Bill Lichtenberg
New member
Hello everyone,
First time posting here, but I have been lurking and reading many of the topics for a couple of years.
My first experience with a wooden boat was a craigslist find. A gentleman was asking $300 for a Glen L. designed 'Sissy-Do', with a trailer an a 4hp weedless Evinrude. I jumped at this deal, as all of my prior duck hunting had been by walk-ins and occasionally hunting with a buddy from his boat. It's not an ideal hunting boat, but it gets me access to places I could not otherwise go, and with no dog, it helps in retrieving downed birds in deeper water. I have since put a 6.5hp longtail kit on it to get me in to shallow water, but the hull design seems to make it hard to hide, and it's slow with either motor on the back.
Fast forward a couple of years, and I built my first boat with plans I found on the Duck Hunter's Refuge forums. The guy selling the plans called it a 'Hybrid NL'. It's basically an 8ft marsh boat made from 1/4" ply with 3/4" frames. The build was quite easy, and even with no fiberglass experience it was no problem to get together. With the 4hp on the back it moves along ok, but I seem to go through at least 2 of the plastic props and several sheer pins a season.
I have been doing most of my hunting from the marsh boat this year, but I am looking to build another boat, and I would like some opinions on what might make the better choice. Been looking at a possible 'Black Brant 3', a 'Snow Goose' designed by Sam Devlin, or a wooden 16ft Jon with plans from Uncle Johns website. Most of my hunting takes place on shallow rivers in south-central WI. And I still have a lot to learn about outboards, and boats in general.
Would any of the three designs listed work ok with a longtail? Or are there other hulls that would work better? I am looking at this as a possible spring project. I'd by a hull, but as you all know, once you build a boat, sometimes all you want is to get in the workshop and start a new one.
Thanks for any and all input,
Bill
First time posting here, but I have been lurking and reading many of the topics for a couple of years.
My first experience with a wooden boat was a craigslist find. A gentleman was asking $300 for a Glen L. designed 'Sissy-Do', with a trailer an a 4hp weedless Evinrude. I jumped at this deal, as all of my prior duck hunting had been by walk-ins and occasionally hunting with a buddy from his boat. It's not an ideal hunting boat, but it gets me access to places I could not otherwise go, and with no dog, it helps in retrieving downed birds in deeper water. I have since put a 6.5hp longtail kit on it to get me in to shallow water, but the hull design seems to make it hard to hide, and it's slow with either motor on the back.
Fast forward a couple of years, and I built my first boat with plans I found on the Duck Hunter's Refuge forums. The guy selling the plans called it a 'Hybrid NL'. It's basically an 8ft marsh boat made from 1/4" ply with 3/4" frames. The build was quite easy, and even with no fiberglass experience it was no problem to get together. With the 4hp on the back it moves along ok, but I seem to go through at least 2 of the plastic props and several sheer pins a season.
I have been doing most of my hunting from the marsh boat this year, but I am looking to build another boat, and I would like some opinions on what might make the better choice. Been looking at a possible 'Black Brant 3', a 'Snow Goose' designed by Sam Devlin, or a wooden 16ft Jon with plans from Uncle Johns website. Most of my hunting takes place on shallow rivers in south-central WI. And I still have a lot to learn about outboards, and boats in general.
Would any of the three designs listed work ok with a longtail? Or are there other hulls that would work better? I am looking at this as a possible spring project. I'd by a hull, but as you all know, once you build a boat, sometimes all you want is to get in the workshop and start a new one.
Thanks for any and all input,
Bill