I am currently making upgrades my hull - I'm running a 25hp Kohler home-built LT on a 1452 riveted Jon boat - the hull drafts so much less water than my previous hull, but often it is just me and the dog, so the back end tends to draft more, especially in really shallow water.

I have the hull at the welding shop to get pods made, but my welder threw a kink in things today - wanted to know why I wanted pods, when he could build a full width "hunt deck" a lot easier.... essentially 1 long pod with the LT still mounted on the hull's transom.

I've had pods on hulls before (and my "bay boat" is an 18' Allweld "tunnel hull", 60hp Yamaha 4 stroke - with pods, and hydraulic jack plate), but I have absolutely no experience with the LT and the "hunt deck"

Can anyone give me input on this predicament? (BTW, I used the search function, but almost all the results returned dealt with the SD's)

How thick is that riveted hull? Is your welder building the pods or hunt deck out of the same thickness material? I'd be curious to see the longevity of that.

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Bottom of Pods or hunt deck would be .125", sides and top .090" - he will "break" as many corners as possible, and strengthen corners with angle inside. For the "full width" he would brace a couple of times across the width. I've had him build me several sets of pods over the years, and they always out-lasted my use for the hulls... Just don't know about the "full width" with the LT.

Didn't measure center when designing pods, but I know that at a full down pivot left or right, 18" from transom at 8" tall will clear LT shaft.... Should be good for center also, maybe need to put LT back on and recalculate??

How is it some folks have opinions about something they've never tried or seen run?

I have 20 inch hunt deck on my mud boat that I built to test the "longtail / hunt deck theory". Ran it like this for 2 years before I built a different motor this year to test on it. My motor never has even tried to "dig" with this setup (like it would on a GD hull) because it planes out due to the hunt deck.

http://s230.photobucket.com/user/Cajunw ... ort=3&o=32


The prop is a good 2 feet underwater in this picture before it touches the hunt deck.

http://s230.photobucket.com/user/Cajunw ... ort=3&o=62

Looks like nothing wrong with that. I would put the motor on just to be on the safe side!!

16 inch transom, hunt deck tapers to 6 inches.

Cajun - I think yours was the only 1 I found in the search - It looks good, and the top slope may be the way to go.

Did you give any rise to the back end of the hunt deck in relation to the bottom of the hull, or is it straight flat with the bottom of the hull? We've always incorporated a wee bit of rise on the back end of my pods I've had built in the past...

The only reason this hunt deck came up when I carried the hull to the welder - he had just bought a new xpress and had seen the SD models at the dealer...

Glad I found this. Never knew what a hunt deck was or was built for. I have same problem. 1448 monark with a 16hp short shaft long tail. Do u think pods would help me? I think the shaft is too short to do a whole hunt deck but pods may help. With 2 adults and my lil girl boat does great. Just me though and om constantly just pushing water with the back end.

Glad I found this. Never knew what a hunt deck was or was built for. I have same problem. 1448 monark with a 16hp short shaft long tail. Do u think pods would help me? I think the shaft is too short to do a whole hunt deck but pods may help. With 2 adults and my lil girl boat does great. Just me though and om constantly just pushing water with the back end.

My boat is 18 x 48 and the hunt deck is flush underneath. I wanted a low profile boat so it has a 16 inch transom and 16 inch sides. I don't understand why folks offset the pods and not weld them flush at the bottom, I'd rather have 'em lift the boat up to gain more planing surface. A longtail with a hunt deck doesn't squat when you hit the throttle which is why you won't need to dig and screw your motor down in the mud. It'll haul a load too.



I built this motor to run on it this season.

