Smackdaddy's "Pole Dancer" 1652 Polar Kraft flush deck jet b

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smackdaddy53

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 11, 2012
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Location
Victoria, Texas
I have been lurking on here picking up tricks and getting ideas from all of you guys builds for a while now. I finally got my aluminum for my jet boat modification for fishing the Texas flats.
I got my trailer a while back and fixed her up, she is waiting for the boat to be done to fit guide ons and what not...
The boat was given to me as a "quick" project for my buddy and I to go floundering in but you all know how that goes! I ended up finding a '96 Mercury 60 with an outboard jet lower unit on it and I got it from Paul Marx on here months ago...now the build ideas started to trickle through my brainhole and I decided to transform her into an all out saltwater flats poling machine. I already named her "Pole Dancer" and it is going to be a good one I think. Any ideas are welcome.
Here is what I started with (I already removed the aluminum bench seats).
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1363999787.727284.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1363999851.039269.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1363999899.156212.jpg
 
Found a Blue Point poling platform that came off a Hells Bay skiff for $150...ImageUploadedByTapatalk1364002689.373920.jpg
Heres the jet before I removed the lower unit, stripped it and sandblasted it to bare aluminum. It will stay bare and I am adding a zinc anode to kill corrosion. It has 45 Jet decals because it came from Mercury with the lower unit and has a 60 HP block. A jet unit drops the block HP rating by about 30%.
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1364002801.921605.jpg
I also found a great center console off a Carolina Skiff but it will fit my boat perfectly. I had a buddy hook me up with a big sheet of 1/4" smoke tinted Lexan and I cut out a windshield and heat bent it to fit. I used the old cracked windshield as a basic pattern and made it a little taller. I cant find my pics of the windshield but will take more later. Here is the stripped console. ImageUploadedByTapatalk1364003191.605501.jpg
I also jumped the gun and bought a Lowrance HDS 5 Chartplotter/fishfinder but it will work for what I need.
More to come...
 

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Still have a little more framing to get done but knocked out a good chunk of it in the last two days. 2x2x1/8" aluminum square tubing and lots and lots of rivets. Pneumatic rivet gun was a must! 1/8" 5052 aluminum sheets with gunnel caps will be the deck and I will have lots of hatches for storage. I will keep updates coming as often as possible.
Dont mind the transom rivets, I am welding a new 1/8" sheet over it and adding custom float pods and a jet tunnel on it.
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1364180360.820162.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1364180467.903339.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1364180519.871114.jpg
 
Hopefully I will get all of the bracing done this week and mount the motor and jack plate, fitting the deck and ordering float pods and adding the tunnel is next.
 
Paul Marx said:
Looking good Smack .
Thanks Paul, I am glad to finally start framing the boat after eight months of thinking about it and changing plans. The build will definitely blow everyones mind when it all comes together, it should look like less of a river boat and more of a flats poling skiff. I am about to get the aluminum cut for the deck, bow face and transom and bolt up my jack plate and motor to see what size pods I can fit on it. I did some "light" measuring and think Boyds small pods will fit prefectly but I am probably going to have them made 24" long instead of just 16" and a hair wider.
Reading novicanes thread where he sunk his boat has me thinking I need some foam in the hull and for the hell of it Im going to install twin bilge pumps just in case...about to leave work and work on her some more. Not much to look at yet but just wait!
 
Does not look much different but I finished riveting all the top deck bracing this evening, you cant see some of the angle clips because they are on the other side. I figured a clip on both sides would be overkill. I am ready to get the aluminum sheet cut and fit so I can get my console, poling platform and hatches layed out.
Tomorrow I will start in the vertical bracing from the ribs to the underside of the top stringers. This will really stiffen her up, I think it will be super solid and eliminate most of the flex. I figured I could even run my trolling motor wiring and other electrical inside the tubing to keep it off the floor.
 
