a few mths back i picked up a beat ugly mudboat with 18 hp kohler that needed a carb.
today i swapped in a 13 hp kohler from a cub cadet mower with 659 hours on the clock.

the hull was a old rivitet 14 ft aluminium hull.bottom was replaced with 3/16 aluminium,strut welded in at a very steep angle.with this angle....speed isnt an option,shes built to dig deep.maybe 15 mph tops in deep water.

hooked up exhaust,throttle and choke today.got fuel and ignition left.sorted out steering today aswell.

like i said.....shes ugly and disposable....total investment....$400....including new trailer tires.

Lol
I like it!




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i sorta like it.gonna try a maiden voyage this afternoon.still gotta sort out the wires for ignition,install a seat....just nick nack stuff.
i rode the boat a few mths ago with the 18,but due to carb issues i couldnt get above half throttle (12-15mph)
hoping this lil 13 can swing that big wheel.

years ago i had a narrow green king fisher with a 12 kohler magnum,turning a 9x8 wheel.that boat hit 18 in deep,22 in shallow.

gonna get with two feathers in a few weeks,try to get another carb and fuel pump for the old 18 kohler.this boat will spend most of its time in chauvin at my dads house.

You need a free seat. Where you located at? I found a nice seat on hwy 90 awhile back. Its Blue and white. Figure if you going for cheap free will fit in

im in houma,i have 2-3 seats i can put in it.
but maybe i can meet up with you during the week.
thanx

Slap a little paint and a little tlc.... I've seen worse!! As long as it gets you where you need to go and back who cares what it looks like! Lol

a lil paint will do alot in the visual dept.
will spend its life in the marsh behind dads,not too worried how it looks though.

I thought this was gonna be about uncle-j boats from reading the title.

whose uncle j....guess ill google it.
sorry to disapoint or mislead you...lol.

Pretty ain't usually worth a flip in the long haul anyways! Man the ORANGE glove is priceless!

ya....typical down da baya trailer...no lights,so i tie wrapped a orange glove when i hauled her from chauvin to houma right before issac,never took it off...lol.

today i made a wire harness from the cub cadets harness.had to eliminate all the safety crap.finally got the kohler to start and stop with the key,charging system is working.
maybe during the week i can go test ride her.
this kohler wont start unless i choke it,once fired up its fine,then kill it...choke again.
besides that....running great on the bank.
nice and quiet with the big mufler.

If u want more speed,
Cut the through hull 3" after it comes into the boat
Cut the rubber stuffing box as small as u can, but still get a good bite on the through hull with hose clamps
Look how long ur shaft is, that's stupid. Cut the shaft short enough to where u can just get packing n the nut
Get rid of that stupid u joint!
1 it's unreliable
2 that setup is gonna vibrate soo bad the rivets r gonna pop out
3 ur gonna tear up ur cutlass bearing
4 look how long it is

As stated get rid of that u joint and get u a coupler. 1 for the shaft side, 1 for the shaft on the motor

By doing all the above u bring the motor way back which decreases the angle of the motor
The further back the motor and less angle the faster and more power ur gonna have. If it runs 13mph like that all ****** rigged I bet it'll 19

U need to b @ 10 -13 degrees. U don't have to remove or replace the shaft log, u just have to cut it shorter than it is on the inside of the boat.
Then cut the rubber hose on the stuffing box as short as u can.
Then cut the prop shaft
Then cut the motor shaft
Move everything back
U spent no money here

thanx for the advise forever draggin,i agree with you all the way,but im not looking for speed with this rig.i will shorten the shaft and move motor back later on though.

We not just talking about speed. We talking about total performance. Ever ridden a bike on 2 flats?
Ever had an impact not break a nut until u took off the extension? It's ur shit bro, just trying to help

@Igotit

I think I scrapped that old thing 3 to 4 years ago in Gonzales, I recognize the permatex washer rings on the side where the steering wheel used to attach and the piano hinge rust stains. That little john has seen lots of duck feathers, we ruined the original hull at PAC with a 20 longtail. Was underneath fricked to hell and smashed?

It leaked so horridly the thought of saving it never crossed my mind. It is a 1968 Polarcraft, glad to see it repurposed.