Cajun, I was impressed by your hull when I first saw it a couple of years ago. That looks ideal for the LT. Did that become an 1848 with the "lifting" deck or is it a true 1848 and approx. 20' with the deck? What mfg. is that? I've been looking for an 1848 and the only one who makes one is Phowler, and most are high transom if they make them. What motor are you currently using? The first pic looks like a 72" motor, probably Briggs (31,35?) and the second looks like another motor, 59", without a cavitation plate? I would love to morph into an 1848 and put a 35 BackH20 SS motor on it! Even though many have always said that on longer than 16' hulls pods were not a good idea I have to disagree for the reasons you stated. I imagine you had to modify your trailer bunks? The other question is about that "center bench"- in the one pic it looks "solid" but in the other it looks like it was cutout underneath? Did you put steelflex or super slick on the bottom and did you also apply it to the rear deck? Really cool. One of a kind. I bet the BackH2O owners would like that. On those pictures and videos of the LT's running in S.E. Asia, you often seen similar hull protrusions and "hunt deck" type of designs on their hulls. Is it stout enough to use it to enter/exit the water? Looks like you have plenty of cargo space under the front deck as well. Is there flotation there and the middle bench? Sorry for all the questions but that rig looks ideal. I run a 27 HP MB LT on a 1648 grizzly, not ideal but does the job here in the Glades.

Poke - In my opinion, adding flotation to the back of the boat will really help with the single person situation - My bay boats have always had pods, then somewhere along the way, I started adding them to my mud boats too. This hunt deck is new to me, thus the question posted....

Cajun - what I was referring to - yes, I attach the pods (or this hunt deck) flush to the bottom of the transom - then, to assist with a wee bit of bow lift, the bottom of the back of the pod would be angled up (maybe 1/2") in relation to the bottom front of the pod.... ie. the bottom back of the pod is about 1/2" higher than the bottom front of the pod if the hull was sitting on a flat surface...

Glades - I don't have experience with over 16' mud boats with pods, but I've had up to 20' bay boats and have always had pods - I wouldn't have 1 without them...

I built this boat out of 1/2" plywood so it's just epoxy and glass cloth over the bottom. The center bench is at one "seam" or joint of the boat build. I built it on the cheap to test my theory of running a longtail with a hunt deck and it works. (hard to be a naysayer if you haven't given something a try) I ran a 25 hp MB longtail for 2 years and it ran like a champ. I pulled the engine off this Spring to make the straight drive engine to test on it.

I wanted the hunt deck to give me lift, help distribute the weight of the longtail better and force my bow down. Drafting shallow at the stern makes a mud boat easier to get real skinny and take off without squatting down and creating drag. Lifting the hunt deck 1/2" or more at dead stern would defeat this purpose. The biggest complaint folks have with mud boats is drag (due to weight at stern) and porpoising and then having to move fuel, battery, etc to the bow to allow a mud boat to plane better to get more weight distribution and not squat.

Compare these two videos of the same boat:

Here's a cheesy video after my son smoked a couple of does on a man drive last season......you can guess who the deer driver was. (fuel tank, battery and 2 field dressed deer at the stern).
http://vimeo.com/53297968


Here's the difference with the new motor. my fuel tank is now up front, moving the engine about 18 inches back now creates a bit more drag and a bigger wake vs video above. Even tho it's a lighter motor, it's the placement that makes the difference in how it floats as well as my 210 lbs is further back in the boat now too vs. running my longtail.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESqmzJC6tzc

One more question. On the second pic the motor is set on a deck mount. The first is on the boat transom. Mystery.

Sorry, Cajun, I am a little slow. I saw the video and that explains the new motor- that is moving quick! Any GPS speeds? Great build on the hull! I would never have guessed plywood! I assume it has done good in the marsh seeing as you've run it that long- I wish there were lighter gauge aluminum hulls available like before, we can get by with them here. My grizzly is .100 and weighs #395 and that is much more than I would want and of course because it is not a true mud hull, it ploughs a bit. Guess if and when I can I will go custom and get one made...1848 open hull smooth flat bottom, short transom.

Check out inda woods build....viewtopic.php?f=6&t=34635&start=40
On page 2

Glad to know this is not some totally new concept for the LT - I'm not sure I would want to go to the massive mod that inda went through though.

