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.

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.

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.

I just had the cross bracing reworked on my Phowler 1848 at Gale Marine in LaCross, WI. They were originally flush to the floor and Gale said Phowler even said it was a design flaw. Gale had to pop my hull back out because the badly engineered cross bracing forced the hull the bend inwards.

The replaced the cross bracing which is now solid, but it will take some getting used to since it is now raised 2" or so.