Well we finished our new boat for the Copperhead motor last week and I got it one the water for test runs on Sunday. It ran great and exceeded my expectations.

Hull Details:

Length 12'
Bottom 36"
Beam 48"
Sides 10" with an 8" cockpit (like a sneak boat)
Cockpit size: 7' 6" X 32"
Hull Material .090 5052 with .063 skin for cockpit
Dry Weight of hull 184 lbs.

Test Conditions: Overcast, 62 degrees, 10 mph winds, 4-5 mph current.

Speeds: One man (205) with basic gear 13.5 - 17 mph, average of 16.4 in deep water. In 2 feet out of wind and current average speed was 16.9 mph.

Two people, myself (205) and my daughter (85) to simulate dog and gear we got an average of 14.8 mph, a bit faster in shallow.

Two people, myself(205) and my son (190) we averaged 11 mph in deep with wind and current and hit 13 in shallows.

The boat handled very well, turned at full speed without sliding, is very stable, can sit on cockpit wall without tipping boat. I was also very dry riding, no spray. We got behind a barge to see how it would do in bigger waves, no issue, it climb over two footers with no problems and the nose stays up.

All and all we are very happy with the overall performance. This boat was designed as a one man rig, but it will carry two. It is stiff, no flex and it is build strong enough to hit a log or stump and not buckle in. I know we could have gotten better speeds with a lighter hull, but IMHO if you are going to run a mm on a boat, you need a boat that is not going to rip open the first time you hit something in the shallows, so we opted for going with a minimum of .090.

I think with will make a great little boat for guys running small rivers and marshs and yet want a boat stable enough to run on bigger water safetly when the situation calls for it.

We will post up pictures later, can't right now until I get the trademarks and copyrights to the hull shape and design filed later this week.

The Phowler Prowler will be available for sale starting in mid October.

We are also working on a 15' version for the larger motors that will be done in a few weeks.

Will keep you all posted.

PW

muddoctor,
Are you a copperhead dealer?

Yes we are, but we have not really promoted the motors up here until we were able to design and build a nice boat to match up with the motors.

We just got back off the water from another test run, we were able to get into some shallower water away from the wind and current this morning.

Results:

One man 17.6 mph shallow water, average speed in 1-2 feet 16.5.

Two men, 10-12 mph deep water, 14.8mph shallow water.

Even with two men in the boat it did not draft more then 5" of water at rest.

We will post up pictures later.

PW

hurry up already paul your like molassas

what would the price be on the 15ft hull and width?

PW

Could you post up some pics....

I have a buddy who is very interested in the 12 hp copperhead and
a 15 foot class hull....

Funny that when he told me he was looking at having Weldbilt rigged
with a full back seat I showed him your website and the side pods
which to my thinking would be a better floorplan... It seemed to me
that with a full seat your hand could get injured if you hit a log at speed...

Thanks

Got the Trademark and Copyright pics, drawings and details to the attorney this evening for filing so we can show some images of the new rig.

Here are a couple of photos and short videos of the new boat.



The boat is stable enough to stand in moving, and notice the draft, the fade crimp is at 6" from the bottom of the boat, about 5.5 if you measure straight up.



With two men, we are still only drafting about 4-5" of water at dead rest.



Running with one man, the front stays up nicely, this boat can run some big water without taking a nose dive.

Videos of running:


One man video - 16.4-17.2 mph



Two man video, we hit 14.6 on this run in shallow water.




Enjoy,

PW

Love that boat but why not leave it open? or is it supposed to be a layout boat?

my only guess would be easier to hide and less splash comin over.

We built this one to use as a layout, also for running bigger water the cockpit really protects the boat. We will be building a version that is a more traditional jon or skiff style, but need to find wider sheets to get the sides up higher for that version.

We are also building a 15'x 40" bottom version in the next week or so to run with the new 12hp motor.

We can actually rate this little boat for 12 hp, but that would be a freaky ride.

PW

Great idea! Looks great! Be sure to post up pictures of the other boat too!!

and people say we talk funny... lol

just jokin, that's a cool little rig. sorta reminds me of a mini version on the GD duck skiffs. there is definitely a nitch out there for a hull and motor like that.

I'd like to see what the little one will do with the 12,.

Muddoc, what prop are you running on that motor?

Thats ba we have a layout boat just like that but not nearly as fast great job designing that boat it fits perfect with that lil motor

Looks like an aluminum version of Toller Boats..

The boat is modeled after what we call up here a skull boat, they were widely used up on the river here for many years. Most were cedar strip boats, later fiberglassed over and heavy. I don't think anyone up here as ever made one of all aluminum that we know of or that we have seen.

We started with a simple drawing to scale, then we built a 50% scale model and then cadded the model once we got the rake and front the way we wanted it. Then we scaled it up to the full size and put it together.

