of my own. 

I am doing on this on a verrry limited budget and plan to take a few months to complete. I am not doing an major redesgn just re-building the transom, a higher and larger casting deck, and repainting. I am guessing I will need a 25hp motor- It has a 3.5 johnson currently. I am also going to make a policing platform for it. 




























I think is it a stumpknocker. I have no clue what year. its 14' 4". With a completely flat bottom it should float pretty shallow. 

I already have the front seat and platform torn out. I will describe more of that when I get those pictures.


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## tom_in_orl (Dec 9, 2006)

Welcome to the forum  [smiley=beer.gif]

Should be a fun boat. Looking forward to seeing how things go. Make sure you add a microskiff sticker to it.  When you get done post a few hero shots with some fish.


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## OSWLD (Apr 20, 2008)

[smiley=1-beer-german.gif] welcome welcome. that boat's got serious potential. keep us posted!!!


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## TidewateR (Nov 11, 2009)

slick little boat...tons of potential there. Good Luck! [smiley=beavis-bang-your-head.gif]


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

Very nice and with a littel work you'll have one slick ship. 

Looks like the trailer needs a little attention. Check out "trailering disaster" for a warning.

Welcome


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## fm525 (Nov 9, 2009)

I won't be using that trialer. I barely made it where the boat is beaing kept. I will craigslist a suitable sized trailer when the time comes. Here are some picutres of the deck being torn out. It was filled with 50 to 75 lbs of soaked foam and rotted wood. Whoever glassed in the front deck ran out of floatation and dedided to even throw in a styrofoam cup!


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## Ramiro (Dec 2, 2009)

i bild that same boat email me 4 pics great boat. [email protected]


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## fm525 (Nov 9, 2009)

Ramy I sent you an email. Thank you for the offer. Everyone else here may want to see the pictures too though. 

I have not made any progress in the last few weeks. Holidays etc. The old front deck is completely removed and ground down. 

I am having an internal debate about how to go about the transom. The only rot there is is on the very bottom of the transom right in the middle where an old repair had been. Other wise it is dry and solid. I want to replace the entire transom just for piece of mind when I end up strapping a motor on. My grandfather said I should cut out the entire thing, fiberglass and all, and build the transom from scratch. Most of the online tutorials point toward leaving the outer fiberglass skin in tact and grinding out the old wood. My dilemma is that removing all of the old wood would take me weeks of grinding with my 4" grinder. 

Any tips on how to proceed? Any good ways to get the old transom out withouth damaging the outer fiberglass?


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## fm525 (Nov 9, 2009)

Also... does anyone know what brand of boat it is?


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## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

> Also... does anyone know what brand of boat it is?


Don't try to grind the wood out.
Chip at it with a chisel and hammer. 
The guy who did mine did it like so.
He was able to get the whole wood in almost one piece out. 
Mine was only rotted about an inch on the top left corner.


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## FSUfisher (Jul 16, 2007)

> Also... does anyone know what brand of boat it is?


That's been driving me crazy since you first posted this. My girlfriend's family has the exact same one on the lake behind their house, and I just can't remember the name. If nothing comes up first I will check it out next time I'm over there.


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## Frank_Sebastian (Oct 15, 2007)

Look at the hull identification number (HIN) and find the first 3 letters. Then go here.

http://www.uscgboating.org/recalls/mic.aspx

You should be able to find the builder.

Best regards,
Frank_S


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## Frank_Sebastian (Oct 15, 2007)

The HIN should be on the starboard side of the transom. Please let us know who made it.

Frank_S


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

Posted by: satflat Posted on: Yesterday at 2:57pm 
Any tips on how to proceed? Any good ways to get the old transom out withouth damaging the outer fiberglass? 

Snooknreds2 is a pro at that...give him a shout. He'll be happy to help.


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## Frank_Sebastian (Oct 15, 2007)

Chances are you can take a skillsaw (battery driven preferred) and set it to cut deep enough to almost penetrate the wood and score it in several places. Then drive a long screw driver between the glass laminate and the wood. It should seperate without much trouble. Poly resin isn't listed as an adhesive and doesn't grip the wood like epoxy.

Frank_S


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## fm525 (Nov 9, 2009)

Thanks all. There is no HIN on the boat anywhere so I am stuck as far as that goes.

Frank, for the transom removal I was thinking scoring it like that would be that way to go. Getting the time to work on the boat is my biggest hurdle to cross right now. Thanks for the help I will be keeping everyone updated. 


http://stumpnockerboats.com/configurations.html
The boat bears a strikig resemblence to the the 144.


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## pole_position (Dec 5, 2009)

Yes its a stumpknocker for sure and as far as the transom if that is the only place where you have rot then i would cut only that section out. Dont mess with the structural part if you dont need to.
Awesome because I am about to dig into a S-Knocker project myself its the 166 layout and I am gutting it and fore and aft decking it, low budjet also , we need to stay in touch!


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## fm525 (Nov 9, 2009)

I am working the trailer angle of the project this weekend. Picutres will be updated at the end of the weekend. 