After a closer look....thats red primer that was sprayed over the old rivits,which were then grinded off and welded up.those rivits held in a large wrap around rear seat.
Kinda hoped it was your hull though.a good solid beatin history...lol.

maiden voyage went ok,rudder packing leaked terrible.had to flush fuel lines...water in tank and carb.
after that,she runs beautiful,no more choking to fire up.my truck and my dad clocked me at 16 mph in deep water,in 1.5 foot of water i peaked out at 21 mph.also ran my tom tom gps to confirm.
the steep angle nose dives the bow...slowing her down abit.
this wheel is too much for the old kohler,id like to gain around 900 more rpms,sounds like im running just at 2800-3k rpms.
even with the badly vibrating shaft and messed up ujoint...im impressed with the ugly project.
ive left the boat at dads house,hes getting the wheel and shaft re worked,new cutlass bearing and shorting up the drive line aswell as moving the motor mount lower and farther back,gonna install teleflex mudboat steering.
if i stand behind the engine and pull the govoner she will hit 20 mph in deep water.
not bad for a budget mudboat.5 hours riding cost me a lil over 1 gallon of gas.mostly 3/4 throttle.
took her to lake boudreaux all the way up to boo's place a few runs.



and a short vid.

lol

Glad it works




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Cool man looks like fun

works quite well,i gave it to my dad today....hes got the aluminium welding rig and connection with free prop and machine work.whats his is mine,vise versa.he drove it for about 1 mile....hes impressed.says hes happy with the 13,no need for the 18 kohler to go back in there.i offered to install my 18 briggs....but he declined.
my dads gonna rig it to pull a 16-20 ft trawl in the ponds.
ill go modify the steering,add a few things,including a belt driven gm single wire alt and some big lights.
still have to use it to re-dig our acess route,but that wont be till after the wheel and shaft work.
were considering motor box,electric fan and outboard style center console with steering wheel.
we have just about everything to do it.

stay tuned for my next build...a 16 ft laffite skiff with the 18.....gonna get a 35 for it.if need be i have a mitsubishi 4d55 high speed turbo diesel 87 hp...lol.
gotta rebuild a old hull,convert it to laffite skiff shape.
already collected running hardware,need about $1500 to rebuild the boat....and time.but thats another story.

well im impressed.
went throw her in the marsh in chauvin on bayouside dr behind dads house.
my old path is over grown with thick grass.hadent had anything ride there in about 7 years.
water was anywhere from 4 inches all the way up to 8 inches.once i dug a hole for the prop to bite....ol ugly plowed a path.in 3 hours i plowed through about 100 feet of marsh.
took a few pics...but i have to download a photo app to get them from my phone.
i had a blast and was impressed.after the weeds laid over id walk the boat back,in 8 inches she jumps right on top.
i cant wait to put the 18 back in.
i have to plow over the grass.....back out about 15 feet.....repeated process.i have to go about another 1/4 mile before i hit the pond...thats a long way.

This is cool. I always liked my mud boats better then my ProDrive for some reason.

I am impressed that you are excited about going 100 feet in 3 hours. You must have been having some fun.

At you current rate of progress you have about 38 hours to go to complete the 1/4 miles.

gonna be a very long 38 hours...lol.
im uploading pics now....you will see why im excited i made it 100 feet.
its thick.grass is 4-6 feet tall.
im not even sure a surface drive would do any good here.

this is what im going through.
water below the grass was 4-8 inches deep in spots,as i gas it,im sucking all the water out from under me.so a few seconds of throttle till she cavitates,then let her idle and wait for the boat to rise as the water rolls back in,then back on gas to gain a few inches of headway.

the start...make a hole first.







making head way...reverse would be nice!

Damnnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!

You are correct. My rig would never make it through there. Mud Boats are bad ass as long as the ground is not hard like sand.

the bottom is semi hard,with some soft silt on top.
this lil 13 kohler handles that 18's wheel great in the mud...i think ill leave it set up.
maybe ill rig the throttle to gain more rpms.im going through the govenor right now.
that 100 feet or better wore me out,may be 150 ft.

Will that ditch make your pond tidal? Gonna suck if it does. All that work and you'll be hunting a mud flat on low tide with north wind.

nah...i got plenty water.i have 4 ditches conecting 4 ponds.2 small ponds flow into a big pond that connects to miles of marsh with water.
this is the lowest the water will get here,during the summer or hard rain water rises about 1-3 inches.

heres a few snap shots from about 5 years ago on google maps.
you can see my old ditches conecting the ponds together.

the brown spot is a tiny shallow pond,maybe 40 feet diameter.my ditch jumps into the next pond,that i connect to a large pond....and on and on.
today i made it to the small pond (brown spot on pic)...but its so over grown....i wouldnt call it a pond anymore.
started from the treeline.
goal is old bayou lacash,closed in by bush canal levee and levee by chauvin/montegut crossroad.




i left the arrow on my location to give you a reference of where im at.

Post your GPS coordinates please. lol

always someone back there...used to be a turf war between us and them.a certin guy thinks he owns everything back there,he really owns 800 feet from the road.my family owns a 1 mile long strip,from 1 bayou to the next.
last week someone was trying to get into 1 of my ponds with a surface drive....dont know who,dont really care who.
im not territorial.he tried for 4 hours,but couldnt make it in.closest he got was in that big pond.
i viewed him through the cross hairs....relax....i was rabbit hunting with a pellet gun.he was over 300 yards out....lol.
if someone want to come....let em come,my game cameras will catch em.

but i understand your point.

my boat must be the same quality as uncle j's...lol.