# Ultralite airboats



## rutnut245 (Jan 18, 2009)

I had the pleasure of fishing with a couple of Canadians I had been corresponding with on another site.They brought with them a couple of boats that they had built themselves with Rotax power.One was a 14' crestliner and the other a 16' flat bottom tracker.They said on their side off the lake they dont have the boats with the monster motors in them.Recently I had been looking into having one custom made by a local builder,and looking at and researching them for some time.The prices ranged from 40-125 k.

It would cost much more just for the motor for the boat I was gonna have made than the price of these finished boats.Of coarse you can't load them down with a lot of gear but we had 3 guys,a big power auger,shanty and a lot of gear in the boat and it still performed flawlessly.It looks almost comical being pushed by a motor no bigger than a micro wave oven.

They assured me these boats will run over 3" of ice without bustin through.I've been on the bigger boats and have gone through 5-6".They also said the transition from water to ice is very easy because the boats only draft a couple inches.You don't have to ease up to the ice and then power up to get on top,you just skim right up on it.We only used a little over 3 gallons of fuel goin out to West Sister and back.

They built the drive unit as a module that can be unbolted and taken off and replaced with a small outboard for soft water.I think I know what this summer's project is gonna be.


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## kneedeep (May 10, 2008)

Do you have any pictures? I saw a smaller airboat as I was coming off the ice at Millers in Catwba on sat. that wouln't happen to been you was it?


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## Papascott (Apr 22, 2004)

Im glad You posted this. We seen the trailers and were arguing over beers Saturday night on what they hauled. After Saturdays adventure I really want to make up something capable of 4 guys and couple flip overs.


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## gaterman (Dec 29, 2010)

Small world, I talked to the same guys they ended up staying in the same motel as us. I noticed the crest liner didnt have poly on the bottem like most but it had some kind of runners. Pretty cool set up they were nice guys to we told them how far out we were fishing and what we were using. They were making fun of my buddys air boat because they thought it was so big. LoL


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## Habitual Eyer (May 22, 2006)

My snowmobile is a 2001 Ski-doo MXZx with a 700 twin motor made by ROTAX (an engine company in Scandinavia i believe). 700 cc, twin cylinder motor that is (like he said, no bigger than a micro-wave), dyno's in stock form close to 120 hp. Spins upward of 7000 rpm's.
Very similar ROTAX motors (including the older 670) are used in powered parachutes (the little buggies with the motor-prop, and a parachute that keeps them in the air). Buckeye over here in Indiana makes most of them I believe.
Reason I bring this up is this motor-propeller combo in the powered parachutes might be the exact set-up needed for an air-boat. Might be what these guys used as well (since they mentioned ROTAX).


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## fishindude644 (Jan 12, 2011)

Think there was 5 clams on it and 5 or six guys. When it went in you could hear he had to get on it. My buddies didnt have any trouble with 3 adults and one child with gear and about 30 lbs of fish


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## Double J (Jan 7, 2009)

rutnut245 said:


> I had the pleasure of fishing with a couple of Canadians I had been corresponding with on another site.They brought with them a couple of boats that they had built themselves with Rotax power.One was a 14' crestliner and the other a 16' flat bottom tracker.They said on their side off the lake they dont have the boats with the monster motors in them.Recently I had been looking into having one custom made by a local builder,and looking at and researching them for some time.The prices ranged from 40-125 k.
> 
> It would cost much more just for the motor for the boat I was gonna have made than the price of these finished boats.Of coarse you can't load them down with a lot of gear but we had 3 guys,a big power auger,shanty and a lot of gear in the boat and it still performed flawlessly.It looks almost comical being pushed by a motor no bigger than a micro wave oven.
> 
> ...


would like to see a pic....how much do they sell for?


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## rutnut245 (Jan 18, 2009)

Habitual Eyer,you're absolutely correct.Both engines were Rotax 582's.The one in the Crestliner was from a powered parachute and the one on the Tracker was from a wrecked ultra light airplane.I noticed that the one from the airplane had a dual ignition system,2 coils and 2 plugs per cylinder.I was told it was a safety requirement for air craft engines.The tracker also had electric start.They suggested the 2.54-1 gearbox.The crestliner had 2-1 belt drive and recoil start.

