I'm having a boat built and being told by several people that 52" bottom on the 19' boat is to much. I use it for duck hunting (marsh areas), frogging and about to start bow fishing. Will I give up much speed with a boat this size? I'm going with 3/16" bottom and 1/8" sides. What you think?

I don't think so. I think what really matters is who builds it.

I have an 18x52 and I wouldnt go any less on the width

Speeds
2 man empty 28.9
3 man hunting load 25.2

I dont think there is any problems with a 52" bottom I love having the room in mine

Who is building your boat for you?

The wider the boat, the more of a load. If I were you, I would go with a 1972.

Casey St.Romain with Sportsman Fabrication in Morgan City, La is building my boat.

de widest i'd go on a 19' boat is 48"...


didn't we already discuss dis?

Yes we did talk about it. I just want to make sure I get the right boat for my needs. Hell this is the third boat in the past year. Now I'm thinking maybe 1852 will work for me.

48 wide square chine is plenty stable and can do anything you want...if you're really torn between the two just go 50" and you'll be fine

Der's no need to go dat wide on a 19'boat , unless he plans on runnin' duals. My 18x48" ran just under 30 wit stock PD and it never had any issues wit a load.

Likes his 1754. Need the width for the center console and sits only 4 inches in the water with a 12 gal alum tank and battery in da back. Ran 28.8 with 2 people last Friday. Floats nice on da sandbars, 2.

I just built an 18x52 and love it. I carry a load well. I almost went 48"and I'm glad I didn't. It floats fairly high even with that heavy A$$ motor on the back. Go 52" you won't be sorry

We ran one of our 1852's down with Cutt-Down in NW TN 1st of the year, and a 2060, in the trees, that 52 was great, stable and had lots of room. The 60 wide dually made it, but we did some rubbn' going through the tight areas. A number of years back I did some running with a prototype boat when the water was up, I think that was a 54" if I remember. Was just about out of the timber, lined up a nice straight path out and put the hammer down, made it between the last two trees when the boat hit the breaks, dead stop. Only the last foot of the boat did not make it, you can imagine how wedged you are when you sandwich a boat between two trees around 12" round at around 18-20 mph

We got it out with reverse lifting the back of the hull.

Moral of the story, know what the boat will fit though and get a good feel for figuring that out before to put the hammer down.

PW

Love my 1852, but I don't run timber.

ide go 1848, but thats just me....I haent ever ran into any load carrying problems and its nice to be able to get into some thin places...

i just ordered a new boat and its 48" too.

if you are going to start bowfishing then i think your pretty good on the size you picked. if i would do it over again, id go with a 2054 to bowfish out of. having the longer boat will help you with stability from two people shooting off the front deck

48 wide is all you need dude