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

[RiverBottomOutdoors]

I checked it out...but didn't see much but a boat just zipping along. Sounds like a cool design solution. Looking forward to seeing it.

 

[Ranchero50]

This is a request for a reply with some constructive criticism about the built.

Looks like an interesting build. I think you need to get the darned thing wet before you get too far into finishing it to see how it performs in real life. If you read my build, I did a good many changes midstream to work out bugs. Bug are a PITA to work around and bugs squash dreams pretty darned quick.

I'd get a set of wings welded onto the jet intake and a flange welded to your transom and pods to bolt a rubber pad on to reduce / eliminate a lot of back cavitation issues OB jets have. The pad will have a cutout so it wraps tightly around the intake neck. OB jets have trouble getting water to bend so you may want to check that your tunnel is going to help bend the water by having a radiused edge on the rear lip. Water follows that radius through hydrodynamics and it'll help load the pump. Use a spoon bottom against water coming out of a faucet to visualize the basic concept.

Your deck looks top heavy with the 1/8 2x2's so again, I'd get it wet with cinder blocks as substitutes for fuel and batteries. Do the walk around test and get on the poling tower to see how the hull feels. What are your plans for emergency conditions (storms blow up, flooding, overnighting, flotation etc). What have you planned for corrosion control, especially where you are laminating bare metal to the old transom and bow? It'll suck to have the hull corrode out from under you. Are you going to be able to access all your cables and wiring once the deck is finished?

Hope I didn't come off as a jerk, but I figure it's best to ask dumb questions before dumb things happen (on the water, in the middle of a storm, at night).
Jamie

 

[smackdaddy53]

All good stuff!
The bow and transom .125" aluminum are going to be completely TIG welded around the perimeter and I will have a sacrificial anode on the transom. I have not done anything on the tunnel yet because I am going to get my pods tacked on first and build off the inside of them. I am going to fab the tunnel exactly to OB Jet design specs for the size of my foot. As far as float testing, it will be done before I do any hull or deck coatings just in case I want to make any adjustments and need to weld or cut on it. I know it looks tall and topheavy but the hull with all that bracing and top sheets is light enough for me to pick up bu myself off the trailer. I will have a 19-20 gallon tank under the deck just in front of the console and one cranking battery and two for my trolling motor. I also plan on a high end ice chest that will double as a casting platform on the front. For floatation I have some big chunks of styrofoam that came out of the original seats and it will be installed under the deck in areas that will be out of the way of my storage. Im taking my time and trying to think of everything in order of operation and hopefully it will come out performing like I want it to! It wont win any races but I do at least expect a decent holeshot and planing speed. I know it will run shallow enough for the marsh I fish in, not planning on sliding my hull over any 2" deep water and shell under it if I can help it. I know it will need adjustments made but that is the part I like, learning, understanding and problem solving. I would rather do all the work myself than have something pre fabbed, that is no fun!
Thanks for the notes, keep them coming.

 

[smackdaddy53]

The deck will be riveted on and access to the underside will be easy, I also still have to mount the rub rail on the top edges but that will be last.
Twin bilge pumps too, not fooling around and sinking her.
I take fins are definitely going on the foot as well...everything will be done that I can think of to make it work. If it ends up being a dead end and I am chasing my tail and blowing money for a snakebit project I will rebuild the tunnel, add a hydraulic jackplate and put a prop lower unit on it.

 

[Ranchero50]

Here's a pic of the foot off my buddies 90/65 Merc behind a Ranger 117. He got in a fight with some granite on the susky and broke the front end off.

The wings are just 1/4" diamond plate (because diamond plate is sexy eh) and he said the performance difference was surprising, especially in the turns.

 

[smackdaddy53]

Looks like a winner. My whole jet unit is sandblasted so minimal cleaning will be necessary to weld fins on mine. Luckily my buddy is one of the best TIG welders in South Texas and he still loves to weld after all these years. I like the diamondplate, I may have to infringe on your buddies copyright...with 1/8" plate I should be fine, my tunnel will protect the fins and Im not running rivers with big rocks anyway.

 

[smackdaddy53]

Wow, it has been a long time since I was on here last! My boat has been at my buddies shop supposedly getting TIG welded but today I went by to take some measurements and he only welded the front which probably only took about an hour. I am not very happy at the moment, I really expected to be cutting out the tunnel tomorrow and getting it welded up this weekend but I guess the rest of the boat has to be done first...I wish I had my own TIG machine! I WILL get this project done and add some progress to the build thread soon.

 

[Country Dave]

Welcome back Smack,

Get er done.................... :mrgreen:

 

[Badbagger]

Country Dave » Yesterday, 11:16[/url]"]Welcome back Smack,

Get er done.................... :mrgreen:

X2, welcome back Smack!

 

[Paul Marx]

X 3 ? Welcome back Smack .

 

[smackdaddy53]

X4...haha
Got the ~25 gallon gas tank yesterday and fabbed the tunnel the day before, will try to flip the boat and put it back on the trailer so I can cutbout the hull/transom for the tunnel and take it back to the shop and get this project done. All I lack is finishing up.

