1973 PolarKraft 1440 MV - The Birth of Ictalurus

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Ictalurus

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I found this beauty on CL a few weeks back, no trailer or motor, and the mods are now in full progress. I had previously restored a 1965 12' SeaKing and was looking for a longer and wider boat. I had not heard of TinBoats when the SeaKing was modded, but I staggered across this place over the winter and have gotten plenty of good ideas from everyone, especially knowledge of metal work. It seems fashioning a high front deck is the most popular option, but our family often takes scenic river trips and my wife prefers to sit a little lower in the boat, so keeping a low floor was the starting point. After several trips to BPS and Lowe's, there were enough supplies stockpiled to begin the mod. I have attached a layout plan, please let me know if you see any design or useablitly design flaws or improvements that can be made. Over the last week the boat has been cleaned out, leaks patched up, primed, bottom side painted and the decking cut out. One question on the water sealer for the wood, I purchased some Cabot's Deck Stain (wanting to stay clear of Thompson's), the can indicates water protection, just hoping it's good to go, not wanting to add another sealer on top of it. Again, love the site and ideas or suggestions would be most welcome.
 

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Is that cabot stain??? Hope your not just staining the wood, stain is not a sealer or protectant, its made to change the color of wood(stain). you'll need to seal it with some good spar urathane or thompson's. I go with spar urathane, let it set up for 30 min. and hit it again. (do that twice for a high build-up of protectant.) That's one nice looking boat you got there. Welcome aboard and good luck with your project. :wink:
 
I'm also a bit confused on the stain/sealer. In reading this site, I've tried to stay away from Thompson's. The label on the can indicates it water protects and the clerk at Lowe's said it was fine, but you know how that goes. I've always used stain and then spar varnish over that, but this time I'm just looking to seal and carpet. I've thrown on a better picture of the stain/ possible sealer, let me know what you think.
 

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HOLY CRAP. We have the same exact boat except yours is 8 years older! We even did the same kind of floor bracing (aluminum agle with small vertical pieces...lol) Great minds must think alike!!

here is the link to my Polarkraft build:

https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=12178&start=0.

Your doing an awesome job man! Im going to paint mine flat gray using Parker Coatings jon boat paint from cabelas with the whole interior of the boat grey carpeted. just check out the pics and you will see man!
 
Ictalurus said:
I'm also a bit confused on the stain/sealer. In reading this site, I've tried to stay away from Thompson's. The label on the can indicates it water protects and the clerk at Lowe's said it was fine, but you know how that goes. I've always used stain and then spar varnish over that, but this time I'm just looking to seal and carpet. I've thrown on a better picture of the stain/ possible sealer, let me know what you think.

To give you the shortest possible answer, you would still need to seal over with spar urathane. They say stain/sealer becuase its to mislead you to believe they are the go to for every application. All brands do this, they get away with it because the sealer part is to seal in the stain without bleeding. (kinda misleading huh?lol)
Anyways, yeah I personally would use any spar urathane over thompsons myself.
 
dixie_boysles said:
you wouldnt want to sell me that front handle for the boat would you!?
you wouldnt want to sell me that front handle for the boat would you!?

It's an interesting piece, i just replaced the old rusty 6 lb steel reinforcement bar with a lighter, better looking aluminum piece.

perchin said:
you would still need to seal over with spar urathane

No problem, although I was hoping this would work.
 
dixie_boysles said:
HOLY CRAP. We have the same exact boat

I really like the PolarKraft. I had my eye out for a 14 ' that was 40" - 48" wide, preferably the latter. It seems the used market is flooded with 36" and those with a 48" bought them for a reason and hang on to them for awhile. This 1440 popped up and I pulled the trigger. I've had it on the water a few times and it seams pretty darn stable and very well built.
 
yeah they are very well built! so are you putting the front handle back? Im really looking for one and dont know where to find one
 
Well, after stewing about the water sealant the past few hours, I'm going to pick some up on the way home tonight, any thoughts on what you consider to work the best.
 
Not to beat a dead horse on this one, I double checked the Cabot web site this morning and looked up the product I bought (thinking it was sealer and stain) and they claimed the following:

"This distinctive product not only sustains the natural beauty of exterior wood, it also provides excellent wood penetrating protection against the sun and all damaging weather elements. It’s
water-repellent, to keep moisture out and guard against wood warping and checking. Cabot Wood Toned Deck & Siding Stain is for use on new or reconditioned wood only, including decks, siding, shingles, shakes, trim and on log homes. Mildew Resistant: Yes."

https://www.cabotstain.com/pdf/CSOL3000.pdf

Everyone still on the side of another coat or two with an additional sealent? Just making sure I'm spending too much time sealing and sealing again, although that may not be a bad thing.
 
Water repellent and water proof are two entirely different things. Go with the spar urethane, personally I like the Varathane line. My brother makes custom doors for the insanely wealthy and he swears by Varathane but Minwax Helmsman is a good spar urethane too. I used it on all my decking and 1/4" sideboards too and not a bit of rot on any of it after 7 hard seasons of use. It also makes a better base for gluing carpeting, products like Thomson's waterseal or raw stain finishes like you have now are very poor in that department

I just traded in a '66 Polarkraft 1436 that I rebuilt the transom on in 2003 and it's was as solid as the day I finished it. Even the guy at the boat place was impressed (I had backed up nearly the entire transom with 3/16" plate I had obtained a few years earlier). I rebucked every rivet on the boat and only had one leak on me the entire time and that was due to a trailer issue tearing one loose. Tough little boats, I even jumped logs with it in the spring going up creeks and side channels when the Mississippi was high (Not recommended unless you really know what you are doing and have a strong arm to lift the motor fast as you slide over). I had an old 20 HP Merc 200 on the back and it would really scoot even with all the excess weight from all the wood I used.

Bottom line: If you are going to use wood for anything in a boat you really need to seal it up, especially if it's stored outside. That's doubly true for a major structural component like a transom.
 
Loggerhead Mike said:
can you pronounce that in dummy terms for me

I'm not quite sure how to type out the pronounciation, but, Ictalurus is a genus of catfishes (order Siluriformes) of the family Ictaluridae. It includes the well-known channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) and blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus).

I was going to name the boat the "Catfish", but being a biologist, everyone at work thought that I should go with the scientific name.
 
Ictalurus said:
Loggerhead Mike said:
can you pronounce that in dummy terms for me

I'm not quite sure how to type out the pronounciation, but, Ictalurus is a genus of catfishes (order Siluriformes) of the family Ictaluridae. It includes the well-known channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) and blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus).

I was going to name the boat the "Catfish", but being a biologist, everyone at work thought that I should go with the scientific name.


I love the name.....
 

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