# Real world test Aluminum Tullel Hull



## noeettica (Sep 23, 2007)

I am borrowing one of these and will do a review ...

but in the mean time anyone else run one ?


http://www.alumacraft.com/Alumacraft-Boat.php?id=571


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## Guest (Oct 12, 2018)

We used to carry them at Nature Coast Marine like 100 years ago! They are pretty decent boats, the tunnel works pretty good. They take some propping to get right but with a jackplate, low water pickup, and good quality cupped 4 blade they will run in spit! I say 4 blade because the tunnel design was narrow back then “not sure about now” and they would blow out in turns pretty bad even with a cupped 3 blade. All in all pretty solid little boats!


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

Years and years ago I ran an aluminum skiff for five or six years (a 16' Starcraft riveted hull....). We'd take a new hull and build a bonefish/backcountry interior and run them everywhere.... If I were ever going to have another -it would be welded (like what you're showing - but without the tunnel hull -my preference...). The first thing I'd look for would be the skin thickness, top and bottom.. Your skiff shows the skin to be 0.080"... I'd want 0.100" for greater durability/lifespan...

If and when you have it a picture of the tunnel and transom from the rear would tell a bunch about it as well...


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## hipshot (Sep 29, 2018)

Brian Little's aluminum Sabine skiffs are supposed to be tough and boast of no hull slap. I seriously considered his Micro, but the wait is longer than I can handle. Dealing with him and his wife was certainly a pleasure; they are great folks to deal with.


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## devrep (Feb 22, 2009)

StarCraft. Only a 14 though. Floats very shallow.


lemaymiami said:


> Years and years ago I ran an aluminum skiff for five or six years (a 16' Starcraft riveted hull....). We'd take a new hull and build a bonefish/backcountry interior and run them everywhere.... If I were ever going to have another -it would be welded (like what you're showing - but without the tunnel hull -my preference...). The first thing I'd look for would be the skin thickness, top and bottom.. Your skiff shows the skin to be 0.080"... I'd want 0.100" for greater durability/lifespan...
> 
> If and when you have it a picture of the tunnel and transom from the rear would tell a bunch about it as well...


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## jimsmicro (Oct 29, 2013)

Almost everyone running the rocky areas of the Big Bend like Yankeetown, Waccasassa, Horseshoe Beach, etc, is running some sort of jon boat with either a tunnel or a jet drive. Mine is a tunnel hull Sea Ark with a 6 inch jack plate. I'm not going to tell you it runs "in spit" but not much will run in less other than jet drives or airboats. The bottom is rocky here. Flats boats get busted up, the penalty for failure is not just that you have to push the boat off a sand bar. You will be picking up pieces of your lower unit if you fail here. Anyway, at rest I draft about 6 inches and I run in a little less than that once I'm on plane and trimmed up. It gives me access to some pretty abandoned and quiet spots.


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## Guest (Oct 12, 2018)

jimsmicro said:


> Almost everyone running the rocky areas of the Big Bend like Yankeetown, Waccasassa, Horseshoe Beach, etc, is running some sort of jon boat with either a tunnel or a jet drive. Mine is a tunnel hull Sea Ark with a 6 inch jack plate. I'm not going to tell you it runs "in spit" but not much will run in less other than jet drives or airboats. The bottom is rocky here. Flats boats get busted up, the penalty for failure is not just that you have to push the boat off a sand bar. You will be picking up pieces of your lower unit if you fail here. Anyway, at rest I draft about 6 inches and I run in a little less than that once I'm on plane and trimmed up. It gives me access to some pretty abandoned and quiet spots.


Where are you located?


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## jimsmicro (Oct 29, 2013)

Way up a creek near Yankeetown usually


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## Guest (Oct 12, 2018)

jimsmicro said:


> Way up a creek near Yankeetown usually


Been up that creek many times lol!


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

Me, I'm at the other end of the state down in the Everglades... If I were up your way I'd be running an aluminum skiff with a tunnel (even though I'm not that fond of tunnel hulls).. That hard bottom up your way would give a guy like me the willies until I learned to run it a bit. My area is much more forgiving (but if you run aground in my area you may really step out onto... three feet deep mud that will suck the shoes right off your feet if you're not careful...).


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## jimsmicro (Oct 29, 2013)

The tunnel steals some draft and 5-7 MPH but I'll take the tradeoff because it's a lot easier to run home on the outboard than it is on the trolling motor because your lower unit puked its guts out onto a rock. I had a Gheenoe Classic before this boat and this one runs way skinnier than the Gheenoe ever did, and it's a million times dryer and more confident in big seas.


