I was under the impression that hard chines were better than soft chines. However, I recently made a visit to Gator Traxs website and saw that they build their boats with soft chines. What are some pros and cons of each chine style?

My interpretation, correct me if im wrong. Hard chines for speed, soft chines for handling. From what I gathered from GatorTrax and smooth bottom boat with soft chines will handle as well as a straked boat with hard chines.

Doh! I did do a search....keywords- hard+soft+chines. Only got 1 result and it wasn't what I was looking for. I too, thought most people preferred hard chines. I guess it would depend on the circumstance. Which is why I wondered what the pros and cons of each style were.

They more commonly refered to as square, tapered, or round. As opposed to soft and hard.
That might help

Hard Chine is a bit easier to build - so it may be a bit lighter - it will
definitely draft less at rest and at speed.... However the round chine
and tapered chine or even tripple tapered chine have better turning
ability in deep or shallow water....

If there is any water at all under my 18x44 GD (round chine) and it can
lean over at all - it will bite and turn like it is on rails....

It's all about what you want - if you tote a lot and want max speed then
go with the square chine.... If your loads are moderate and you want to
be able to easily drive around turns and obstacles in a few inches of water
then go with the round or tapered chines....

Never believe any mfg claims until you have test driven it for yourself - that
is the best advice of all ! ! !

First of all, do a search for "chines" like mentioned above. There have been a lot of talk on this subject. Also check out the reviews section and you can get an idea of speed differences between all of them.

Second, do you think a Chevy salesman is going to say that ford builds a great truck, just a different style, so figure out what will best suit you before you make a decision......The answer is no, he is going to tell about how chevy will fit your needs and be better. It is pretty much the same with boat companies, they have to sell to make money and support their family. It is expected and there is nothing wrong with that.

Third, there is no question that a round chine turns better. There is also no question that a square chine handles a load better and drafts shallower, but does not turn as well. The conflict comes when people get into how much better the boat turns, or how much faster, etc.

Now my personal opinion. FTR I have never owned a round chine boat, but have rode in many. A round chine will handle much better with a light load in the boat at speed. Now if you use your boat like I do and have it loaded down, you should never have a problem getting the boat to turn. I dont and it is a pretty wide boat. Now it will slide if the boat is empty and I am running fast, but it is not out of control and you can make it bite once you get some tiller time on it. BUT in a hunting situation, the boat is never light, this is why I went with a square.

So, like most will tell you...You need to match a boat and motor combo to what kind of conditions you will be using it in and what motor will be matched to it. There is no right or wrong boat.

Also, a taper is pretty much in the middle depending on the kind of taper. A single taper is more like a square and a tripple taper is more like a round.

If we were talking about 50+ mph then your "handling" concerns may have been note worthy. However if you cant turn an average MM rig running 25-28 mph, no matter what chine it has, then you might need to put your training wheels back on............. The benefit of drafting less is real however.

I just got into mud boats but I been running regular boats my whole life. WTH is a chine? I mean I know on my old bass boats if you didnt have your motor trimmed out right it would "chine walk" they would call it. But what is it in reference to a mudboat??

Just the bottom edges of the boat where the side meets the bottom.