Ok here is my problem. I hunt a place that is very shallow and remote. In most places it's no problem but since the big earth quake numerous hard sand islands have popped up all over the river. The guys with the air boats can still fly down river but my 1648 with a 36pd drafts to much water and I have got very very stuck on some of the sandbars that have 4" or so of water over them. Getting stuck is no big deal when you have a 700hp airboat handy but all alone with no one around for 20miles just sucks. Would a big 18 or 20 x 60 hull draft that much less water? How shallow can you big boat owners go on hard pan bottom ??

Thanks

the sand sucks for any boat.....i have an 18x54 and got stuck last weekend on a sand bar, must have been not even an inch deep. waited the tide out for about 4 hours, the water was at about my ankles (about 3 to 4 inches of water) and that was enough for me to drag/push her off with me and 2 other guys into deeper water to where i could take off and go.

hey i feel ya i got stuck on a sand bar last week in my 16 56 in an inch if water on a sand bar but i crossed 20 feet of dry sand before i came to rest only 6 ft from deep water took 5 guys and a shovel to dig out 1 hour later but i can run in an inch of water on plane any day just not dry hahaha

It don't take long to learn where you can and cannot go when sand is involved.

I was grinding bottom with an inch of ice on top of 2 inches of water and hard sand the other day, I've learned that when you stop you can usually get out of the boat and it will barely float, just walk it to deeper water instead of grinding on your prop. In 14 hours of use, my prop looks like a serrated kitchen knife.

I have a 17x54 PD boat with a 36PD. I would say stopped on a hard bottom with no one in the boat it drafts 4"

On a hard bottom with a 3 man hunting load.I need 8" to 10" to get on plane.

I run mostly sand or 1' soft mud with oyster shell mixed.

I have a 1750 Gator trax and need at least 6" to get up on plane and even then it takes a while but can be done. The shallowest I've put my boat in is in 3" of water but I was moving along at a crawl with the motor almost completely trimmed out of the water.

I can go over a straight sand flat in my boat, sounds like yall need some more tiller time....

I call major BS that you can run in 1 inch of water on a hard bottom.[/quote]
dayum i missed where he said that.....x3 i call bs also.....i can run 1" water with slop @ss mud, not sand.[/quote]

I'll see your 1" of water and say I can run just in slop @ss mud & no water


4-6" of water under hard sand is what I need depending upon load.[/quote]
x2[/quote]
to be honest i have never found any "straight mud" to play around in, i have always wanted to so i could push my boat to the limits, but the most i could to is about a 1/2"-1" of water and sloppy sloppy sloppy @ss mud, you know the kind you step in and you sink up to your neck. its no match for my GTR. i would love to get on some mud flats with no water. just none around here. plenty of sand bars and reefs though.[/quote]

Come to the SETX Mud Run and you will get your chance

1750 Gator Trax Huntdeck (18.5 feet long). I can run over hard bottom as long as I am on plane in 4 inches of water. Boat will float at a dead stop in 3 inches of water over hard bottom, but I need about 7-8 inches over hard bottom to take off from a dead stop. Sloppy mud is much easier and can run significantly shallower.

Thanks for the input guys. Sounds like a big wide hull would work for what I need.

Yea definitely BS on that. 1" above sand, my south Louisiana ass. I've run over slush, mud w/shells, and sand. Sand is a biatch!