Motor question: I would love to strap a 25 2 stroke on the boat and call it a day, but if I find a deal on a 20 or even a 15 will I be un-happy? I don't ever forsee myself running more than a couple miles. Will the boat plane with a 15? what about with 3 people? What kind of speed can I expect with a 25, 20, 15? 

Specs: The boat is 14' long and has 60" beam. Competely flat bottom. I would guess the bare hull weighs in at 200 + or - 25lbs. 

Sorry for all of these questions, I just have never owned a small boat and really have no idea what to expect.


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## fm525 (Nov 9, 2009)

UPDATE:










I have the trailer stripped down. We had it tacked to the table while we were straightening the frame. I plan on moving the leaf springs as far back as possible and making some additional framing/ support in the back of the frame since the boat is a little long for the trailer. 

Next weekend new hubs & bearings, sand, cold galvanize and add bunks. I will be setting the bunks up like Brett's trailer with the bunks flat on the frame. 

Once the boat is done I will be able to move the boat around to start the glass work.


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## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

Are you going to keep the keel rollers?
And are you planning on installing a walk board?


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## FSUfisher (Jul 16, 2007)

If it's the same boat I'm thinking of, I would opt for a 25. You don't want planing issues if you have a guest or two and a load on the boat. IMO, a 25 hp would be best. Think of it this way: you'd be more happy cruising along at 50% throttle at your comfortable speed than constantly running a 15 hp wide open just to stay on plane. I also believe that boat was originally rated for at least a 25.


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## fm525 (Nov 9, 2009)

I was going to use 2X 12"s for the bunks since the boat is a flat bottom. I should be able to walk up and down those pretty nicely. I had not removed the fenders or rollers when I took the picture. The back two rollers are gone now and I left the front because it may be workable.


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## jongo8 (Dec 14, 2009)

If you look at the title it will tell you the year and make.
Unless you don't have one... Then you can't regester it.


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## fm525 (Nov 9, 2009)

Progress: New axle, bearings, bunks. Moved leaf springs to the the back of the frame to balance the load better. Reliable at highway speeds.


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## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

I ended up adding a center bunk to ease loading of the bow.
A square bow hull only needs 2 bunks, but the vee bow needed a third.
Lifting the vee bow atop the center bunk simplifies loading.
Otherwise retrieving the hull can get irritating.


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## Frank_Sebastian (Oct 15, 2007)

Satflat I think 15 HP (the engine in good shape) should make your boat perform well. It takes about 1 horsepower to plane each 50 lbs. Once on plane you can throttle back a little. My experience in that area is based on a lot of "flatiron skiffs" that my friends and I have owned and used for a long time. It is important that the boat is perfectly flat on the bottom.

Maybe you could get someone to let you test your boat with an engine you might want to buy. I know some fellows around here do this or won't buy the engine without testing.

Your boat looks very nice by the way.

Best regards,
Frank_S


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## snooknreds2 (May 5, 2008)

Made good progress on the trailer, it looks great!

For the transom DO NOT just cut part of it out!! You want to replace the whole thing, or none of it. By cutting part of it out you create a "fault line" that will flex horribly. I mean I guess you could just so the rot doesn't spread and hope it last longer than if you had just let it rot. 

On my Robalo, someone did that to the transom and it cracked right along the line between the new and old wood. Yea it lasted for a bit, but essentially it is just a big hinge held shut by the inner and outer fiberglass skins.

You can see in the two pictures below what I mean. The previous owner, or shop of his choice, simply replaced the top part of the transom rather than the whole thing and right along that divider line is where it cracked


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## Guest (Jan 4, 2010)

I saw this, www.transomrepair.com The guy used a chain saw down between the two layers of glass. Check out his method, might be some of it you can use.


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## snooknreds2 (May 5, 2008)

> I saw this, www.transomrepair.com The guy used a chain saw down between the two layers of glass. Check out his method, might be some of it you can use.


That stuff works! There is also stuff called nida-bond, made by nidacore, which is what I used for the Robalo. It is about 40% heavier than sea cast but also 40% cheaper! Since it is a smaller boat where you are concered with draft it might be worth the extra money, where as the Robalo I welcomed the heavier weight, and of coarse the cheaper price! I did my rebuild a little bit differannt than the chain saw method but you can check it out if yu want;

http://robaloboatowners.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=915

enjoy theporn and watch out for all the rotten wood!!


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## fm525 (Nov 9, 2009)

After doing some experimenting I came to the conclusion it will take a lot less time and energy to just cut the whole transom out and glass in a new one. 

Here is where I stand: I've got about six hours of cutting, sanding and grinding before I am ready to start laying out and cutting the deck and transom wood. Hopefully this or next weekend that will be done and I can start moving along on this thing. I want to be fishing by April.


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## pole_position (Dec 5, 2009)

I had the same boat in the 80s it was my third boat I ever owned , I started out with a 9.9 then about a year later switched to a 25 which is what its rated up to. The boat will plane with a 9.9 as long as you balance the load.But if you ever get a need for speed ,,,,,well you know.

It can get a little frustrating going up and down the waterway with boats blowing past you all the time with the 25 youll even the odds a little.


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