I know this has been somewhat discussed before. What would be your ideal LT hull? I'm looking down the road to go with a 35 HP motor- I sincerely don't need the .125 hull like GD's. A friend had the 1644 and while it ran ok it was heavy and was a bear when bottoming out. Forget the winch. Down here I can get by with .100 and even with rivetted models but they don't make too many true flat bottom hulls in .100. Can a .125 bottom be mated with .100 sides? I'm thinking 1848 w/35 HP LT. Anybody use a Phowler with an LT? I really only want LT runners to chime in because we all know what the SD crowd will say.

Your buying a boat, might as well do it the right way one time and get atleast a 1/8 bottom. There are many mays to lighten up a boat, you could do .125 bottom with .100 sides, use hat section for the runners, do the floor and deck outa .100 and so on

I went from a 15/42 grizzly with a 20gdlt then put my 31, it ran alright. I switched hulls to my current skiff, was a 16/42 but with HD now 17.5/42 (all .125) and I have been very impressed. It is heavy but it rides good through everything I run (timber, lillies, and sawgrass mostly). It is all open which gives me plenty of room. It shines in thick weeds and sawgrass with how it carves through them. The only draw backs are positioning the weight to balance out. If my passenger moves to the left or right any more than a foot or so then I have to move my stance as well to stop any tiller torque. It keeps me pretty dry in the nasty shit too. As far as bottoming out it, draws very little and is real easy to get out and slide it along if need be. Actually just went fishing down in your neck of the woods this last weekend and did a lot of that sliding over all the oyster/sand bars.

10-4, good points all! DD, that looks like a cross between a Paul Dixon hull (Airboats Unlimited) and a Stumpjumper. Cool. CCC. thank you for saying that. A lot of folks simply say you should not use .100. My grizzly is .100 and is plenty and I actually wish it weighed less. We (in south florida anyway) don't have cypress stumps, beaver dams, or any significant mud (except for some hellish floating mud turds that will seize your rig)...so a light rig is preferred. I guess I will have to go custom- 1848, .100 sides. .125 bottom, .100 floor, open floor plan, short transom (for the LT), and none of those side braces that are real trip hazards on the floor; pointed bow, flat bottom, I will add steelflex also.

Buy my hull and be done with it.

I ran LT's for a long time and I really liked them all. I built my hull for LT's but I ended with a moddd 35gdsd and its ever more awesome!!

Definitely for big water, I would also opt for a big block SD, tall transom, high sides- not sure how a flat bottom does in any real chop though. Tailfisher, again your hull is nice with those pods but I think I want to go with an 18' hull, and for reasons I've discussed before, an LT is a better fit for where I hunt.

I was 8 miles offshore this past saturday. small chop was pretty good. Took some killer video free diving and my wife swimming next to a Jewsfish MUCH bigger than her lenght!!

GR - Does speed matter to you at all?

If need a Crawfish rig would be pretty sweet or a Go devil LT rig with in a 17-19 and 44 inches wide or less.

Sorry for the late answer- speed only matters with my steel shot- but I actually used some 3" Federal blue box 1 1/4 oz. #3 last season and they were certified ringer killers! $99.99/case from Roger's (including shipping)!
Ideally if I could get 20 mph with two hunters and gear it would be ideal; I get 17.5 mph now and that is ok. I'm one of those persons that actually drives the speed limit , but I enjoy Formula 1 racing! I always ask: how fast do you really be want to be going when you hit that submerged log? Speed kills- those higher velocity shells are a tad better. I like to get to the marsh early and enjoy the peace and quiet before shooting time. I don't like to rush back to the ramp either- I savor each hunt and don't see why so many others rush in/rush out, must be ADD!

Same here, I like 1550 and to be ready waiting to hear that first coot calling!

Here we have Rocks and they kill EVERYTHING! I dont go fast on the way to the spot, only on the way back but sometimes I need to jumpstuff and I get as far as I can before breaking out the Warn!