Both machines had Warp drive,56" variable pitch 3 blade propellers.The Crestliner did have polly on the very bottom and the runners to round off the edges were made from 3" flex drain pipe.

PappaScott,you'ld never be able to move that amount of weight with these boats.Maybe with the Rotax 912 four stroke,but then you're getting up there in price again.

The Crestliner was built for less than 4 k.He already had the boat and trailer.The Tracker was built for a little over 10 k and was built from new stuff exept the rebuilt motor,which as I said before,came from a wrecked ultra light.The air craft engines are easily available because they have to be rebuilt after 200 hrs. and most people just trade them in for a new one.

Both drive units were built as a modular component and can be unbolted and lifted off and they put on their outboards for soft water.Try doin that with a boat with a mountain motor.

These boats are perfect for an icefisherman/duckhunter on a budget.I wish I had seen these last summer,I would be fishing this week.


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## NorthSouthOhioFisherman (May 7, 2007)

Those sound sweet. I wish I saw some pics. A cheap airboat would be very nice!


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## freyedknot (Apr 10, 2004)

a few years back i stopped and talked to a guy in ashland that was making them w/ 14/16 ftrs. out of his barn.


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## CleoSpooner (Jan 11, 2009)

http://iowaairboatfactory.com/
Here's what WE found while looking around . I think you would still have to do something to protect it from the ice .


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## ReelTimeWes (Aug 20, 2009)

Sounds like a cool project. Here are some pics of different ones.

http://www.southernairboat.com/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/51332/title/s6300580/cat/500


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## ErieRider (Mar 23, 2010)

Guys,
Just wondering here. I know that alot of the larger southern airboats that get pushed into service for Lake Erie Ice Fishing are usually welded with reinforcements to withstand the impacts with large ice chunks etc. I could potentially see one of these folding like a pop can after contact with ice. Just my thought.


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## johntom13 (Feb 8, 2009)

I used to spray the hulls of some swamp boats as well as a few of the ice boats with a polyurea. The benefits were that it was a fluid applied, seamless installation, good chemical bond as opposed to the sheeting which meant hundreds of mechanical fastners(rivots) which is always a means for water to enter the boats. We used to test them out on the gravel driveways to look at the scuff,tear and impact resistance of the polyurea.
The down side was we went through a lot of different polyureas to find the perfect one and at a cost of up to $90 per gal, up to 250 mils thick it, and usually around 120-160 sq feet to spray, cost immediatley became a factor. We did have many failures until we found the right polyurea, one that was flexible enough at cold temps as well as high impact resistance.
I for one would refuse to drill holes in my hull, I only need to be 2% smarter than the leak to figure out a better way of doing this. At this point the leak is smarter.
I will be spraying a small 12' boat sometime this spring with yet another poly to test out this year, however it is with material left over from a job and I refuse to throw out this stuff as it was about $50 per gal. If I can figure out much drag the blush lines create and it is minimal I may spray another larger boat later in the year. I love experimenting with this stuff, just hate doing it on my dollar.


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## little d (Dec 10, 2008)

Im with rutnut! I do alot of welding and have welded on a air boat with a 1/4" floor and was ripped open like the titanic! The guy told me he was only going about 10mph. I dont think a flat bottom boat like that is more that 1/32 thickness. Just my thoughts also be carefull.


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## johntom13 (Feb 8, 2009)

I remember Jim Massey used to put in aluminum bracing in the enire boat but can't recall spacing, gauge, etc..
I do know we beat the heck out of them and never crumpled, gashed, tore etc...


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## Dfrenzy (Dec 18, 2008)

I think what were all forgeting is on Lake Erie its not always ice there runng on. The air boats on Erie are used in many different conditions than you will find on any other lakes. How many inland lakes will have shove ice sticking up 2 to 4 ft and sometimes more? The conditions of lake erie are far more different than any inland lakes you will find. Thin walled jons just won't cut it very long before there gonna be ripped open like a can opener.


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## Papascott (Apr 22, 2004)

Johntom, what happens when the Hull needs patched and welded? Wont the poly melt and or burn?


