I'm upgrading to a new rig in the next couple months, and starting to do some due diligence on what's available on the market now. I will probably end up buying new if a good used rig doesn't pop up.

I've noticed that some builders are putting the cross braces almost flush with the floor (Uncle J, Prodigy, Timber Creek). I'm guessing that they are notching them over the longitudal bracing and keeping them off of the bottom by a little bit? Anybody have a rig set up like this, and have you had any hooking issues? This appears to be in contrast to how Gator Trax, Gator Tail and Go devil are still making them with the cross braces welded on top of the longitudal bracing.

Not an issue at all on my prodigy. Granted, I dont have any real dents in the bottom of my boat, but I've nailed a few stumps and cypress knees over the years and don't have any hooks to show for it.

#CFFITR
#mudmotor>physics

Same with my Prodigy, although I've only had it for 6 mos and haven't hit anything hard. I doubt it's an issue but I can't honestly say I speak from experience. I know that's probably not much help but all of those mfrs are quality builders and I doubt they would do it that way if it created an issue.

Cross bracing is not as bad as some say it is. The way Uncle J braces makes his hull pretty darn solid

I like the cross bracing. Keeps icechest and stuff from sliding around

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Just ordered a prodigy and sold my current boat. 1851 with a 40HDR, pretty basic by prodigy standards - no cat walks, no interior lighting, nothing crazy. I loved the simplicity of my GDSD and long tails, but it was easier to get a MB through prodigy. I had a MB longtail years ago that I put around 1,000 hours on without any drive related issues.

It’s a shame warren coco puts foam in his boats that are under 20 ft. I’m their prototypical customer that just wants a basic no frills boat, nothing to fail, etc.

Have had a 1851 Prodigy with 3/16 bottom since 2017. Hunt 35-45 days a year in cypress brakes, timber, and backwater sloughs. Boat has taken serious beating and still have no hooks or dents in the bottom.

Cross bracing is not always a bad thing.

I was wondering if anybody had hooked a hull that has recessed cross bracing. A lot of you run these things harder than I do, and if nobody has had any issues I'm good. Definitely not a question of whether to have cross braces or not.

I'm finding that time moves slower when you have a boat on order.

In SEARCH are literally dozens of pics of hooks on boats with cross braces...

I ran a slick bottom .90 Weldbilt with only crossbraces and there were litterally hooks
at every crossbrace from front to rear... It is gonna happen if you run stumps and
cypress knee areas... It is a deal killer - well that is up to you... It still floats and hunts
even when the bottom looks like an ocean of waves...

Giga - did you read the whole thread? This is regarding the cross braces on longitudal braced boats, specifically recessed cross bracing. I've hooked my fair share of regular ass jon boats, im talking about true 1/8" mud hulls with stringers. I did do a search for this as well, and there wasnt much discussion regarding recessed cross bracing.

Sorry for talking about mudmotors and boats instead of politics...

I suppose it would depend on the span between the horizontal cross braces but I can't imagine a hull being that much more prone to hooking with the combination of longitudinal plus horizontal bracing than one with just longitudinal stringers.

Exactly since the cross braces are several inches above the hull bottoms...

ProDrive has built them that way for over a decade - as have most major builders
with open floor plans or center seats to stiffen and tie the two sides together without
them the hull would flex and bend excessively...

Now many builders like GatorTail have bow issues in front of the longitudinal stringers
but not a real performance issue just cosmetic... Also Excel had issues with their older
hulls hooking in front of the transom brace as it contacted the hull skin and was a bad
design they abandoned years ago...



If it is flush with the floor and makes contact with the floor - it invites problems !

No shit, that’s not what I was asking. My question was a little more nuanced than that. It had nothing to do with cross braces touching the bottom of the hull, everyone knows that’s a future hook. I’m talking about the cross braces that are notched 1/2” above the bottom of the hull. It’s not a new concept, I’ve been on this site over 10 years - just wanted to see if anyone had hooking issues even with the braces being off the bottom.

Notching is weakening - there is no upside or benefit structurally - just lowers the cross brace...
Catwalks are badass - I have maybe the only GD with factory installed catwalks - stiffens the hull too...

I think you are off in Never Never Land with Alice on this subject - IMO

Cause there are a lot more important issues to matching up a good MM to a good hull
than cross braces or gator glide - but carry on - I will not post back again....

Just be sure to ask how much bow line to store tied to a bottle to recover after swamping next...

Just kidding - don't get irritated too easy - wish you best of luck - good subject actually !

I imagine the bottom line is how bad are you gonna use and abuse it. I'm sure in standard running without hitting stumps and other structures hard, you'd be fine. But, if you hit something hard enough to dent the hull up into the cross-brace, then you might get a hook. Personally, I try not to abuse my boat that much but I don't hunt flooded timber and cypress swamps much anymore. I would think you'd have to hit something pretty hard to hook a hull with a cross-brace 1/2" off the floor but I don't have any real-life experience to say for sure. Not much help I guess FWIW.

1/2" isn't an issue, the ones that run it closer to the bottom are though. You could do laundry on a Beavertail hull.

Not sure where Giga is at with this but I’ve built em both ways. Is cross bracing on top stronger? Sure. Is recessed cross bracing strong enough? Absolutely (if done right)



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The cross braces add a substantial amount of strength. A hull without them won’t “hook” per say because nothing is touching the bottom perpendicular to the long braces but the bottom will move a lot and become concave in the right conditions.


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