# McKee Craft Model A



## cwalden (Jun 24, 2011)

I have found a neat little skiff that I am thinking about buying. It is a McKee Craft Model A. I cant seem to find any info about them I looks just like a McKee Classic 14. Anyone ever heard of this model or have anyting godd or bad to say about the 14ft skiffs. Not interested in hearing that I should look for any other skiffs. This one is a for a great price. If I dont buy it, I'm not buying anything else at this time. 

Also, did McKee go out of business? I cant seem to find any current info on them either...


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

Not sure about the model, but they have been out of business for 10 years or so.


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## RRobinson (Oct 5, 2011)

I grew up with a 14' Mckee, and now I have one that I am restoring....which I think is not a very smart or cost effective quest. But, boats rarely are.

When you see "Mckee", just think "Whaler". Same design, same strengths, same weaknesses. Huge, very active forum at Classic Whaler or Boston Whaler.com or something like that....

Bulltet proof. Very Stable. Can turn it into two boats by cutting it in half! Rough ride in a chop. Older ones have water soaked foam (like mine) which is a lot heavier than you think. I pulled over 200 pounds of the NASTY stuff out of mine. Some people say you can drill holes at bottom of transom and let water drain for a long period of time. This is B.S....as in not true. Hull weight on a dry boat is somewhere around 350 lbs. Add for motor, trailer, and whatever else is on the boat and weigh it at the county dump. If its about 200-300 heavier than it should be, take what you can and leave the boat.

Unless the boat is free....and you have lots of spare time...and extra money...and a place to make a huge freakin mess....and an understanding or ignorant wife


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## cwalden (Jun 24, 2011)

The water soaked foam is what I am afraid of...  :-/
This one is a VERY early one, but looks like it was garage kept.  Hull is shiney, cap not faded, wooden seats still intact and decent looking.  Even the McKee emblems are not cracked, chipped or faded.  Never seen that before!  Looks to be in very nice unrestored condidtion.  And he only wants $750.  Problem is, it's a 6 hour drive to go look/get it and 6 hour drive back...     I need to be pretty darn sure there is no water intrusion before I commit to 12 hours of driving...

I'm just not willing to spend what a Mckee/Whaler/Carolina normally costs at this time...  I have been patiently waiting for a deal to come down the pipe like this.  I've missed a couple already that were listed early in the week and I couldn't get to them before the weekend...  GONE!  

Oh, and they were in business as of 2011...  I hav e seen several of their larger boats for sale.  And a company rep was active on "The Hull Truth" forum as of last year as well...


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

oops, you are right I looked up McGee crafts by mistake. Seems a battle has been waged between the family and the partner they took on to try to save the business, however I think at least for now they are shut down.
6hrs is a long drive, post up a picture, there may be a newer boat similar that can be had. Dealing with wet foam would turn me away too.


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## cwalden (Jun 24, 2011)

> 6hrs is a long drive, post up a picture, there may be a newer boat similar that can be had. Dealing with wet foam would turn me away too.


Owner says it has been garage kept all of it's life. And it's the only tiller model that I have ever seen...


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## RRobinson (Oct 5, 2011)

Looks pretty clean! Figure out a way to weigh it. Since there is nothing on the boat, motor or otherwise, I think a rough estimate would be if you can pick it up a good ways off the trailer bunks from the front and the back, and you aren't an Olympic weightlifter, it shouldn't have too much water in it. When I tried this before I cleaned mine out, I thought it was screwed to the trailer. After I got all the foam (which was really gross, by the way) out, two guys can easily lift it off the trailer and move it around.

Pretty good rebuild stories on these boats at Bateau.com


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## cwalden (Jun 24, 2011)

I think I am going to skip on it... If I drive 6 hours to find that it is full of water, I am going to be pissed. Then it's a long ride home!

I've found a 16ft Kingfisher skiff much closer (3hours) with a 40hp rude (ran last year... : ) for $50 more dollars. No foam to be soaked in it. Worst case scenario is a rotten transom. No big deal there...

Not quite as cool as the McKee, but quite functional for my needs.


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## el9surf (Dec 23, 2008)

I had one of these as my first boat. It wasn't a McKee but it had the exact same shape. I think they are all a knock off of the whaler.

Anyways it was a great little boat. My main complaint was running in a significant chop. Running in a chop would jar your guts loose. Aside from that it poled pretty good and absolutely flew with the merc 2 stroke I had on it. It had some hull slap but considering it was free it's difficult to complain about it. I still kick myself for selling it. It was a great little utility boat that caught a ton of fish.


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## cwalden (Jun 24, 2011)

Like I said, I think I'm going to let this one go.  I still want one.  But I think I'm going to wait a year or two until I can afford one in the 3-4K range.  That should get me a newer one in better shape...

I'm not really worried about the ride in a chop.  99% of the time, I am in a river that is very winding and only about 100 yards wide with significant cliffs and banks on either side.  So wind driven chop is rare and short lived.  I only spend about 1 week of the year on saltwater.  And spend that week in a Dougherty Marlin.  No worries about chop in that.


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## Mckee (Jan 10, 2019)

RRobinson said:


> I grew up with a 14' Mckee, and now I have one that I am restoring....which I think is not a very smart or cost effective quest. But, boats rarely are.
> 
> When you see "Mckee", just think "Whaler". Same design, same strengths, same weaknesses. Huge, very active forum at Classic Whaler or Boston Whaler.com or something like that....
> 
> ...


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## Mckee (Jan 10, 2019)

nonsense hull weight is 665 from the factory


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