Custom Light Weight Jon Boat?

Running a 6.5hp surface drive. Basically, situation is run a mile, drag through 20 yards of 1" water, run a mile.

I know the YT video you watched. You them fellas who were pissed off?

I think my stripped down 1436 is already lighter and floating shallower than a gheenoe.

you'll likely never find one because they have a cult following and are skyrocketing in value by the year for the old ones, but a Grumman Sportboat - not a Grumman flatback canoe- is ideal for what you're talking about.

I've owned two, on my 2nd one now, and will never get rid of it. I've run everything from 12hp gear reduction mudbuddy longtails to 8hp Honda 4 strokes on them. I'd have no premonitions about putting an ultralight surface drive on it. they'll draft in inches of water like a 1436 jon boat, but the difference is they have a load capacity of a thousand + pounds, and will draft in inches of water with it, also being fine rowing boats for drift fishing/jump shooting in creeks.

if you find one, get it. if you use it, you'll never get shed of it. it's the ultimate bulletproof, skinny water, outdoorsman watercraft.

Just asking because you didn’t mention it… Have you tried adding gator glide to the hull?

.08 can't be that much heavier

Yeah I would think .100-.125 would be about as thin as you will find in the custom market due to welding. Adding gator glide to your current boat would greatly reduce the effort to drag. I had some on a 1232 that I ran with 6 hp long tail. You could drag it really easily after the glide and you could run it up all the way out the water under its own power.

I've built a few aluminum pirogues out of .080 and a few smaller surface drive rigs out of .100 over the years. When I was still building a few boats, last guy I had wanting a .100 hull I told him .125 was as light as I'd go.
I had broke a sheet of .080 to build a little sneak hull type set up I wanted to try. It was a 14' sheet I, crimped thr bottomed and bent it to be 1424, with 12" sides. It sat in my shop for years. End of last summer I was trying to clean up a bit to list our place to sell, I decided to go ahead and finish that thing rather than just move and store the bent sheet again. Didn't have thr need for the sneak boat amy longer as I just don't duck hunt anywhere like that anymore, so I just built a 1424 surface strive style little hull out of it, I figured I could drag around behind me to haul crawfish traps or what not. I had forgotten what a pain in the arse working with .080 is.

quote:

---

you'll likely never find one because they have a cult following and are skyrocketing in value by the year for the old ones, but a Grumman Sportboat - not a Grumman flatback canoe- is ideal for what you're talking about.

I've owned two, on my 2nd one now, and will never get rid of it. I've run everything from 12hp gear reduction mudbuddy longtails to 8hp Honda 4 strokes on them. I'd have no premonitions about putting an ultralight surface drive on it. they'll draft in inches of water like a 1436 jon boat, but the difference is they have a load capacity of a thousand + pounds, and will draft in inches of water with it, also being fine rowing boats for drift fishing/jump shooting in creeks.

if you find one, get it. if you use it, you'll never get shed of it. it's the ultimate bulletproof, skinny water, outdoorsman watercraft.

---

They are excellent at what they are designed to do...haul large loads a long way in skinny water. They are also pretty damned impressive in seas that a jon boat would get you killed in. They are readily available in the pacific northwest. Far more available than used jon boats in the south in my experience.