First build - 16ft Duck Boat

[One Last Cast]

Hey everyone, so this past spring, I got an old (atleast 1950's??) 16ft aluminum for FREE from my neighbor!! Ideally, I would like to turn this boat into a duck hunting boat, since I live on the Detroit River and am an avid hunter and my current 14ft boat just isn't big enough for my needs. Now, I have been scouring these forums for the past month or so while having down time at work. Watching some of you fellas turn scrap metal into a gorgeous fishing/leisure/hunting vessel is just astonishing. I tip my hat to your ingenuity and craftsmanship. Honestly, I understand the amount of work needed to make a seaworthy boat and I am excited to get this process started since early goose here in lower Michigan begins September 1st. All I see is potential in this beauty!

So far, here is what I have done:
1) Ripped out all the seat coverings/crap that isn't needed.
2) power washed a lot of the old paint off
3) Welded the ribbing/reinforcements. Touched up other welds/welded keel and a few small holes.
4) completely removed the rear bench seat because 90% of the rivets had rotted out and it would not have been a good base to build anything on.

I should also mention (my theory) that this boat used to have a console in the bow and the rear bench seat was used for passengers. Since I have a 25hp johnson tiller I will be using (I have had the boat in the water with this engine mounted at WOT with 3 ~200lb men in the boat), the placement of the rear bench seat was too far toward the bow to comfortably steer using the tiller. So I am kind of glad that the seat rotted out, allowing me to move the bench seat about 6 inches back.

Now, being new to this I am struggling to decide which step to take next. The longer I go without constructing a new rear bench seat/"U" shaped rear casting deck, the more it nags at me to get it done and the more ideas I come up with for it!! I have searched and searched this site and the internet for people who have had to rebuild that area of the boat without having an existing bench to use as a mount. We have been having a lot of rain lately here in the midwest so I am going to try and get her at least primed this weekend.


Future amenities I plan on installing:
1) forward casting deck
2) drop in floor between captains bench and said deck (carpeted)
3) bilge pump, battery compartment
4) gun locker
5) proper electrical for running lights.

I guess I am just trying to make this thread to document my progress over the next 2 months. I am on a pretty tight budget and would like to stay away from any aluminum framing if possible since I do have access to a lot of free lumber right now. But if any of you could give me a few pointers on installing a brand new bench seat, it would be much appreciated. Thanks for reading the beginning of my journal, I am extremely excited

 

[rscottp]

Cool looking hull, great price! Keep the pictures coming!

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

I hate when little runabouts get molested but I do love duck boats.

 

[One Last Cast]

rscottp » 26 Jun 2014, 19:12[/url]"]Cool looking hull, great price! Keep the pictures coming!

rscottp -

I just went through your build, fantastic job! One idea I have had for a while is installing a rear splash guard, since I do find myself back trolling a lot and the water here can get extremely choppy. Do you have any suggestions or lessons learned from installing yours to the transom? Thanks! Will update after I get some time to work on her this weekend. I sure have spent a lot of time just sitting inside of the boat thinking about what to do then changing my mind the next day lol!!!

 

[One Last Cast]

lckstckn2smknbrls » 26 Jun 2014, 21:00[/url]"]I hate when little runabouts get molested but I do love duck boats.

I am definitely not a fan of a broken down and neglected boat either and believe me, the Detroit area boatyards look as though a boat genocide is happening. I'm glad to give this girl a new life and promise to fill her with fins and feathers!

 

[rscottp]

One Last Cast » 27 Jun 2014, 11:37[/url]"]

rscottp » 26 Jun 2014, 19:12[/url]"]Cool looking hull, great price! Keep the pictures coming!

rscottp -

I just went through your build, fantastic job! One idea I have had for a while is installing a rear splash guard, since I do find myself back trolling a lot and the water here can get extremely choppy. Do you have any suggestions or lessons learned from installing yours to the transom? Thanks! Will update after I get some time to work on her this weekend. I sure have spent a lot of time just sitting inside of the boat thinking about what to do then changing my mind the next day lol!!!

Thanks! I had a ton of fun working on and obsessing about my boat all winter long. Splash pan wasn't that hard to install, trickiest part was installing the drain tubes(didn't have the flair tool so I used some clamps and a ball peen hammer to do it). If I had to make another one I wouldn't use a hammer to try to bend the sheet, I would try to improvise another method. Hammer stretches the metal which was a bit of an issue.

