Fisher duck boat build

[Mallard]

First i'd like to say this sight is amazing. It inspired me to re-do a boat i got last year, but didn't have a chance to make it "my own". I traded a guy my old foreman atv for his 15' fisher with a 20 hp vanguard go devil. The boat was in decent shape, just laid out poorly with a terrible paint job. I've stripped the boat down and began my project. Here's what i've got so far. Any tips or suggestions will most certainly be welcome




Took the old floor and foam out, seemed to be in decent condition so i decided to recycle. Everything was covered in faded green carpet (about 60-70 lbs worth)



I don't know if you can see it well but this was the old paint job(side close to the ground). I hated everything about it



This is the camo pattern i chose to go with, thanks to some nice patterns in Mo_bio's build. I had a good idea of what i wanted to do. I bought a $15 paint sprayer from harbor freight, 2 quarts of HS drab olive camo paint, some rattle cans of the same brand, some stencil plastic and an xacto knife. I was very pleased with how much money saved myself. Whole camo job wasn't but about $80.00







I plan to install my flooring next. Then mount the hardware for my grab-bar. I'm torn on what to do about the floor covering. I really dislike carpet. Where i hunt i'm in knee deep mud and tend to make a mess getting back in the boat. I can either reuse the old thin aluminum floor that was already in the boat and maybe cover it with some hydro turf, or put some plywood down and just paint it. I'll try and put some more pics of what i've done so far tomorrow so that i can get some pointers and feedback from all of you. Let me know what you think!

 

[Johny25]

That paint job looks awesome =D> ..... and that is coming from someone who usually dislikes the camo look

 

[J.P.]

wow. rebuild right at the water's edge.
good job with the paint.
care to show us the mud motor? i'd like to have one of those for dirty and shallow water.

 

[Mallard]

So I'm a bit concerned about adding additional weight. Last season with 3 adults, gear, fuel, etc. the boat moved plenty fast enough. When I'm alone i have reached speeds of about 20mph according to my gps, which is pretty fast for a longtail mud motor. Weighted down when i went faster water started coming in over the sides. I blame most of this on lack of seating. I had 400-500 lbs sitting on my front deck. I plan to build a storage box and that can serve as a seat to shift some weight back. Should i go with with aluminum or wood? I'm thinking the box will be about 16-18" wide by about 8'-10' long. Is there a significant weight difference?

 

[Mallard]

Updates on my build!

Installed new floor and grab bar. Reused the old side panels and primed them with self eching primer. After i put down the floor i put another coat of spar on the top just to be safe.

 

[Mallard]

I really wanted to put down hydro turf, but it was just a bit outside my budget. I was at home depot and checked out the outdoor carpet and hated it. I just so happened to walk down the isle with some outdoor rugs, like the ones used outside businesses. It had some nice drainage areas and a solid membrane type material on the back like marine carpet. I was able to get enough to redo the entire boat for under $40.00 so i went with it.

Also, painted the inside and used some scrap lumber left over from the floor to scab together a "gun box" type thing. I cut a hole out were it butted up to my deck so that i could utilize the extra space underneath to store things.

Here is the result: (i know it looks like 2 different colors on the deck I'm not sure why. It didn't end up that way)

 

[Mallard]

I think I'm just about done. I'm going to attempt to build a homemade pop-up style blind on it this weekend. I think over all it came out nicely. The trailer needs the bunks recovered and needs to painted etc, but for now it severs its purpose. I'm ready to try it out this November in the swamp!


Let me know what you guys think!

 

[muffin]

great job on the boat! the paint looks great, and yes u saved a lot of money going that route and it still looks great.