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SwampDonkey1
MMT F.E.
Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2011 10:09 pm Posts: 923 Location: North Central KS
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Swamp Donkey Revamp PICS
This past summer I decided to buy an aluminum boat and figured it would be a great project. I'd been wanting buy a boat to fish, and hunt out of anyways so I decided to go aluminum and began looking. After about 2 weeks of craigslist and multiple leads I finally found the boat I wanted, a 1436 Lowe, the guy wanted $500 and said he'd throw in a motor although he didn't know if it ran. When i showed up it was in pretty rough shape and barely towable. i had to go to Walmart and buy a New wheel and tire just to get it home. This summer I made major progress on the "Swamp Donkey" and pretty well restored it back to good condition the before and after photos astound me still today...
The First Day
Extending Tongue for Shallow Drop-ins
Used rust reformer on the inner part of the tongue, I think it chemically neutralizes the iron and stops the rusting reaction.
Got a buddy of mine to do some welding on the trailer tongue...
I also had him make me a custom winch post...
Final Assembly of the trailer frame after a coat of rust reformer, primer and paint...
Bolted on the bunks I made...
Starting to re-wire the lights
The LED lights are individually grounded and sealed so I extended the ground, and ran the wires through the conduit all the way back to the frame.
Here's the grounds to the tail lights...
All finished!
Cutting the corner caps and getting ready to replace the transom...
Basically the Transom wood was well... over 45 years old and had seen better days, it fell apart and I used a shop vac to remove most of it...
Fabricating the new transom...
There is the completed winch post, I did cut off the excess from the support bars with an angle grinder and it has a much cleaner look now.
I bought these rods to fit on either sides of the conduit along the bottom of the tongue so the u-bolts wouldn't pinch the conduit and short out my tail light wires
After stripping most of the paint off...
I put a layer of "bed liner" roll on material on the bottom of the boat because of the many sandbars I may be encountering, just a little insurance...
New transom slid into place and getting ready to get it welded up...
It did take a little bit of modding to fit the corner caps...
A buddy of mine right here, works at his dad's irrigation company/hog farm and they primarily deal with aluminum and have a couple tigs so it worked out perfectly
Painted the entire boat and decided to keep it a solid color for right now...
Had to give 'er a name
Used closed cell foam between the support ribs on the floor to make it flat and topped the floor with neo-mats in Max-4
Finally got around to mounting the fire extinguisher
Also installed two hatches for storage under the seats and three illuminated rocker switches for the head lights, navigation lights, and anchor light.
Right now I'm away at college but the next improvement will be pods, and eventually a homemade lt, thanks for lookin!
_________________ 1436 Lowe -Workin for the man, Huntin when I can...-
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Thu Mar 10, 2011 7:11 pm |
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earl33
MMT 1000 Club
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2009 3:47 pm Posts: 2261 Location: West Tennessee
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Re: Swamp Donkey Revamp
Looks like alot of hard work... Good job....
_________________ If the Steel aint Flying the Birds aint Dying.... Uncle J 1948 holding a LT Uncle J 1848 w/?
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Thu Mar 10, 2011 7:22 pm |
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Tenpoint
MMT 1000 Club
Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2009 5:22 pm Posts: 2029 Location: Patterson LA
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Re: Swamp Donkey Revamp
Man. Looks like you put some serious time into that. Good job. Looks good.
_________________ 19x48 Rink/Aucoin Bateau w/35 GTR 20x60 Home-made skiff w/200 Merc
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Thu Mar 10, 2011 7:31 pm |
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SwampDonkey1
MMT F.E.
Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2011 10:09 pm Posts: 923 Location: North Central KS
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Re: Swamp Donkey Revamp
Hey thanks guys! I really appreciate it!
_________________ 1436 Lowe -Workin for the man, Huntin when I can...-
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Thu Mar 10, 2011 8:15 pm |
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diceman
MMT Pro Member
Joined: Wed Nov 18, 2009 6:13 pm Posts: 409 Location: ct
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Re: Swamp Donkey Revamp
nice job kid when your'e ready look at the copperhead s/d for your new mudmotor
_________________ Life is like rolling the Dice
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Thu Mar 10, 2011 8:17 pm |
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dguidry
MMT Super Elite Member
Joined: Tue Jun 29, 2010 1:20 pm Posts: 11166 Location: Cecilia, LA
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Re: Swamp Donkey Revamp PICS
You are driven. Good work. Serious tools you have and you know how to use them.
_________________ Formerly:1648 Homemade Cypress Crawfish Skiff GTR23 Performance Cam and Heads; 17x46 Gator Tail with 35GTR and Hoyt's cam;s Currently: 17x48 Gator Tail with XD40 EFI. “Wisdom is not just expertise. It is knowing how much of various areas of expertise you need to know in order to make the decisions that the world needs and that you want to do,” Columbia University President Lee Bollinger.
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Thu Mar 10, 2011 8:24 pm |
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SwampDonkey1
MMT F.E.
Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2011 10:09 pm Posts: 923 Location: North Central KS
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Re: Swamp Donkey Revamp
_________________ 1436 Lowe -Workin for the man, Huntin when I can...-
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Thu Mar 10, 2011 8:31 pm |
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XGEN-DUCKMAN
MMT Pro Member
Joined: Fri Jan 16, 2009 3:51 pm Posts: 195 Location: BackWaters of Wisconsin
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Re: Swamp Donkey Revamp PICS
These are projects you remember, blood sweat N tears.....nice job
_________________ If I can't Break it, it can't be Broke.............................
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Thu Mar 10, 2011 9:08 pm |
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mcnemar1982
MMT Sponsor
Joined: Mon Jan 19, 2009 4:03 pm Posts: 2216 Location: Walker, Louisiana
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Re: Swamp Donkey Revamp PICS
Wow! You did great! Nice boots too!
_________________ Ideas not coupled with action never become bigger than the brain cells they occupied.
Owner DEEP SOUTH CUSTOM BOATS (225) 252-2700 Good boats ain't cheap, Cheap boats ain't good!
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Thu Mar 10, 2011 9:13 pm |
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SwampDonkey1
MMT F.E.
Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2011 10:09 pm Posts: 923 Location: North Central KS
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Re: Swamp Donkey Revamp PICS
So I've been contemplating on how to build a grab bar and keep the boat functional so that I can maybe remove it, I'm not sure I would want to remove it but I was thinking it may be a good thing to be able to remove it? I'm kinda lost because I'm the first person I know that owns a mm, and just making decisions on future situations that may require that i remove the grab bar? It wouldn't be hard to design a setup for a permanent grab bar, I would probably just weld a aluminum bar on top of one of the ribs and then weld two pipes to insert a grab bar and pin it, or just weld the grab bar directly to rib/aluminum. The problem with the two pipe inserts is I don't want 4in of pipe just sticking out of the floor. I thought about building a small aluminum box with a hole in the top big enough to cover it with a small cooler insert that can be removed in order to insert pins through the box and into the ribs on either sides of the box. Then have the two pipes welded to the box and the grab bar come off of that? Am I making sense? probably not... It made sense in my head though! If you guys have any ideas or thoughts about what you guys have done i'd sure love to hear what yall can come up with!
_________________ 1436 Lowe -Workin for the man, Huntin when I can...-
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Thu Mar 10, 2011 11:59 pm |
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Tulsa_Woody
MMT Pro Member
Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2009 8:31 am Posts: 428 Location: Tulsa, OK...Cajun by Marriage
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Re: Swamp Donkey Revamp PICS
Here is an idea, make a resceptacle on the side of the boat that a grab bar can slide down in...that is how my Gator-tail is done...
Woody
_________________ 17x54 Gator-Tail w/ 35HP GTR Gator-tail/MM exhaust Center Console...it fixes tiller torque viewtopic.php?f=4&t=9330
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Fri Mar 11, 2011 11:14 am |
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Robn1020
MMT 1000 Club
Joined: Mon Feb 16, 2009 6:09 pm Posts: 4232 Location: Cypress, TX
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Re: Swamp Donkey Revamp PICS
You did a great job. That looks good! I like how you redid the trailer.
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Fri Mar 11, 2011 11:30 am |
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bpurvis
MMT Addict
Joined: Fri Jul 30, 2010 9:30 am Posts: 627 Location: Baton Rouge, LA
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Re: Swamp Donkey Revamp PICS
Kick ass Job!
_________________ Sold my Uncle-J and my PD so Fuc* Y'all!!!!!.
"THE EDGE: There is no honest way to explain it because, the only ones who know where it is have gone over. The others... the living, are those who've pushed their control as far as they felt they could handle and then pulled back or slowed down........BUT the edge is still out there...."
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Fri Mar 11, 2011 12:14 pm |
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bowfishingnut
MMT Pro Member
Joined: Sat Oct 30, 2010 4:53 pm Posts: 156
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Re: Swamp Donkey Revamp PICS
very nice job man!!! looks like you put allot of work into it
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Fri Mar 11, 2011 2:10 pm |
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SwampDonkey1
MMT F.E.
Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2011 10:09 pm Posts: 923 Location: North Central KS
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Re: Swamp Donkey Revamp PICS
_________________ 1436 Lowe -Workin for the man, Huntin when I can...-
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Sat Mar 12, 2011 12:11 am |
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atlong
MMT Pro Member
Joined: Tue Dec 21, 2010 4:32 pm Posts: 94 Location: Starkville, MS
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Re: Swamp Donkey Revamp PICS
how much did them neo mats run you and where you get them at, im looking at options for the floor on my 1436 and that sounds like a good option that doesnt add much weight.
_________________ Don't Tread on Me
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Sat Mar 12, 2011 9:09 pm |
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SwampDonkey1
MMT F.E.
Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2011 10:09 pm Posts: 923 Location: North Central KS
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Re: Swamp Donkey Revamp PICS
I picked em up at cabelas for 79 each and I got two sections of em, for the 1436 the 2 sections i got could cover the floor with about 4 extra inches under each of the bench seats for overlap so it worked out well
_________________ 1436 Lowe -Workin for the man, Huntin when I can...-
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Sun Mar 13, 2011 12:17 am |
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cmiller73
MMT 1000 Club
Joined: Tue Jan 12, 2010 12:42 pm Posts: 2161 Location: Houma,LA
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Re: Swamp Donkey Revamp PICS
Great work. Reminds me of when I had to do mine. My trailer wasn't that bad off but is much better now. Just like you I had to add a few things to the boat to run at night. Great job.
_________________ Copperhead 12Hp SD on 1442 Alweld
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Sun Mar 13, 2011 8:59 am |
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DeathMetalDukk
MMT 1000 Club
Joined: Sat Jun 27, 2009 11:50 pm Posts: 3777 Location: Knotts Island, North Carolina.
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Re: Swamp Donkey Revamp PICS
Working on boats is a blast!
_________________ Put yer face in the myrtles.
35 GTR chasing a 1650 Polarkrap.
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Sun Mar 13, 2011 9:04 am |
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redleg3316
MMT Pro Member
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2009 5:06 pm Posts: 414 Location: MS / were ever da rig floats
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Re: Swamp Donkey Revamp PICS
Great job man! I remember those little jon boat remodels when I was younger. Those mean more to ya than a $20,000 custom built rig.
_________________ 1648 war eagle with a 50 Tohatsu
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Sun Mar 13, 2011 9:48 am |
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SwampDonkey1
MMT F.E.
Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2011 10:09 pm Posts: 923 Location: North Central KS
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Re: Swamp Donkey Revamp PICS
Some updated pictures... I finished my longtail build but have yet to paint it. But as of right now it runs!
_________________ 1436 Lowe -Workin for the man, Huntin when I can...-
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Thu Sep 08, 2011 11:15 pm |
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mo_ducker
MMT Member
Joined: Sun Feb 27, 2011 12:52 pm Posts: 43
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Re: Swamp Donkey Revamp PICS
Looks great. You really put in the time to do it right. How's your longtail push it?
_________________ 36 PD 1850 VooDoo custom by Dfou
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Fri Sep 09, 2011 12:45 am |
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restlesswoodie
MMT Member
Joined: Thu Jun 23, 2011 3:23 pm Posts: 22
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Re: Swamp Donkey Revamp PICS
What did you use for your lower bearing housing, bearings and seals? I need to replace mine and will have to start from scratch on the lower end.
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Fri Sep 09, 2011 5:27 am |
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Noladucks1
MMT Pro Member
Joined: Sat Jan 16, 2010 6:58 am Posts: 105
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Re: Swamp Donkey Revamp PICS
that is super impressive
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Fri Sep 09, 2011 8:33 am |
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waterfowl1
MMT Pro Member
Joined: Sun Jul 17, 2011 12:02 pm Posts: 335 Location: hayward, wi
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Re: Swamp Donkey Revamp PICS
real nice work man!!
_________________ Wish in one hand and shit in the other, see which one gets filled first. If yur gonna be stupid, you might as well be smart about it.
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Fri Sep 09, 2011 9:11 am |
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SwampDonkey1
MMT F.E.
Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2011 10:09 pm Posts: 923 Location: North Central KS
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Re: Swamp Donkey Revamp PICS
_________________ 1436 Lowe -Workin for the man, Huntin when I can...-
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Sat Sep 10, 2011 1:12 pm |
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keys1222
MMT Pro Member
Joined: Fri Aug 21, 2009 12:42 pm Posts: 321 Location: Salina, KS
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Re: Swamp Donkey Revamp PICS
how big is the motor and what prop are yu running?
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Mon Sep 12, 2011 2:33 pm |
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Billy Blade
New Member
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2013 9:21 pm Posts: 1
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Re: Swamp Donkey Revamp PICS
Hey bud , I am new to this site ...like 5 min new , lol...I saw the pic's of the 16 hp motors you have , you mentioned going to a 22 hp? I was almost 100% on the motor then saw your pic and post , sealed the deal !
, I'm going with the 16 hp ...will that work for a 14 ft Alum Monark , ( push it okay )? also , would like to know if you have any Idea where to get a set of plans , looks like you made a few so I figured I'd ask ....
Any help would be much appreciated ...Thanks
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Wed Jan 16, 2013 9:35 pm |
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KJH
MMT Addict
Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2009 9:09 pm Posts: 520 Location: Nebraska
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Re: Swamp Donkey Revamp PICS
Reminds me of taking my daughter out on the boat... I brought the little porta potti too.
_________________ 1854 Brother Breaux and Boss 40XP and 90hp outboard.
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Thu Jan 17, 2013 12:56 pm |
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