Yesterday, the welder fixed the beat up bow (last season the boat/trailer passed me going down the road - ended up with the bow stopping the runaway when the trailer tongue decided to go through the fork of the only tree around Instead of a flat bow, it looked a lot like a Tri-hull. Since then, I've somehow managed to remember what those little chains on the tongue of the trailer are for...)

Monday, I'm going to help him lay the hunt deck out with cardboard - he says its a lot easier to figure out problems and modify using a cardboard model - then he can use the model as a template for angles and such...

See how your boat looks with a mocked up 16" long tapered hunt deck the full width of the stern! (if you're never going to hang an outboard on it) Make sure you leave enough clearance for your mud motor bracket to mount on the transom.

So pods would help me when its just me but would it make my boat nose dive when I have someone else in the boat?

A hunt deck would make a HUGE difference solo. As far as a boat nose diving with an extra person I don't think that will be an issue if you're running a 52 inch wide flat.

My boat is basically a 16' flat. The 20 inch hunt deck was overkill and my boat floats a little higher in the stern when I have an extra person or two.......until I run the motor. There are 200 lbs of fish on the floor in front of the middle seat along with my buddy. The stern is a little bit higher than the bow, which is what I want so when I take off I don't squat down, especially in little to no water.

Running wide open and in skinny to zero water the hunt deck acts like a massive trim tab and lifts the stern to push the bow down and she'll pick up speed and skate across.

I put pods on a Tracker 1648 with a SWOMP35SS on it. The hull has 3 deg dead rise so it is not ideal for a mud motor. P added the pods and now the wake is coming together at the prop. Boat planes better, but I lost some speed. If I did it again it would be with a full deck. As long as the motor clears the deck it should work good. I don't think I would do the pods again.

10-4 on that grizzly 1648, Basher! That's what I have and it ploughs with my 27 MB LT but gets me there and back. To avoid the pod mod, my next boat will have to be a flat bottom custom hull- and then I can contemplate putting the 35 SS on it. For years it has been a compromise with the LT and the three jon boats I've had- GD does make their line of LT boats but they are just too heavy and overkill for where I run and yet would perform better than the conventional jon with crimps on the bottom. I may have to commission Cajun to make me one of those plywood hulls!

Cajun: After watching your videos, it looks like the first motor was a true long tail, and the second motor looks like a cross between a short tail and a long tail. It seems to be running more on the surface than the first motor. Are you running a surface piercing prop on the second motor? Also, it looks like the second motor has no u-joint. Correct? If so, how did you connect the engine to the drive shaft? What is the length of the shaft? Sorry for all the questions! Looks like a neat set-up!

Gotta love those wood boats! Nice job!

Thanks,

Muddewatrs

The first motor is a 25 hp MB longtail the second is the same engine off the MB to make the new short drive. Both run great on the hunt deck.

I wanted something lighter, shorter, run shallower and better in sand than my longtail. It has a 36 inch shaft with a regular 10 x 6 mud prop, triple cupped and it'll skate. The drive shaft is directly coupled to the motor.

i remember seeing a post several years ago where a teh owner cut a lot of flotation out of his godevil boat and installed a hunt deck too. His hunt deck wasn't as long as cajun's, but i remember it meeting the owner's goals (faster and quicker plane). It stuck in my mind because his rig was very similar to mine (25 longtail and 1644 go devil boat)

OK Cajun, thanks for the info. I am about a week away from adding pods or a huntdeck to my 14x42 DuraCraft. From your posts and pictures, it looks like if you are running a LT with a huntdeck, the LT should mount on the original transom? And if running a ST or your modified LT it should mount on the transom of the huntdeck? Sorry for all the questions, but I was literally ready to call and schedule pods for my boat when I saw this thread, and I think I would rather have the huntdeck if it can be worked out for my LT

Thanks

Mudde

Didn't read this whole thread, but Instead of a sloped deck, can you do steps? That way it wouldn't be slippery.