 

[One Last Cast]

Didn't get as much work done to her as I thought I could, have been working 12 hour days blah, blah, blah that whole story! But I did make some changes to the original plan and decided since the hull of this boat is so strong that I am going to do away with the rear bench and just throw down a floor to maximize hunting square footage. So, I built a frame, reinforced it with L brackets and cut the plywood. Next, I will build a gun locker on the port side of the boat. This will also be large enough to house the switch panel, battery and fish finder (pictured below, got it for free!). Boat is coming along slower than I'd like but I am still confident I can have her ready for early goose season. The 4th of July weekend forecast looks picture perfect and I am excited to prime and paint the hull and get my wood stained. This has been a very cheap rebuild so far and now that the rear decking is cut and set in, I can start to seeing the boat take shape.

 

[One Last Cast]

Spent some time on the fourth getting the boat painted. Wire wheeled, acetone wash, double layer of self etching primer and an initial layer of Hunter's Specialties Duck boat paint Marsh Grass color. I think it turned out well, still needs a few touch up spots, but I am excited to have everything starting to look like a real duck boat. I have the inside of the boat primed, but not with the finished paint on it, will do that today or tomorrow if the rain holds off. :lol: 8)

 

[One Last Cast]

Well she is starting to take shape! Had a very busy weekend, but did manage to get a few hours of work in. Weather should stay nice this week to get some more done. Built this bench mainly for storage and hunting. Can solidly hunt 2 guys, I'm pretty happy with it. from the bench on the port side to the starboard gunwale is just over 3ft. plenty of room to move around and shoot in. This week I am going to work on framing the casting deck. Right now I can't decide on how I want to do the captains chair. Build a framed in box, save some money and sacrifice square footage? Or spend some extra cash on a pedestal seat, allowing more room? Something I will have to think about. Depends if I can find a cheap pedestal mount on craigslist because $160 at gander for the entire setup is more than I have into this boat so far!!!

Well, thanks for reading along if you are, I will happily upload more pictures if requested and answer any questions anyone may have.

 

[BigTerp]

Looking good!! Waterfowl season will be here before you know it. My signature links to what I did with my Tracker 1648 that I use to duck/goose hunt and fish out of. We don't hunt out of this boat, just use it to get to and from hunting spots. Might give you a few ideas though. FWIW that color you used is very similar to the Parkers Duck Boat Paint in sand tan that I used on mine. I camo stenciled over top with black and brown and once all the green is gone in the fall my boat practically disappears when beached on an island next to our hunting spot. Good luck!!

 

[One Last Cast]

Built the frame for the front casting deck, pretty happy with it but I will probably make a few changes. Learned a lot of lessons from this, but I do think it turned out sturdy enough. I am going to put the fuel tank in the bow so I ran my fuel line and electrical. I have my switch panel and bilge pump. One tip I can say is when planning a build like this, always buy 5 more 2x2's then you think you will need haha. So the next step is going to be the tedious act of wiring everything into the switch.

Here is what I plan to run from my battery:

1) running/anchor lights
2) led floor lights (something small but effective enough to help out those early morning decoy spreads)
3) bilge pump
4) fish finder
5) cigarette lighter - plug in flood light/phone charger/anything really
6) I ran a dead line to the bow in the future event I find a trolling motor but will cross that bridge if and when it comes.

Cutting and carpeting the plywood is gonna happen soon and I already know it's going to suck so will have to dedicate some time to that. One step at a time. Also, Michigan approved a 3 year "trial" early teal season from sept 1-7!! Excited!

 

[One Last Cast]

Should also mention that I will be keeping this boat on a hoist in my backyard. I will be adding a charger for the battery so I can just plug her in and juice her up for the day of hunting. Since my tiller is a pull start I can run the battery dry and won't be stranded, come back at the end of the day, plug in and have a full bat for the next hunt!

 

[BigTerp]

I have this on board charger and like it alot.

https://www.amazon.com/NOCO-GEN2-Waterproof-On-Board-Battery/dp/B003JSJS5I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405615024&sr=8-1&keywords=noco+gen+2

 

[One Last Cast]

Nice! I was just at Home Depot on my lunch break looking for something along those lines. I think I could open a store called, "Everything Home Depot doesn't have" and be mildly successful lol. Thanks Terp!