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## noeettica (Sep 23, 2007)

*Interesting ! I will be comparing the Alumacraft to my Classic ... Same motor ...

The tunnel steals some draft and 5-7 MPH but I'll take the tradeoff because it's a lot easier to run home on the outboard than it is on the trolling motor because your lower unit puked its guts out onto a rock. I had a Gheenoe Classic before this boat and this one runs way skinnier than the Gheenoe ever did, and it's a million times dryer and more confident in big seas.*


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## Capnredfish (Feb 1, 2012)

hipshot said:


> Brian Little's aluminum Sabine skiffs are supposed to be tough and boast of no hull slap. I seriously considered his Micro, but the wait is longer than I can handle. Dealing with him and his wife was certainly a pleasure; they are great folks to deal with.


If I were in the market for an aluminum boat. Those Sabine’s look nice.


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## Guest (Oct 12, 2018)

Yes, the Sabines are real nice!
Alimacraft makes a decent boat
Sea Ark builds a tank lol!


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## noeettica (Sep 23, 2007)

BB when is a good time to call ?


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## Guest (Oct 12, 2018)

Anytime really, if I don’t answer right away just leave a message. My service comes and goes so phone don’t ring all the time.


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## Matts (Sep 2, 2015)

I had a tricked out 1852 Weld-craft CC tunnel with a 60 Yamaha 2S and it was a workhorse. It was 0.1 -and cuts about all that all weld, Alumacraft stuff. If I was buying aluminum now, it would be another weld craft, Sabine or a Boatright. You can just order whatever you want from Weld craft. I ordered mine with short 19” gunnels so wind would not catch it as much. Stable as a barge and economical build. Glen Boatright did a beautiful job customizing it. I would never own a thinner or riveted aluminum boat.


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## Redbelly (Jan 23, 2016)

I once had a Scandy White with a HJP, that boat would run in 6" of water, but don't stop!
I am now looking at a 1652 Alumacraft tunnel CC with a 60 Yamaha 2s


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## eightwt (May 11, 2017)

How well do these boats pole? Hull slap?


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## State fish rob (Jan 25, 2017)

Ran a 15 ‘ lowe for years. Hard to beat aluminum for cost. hull slap is noticeable, i added spray bed liner to interior ( tan ) helped w noise a smidge . Mine was riveted w welded seams. Deck was a must have.never had issue poling, poled it from bow. Good luck


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

eightwt said:


> How well do these boats pole? Hull slap?


I modified a 1652 mod v aluminum hull and set it up like a poling skiff and it was not loud at all. I had lots of bracing and I glued foam sheet to all the interior of the hull for flotation and to kill sound. A mod v will have much less noticeable hull slap than a flat bottom but if you don’t pole in rougher water they are pretty quiet. As stated, some sort of floor liner or coating will kill the resonation of water on the hull and make it quieter. Sabine skiffs are built like a technical poling skiff (they are a TPS) and when someone is on the bow the flat bottom of the bow is below the water line so hull slap is pretty much nonexistent.


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## Matts (Sep 2, 2015)

If I wanted to pole an aluminum, it would be a Sabine, period. The rest will have hull slap. Boatrights are just large, stable barges and not poling skiffs. Glen made a skiff or two but I’m not sure he offers them any longer.


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## No Bait / Lures Only (Apr 10, 2011)

lemaymiami said:


> Me, I'm at the other end of the state down in the Everglades... If I were up your way I'd be running an aluminum skiff with a tunnel (even though I'm not that fond of tunnel hulls).. That hard bottom up your way would give a guy like me the willies until I learned to run it a bit. My area is much more forgiving (but if you run aground in my area you may really step out onto... three feet deep mud that will suck the shoes right off your feet if you're not careful...).


Sounds like Hopedale/Delacroix....


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## Ckirk57 (Sep 27, 2009)

I run a SeaArk 18' Jet Tunnel, I need the tank like design to handle these Nature Coast rocks.
I don't know of a tunnel prop that will run as shallow or I would have one. I've even run short spurts of dry ground if I've got enough momentum.


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## Guest (Oct 18, 2018)

Ckirk57 said:


> I run a SeaArk 18' Jet Tunnel, I need the tank like design to handle these Nature Coast rocks.
> I don't know of a tunnel prop that will run as shallow or I would have one. I've even run short spurts of dry ground if I've got enough momentum.
> 
> View attachment 45974
> View attachment 45976


When approaching dry ground, chop the throttle on approach then drop the hammer again and ride your bow wake over. This saves the bottom of your hull from those unsightly scratches lol!


