lookn on da sportsman at some boats and came across steves metal fab in m.c. wonderin if n e one has ever baught one of his boats and how do the perform and hold up to abuse.

I saw his boats on La Sportsman. The one thing that would be a deal breaker for me is that he doesn't appear to use longitudinal bracing. Just braces it across the width of the boat. No thanks....

da boats ive seen so far look pretty good and for a good price. And whats wrong wit jus havn width braces

When you have smooth bottom and you run over cypress knees you form hills and valleys between the braces which cause drag. If the bottom is v crimped then it still does it but not as much. So if the braces run from front to back you may still get dents and bings but the dents run from front to back the same way the water flows and doesn't create as much drag.

That guy builds boats right up the street from where I work and he always has some good lookin boats out in front of his shop. The longitudinal ribs work but most times require additional bracing of some sort. Kind of like those trip hazard lookin things I see in alot of the pics on here where there are ribs across the double bottom. Everybody likes what they like but I dont care for that. I know too many people that have the long. ribs and all have big crowns in the bottom of the boat. I have a 2048 skiff with the crossways ribs and haul alot of weight during alligator season and also crawfish wit it in da cypress knees and it has a few hooks in it but it doesnt really slow me down any.

what is the weight difference between 1/8 bottom and 3/16 bottom. not alot. and a 3/16 bottom with cross braces stays straight ass hell. myself and i know ten poin have seen a boat (his dads old skiff) go through hell and its straight as a arrow. what will make your boat slower a little extra weight or hooks in the bottom from a 1/8 bottom.