New to the site as well ...

Recently convinced my ole lady that a mud motor would look purdy good in my garage.

So here's my delimma ... I've got to be able to use the boat 75% of the time for redfish/flounder and perhaps trout, 25% of the time to whack quack. I am not looking for a bay boat, just something that will get me from point A to B that won't sit in storage for 5 months out of the year while I'm duck hunting.

Weight is my biggest concern. I know that I'm going to be sacrificing some maneuverability with a console rig and teleflex controled steering, but baby girl has to be able to drive this boat. Knowing the boats' limitations should keep me out of trouble.

I'm looking at the PD in a 17 x 60 or a 17 x 54 with 18" - 21" sides, 36hp backside.

Could I expect any less weight restriction with a side console and the lower sides and smaller floor width? I've got a buddy that has the 18 x 54 with a center cons. on it and he's gotten it stuck in 14" of water, hard bottom lake. His rig flat out, out ran our buddy boat (same size with a tiller) on open water, but up tight in the timber the tiller ran circles around us. The CC boat did pretty well in the mud.

Any suggestions as to how I might keep the console and keep the weight down?

If he got stuck in 14" of water he did not know how to drive it

Pouledeau,
I assume you have discussed this with KP already to get his input, if not, I highly recommend doing so as he should be able to point you in the right direction. I bought my first PD with duck hunting in mind and have found out that I use it a lot more for fishing and joy riding than I ever have to hunt. It will get you to some great places for reds, this I know for sure! As for the smaller width being an advantage, I personally might have to disagree. The smaller width is great in tight timber and canoe trails, but a wider boat should displace less water and therefore allow you to run better in the shallow hard bottoms. Also, it would be more stable which could come in handy when traveling across the open areas sometimes encountered in saltwater to get to the spot for fishing reds/trout. The 21" sides vs. 18" sides might not sound like much, but it is almost a definite in my opinion to go with the higher sides as they make a huge difference with the amount of unwanted water that gets into the boat (hardly any ever with 21" sides). I had a 16x48 and now run a 17x54 which handles extra weight significantly better than the 16x48. if you plan on running 3 people or more on a regular basis, you will notice a lot of difference in performance depending on the bottom width, or at least the guys I run with do and for that reason, prefer wider boats. I am no expert, just speaking from personal experience. Hope my $0.02 combined with what the others will tell you can help. Good luck!

QQB ... that's actually, extremely helpful. Thank you.

KP and I have talked about the boat at great length actually and I'm very pleased that he "wouldn't spec out a boat he wouldn't personally run" ... his words.

Quote just came in via email (1280 less than I thought) ...

just bought a 18x54 cc pd with 36 hdt/t and rev. love the boat go tall and long shaft just me 12 gal gas 2 batt ,trolling i got 27 deep and it will haul a load u will be surprised at how narrow trail it will do . went 5 miles and the water was 14 in. and about 3ft wide cut through 7 ft bear grass , kp is good people hope ya like .

Pictures ... ?!?!? Hell yeah ya'll gon'get some pictures! If this thing could bear my child ... well, you get the point.

Appreciate it guys ... I'm really, really looking forward to this. My only hold up is floatation ... I have to cross 14' - 28' of water from time to time, and I've seen 6' standing waves on the river when it's at flood stage.

I'm putting an automatic bilge in, but is that enough in an emergency? I'm allergic to life jackets.

KP seems top notch, it's been all pleasant thus far he basically told me he wouldn't let me build a boat he himself wouldn't run ... or one that wouldn't perform. My hangup on getting floatation installed is the extra 200 lbs it adds to the hull. That's basically an extra coonass on board at all times.

I got a quote on both, with and without ... just need to suck it up and pull the trigger on one of them.

Only person I know that sank one tried climbing a dike and submerged the motor and transom at which point the weight of the water "pulled"' the boat down. Didn't lose it completely though. Other than being stupid, not likely you will ever have anything to worry about but on those days you do, make sure you have a decoy on a long string tied to the boat and a life jacket at your feet (leg through the arm works well). That way, if it does sink, you can get to safety and then go back to where the decoy is floating and you can find your rig by following the cord down to the bottom. Once you get it back up, a simple engine fluids change should have you back on your merry way. I would be willing to bet that if it were bad enough to sink the boat, you probably wouldn't want to be out there anyway, so only chance of those conditions would be on a return trip where weather stirred while out. My dad is a freak about having flotation but I have yet to see where I would honestly need it...I think once you see how stable that setup actually is, you won't have any concerns. Also since you will have a mud motor, you could always run the bank back around to landing...no need to cross open water other than it may be a quicker/shorter route. Might take a little longer to get back, but won't have to worry about sinking if running in 6" of water. Not trying to dictate your decision, just throwing it out there as food for thought since that isn't often considered an option in an outboard but will be once you get your rig.

Yeah good point ... all right, nevermind ... if I put to much whiskey in my morning coffee and accidentally shoot a hole in the bottom of the boat I'll just stand up.

Regarding your question about flotation, I have flotation in my hull and it is CG approved I have no limitations on my boat sort of like a yacht certification for your boat, captains discression on how many he can carry assuming enough life jackets for everyone.

Flotation on my 1860 with 35 GTR and I am running 9GA gas (full) me (210LBS) I run 28 can bump 29 have hit 30 going down river and turning lol

Adding in 3 guys + my dog I run 23-25 which is an issue when you have 3 friends all over 250. Balancing the load is critical on a tiller like mine. She runs great and the hunt deck is a great addition to any person wade fishing or getting in & out of the boat.

get urself an 1860 like I did if you wanna draft as little water as possible

I have an 18x48 CC ProDrive rig. I love it, wouldn't trade it in for any other boat if I had a choice. All I use mine for is duck hunting and booze cruising. First of all..... don't get Teleflex. spend the extra money and get hydro steering first, I promise you won't regret that decision. as far as cutting options to save weight, don't worry about that. Mine has extended deck, tall sides, tall transom, hydro reverse, hydro steering, hydro trim, light kit... every option they offer without buying two motors. With me and a full tank of gas on a new prop, it will bump 30 at times. No less than 25 with 3 guys and a full hunting load. My boat planed that load easily this year in a hard bottom lake with knee deep water and less in places. So if you're buddy got stuck in 14" of water, he needs to learn how to drive before you make boat performance judgements based on his abilities.

I went 18x48 because I liked the way it handled a lot better than a 60" or 54" boat. I'd suggest you drive a 48" and a 60" boat before you make that decision.