Reed's 1542 Alumacraft Swamp Sled.

[LFTDJEEP426]

Hey Buddy,

Doing my normal Lunchtime cruise of the site and found your rig, and great job by the way!!! The 25 jacked up on the back does look sweet, did you ever get a final MPH reading? I've been eyeing a neighbor's 50hp down the street for mine when my mud motor isn't on it. probably about 25hp way to much but it would be F-U-N!!! Again, if you're ever down in my area and want to go out in the swamp and do a little bass fishing let me know, the Beer is on me! I got my gator tags in the Blue Cypress WMA this year which is where I fish so I'll be going out there to scout/fish as much as possible before first phase (Aug 15th).

Have you put any rod holders in your boat? I'm thinking about putting a couple in mine but can't decide where to put them. Also, just scored (6) cup holders on e-bay for $6.00 shipping included! You can never have enough cup holders (So I've been told).

 

[fadeblack]

nice rig fixing to start on my 1446 v bottom, can't wait to fish it!

 

[ILOVTOFISH]

Hey there reed nice job.I have a 1442 g3 that is very close to that.The problem i'm having is i'm using the exact same foam you used but what did you use to glue them together?Everything i have used so far has tried to eat the foam up.I have used 3m 77 adhesive which states on the can you can use for foam but it still ate it up.Can you give me a tip on what to use that won't eat the foam up or what you used,thanks?

 

[reedjj]

Thanks guys. I'm updating on my phone from San Antonio so I'm gonna keep it short.

I used the jackplate because I got a deal on the longshaft that I couldn't pass up. Would have much rather had A short but a 99 merc for 750 bucks was too good to let go.

I used gorilla glue but u really don't need to. The floor will hold it all down just fine.

 

[reedjj]

No rod holders yet. I only fish one pole at a time. Usually for cats so I don't really need them.

 

[reedjj]

I would suggest that even if u do get a short shaft you still use the mini jacker. U can really dial in the motor position with it.

I GPS out at 31 mph wide open and can cruise on plane anywhere from 15 mph on up with 2 people 2 batteries. And a cooler plus fishing gear.

3 people a cooler no fishing gear I'm at 28 mph.

Once I had 4 adults and a cooler plus batteries and some gear and cruised on plane at 18 and topped out at 25mph. That was over the listed capacity in weight and it handled fine. No problems.

After looking at the motor position it could be raised another inch or so. The angle is decieving the cavitation plate is really an inch below the hull. My original post about it I said the cav plate was above. I was wrong. For the price of the motor I am still happy. The mini jacker works great and I don't think one inch is going to get me
All that much faster. 31mph is fast enough anyway.

 

[Flatbotm]

Hey jj Im plugging along on my boat build and I have a couple of questions for you. What length cables did you end up using. It looks like your throttle cable is routed under your seating or? and also what does your cavitation plate line up with? I don't know if I should line it up with the bottom of the drain plug or the bottom of the rest of the hull. Thanks for the help.

 

[reedjj]

I have no Idea what length they are. I had that part done by a professional. LOL. They do not run under anything though. the steering cables and throttle cables just run along the gunwale.

As for the cav plate on the motor. Mine is a little lower than it should be because of the longshaft motor. Even with the jackplate it sits a little low. I thought it was even but when I got down even with it and looked it is about an inch or so below the hull. I cant move the jackplate or the motor up anymore. Im not sure if the 1 inch or so would make that much difference anyway. Maybe another 1-2mph but I got such a deal on the motor that the benefit outweighs the cost of the speed loss. 31mph is pretty dang fast in that little boat sitting that low in the water. Too fast for some sections of the creek.

If you can I would make sure that the cav plate is dead even with the flat part of the hull, I wouldn't worry about the drain plug or the keels. From what everyone says dead even is the general rule. Some are even a little above. Like a 1/4 Inch above. If you go dead even you will be good.

 

[LFTDJEEP426]

I had a 15hp Evinrude short shaft on my 1436 with a minijacker and had the cav plate 3/4 an inch above the bottom of the boat. It still had a good pee from the water pump but I was trying to run really shallow, which it did. The only time it was ever a problem was when you were up on plane and tried to turn sharp it would suck air. Other than that I "think" as long as your water pump is still picking you're good. Just my $0.02. I have no idea what kind of mph I was getting.

 

[reedjj]

I finally got with the times and started uploading a few videos to Youtube I did a walk around of my build and thought I would share it here. Also a couple vids of it running around. Im not too good with editing, in fact I don't edit. Just a few shots.

https://www.youtube.com/user/swampsled1#p/a/u/1/eqPuRNQTr6Q

 

[fish2keel]

Wow great vids!

Jeep426, I saw you got your gator tags! I got mine too but for lake hell n blazes! Should be a good season im hoping to get two good ones!

We all need to do a florida river run sometime!

 

[reedjj]

Sounds like a good idea! I would def like to come a little further south and do some sort of run...

I sold the "swamp sled" today to a 16 year old kid that worked and saved his money for a year. Him and his mom drove from Baxley, Ga to Jacksonville today. I think he was sold on it after seeing the youtube videos. I took him and his mom for a ride and let him drive a little. I am not in the business of giving boat rides to everyone that wants one from looking at a Craigslist ad but they were serious and took the time to make the drive here.

I got $2,500.00 for it. I was asking $2800.00 but he didn't want the TM or the extra batt. I have about $2,700.00 into it plus another $50.00 or so in an extra fuel filter, and one carb cleaning from a boat shop so I Just about broke even.

I was kind of sad to see it go. I put a lot of hard work into her. It is a great little boat and I hope that he really has a good time with it and catches a lot of fish. It was good to see a nice young man that worked hard for his money be so proud to haul it off behind his truck. He tried not to seem to excited but it was easy to tell he was. He even miscounted the money and gave me $2600. I already put the $100. bill in an envelope, stuffed it in a mailbox at the Post office.

When we were walking up to it I said " its just a little jon boat that I modded to fit what I wanted to do". His response was "I think its beautifull" hahaha. He should get many years of use out of it on the Altamaha river in Ga.

I also have him this website and a couple others so we might be seeing him on here before long.

 

[Flatbotm]

Buying a bigger boat? Whats the plan?

 

[fish2keel]

He already has a bigger boat. Its in the boat house thread. Its a 1756 g3 cc with a 40 yamaha. An awesome boat!

And good sell! I also feel good selling a boat to someone that is excited and seems like he deserves it. Thats how I got my grizzly. The old man selling it was just a great guy.

 

[Flatbotm]

Congrats jj. 1542 is a great boat but a 1756 would really be nice. I allready have the fever for a bigger boat. Big and wide jons are hard to come by in Colorado used.

 

[Jonboat Jerry]

Congratulations Reed! Just went over your build, nice work. I liked the hatch for the battery compartment
and chuckled when I saw the foam. When I was wire brushing under the seat on my boat, the wire brush
hooked up in the foam and took the drill right out of my hands! I was wearing gloves fortunately, but I'm a year older now.
Nice build! =D>

 

[BenCoJared]

As my first post, I want to say this is EXACTLY what I'm wanting to build. I'm so glad I found this thread and this site.

 

[florida strain]

turned out nice . love the battery compartment

 

[crabtree]

Reed, I'm wondering where you got the heavy duty velcro. Do you have a link that shows exactly what you used? Thanks.

 

[Gators5220]

Nice boat man, what did you get the speed up to in this little tinny?