MNGunner: Thanks for the idea. I just may have to incorporate that into a huntdeck!

Mudde

Trying to get the ass of the boat up out of the water. I have a 150# motor hanging on the back of a 14x42 boat, and looking to put a bigger motor on. If you move the motor back, you are just creating the same problem, only 20" further back. By mounting the motor on the original transom, you have the huntdeck behind the motor giving additional floatation.

That's my story, and I am sticking to it (unless someone has a better idea).

Mudde

I think with the amount of time and money you are going to put into having a HD built you should sell your boat and use that money to just get a bigger set up. hunt deck's not gonna be cheap

Thanks but I have a friend that will weld it for me. I am only out the price of the aluminum and the beer.

Mudde

can't beat that!

Cajun: Thanks for the reply. I think we are on the same page, designwise! I think I need the full width of the boat for the additional flotation. A 23 -25 hp LT is in the planning stage. I think I am going to be pushing the weight limitations for my little tin can. We are still in the design stage, but plan to have this mod done in the next month or so.

Thanks again

Mudde

Well, I got my hull back on Wed, 3 days before Early Teal... Welder's father had a stroke right after I dropped it off a little over a month ago and he was having to take care of both dad and mom (she has Alzheimers ) - I fully understood as I had a similar situation with my dad this past spring...

Material used was 1/8 aluminum for the bottom, then sides and top were .090 - each corner was bent in a brake to double the thickness at the welds. Box ended up being 8" tall, 16" deep, and bottom width of 52" (width of the bottom of the transom) - I chose the 16" deep because 20" would hit the tail shaft on the corners in a sharp swing - 16" clears the corners and gives me dig with the LT in a turn, besides, as I found out, it creates a "swell" of water as it passes the deck - a deeper pod would move the swell further back, potentially effecting the placement of my prop in the water...

After a couple of hiccups, we got the hunt deck welded on -
The biggest hiccup - the transom was not totally flat (we should have used a straight edge, instead of just taking measurements), only the area the motor mounts was flat, there was a slight taper from there to the corners, causing the deck to be flush in the center, and a 3/4" gap at each corner - this also meant that we had to lift the "box" up a little from being flush with the bottom of the transom to accept the "filler" metal.

This is what it looked like after welding up:
091113 hunt deck installed.jpg

After getting the motor back on, and basics put back in place, finally friday morning we got it in the water to see what it would do - my nephew is about my size, and it's only drafting about 2 1/2" with him and my Lab:
091313 boat w added deck.jpg

Then we get to the back of the lake, I idled into this spot, and the boat is actually floating in about 4" of water with my son (about 230 lbs), my nephew (140 lbs), and my Lab (60 lbs) {somehow, it seems I was the only one who had rubber boots with them } Because they are both leaning on the side that I took the pic from, it seems as it is drafting deeper than what it actually is
091313 boat w deck shallow water.jpg

I am totally pleased with the outcome of the project - I can idle in really skinny water - with me and the Lab (no gear), I can plane out and get 18.5 mph - with the weight I had on the test run, I could almost get on plane, but 12.5 mph was all I could seem to get - the full deck caused a swell of water that allowed the prop to run at a straighter angle, giving more forward thrust

For anyone looking to add pods to a hull that will be dedicated strictly to a long tail, I would highly recommend the full "hunt deck" - all my previous hulls had pods, and they did not perform near as well as the full deck...

Your boat looks good!

As I've said before, I wouldn't want to run another longtail without a hunt deck.

How much are y'all's hunt decks costing? I'm thinking about putting one on my boat but I'm on a college kids budget.

I honestly couldn't tell you the cost - I had the 1/8" for the bottom, and the welder had the .090" as scraps from other jobs he had done... Labor was a trade - he welded, and I put together 2 AR's from parts he supplied...