I have made up my mind to build my own boat and with it my own mud motors. I know how to work on Johnsons and Evinrudes, but just want simpler motors. I am going to build my own boat because it's the only way to get the features I want and still be able to do most of what I want with it. The boat is this: http://www.spirainternational.com/hp_galv.php

Kinda of a big boat, 19' long give or take and 69" wide at the waterline.
And I'm thinking that I either need a Vanguard 37hp or 2, 22hp Predators to be able to get around with any speed given the hull weight of 1000 lbs. Most of the time the max load would be 5 adults, 1 munchkin, and 1 dog plus fishing gear and an ice chest. I don't duck hunt, but wouldn't mind trying to deer hunt along the river. Most of the fishing would be on the river and snaking up some of the smaller creeks here in NorCal. Some lake fishing. Main reason I chose this boat plan is that I can build into it a bow ramp is so that it would be easier for little ones to get onboard and anyone that can't walk as good. I've got a buddy who is in a wheelchair too, it'd be kinda cool to get him on the water. I like the idea of going with smaller engines since there seems to be a whole lot more peformance stuff for them but given the size of the boat and my payload, I'm not sure I could get enough hp out of a 16. I did find small engine turbos for engines up to 600cc for 350$ and my eyes kinda glazed over for a bit and I may have started to drool.

So my main question is will two 22hp Predators do the job with some basic mods to the engine? I haven't decided on a long tail or a surface drive yet.

This is my first homemade boat and first homemade motor so forgive me if these questions are a bit basic.

Joel
norcal

Cool looking boat, however, it's going to be hard to get any decent speeds/performance out of a mud motor. With that load (A 1k hull plus 5 adults and the rest of all that stuff) I'd look into an outboard if it's possible to run one. Just my .02


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That's what I'm afraid of. Unless I can make an inboard work, maybe with a surface drive or go up in HP to dual Vanguards or Subarus. That'd be closer to 60hp+. I'll dig through the forums for heavy boats and see if I can find something comparable. Nothing in stone yet, so no harm done and I'm learning a lot along the way.

Joel
norcal

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