# Jon boat draft?



## ol' superskiff (Oct 22, 2015)

Austin98 said:


> im looking at getting a 1648 grizzly tracker and I was wondering if any of y'all have one or a similar boat and what you can run it in and what it drafts around?


The one I have is a G3 1544, pretty close in size, with a Merc 20 2 stroke. Spent considerable time and $$$ when I bought it back in 99 to have it resemble the old flip pallot tracker so it has a little more added weight than a bare bones hull, but I don't think it has any real noticeable affect on draft or running depth.

I'm not going to throw a measurement out there because honestly I don't know. I will say stupid shallow on both running and poling. One of my longtime fishing partners has a 01 tiller 16' waterman (lucky bastard!) and every time we fish out of my jon boat he still raves on its merits. So much so he bought a similar hull and plans on rigging it in like fashion, even though he probably will never use it, he just thinks they are super cool, and they are.

Now, if it wasn't for that damn hull slap!


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

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The bottom pod step is 6" so it is a legit 5" draft with over 500# of batteries in it to simulate weight.
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Lots of jackplate, setback,tabs, tunnel and prop to get skinny. 
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My other boat is a 1652 mod v that I modified to pole around. It has about 300# of aluminum framing and decking and drafts 8" lightly loaded and runs in 3-4" no problem. Here is the initial float test with 9 deep cycle batteries to simulate passengers and gear. This was before tuffcoating the deck, trimming out and the center console. It had a 60/45 jet on it then I bought a 90 and had it modded to 115hp. It's for sale!


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## Backcountry 16 (Mar 15, 2016)

ol' superskiff said:


> The one I have is a G3 1544, pretty close in size, with a Merc 20 2 stroke. Spent considerable time and $$$ when I bought it back in 99 to have it resemble the old flip pallot tracker so it has a little more added weight than a bare bones hull, but I don't think it has any real noticeable affect on draft or running depth.
> 
> I'm not going to throw a measurement out there because honestly I don't know. I will say stupid shallow on both running and poling. One of my longtime fishing partners has a 01 tiller 16' waterman (lucky bastard!) and every time we fish out of my jon boat he still raves on its merits. So much so he bought a similar hull and plans on rigging it in like fashion, even though he probably will never use it, he just thinks they are super cool, and they are.
> 
> Now, if it wasn't for that damn hull slap!


10 4 on the hull slap that's what I hate about mine I actually have the flip pallot edition one your talking about not sure of the weight but I run a merc 25 2 stroke on it.


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## jimsmicro (Oct 29, 2013)

I have a Sea Ark 1660. Even loaded with a Yamaha 60 and 3 batteries and a Yeti it gets skinny enough to where there probably aren't fish to be caught if I can't pole/troll it around. It runs even shallower on plane. I used to run a Gheenoe Classic and I honestly feel like this rig has a pretty similar draft, and run even shallower than the Classic when on plane due to the tunnel. It puts me on fish in places most never dare to go. With tunnel and jet jons if there's water you can get there. Otherwise it's time for an airboat.


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