HickInTheSticks gets a 1984 smokercraft V

[HickInTheSticks]

What's up guys? Decided on an impulse buy just yesterday and figured I'd drop in here and start a little journal that documents my progress with my boat. Purchased it for $450. Came with a trolling motor and trailer. After titling trailer, registering boat, grabbing a battery and a bilge pump I'm about $600 into the boat.

1984 Smokercraft. Not sure which model, maybe you guys can help me figure it out.

Length: 13'6"
Beam: 58"
V depth: 24"
Transom height: 16"
Width at rear: 52"

Haven't put it on water yet, but previous owner says it doesn't leak. All of the holes I can find are above the water line, and a majority of them are filled with silicone. Overall seems pretty solid, but what do I know? I've never owned a boat before.

Picked up a deep cycle battery from Rural King and tested the trolling motor - worked as the seller said it would, so I hope all of rivets in the boat are solid. But to be safe, I picked up a new bulge pump and float valve kit while I was at it. The trolling motor is only 30lbs thrust transom mount, which is great for now because I can use it for fishing immediately and test it out and everything. Will be keeping my eyes out for a 15hp tiller motor and a 55lb trolling motor to mount on the front.

Got some paint stripper and some mineral spirits. Gonna get this thing cleaned up real good and down to bare bones. I'm *hoping* this project goes rather quickly. Some paint, and a deck for sure. Other than that, will be making this up as I go along. Wanted to start stripping the paint today, but its pretty nasty out.

 

[Tallpine]

Nice project boat. Looking at Smoker Craft specs it looks like the Canadian model. Here is a link with the specs.
https://boatspecs.iboats.com/Smoker-Craft_Boats__4CF_Canadian__1984/bp/66b81963

 

[HickInTheSticks]

Thank you! I was using the NADA list from 1984 and the Canadian wasn't even on there and all of the ones listed were a bit wider. Mostly just wanted the model so I could figure out the dry weight of the boat - which is 130 lbs. Just want to keep a rough estimate of the weight of the boat when done.

Seems my 15hp motor desire was spot-on for the maximum safe motor size as well :mrgreen:

 

[Johnny]

:WELCOME:

Nice Ride !!

In my world, I would just level out the boat by sight,
put the plug in and fill it with water !!!!
Then, you won't have any surprises when you DO get it to the big water.
Leaks are easily marked and addressed when the water is out and boat is dry.

Jus my dos centavos

 

[Tallpine]

You did o.k. getting the trailer too. Looks like a decent galvanized trailer. 15hp is the max but even a 9.9-10 should push it pretty nicely as long as you keep it pretty basic and don't add a lot of weight.

 

[HickInTheSticks]

Before I even saw those replies, I actually started out attempting to fill it with water then I realized how long it was taking, said "to hell with it" and drained the water and took it down the road.... filling it made the most sense to check it for leaks... then I realized how much water I'd need.

Spent about 30 minutes on the water and I was watching the water level compared to the ribs (didn't TOTALLY drain it, there were a couple gallons left in the very rear) and it didn't rise at all. Didn't see any moisture that concerned me before it started raining. Also learned that getting it BACK on the trailer is a little harder than I bargained for. Spent about 30 minutes getting soaked figuring that one out. Flat bottom would have been easy but the V-hull pretty much needs to hit the trailer just perfect, and with only 30lbs of thrust and a fair bit of wind today, the boat kept getting blown down wind from the trailer before I could jump off the boat and secure it. Not really sure if I'm doing it right or not, but I'll check some youtube videos.

Basically though, I pulled up to the shore, and then backed my truck back down the ramp and hooked the crank cable to the boat. Then jumped back in the boat and got it out further than the trailer and used the trolling motor to guide the boat onto the trailer, I then had to crawl along the trailer (carefully!) to reach the crank to tighten the cable. Would be A LOT easier with 2 people, someone to control the boat and someone to crank it onto the trailer. OR a pair of wading boots, didn't think about that.

 

[Tallpine]

You might want to check out adding some guide-ons to your trailer. Also check out some videos on using a tilt trailer. Used right you can almost load from dry land without even getting your hubs wet.
Watch this.
https://youtu.be/w-tTyZr6wtA

 

[Tallpine]

Guide ons like this or side bunks will help keep you centered.

 

[HickInTheSticks]

That video helped a lot! That's more or less what I figured out on my own with a little bit of time in the pouring rain. My only problem was keeping the nose of the boat on the trailer. Every time I tried to get to the crank the wind would blow it away and I'd have to fight with the boat while balancing on the trailer.

I actually put my whole trailer in the water. It's really shallow, under 2 ft at all of the launch ramps so its really the only way to get the boat to float off the trailer. The problem is that I have to do all of the work loading/unloading in the water and not over dry ground. I open my tailgate and stand on that and the neck of the trailer....the hand crank and all of that are sitting 6-8 ft out in the water which is only a ft or two deep but its enough that I can't just grab the boat and muscle it around because I'm balancing myself on the neck of the trailer trying to not fall in the COLD water.