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## Guest (Oct 18, 2018)

Ckirk57 said:


> I run a SeaArk 18' Jet Tunnel, I need the tank like design to handle these Nature Coast rocks.
> I don't know of a tunnel prop that will run as shallow or I would have one. I've even run short spurts of dry ground if I've got enough momentum.
> 
> View attachment 45974
> View attachment 45976


 The only 3 things shallower than a properly set up jet tunnel are an airboat, hovercraft, airplane/helicopter!


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

Boatbrains said:


> The only 3 things shallower than a properly set up jet tunnel are an airboat, hovercraft, airplane/helicopter!


Or a Chittum


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## Guest (Oct 18, 2018)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> Or a Chittum


Funny!


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## eightwt (May 11, 2017)

Ckirk57 said:


> I run a SeaArk 18'[/QUOTE
> 
> How she pole?


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## flyclimber (May 22, 2016)

Boatbrains said:


> The only 3 things shallower than a properly set up jet tunnel are an airboat, hovercraft, airplane/helicopter!





Smackdaddy53 said:


> Or a Chittum


I thought Chittum invented a boat that didn't need water to run?


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## Ckirk57 (Sep 27, 2009)

I pole it allot ( I do not have a TM) so far so good unless your in open water, its windy and you have a string of tarpon heading your way. other than that its good on the pole.


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## jimsmicro (Oct 29, 2013)

Mine sucks to pole, but I don't really care to pole it very much anyway.


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## noeettica (Sep 23, 2007)

I hate to say , but the little welded tunnel is F'ing amazing !!!

Very dry ride !

Handles boat wake amazingly well 

NO fear from "Stuffing the bow" / swamping ...


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## Redbelly (Jan 23, 2016)

noeettica said:


> I hate to say , but the little welded tunnel is F'ing amazing !!!
> 
> Very dry ride !
> 
> ...


So you have the tiller on the 1546?
I'm gonna be testing out a 1650 alumacraft tunnel without the sponsons


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## devrep (Feb 22, 2009)

uh oh, I'm thinking I know what my next project is going to be....closing on my new used home in crystal river this week. Yankee Town beckons...


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## noeettica (Sep 23, 2007)

Redbelly said:


> So you have the tiller on the 1546?
> I'm gonna be testing out a 1650 alumacraft tunnel without the sponsons


Yes I ran a 9.9 4 stroke tiller ... I ran the snot out of it at John PeneKamp State park ... Lots of big boat traffic ...As soon as I can hang a 25 hp 2 stroke on it ... 

The guy I got it from NEVER ran it !!! it was his dad's boat . He bought a new gheenoe LT ...(As he handed me the title he said ..."Enjoy the boat and don't tell me how awesome it is "

When I saw it listed I thought , is this guy really selling this ??? this can't be for real !!! But I woke up this morning , the boat is in my yard and the title is in my hand !!!


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## noeettica (Sep 23, 2007)

Next question do I install my Birdsall TM mount on the bow
or stern ?


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## Mike C (Feb 27, 2017)

noeettica said:


> But I woke up this morning , the boat is in my yard and the title is in my hand !!!


So, yer sayin you slept with the title in yer hand? 
Interesting...


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

noeettica said:


> Next question do I install my Birdsall TM mount on the bow
> or stern ?


Bow, more control. What’s easier, pushing a length of chain or pulling it?


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## noeettica (Sep 23, 2007)

I have decided on the bow .

Wondering if mounting the "Puck" with fender washers under the deck is sufficient or a starboard sandwich is in order 

Then there is the "Captian's" seat ...

Time to call the fab shop ...


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## noeettica (Sep 23, 2007)

https://marineproducts.net/flats_boat_accessories/


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## noeettica (Sep 23, 2007)




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## noeettica (Sep 23, 2007)




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## noeettica (Sep 23, 2007)




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## noeettica (Sep 23, 2007)




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## eightwt (May 11, 2017)

Are you powering with an electric start, and if so, is there enough room in the stern hatch for a portable and a battery?


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## Mike C (Feb 27, 2017)

eightwt said:


> Are you powering with an electric start, and if so, is there enough room in the stern hatch for a portable and a battery?


