Id fix the small boat up and sell it. Then put a 572 on that 18x8 and go fishn!

 

Or a 20X8

 

we are gonna use the 454 for awhile befor buying another motor

 

And the boat is 19x8 not 18x8

 

And both boats have the same side depth

 

o thought it was 18 without grass rake..

 

That 454 isn't going to push that 19x8 like you want it to so I'd stick with the 17x7 that extra for of floor space will put that motor On a lot more strain. Plus your going to have to do a bit of fabrication to get that motor in that other boat. I will gaurantee the tbars aren't the same distance apart and that's how the motor stand mounts so you'd have to make that work. Then your seat stand and all that will be different. Just not big on pulling motor and drive and engine stand stuff out of a working hull into a new hull that's not set up identical to it. Just my .02

 

thanks for the .02 clark Ill have to say you have been alot help from day one with this airboat

 

and we where going to leave seats and stand all in the othere boat....we where gonna build everything in the other hull (seats, rigging, and motor stand) only thing we where gonna take out of other boat is the motor...

 

That's right new motor stand seats and cage. but we would be taking the motor reduction and prop. PRetty much the 16 foot boat would be nearly complete and ready for someone's motor and prop

 

Someone should just make us an offer on one of these boats and help us make up our mind

 

but what about what clark said about the 454 pushing the 19 foot boat

 

I mean it will push it, don't get me wrong since you guys are going to build rigging and such then it's not such a huge deal. But I can tell you if your wanting to run dry and all that real well you won't be able to do it with that 425 hp 454 on the boat you guys told me about. But if your wanting a bowfishing boat that you can still run skinny water and stuff then go for it. I would just think you guys could spend a little TLC on the boat you guys just got, fix her up nice then have her for sale and fish out of it untill it sales then go getcha a higher HP motor for that bigger boat and rig her out with the $ you make.

 

Dam@ you and your logic chad, dam@ you!

 

post up pictures of the 16 foot airboat please

 

HERES A COUPLE

 

more

 

few more

 

this is the 19x8

 

could somebody move this thread to bowfishing boats or general bowfishing...pretty please

 

You just got that 16' boat..... Have you really even fished off of it much yet? I would just keep what you have and enjoy it for a while. There have been tons of tournaments won off of a 16' airboat. An 18' airboat isn't gonna help you bring in more fish. When you get good enough that your having to make multiple trips to haul fish to the truck, then look for a bigger boat.

With that being said, Your 454 will push that 18' Alumitech hull just fine. An Alumitech hull isn't near as heavy as some other brand hulls.

Where is Juniper, Ga.? Im in Augusta...

Trey

 

yeah i get that , my thing is im about to put a whole lot of time and money in one of these boats. and i rather not have to do it twice. yes the 16ft boat would do just fine for us and it will be a little less work. then again three extra feet of length and an extra foot in width ,as you know, makes for a lot more room. my point is this ; we have a 16x7 airboat and trailer and a 19x8 and another trailer i could modify slightly to carry the bigger boat. i also have the rest of the winter to make a really nice bowfishing rig out of one of them. i will have a little more work and a little more money in the 19fter. then again if i sold the two as is(minus motor reduction prop) i think i would get a little more for the smaller boat, thus making the price difference a wash .(i might be wrong about this) which leads us back to where we started

p.s. please substitute ''we'' for ''i'' above. me and adam own this boat together and eventually im going to get some work out of him

 

oh and juniper is a spot in the road somewhere between columbus and macon

 

anyone else have some suggestions after seeing the pictures

 

Do you already have the Alumitech hull?

 

yes we have everything you see in the pictures (16 foot boat and 19 foot hull)

 

And does that alumatech have polymer

 

the bottom is 84 and yes it has polymer

 

Then that boat WILL not be pushed well by a 454. I seen an alumitech in Michigan that was a bare bones hull that was used as a sweep boat. It looked identical to that hull no subfloor, small deck, ect and had a stock gm 454 with a 82" bottom and it got stuck quite a bit. I mean it will push it don't get me wrong but it won't do what your gonna want to do ESP once you turn it into a bowfishing boat. I think jp was thinking it had a 72" bottom like a lot of their boats have that extra 12" makes a huge difference in how much drag it has in and out of the water.

Also, since that's an 7' bottom with only 7 tbars do yourself a huge favor while theres nothing in the boat and throw 4 more tbars in there.

 

Let's try this again without all the personal attacks.







If a stripped down boat with a 454 gets stuck a lot I'd bet a paycheck he doesn't have the prop set right or his motor is worn out!
I've seen plenty of 18' bowfishing rigs with 454's run fine. As a matter of fact our 375hp 496 bowfishing rig ran dry ground. It wouldn't climb hills but it handled dry ground just fine....... But with that said I spent 4hrs pitching the prop until we got it just right.

So back to the original question, will it push the larger boat? Sure! Will it be a speed demon, or climb hills probably not. So you've gotta decide what your gonna do with the rig, the environment your gonna run it in and make your decision based on those variables.

Good luck with your build.

 

do i need to add full length t bars?