Wading boots are going to change everything. Just walk out next to the trailer and do what needs to be done. EZ. Might end up getting some of those side bunks either way to make navigating it in place a simple task.

 

[HickInTheSticks]

About to start stripping paint, wanted to drop in here and post up a question that's been lingering in my mind since I got this....

How am I supposed to tie the frame for the deck into the boat? The ribs are all on the floor (and very small, not really sure how I'd attach anything to them...) and they don't extend up the side-wall of the boat as you can see.

Planning on using the bench seats as support - I don't want to remove the flotation foam and they're at a pretty good height for a deck anyway. But I still want a frame for the various compartments and additional support for a fishing seat.

Also battery storage. Feel like keeping them in the rear is just going to weigh the back down. Trying to plan for long-term layout, I'll eventually run a bow-mount foot controlled trolling motor and a 9.9 - 15hp tiller in the rear. So gas tank in the rear, could put a battery in the other corner.... Then a series of batteries (probably 3) directly in front of the middle seat under the decking. This will be the shallowest part of the below deck storage and is just front of center so should keep the boat fairly well balanced.

I kind of want to remove the front bench to open up more possibilities for below-deck storage as well. I

 

[HickInTheSticks]

How do I repair old screw holes in the hull? Transom holes are probably below water line, and others above water line I just want to repair before painting. JB water weld? I don't know how to weld aluminum so I think my best bet is a sandable, paintable epoxy?

I don't want to re-insert screws coated in sealant unless I have to. Trying to make it look good.

 

[HickInTheSticks]

So my in-laws are in town and not really getting to do as much as I'd like, but I got *most* of the exterior paint stripped. About to start doing hull repair - just using some JB water weld to fill all the old screw holes. Will remove the rest of the paint when I give it a final sanding after filling the holes.

Got a gallon of Rustoleum Aluminum/Galvanized primer to start. Sticking with a roll-on method, feel like that'll get it finished the quickest. Gonna hit the whole boat with it, interior and exterior. Previous owner had some flaky paint due to not applying any primer, so I wanna make sure I get ALL of the exterior paint off before priming.

For paint I'm gonna keep the boat green, don't really have too many color options with Rustoleum. Green, white lettering/trim. Not sure if it'll work, but I'm gonna paint the bottom of the boat white. Not sure how it'll hold up in the water, so unless someone advises against it before I start painting, I'm painting it.

Also cleaned the garage out so I can get 'er in there and do some after-dark work.

 

[HickInTheSticks]

Will include more detail as to how I got to this point but here she is as she sits today. Pretty much ready for water. Just gotta install battery and fuel tank.

 

[HickInTheSticks]

Couple of progress photos.

 

[KMixson]

Nice Job! That thing looks brand new.

 

[HickInTheSticks]

Thanks man, put a whole lot of sweat into this thing. It's not completely done, but 95%. Had it out in the water today for the first time with my Merc 6.... I gotta say, that little motor really took me by surprise the first time I opened the throttle up. Actually pulls pretty hard.... can't seem to find a way to lock the motor in the downward position, I have to be very careful in Reverse.. full throttle will pull the motor out of the water haha.

Boat floats well with everything where it is. Need the passengers to be off the deck (except for sitting closest to the rear) to help the nose come up a bit, else I get massively sprayed. Turning out to be a great 1-2 man boat, though.

Just need to finish electrical.... all of the wires have been run, I just wanted to make sure it'd float the way I wanted before permanently installing everything. No problems whatsoever, so its all getting installed where planned.

 

[Jake11]

That paint combo turned out great. Really sharp looking. Is it tippy up on that front deck? I have a sea nymph 14k that has almost identical specs to yours.

 

[safetyfast]

Looks great. Are the center boxes for batteries?

 

[HickInTheSticks]

Actually had a chance to fish on the deck yesterday... I'd say its a bit more stable if anything. Easier to stand on a flat surface compared the curve of the V bottom. A pedestal seat to lean against would definitely inspire a little more confidence for someone like myself who doesn't really have any "sea legs" yet... but I honestly kinda like the open deck without a seat. I prefer standing to fish anyway.

Although, I almost got tossed overboard... twice. My rottie kept going from one side of the boat to the other and it just threw my balance off a couple times. Generally best to keep towards the middle as opposed to the edges, but its not too tippy at all. My 2-yr-old son prefers the deck to the lower part.... I'm almost certain it's because its a bit more stable.

Those boxes are for the batteries, yeah. I was going to put them in the rear, but I just figured it'd look better under the deck. Had one in the nose to hook to the trolling motor temporarily.... didn't like that placement as it brought the nose down too far. Not really sure how the forward-most battery will affect it.... found out I can't get the battery in the forward box with the deck in place, so I had them both sitting side-by-side where the rear battery is. Don't want to run them there tho because it takes away from my storage access too much making it hard to get stuff in and out.

 

[wormil]

Big transformation, looks amazing.