Off Topic Good night Wellcraft and hello Jon boat

Three Bouys

Three Bouys

Well-Known Member
R.O.C. (Radio Operator's Certificate)
Todays schedule was to hunt this morning and then pull the Wellcraft when we came in. Up at 4:30 am to get a blind in the unit and off we went. After 3.5 hrs and 4 ducks it was time to come.
Pulled the Wellcraft and did a super power wash and I now it looks like new again. Dam that algae builds up when I haven’t used it much this season. Checked the engine hour meter and did only 37 hours. Huge cost savings this year. Been too busy on the farm after the farmer lost his right hand thumb in a log splitter incident and other personal projects.
Boating isn’t quite over yet thou as the duck season is on. Did our morning shoot and now we are back out again for the evening in the Jon boat. Been getting lots of time in the Jon boat and ducks as well. We upgraded the engine from 11 hp to 16 hp and that extra 5 horse is a big improvement IMG_6113.jpegIMG_6115.jpegIMG_6112.jpeg
 
Isn't that a lot of motor for a little Jon boat ? How's the Transom holding up ? I found Longtails put stress on them differently then regular outboards. Also I don't see a Forward Grab Bar to assist in steering that beast or is it removable ? Is the Throttle a manual set or a spring return to idle type ? I don't see the Safety Kill Lanyard or is it just not on it in the photo ?

I have a 16 HP Vanguard engine Go-Devil Longtail on a 14 foot StarCraft tinnie with a homemade pop-up blind. Found Jon boats to be unsafe as I had a StarCraft 1432 Jon boat once ; too tippy and can't handle any rough water due to lack of freeboard and a pointed bow. Then factor the carrying capacity or lack thereof (my motor alone weighs 172 Lbs.) and chose the tinnie as a safer boat for going out to Little Rice area. If the water keeps dropping I may put it to use next year or maybe cash it in for a Kings ransom ? LoL !

My Dad would shoot two ducks and claim he got his limit because the Unit's yearly average was 2.4 ducks per hunter per day.
 
Old Cut LongPointer said:
Isn't that a lot of motor for a little Jon boat ? How's the Transom holding up ? I found Longtails put stress on them differently then regular outboards. Also I don't see a Forward Grab Bar to assist in steering that beast or is it removable ? Is the Throttle a manual set or a spring return to idle type ? I don't see the Safety Kill Lanyard or is it just not on it in the photo ?

I have a 16 HP Vanguard engine Go-Devil Longtail on a 14 foot StarCraft tinnie with a homemade pop-up blind. Found Jon boats to be unsafe as I had a StarCraft 1432 Jon boat once ; too tippy and can't handle any rough water due to lack of freeboard and a pointed bow. Then factor the carrying capacity or lack thereof (my motor alone weighs 172 Lbs.) and chose the tinnie as a safer boat for going out to Little Rice area. If the water keeps dropping I may put it to use next year or maybe cash it in for a Kings ransom ? LoL !

My Dad would shoot two ducks and claim he got his limit because the Unit's yearly average was 2.4 ducks per hunter per day.
Click to expand...
I understand all what you are saying @Old Cut LongPointer
This is the boat and motor 11 hp Honda I used when punting at the Bluff Club. The farthest blind we used was at the end of Cedar Creek aka ?!;:-/ Pond. If weather permitting we would run open water for the almost 8 klm and it took us a good 35-40 mins with a member/dog and gear at a whooping speed of maybe 8-10 klm/hr. If winds picked up during the day and return trip back meant that I would have to run through the marsh and cut throughs and that took almost 1 hr
Now that I have it, it needed to be speed up to get it on plane and not plow through the water.
The boat is a Lowe’s 1436 and is some what stable. After some research we decided to go with a Predator 459 cc (15.8 hp) with 24.5 ft/lbs @ 2800 rpm ( max rpm 3800), weight 79.5 lbs
The old retired Honda GX 390 11.7 hp @ 3600 rpm, 19.5 ft/lbs @ 2500 rpm ( max rpm 3600) weight 69 lbs
The weight differential of 10 lbs really isn’t noticeable. I see you made a text error on your weight, had to look it up for the proper weight
Now we can get his up on plan and not pushing water and cruise an easy 20 klm/hr.

As for the throttle it is spring return and a bicycle hand brake handle style. The safety kill switch lanyard is supposed to installed asap as my request with my boys. As for the forward grab bar it’s in progress of being made. When I put the Wellcraft in the shop I got looking for material to fabricate a removable unit.
Got back to the cottage to get some measurements and my son has it out now hunting and I’m sure that they are in Little Rice Bay or at Thorough Fare or even Big Rice Bay.
Sunday we went for trip ride up Big Creek as far as just north of A concession past the washed out bridge. Using a speed app this is what we did. IMG_6106.png
 
Hi Three Bouys ! I looked up the weight of my unit from Go-Devil and it's 173 Lbs. not 172 as I posted. If yours is really that light that would give you a huge advantage in power to weight ratio. I use a custom bent steel rod that fits into the oar locks and straddles the boat, wish it was thicker but it does the job in helping with the body English while driving. I like the idea of a spring return throttle , much safer but the Kill Switch is a "must have" because it will save your life in the event of The Deadly Death Spin ! So your top speed was 23 km/h but with a load , right ? So empty you might hit 30 km/h or more ? As you probably know if you want speed go with a Surface Drive but for that 4x4 , pushing through crap, slow but sure, you can't beat a Longtail.
 
Hey @Old Cut LongPointer guess I misinterpreted your weight of your setup. I had in my mind it was motor weight only not including the long tail. My apologies! I know the complete set up isn’t a one man job to install it on the boat.
Drop in some day when your on the point at 315 Erie Blvd for visit.
Jim
 
Agree with Old Cut LongPointer Jim. I hunted the Unit for a lot of years and the only boating accidents I remember involved Jon Boats. Fortunately nobody was seriously hurt but at least one gun was lost and I was involved in the decoy recovery a few times. I also witnessed two of the incidents and one involved a pretty big Jon Boat that was following our 16' Lund. The guys were able to walk to stake blind #17. The other I witnessed was a smaller craft heading to blind #40. It was a US hunter alone in his Jon Boat and he flipped in the old channel that ran through the cattails back in the days before phragmite's eradication. The third involved a friend who shall remain nameless. He was involved in the boat distribution and sales business and should have known better. He was also travelling outside the marsh.
 
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