Seem like a terrible waste of a tremendous amount of below deck storage? Are you not going to install any hatches? Where are you going to install your gas tank and battery and be able to access them? Maybe I am missing something but it seems like maybe you jumped the gun a little on the deck bracing. How are you planning on mounting that outboard with the deck flush to the transom?
 
tnriverluver said:
Seem like a terrible waste of a tremendous amount of below deck storage? Are you not going to install any hatches? Where are you going to install your gas tank and battery and be able to access them? Maybe I am missing something but it seems like maybe you jumped the gun a little on the deck bracing. How are you planning on mounting that outboard with the deck flush to the transom?
I am installing deck hatches, there will be no waste of below deck storage at all! There is room between the bracing to access below deck, the spaces between are 16" square. The motor is going to be mounted on a manual jack plate, no problem accessing the transom because I have not even cut my aluminum decking yet. The gas tank is going under my console so if there are any problems with it I won't have to remove my deck to remove and/or replace it. I am no pro boat builder but I have been fabricating wood/aluminum since I was 14 and plan ahead as much as possible. I make mistakes but I make sure fixing them is not much of a problem. I fabricated and installed aluminum hurricane shutters, patio covers, screen rooms, lanais over pools, sun rooms and all that for seven years and learned a lot about laying out and setting up projects and finishing them one step at a time in a particular order.
 
Looks like you've done a great job. I hope you don't end up wishing you put the deck a little lower with the boat acting as a lip around the perimeter. I'd be kicking stuff off the boat constantly without that lip.....but it looks great!
 
Paul, I hear you on the console, I am sure I will need to have it a little more forward than a conventional prop boat. I plan on setting my batteries as far forward as possible and I plan on "mocking up" everything and backing hef in the water to see how she floats with the motor, poling platform, gas tank (full of gas), console, batteries and trolling motor. I have to get my float pods and tunnel welded so I will have a real idea on weight distribution.
About the lip or lack thereof...I live on the coast and if you get on the net and look at some bay boats there are tons of them that are flush decks and I have fished off lots of them. I will have a gunnel cap that will add a 2" lip around the perimeter, give me some time and you will see what I have in mind for this build! I have been planning it in my head and on paper for almost a year now!
 
Got a couple of hours in after work today, cut some angle clips for the "spine" on the floor ribs. It is much more solid than I thought it was going to be and will only get more rigid with the vertical braces, sheeting and side gunnel caps. I can't wait to get the sponsons and tunnel done so I can get to the Gator Glide bottom coating and paint. I am kicking around the idea of at least priming the inside before running my wiring and fastening the top on. Lots of plans and not enough time it seems!
I could not wait, I set the platform on the back to see what it is going to look like. Not too shabby!
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1364350275.450107.jpg
 
Not 100% sure about the jet tunnel...I have spoken with plenty of ex jet owners that did fine without a tunnel and some that ended up scrapping a boat because the tunnel they added caused more problems than not. I would sure hate to do all this work and add a tunnel just to go out on her maiden voyage and have a bunch of cavitation problems...
It would still be a skinny running boat without a tunnel and I dont really plan on trying to skip across any 1" sand or shell for sure. I know lots of you guys on here are running rocky rivers more than shallow bays but honestly, how much better is a tunnel on the outboard jets you have seen/owned?
 
smackdaddy53 said:
Not 100% sure about the jet tunnel...I have spoken with plenty of ex jet owners that did fine without a tunnel and some that ended up scrapping a boat because the tunnel they added caused more problems than not. I would sure hate to do all this work and add a tunnel just to go out on her maiden voyage and have a bunch of cavitation problems...
It would still be a skinny running boat without a tunnel and I dont really plan on trying to skip across any 1" sand or shell for sure. I know lots of you guys on here are running rocky rivers more than shallow bays but honestly, how much better is a tunnel on the outboard jets you have seen/owned?

I have a G3 with a jet tunnel. The advantage is that it protects the foot and let's you get a little bit shallower. The disadvantage is that it causes more drag and loss of displacement (buoyancy).

I can run my jet through high chop and boat wakes and she never cavitates.
 

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