We are very happy with this model and will be putting it into production shortly.

PW

what does the 12' version weigh? Please fill us in on the pricing as well. Some interior photos would be nice too!

Is this a commercial hull or flotation? Or will it be offered in both?

petrel i was looking for the same thing he says it weights 184 pounds dry weight

Thanks mis. Good question about the floatation cb. I forgot to ask that one.

This is just a guess but at that weight im not sure how to put any floatation in that thing and keep it light only thing with this boat is if you hit something will that .090 rip also with it catch dings like them thin academy boats almost the same thinkness dont know about the 5052 part just guessing

We can offer the boat as commercial or floatation. I can get enough foam in the boat to rate it for two persons and still leave some storage under the sides. If we decide to put floation between the ribs and then skin a very light gauge floor we can get enough with plenty of storage room left. We are not fans of foam under the floor, but in this little boat it would not be difficult to replace down the road if the foam gets waterlogged.

The foam will only add about 18 lbs to the total boat weight.

This boat is not meant to be as durable as a .125 hull and be ramped over every log you see, it will dent if you hit something hard enough. It is strung longitudinal so it won't hook like a normal jon boat. We did run over a few logs and it did not dent the hull so far. One thing to remember, this hull will run 15-17 mph in the skinny water, but a little common sense would tell you to slow down a little and you will save on damage to the hull over time. The boat is light enough that you are not hitting a 500# + hull into a stump or log, so we think it will hold up pretty well when used for what it is made for.

PW

Mississippiduckboy, the riveted boats at the big box stores have aluminum half this thick. For example, a Lowe 1236 uses .050 and a G3 1236 uses .054 (from their websites). A stronger welded boat like a Weldbilt is 0.8 I think and this is still a little thicker than that so this is still considerably better. There has to be some compromise on weight because the motor is only 6.5 HP and they seem to have gotten the balance pretty close if not just right. Also it seems to have a smooth bottom in the pics(maybe Muddoctor can confirm?) which might give it some advantage in the mud over all the factory boats with runners (so far I have not had much luck locating a non-custom 1236 with a smooth bottom ).

I have a Copperhead 10 on order now which should be ready for me to pick up in another week and a half. This boat is closer than anything else I have found except for the cockpit. It looks like a pretty much perfect layout boat as far as I can tell, but I wasn't looking for a layout boat. I will be interested if the normal jon boat style version is released and there is a chance of getting one before hunting season. My questions are how much and would I have to drive to Iowa to get it?

Cool idea Paulie, mike was telling me about it today. I thinki I could ramp one of them over atleast a 5 ft beaver hut. Still It is cool and there is def. a market and niche out there for something like that, nice work my friend nice work.

We have not made the final decision on pricing for these boats yet, we know comparable boats go for up to $4K and we can be considerably below that, most likely around the $2600-$2900 mark depending on what we include as standard.

The larger jon boat is on the build table now, this one will be a 1540 out of .100 and will be like a standard jon boat with the option of adding a removable cockpit.

It should be done in the next day or so and we will get it on the water for testing by Friday.

The boats are smooth bottom boats, square chine. They are very easy to pull around in shallow, this 12' boat can be pulling out of the water with one hand.

PW

That little thing is awesome

I can't wait to get behind the tiller in that thing!

That is a neat looking little rig.

Where is that lil 15 foot version...

I'd sure like to see it ! ! !

I like the Hat

Wow,...Looks extremely similar to my design and build that Gil of Copperhead was so interested in....Funny. I have built 2 of my design and they work great. Shoulda known somone would copy it. Guess that's what I get for posting it up. Gill from Copperhead called me back in fall of 09, saying his name was Mike from Louisiana, stating he had a super efficient small hp SD he was working on, not giving a company name. He asked a bunch of questions about my boats and how they would run with a small surface drive similar to the one I had built in 07-08...Spoke briefly once with him and then nothing out of him. On a whim I saved his number as Mike, then...A few months later copperhead comes to market with some killer Surface Drives. Magically the contact number is identical to "MIKE" but now his name is Gil Glidden, pres oc CH...Interesting eh? it's funny how shady someone will be to get all the info they can from you. As for Phowler, fellas, your work looks nice! I assure you you'll sell these things the same way I'm lining the orders up for my boats and surface drives too...Good looking rig! Here's the links to my builds over on the chat...Look Similar at All??? Whatever anybody thinks, please DO NOT ASSOCIATE ME WITH GECKER or G4....HE DOES NOT at ALL have ANYthing to do with anything I do!!!!!!!!!!!! Just clarifying those rumors before they fire up. I did speak with him about some performance engines for my suraface drive frames back in fall of 09, thank the good Lord I never tried to go through with anything...Dead horse I know sorry....
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That lil boat needs a 23 on the back!! That is just the way us south la. boys would have it!!

did you get it patented