A 25 hp should be able to use a very small PWC type AGM battery


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## GitchaPull (Oct 22, 2018)

The Birdsall TM bracket works well. I had one on my G3. Large washers under the deck worked fine. I cut a hole in the top deck next to it and mount a plastic access port to install and then remove the main base if needed. I never needed. The bracket was stolen off the boat when the boat was stolen


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## No Bait / Lures Only (Apr 10, 2011)

noeettica said:


> I have decided on the bow .
> 
> Wondering if mounting the "Puck" with fender washers under the deck is sufficient or a starboard sandwich is in order
> 
> ...


That's exactly what I am doing now, reinforcing the 1/8" unsupported deck area with 3/16" r 1/2" doubler plate for the birdsall trolling motor mount.


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## jtf (Jan 16, 2014)

I'm running a 1648 weldbilt jet. It's a shallow running boat with no tunnel. It took three trips to test and adjust but the foot ended up about 3" under and required a splash plate. If I could do it over might go with an alweld 1756. Their tunnel is tiny but the factory swears by them. Also they offer a bottom that is .125."

If I wanted to drop some doe, it would be a koffler or hyde drifter with uhmw bottom, like my drift boat.


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## jtf (Jan 16, 2014)

The picture was a prior Koffler, a rocky mtn trout boat. Ran it in the lakes with a 10hp yamaha prop. It was a tank. The uhmw protected it from rocks, gave it some lift and quiet. And if the power crapped out, rowed it home.


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## jtf (Jan 16, 2014)

My weldbilt 1648 jet is similar to alumaweld, and the old lowes tunnel/prop was too. Used to take the lowes out from Harkers Island when winds were favorable. 

This is 20+ years of rowing/drifting in the metal Hyde Lowpro. TN and NC rivers have lots of sharp shelves and noggin heads.
There weren't many improved launches back when and we had to hook a line to the pickup and pull the boats up 100+ feet of steep riprap banks and across gravel to put them back on the trailers.

What would the bottom look like without the UHMW? Badly dented. Wish there was a way to protect the hull strakes on a modvee jon with this material. I'm sure it would make the hull slip, but the positive in bad rocky waters is visible in the photo.


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## State fish rob (Jan 25, 2017)

Back in the day ,youd launch a a boat from any roadside. Done some stupid,sketchy stuff getting to the water .Hitch on front & back lol


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## jtf (Jan 16, 2014)

My Uncle Red spent his last years commercial fishing Aransas TX. He used a wooden boat similar to NC's Harkers Island with outboard forward and a shallow tunnel hull. A plain painted work boat. I know little about the current work boats used in the gulf.


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## noeettica (Sep 23, 2007)

Ran it today interesting for sure ...will run it again next week 

Acts just like an LT-25 gheenoe but you can back it up without swamping it and it has a ton more room and free board ... testing continues 

Aint giving up the classic any time soon it carves the river


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## noeettica (Sep 23, 2007)

WoW FULL camping load 500 pounds of firewood 

Drafts great , planes out good

Very DRY ride 

NOT on pins and needles afraid to swamp it ... ran through boat wake and a pretty good chop . I am very impressed !!!


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## MRichardson (May 27, 2010)

Interesting. What you got going on there? Is that pvc over which you place your tarp for a "tent?"


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## noeettica (Sep 23, 2007)

Yeah it is for the boat cover It is a work in progress I figured I could get under it if a storm popped up or I got lost ... I will make it so it can be stowed ...


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## MRichardson (May 27, 2010)

Cool. Would be comfortable combined with a large flat front deck.
I like those boats, seem bulletproof and fun. And you can do dman near anything as far as customization with a welder and just a few $.


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## eightwt (May 11, 2017)

noeettica said:


>


How did you attach rod holders? Did you drill holes for rod tips in the aft?


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## noeettica (Sep 23, 2007)

"How did you attach rod holders? Did you drill holes for rod tips in the aft?"

They were there when I got it ...


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## Hank (Jan 14, 2019)

What is the floor like? Looking at the manufacturer's site photos of that model, the floor looks wavy and maybe like its not too solid. Is it solid and quiet? Or?


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## noeettica (Sep 23, 2007)

The floor is very solid ... and an update on the rod holders ... there are brackets welded to the inside of the hull ... Then they Tuffcoated the interior  https://tuffcoatmarine.com/

Glad they did not put screws through the hull , that would SUCK !!!


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## NoeWayJose (Dec 14, 2011)

Thanks for the ride 

It's even better than you describe .


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## GG34 (May 2, 2014)

noeettica said:


> I am borrowing one of these and will do a review ...
> 
> but in the mean time anyone else run one ?
> 
> ...