 

[BigTerp]

One Last Cast » Today, 1:22 pm[/url]"]Nice! I was just at Home Depot on my lunch break looking for something along those lines. I think I could open a store called, "Everything Home Depot doesn't have" and be mildly successful lol. Thanks Terp!

No problem.

When I got mine it was less than $150, IIRC. Just keep an eye on it on Amazon as they consistently raise/lower prices on items. I also lost my first Noco Gen2 to a lighting strike. It fried bank #1. They replaced it under warranty no questions asked. I just had to pay to ship it to them. Very good customer service.

 

[One Last Cast]

So, as stated in my first post, I got this boat for free from my neighbor. He did not have the registration, title or the MC numbers. The only thing to track this boat down in order to get it registered was the HIN. So I took that with a bill of sale to the secretary of state and they issued me a new title and a new set of MC's. According to them, the make is a 1963 Ravencraft. Can't find anything on the manufacturer, Ravencraft. Not even sure if it is real haha! But, she is legal and in my name so that is all that matters in the end. If anyone has any information about Ravencraft boats, it would be cool to learn a little bit more of the history behind this boat. If not, ah well! Think I'm going to name it a good Norse name, because I think of Odin when I hear Ravencraft! For Midgard!!

 

[BigTerp]

If your considering the Noco charger, they are having a 50% off sale this weekend. Really can't beat those chargers especially at half off!!

https://www.geniuschargers.com/shop?&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Deal+of+the+Month+-+July+14&utm_content=Deal+of+the+Month+-+July+14+CID_6c9c6156fb438422eaae7e3b75a002b3&utm_source=InsideNOCO&utm_term=NOCO%20Genius%20Smart%20Battery%20Chargers%20Exclusive%20Summer%20Deal%20Take%2050%20Off%20All%20Chargers%20and%20Accessories%20This%20Weekend%20Only%20Deal%20Ends%2072114

 

[One Last Cast]

BigTerp - Was talking with my dad over the weekend and he has an older 12v charger for me. I'm going to try it out for the season and if it doesn't give me the results needed I will end up buying new.

I have been making progress! No pictures today, will upload some this evening or tmw morning. I have cut the front casting deck flooring (ridiculously challenging for a newbie). For someone who is just getting to this step in their build, this is my advice. Get the flattest, largest piece of cardboard you can find. I ended up going to home depot and getting the largest packing box they sold for $1.97. I laid this over the gunwale of where I planned on placing the plywood. I climbed into the boat, under the cardboard and traced it using a sharpie. I cut it out and then cut the cardboard straight up the center. I fit the cardboard ontop of my 2x2 frame and then taped the two pieces of cardboard together. traced this to the plywood, then cut. I then sanded down the edges of the plywood with an electric hand sander and it fit perfectly!

Before I did this, I placed the fuel tank in the bow, ran the fuel lines and hooked up the primer ball and all that jazz. Also have been working on electrical and wiring into the switch. Got my battery fitted and secured, 12v cigarette lighters and a mini flood light wired and tentatively installed.

So I am at the point of covering my flooring. Up until now I have been dead set on carpeting, but with duck hunting, the boat tends to get wet, muddy, sandy, etc. So I am now leaning toward something that won't hold water, dirt or hooks. One of my buddy's recommended Deck Restore:

https://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog/consumer-brands/restore/

I'm going to do some searching around this site and try to finalize my decision best I can on what to cover the flooring with. Any advice is appreciate, just has to be a camo color. Thanks for reading along!

 

[BigTerp]

For my floor and deck I use a product called Asper Grit.

https://www.softsandrubber.com/aspergrit.html

It's clear so it matches whatever color your painting with. Provides excellent grip, especially during hunting season with wet and muddy wader boots. So far has been really durable also. I typically rinse my boat out after each trip and even scrub it with soap and water occasionally and this stuff cleans up nicely. Much better option than carpet, IMO.

 

[One Last Cast]

Terp,
I checked your build and I was looking at that stuff and I love it. A bit pricey, but probably the same cost as Tuff Coat. Do you battle a lot of cold weather in your area? Does the aspergrit ice over at all? thanks.