SO I'm building an airboat, Ultimate coyote killing unit

jetman

New member
Vw powered ,60 hp. 64" wooden prop.
A snowmobile clutch torque drive and #50 chain to the prop .It is a "Catrermeran " style hull. Every thing is hand fabricated in my meager shop with a metric crescent wrench ,hand hack saw, and hammer. SOOO every thing takes forever. It's well over a year since I started and It looks like another year out.
I'm working with a $.00 budget, all but the aluminum for the hull have been basically "salvaged".
The plan is to use it on mostly frozen and dry rivers and pertly frozen lakes , painted camo and a white tarp , I'm hoping will be the High stand unit of the north for calling .
The chain and sprockets should be here sometime Monday.
In the meantime I've been working more on the cat hull.
I did find out that Mt will soon require a positive drain in a boat, aka bung plug. Gota put something in even if I never use it.
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I have to have my buddy do the welding.

I have expanded aluminum to put over the center front to back for a walk way, and it will cover the Motor/drive deck in the back .
In the cat in the back under the mesh will be foam/ floatation .
In the front in the cats will be some kind of "step" system to get in from the front.
Under the walk way I plan a waterproof Nylon cover and floatation pack that will stop the water from getting in to the cats and prop. I'll put the 15 gal fuel tank in between the cats also kinda up front under the walk way.
 
Can you take me through how you intend to hunt with this? As in, are you going to use it to get somewhere, then go out on foot... or what is the plan exactly?

The sound of an approaching airplane has sent every coyote I've ever seen running for the nearest cover. I have to imagine that this machine will have the same effect.
 
More like a snowmobile.
Park and call , we use the jet boat a lot to call along lakes and big rivers, till it starts to freeze., Then we cant get the big boat out with the ramp frozen in.
We plan on using it for transportation a lot too for remote peace's of state and federal land, not accessible by truck.
On partly dry frozen rivers we can't use a 4wheeler but can use a "Boat"
We can also spotlight at night for coyotes, we would try like a high truck in Texas, park in the dark and call from the boat. Stuff like that
 
Jetman, did you consult anyone in that cat hull. Most airboats are built short and wide to disperse the load over the largest area.

Check out american airboat corporation.
 
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The finished size of the boat will be 7'2" wide and 11'2" long. It has the same displacement , surface on the water as a 14' John boat.


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Here is a "Cat" airboat, my inspiration. Mine is way smaller and only a 60 Hp. VW motor
 
won't be sneaking up on any, but looks like a way to get around where you might not be able to otherwise. Quite the project.
 
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Today I did a Major test . A+!!!!!
1971 VW bug 1600cc undetermined mileage motor.
This set in a shed for maybe 30 years. I Got a new carb at amazon ( still factory settings ),
New coil, plugs wires points and condenser. I set the valves and point with a feeler gauge ,remember them ?a year ago I had it running on the ground for like 5 minutes for the first test of the clutch adaptor that I had made. It failed in moments. I redesigned and had it fabbed up again, This time with a carrier bearing and a shaft that went in to the piolet bearing in the crank. I Have not ran it since. I built the hull made the motor mounts and finally mounted it on the boat.
Made a mount for the carrier bearing re did the starter to fit.
It is About a year later. Today I needed to start it up and see if my primary clutch off the 1969 Johnson snowmobile would even work.

Dang! I put the fuel line in to a gas can and hit the starter. A dozen turns and she came to life. I have not put a timing light on it yet but it ran very smooth from, 800 rpm (Idle) after the electric choke came all the way off , to 5000 rpm ( as fast as I wanted to turn it unloaded). As stated in the information I could find on the clutch It engaged at 1700rpm and at 3100 rpm was fully moved in for the reduction change. Everything sounded smooth and solid. I ran it for a half hour or so at 2500 rpm. I still have to do some work on my temp and oil psi gauges apparently, but the oil on the dip stick was still cool to the touch. NICE!

Next to mount the secondary clutch, and see if that part works as expected !!!
 
The guys that run the marshes here have some kind of paint that they use that makes the bottom really slick. One is called wetlander and another is gator glide. My friend has gator glide on his. His is nothing fancy. 18 feet long by 100 inches wide with a supercharged LS3.
 
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"The plan is to use it on mostly frozen and dry rivers and pertly frozen lakes , painted camo and a white tarp , I'm hoping will be the High stand unit of the north for calling."

Have you thought about the low abrasion resistance of an aluminum hull? As a north country duck hunter I've seen skim ice on a partly frozen lake eat thru the hull of an aluminum boat rather fast. Just wondering??
 
Yes aluminum is very soft I have uhdp on the bottom and where the Aluminum is not covered we have painted with Gator Glide epoxy paint very slippery.
Yes they are loud I'm not running a 8 liter v8 with straight pipes its a bug motor and will be muffled very well. I do know a lot of the noise is from the prop, like on a jet boat.
can't be a lot more commotion then a sled or 4wheeler.
 
We are putting a airboat together at the shop. Its some kinda fancy hull and a GM Performance 502 BBC with a 72"? prop. Stupid expensive but its what the guy wanted.
$23500 just for the hull, engine, prop, gear box so far. Still have to finish mounting everything and build a fuel cell for it.
Tried talking them in to a LSx but they wanted the 502 for whatever reason.
 
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