Shot you a PM. Wanted to ask you few questions about this boat if you have a few minutes. Thanks.


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## noeettica (Sep 23, 2007)

Installed a tilt and trim and a "Mega 25" Tops out at 28 but the "Hole Shot" is off the chain ! So now I have to mount a seat No way to hang on ;-)


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## State fish rob (Jan 25, 2017)

Very cool trolling motor mount , what can you tell me about it ?


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

State fish rob said:


> Very cool trolling motor mount , what can you tell me about it ?


Send boatbrains a message, he has one he will probably sell you. It’s a Birdsall.


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## noeettica (Sep 23, 2007)

Got the seat installed GPS mount is installed ...

Getting dialed in ordering Torque tab (I know it won't be 100 % but any help is good !)

It does NOT carve like the classic and it does NOT Paddle like the classic 

Speed seems to be the same ...

The extra room IS nice , the extra freeboard is nice


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## noeettica (Sep 23, 2007)

Well this is where she runs ;-)


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

Are you going to pole that beauty, platform?


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## noeettica (Sep 23, 2007)

Actually polls pretty good  not doing a platform though ...


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## mro (Jan 24, 2018)

My favorite thing about aluminums is that their cheep to maintain, so they are always ready to go. My glass boats have a cost and time every year.


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## MRichardson (May 27, 2010)

That's a clean, slick setup.

As for low cost/time, I went to take out the hunting boat last month for the first time in a couple months. Everything was perfect last time I ran it, even caught an 8+ lb bass and marveled at how it never needs any attention on my way back from that trip. Well, last month I was hooking it up and noticed the license plate had torn (the metal) and was hanging by one of the holes. I put the trolling motor in and the sacrificial anode popped out, fell on the floor, cracked. Then at the ramp, electric start wouldn't work. Manual didn't either. Spark plugs were fouled. Gas line was soft, prone to buckling/kinking...

Anyways, at least I have a list of things to do.


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## jtf (Jan 16, 2014)

Went last week to Bluff City, TN to look at a custom 1758 delta tunnel. Talk about a tank! The tunnel has a long lead-in from mid length, and if I got this right, it has a lift pad toward the rear on outsides of tunnel. 

The pods are built-in, either side extends (in one piece) behind the raised transom. Sides are .125 and hull is .190 and it is braced like the northwest hulls. This one has more degrees in the modvee bow than a couple factory hulls. 

I think there are a couple shops just east in VA that make something similar?

The best thing was it is priced only $1500 more than the 1860 seaark tunnel.

It has way more freeboard than either seaark or alumacraft, inspected them side by side at another shop. 

Soon as my jet sells, I'll have to make make a decision of custom or factory. He builds these for either prop or jet.


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## jtf (Jan 16, 2014)

Should have added, these boats get run in the upper French Broad River, Holsten and New and below several TVA dams. A lot of the guys running them are pro-anglers on the cricut. 

They require a hull that jumps onto plane, these rivers are shallow and rocky. If they can get to the upper reaches, the better. 

The boat in the shop has a 49 gallon built in gas tank. They have to leave the dock and motor for a long ways and return for weigh-in.

One of my older metal hulls was a prop tunnel and that's probably the way I'll go again. Got it out to the oyster mounds north of Cedar Key, that was many years ago.


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## MRichardson (May 27, 2010)

Sounds intriguing. Do you know if there's a website or somewhere I can view that boat?


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## jtf (Jan 16, 2014)

No website but think he uses facebook...(I don't use it).
https://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Watson/100000367116363

He makes from 16-22ft, modvee and flat. Standard prop-tunnel, jet-tunnel and the one I described, "his signature hull."

37 photos of retrofit and builds, these have adjustable tunnel vs the one I posted. https://www.bassmaster.com/slideshow/inside-tunnel-boats-defoe-and-friends


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## noeettica (Sep 23, 2007)

WoW 2019 Chop Strand boat drifted into a dock HOLY cow !

I LOVE aluminum more and more !


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

noeettica said:


> WoW 2019 Chop Strand boat drifted into a dock HOLY cow !
> 
> I LOVE aluminum more and more !


Well it’s chop strand so...


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## noeettica (Sep 23, 2007)

Having a great discussion elsewhere . Considering the low cost of this hull and the fact that most of these hulls go their entire lifetime and don't get damaged like this is a good thing ... I was blessed to get the aluminum boat . both are good boats it's just that i am getting spoiled with the better freeboard and room of the aluminum hull ...


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