 

[Country Dave]

smackdaddy53 » 4 minutes ago[/url]"]X4...haha
Got the ~25 gallon gas tank yesterday and fabbed the tunnel the day before, will try to flip the boat and put it back on the trailer so I can cutbout the hull/transom for the tunnel and take it back to SLOWMO's shop along with a cattle prod and get this project done. All I lack is finishing up.

Ok cool,

Is the tank aluminum or poly?

 

[smackdaddy53]

With the help of my trusty Kubota and front end loader I got the hull flipped after work today and layed out the tunnel cut-out and it is ready for cutting tomorrow after work. Sitting here after shooting a few mourning dove with my buddy and his dad looking at the flipped hull just mulling it over with my dogs (actual dogs not people)...
You guys know how much thought and research goes into a hull mod, I am getting even more antsy as the build slowly progresses!
For some reason Tapatalk has denied access to sharing photos. Will post them after I figure out what is up!

 

[karloutdoors]

Just came accorss this thread. Very entertaining read and equally as impressive. I dont know you but can surely feel the pride you have in this build and hope this rig brings you nothing but good times when done. Good luck.
Karl

 

[smackdaddy53]

Thank you Karl! I will definitely be proud once I get this thing in the water and catch some fish.
This evening I cut the "hole" for my tunnel out of the hull. It was a nerve racking step because if I screwed it up too bad the whole project would be scrapped for the most part.
I got it cut out and the tunnel I fabbed fit like a glove, now it is off to the welding shop so my buddy can TIG it all up and I am going to be there helping him and supervising so the pods are welded on straight and true, the tunnel is straight and all the details are taken care of. I am definitely OCD when it comes to fabricating anything I have a hand in because I don't want to be affiliated with a turd! I want this boat to perform well and do what I built it to do, which is get me to some areas most boats around here can't go and catch some fish without having to worry about anything out of the ordinary happening (which is commonplace when it comes to me and fishing).
When I click the add photo icon I still get a popup that reads "your forum has disabled image sharing from this app..." What the hell does that mean? I want to post pictures! Haha
The "Pole Dancer" is one step closer to making that $100 tip! I hope to have her back to the house completely welded up and getting prepped for the first float test soon. I will try to get a hott chick to act as my "weight" so I can take pictures of how she floats with "the weight" distributed in different configurations...if I can't round one up I will have to settle for some five gallon buckets of water I guess.

 

[smackdaddy53]

Got the boat to the shop today and we welded the pods and tunnel, flipped the hull and got her back on the trailer right side up and it is off to the shop again hopefully when I get more time in the evening soon. I took pics of it all but still can't upload pics from Tapatalk. As soon as I can I will add them. I don't know why it stopped allowing me to share images all of a sudden, it is frustrating because no one likes to just read about the builds! Pictures show so much more.

 

[Country Dave]

smackdaddy53 » Yesterday, 22:50[/url]"]Got the boat to the shop today and we welded the pods and tunnel, flipped the hull and got her back on the trailer right side up and it is off to the shop again hopefully when I get more time in the evening soon. I took pics of it all but still can't upload pics from Tapatalk. As soon as I can I will add them. I don't know why it stopped allowing me to share images all of a sudden, it is frustrating because no one likes to just read about the builds! Pictures show so much more.

Very cool Smack,

Why don't you contact the sight administrator and see if they can help you with the pics.

 

[smackdaddy53]

Well it looks like my image sharing problem came from updating my forum app and image sharing was turned off. I must be getting old!
Here are the pictures of the latest developments on the pole dancer. She is looking sexy to me! I will be wire wheeling that crappy jonboat spotty barnacle crusted green off soon after I get the top of the pods, tunnel and transom perimeter TIG welded now that I got her right side up again.
Here is the tunnel cut out and 2"x6" tubing reinforcement riveted in place. It doubles as a transom stiffener, keeping the bottom of the transom from flexing when trailering and running the motor (when that day comes)...


Pieces cut for the jet tunnel and layed in place...


Pods and tunnel welded up, I flipped the hull so my buddy and I were not doing a bunch of odd overhead work.


Slid her off the trailer and flipped her carefully with a sling strap and my Kubota front end loader. Ready to haul back to the shop and finish welding the inside of the tunnel hull and everything else on the topside and entire boat. Believe it or not I can pick the back of the boat up off the trailer really easily. I bet the hull without the deck plates weighs about 300 pounds if that.


I mounted the motor after work today to see how my design fits since I built it all off measurements and welded it without checking the fit of the jet foot but it all ended up right where I wanted it. There will be another 1/8" aluminum splash plate welded over the top of the lip of the existing tunnel to keep water from splashing all over the back of the boat. It fits like a glove!

 

[Country Dave]

Wow that looks really good bro, tight work........................... =D>

 

[smackdaddy53]

Thank you Dave. Your build and a few others have been the ones I read every post of and helped me a bunch. There is a ton of information and great Ideas (and a few lessons learned) that I am sure helped and will help many people.
The float test will be soon, probably next week some time. I just want to see how she sits and see how many pinholes I need to weld before the hull gets the GatorGlide coating.