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## waterwalker (Jan 24, 2008)

IF you use a bolt on unit that would protect the hull the other issues dont come into play. Good luck rutnut.


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## ErieEye (Jul 16, 2007)

Looks like the center of gravity is quite high for such a small boat. That is what I would be worried about once you hit open water.


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## RODSABENDIN (Feb 27, 2007)

If you know what you have and what conditions you are thinking of using it then you would be fine. No it might not be able to haul a tank or go very fast over rough ice but i would rather be on the seaward side of a drift with one of those than a quad or a sled.


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## johntom13 (Feb 8, 2009)

PAPASCOTT,
If one did need to patch or weld the hull then the poly would indeed burn/melt if it was left in place. However I'm not sure that Jim or the southern fellas had those issues.
In the past I have had thinner steel tanks need some work done and we would remove the poly liner from an area larger than the repair area then respray the area afterwards.
I know the boats we did were an extremely heavy gauge aluminum/metal. We could hit it with a hammer and even shot a few with the 12 gauge shotgun, believe me you could see the dimples but the better polys remained in tact and would flex with the hull.
Lesser polys would delaminate somewhat while still others completely failed before the boat made its way back in from the initial test drive on the gravel.
A lot of the polys out there are somewhat similar to the newer kayaks and canoes, except being spray applied it eliminates the need for the bolts and or rivots.
It is still something I tinker with every so often, like I mentioned before I will be doing a 12' sometime, probably sooner than later as long as I'm not out of town, state or country.
John


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## fishingful (Apr 5, 2004)

I have been looking up info on air boats for a while now found something cool in Finland......check this out.

Winter airboating in Finland


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## bigfish713 (Dec 20, 2005)

I want one but I bet they are out of my budget


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## fishingful (Apr 5, 2004)

bigfish713 said:


> I want one but I bet they are out of my budget


They are 115,000 euro
http://www.multi.fi/arctic/main.html


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## rutnut245 (Jan 18, 2009)

I was gonna have Jim Massie build the boat I wanted.He builds a very rugged boat.Do to circumstances beyond my control I had to hold off.He does not apply the sprayon poly anymore,he said it doesn't hold up.

The Canadians told me that the poly they used is the same material that is the bottom black section of hockey boards.That figures.You gotta love their inginuity.


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## rutnut245 (Jan 18, 2009)

If you really want to see some top of the line airboats,check out the ones made in finland.Arctic Airboats and the Arctic Ant are pretty sweet,with a price to go along with them. What would 115,000 euro's be in U.S. money?

Arctic Airboats use a super charged lexus engine and the Arctic Ant uses a small diesel.


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## Walleye Wacker (Feb 15, 2009)

155,250 US dollars for the ANT


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## fishingful (Apr 5, 2004)

Walleye Wacker said:


> 155,250 US dollars for the ANT


playing the PICK 5 lol

could you see that coming at you on Erie Lol


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## FISHIN 2 (Jun 22, 2005)

Man, That would be the cats meow on erie. Wife would definately get tired of eatin fish, or worse yet, never seeing me home. Would be a sweet ride nontheless. Mike


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## K gonefishin (May 4, 2004)

These look pretty sweet too. http://huskyairboats.com/


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## SELL-FISH (Feb 9, 2007)

K gonefishin said:


> These look pretty sweet too. http://huskyairboats.com/


That is a sick airboat. If ever hit those six majic numbers I know what we'll be icefishing in. I'd have to get the optional brass pole for the bow for entertainment on warm days like today and tomorrow.


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## rutnut245 (Jan 18, 2009)

K gonefishin said:


> These look pretty sweet too. http://huskyairboats.com/


The Husky boats are almost identical to the boats made by the Canadian airboat co.Their boats start at about $120,000.OUCH !!!


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## Jvgoofy (Feb 16, 2011)

Just an FYI I dont know much about these ultra-lite airboats but I have a 2008 Alumitech
airboat from florida built for ice it has 1/2"poly on btm and 1/4" on sides it is 15 foot x 8 foot wide it has 11 T bars for ice reinforcement the hull,poly and reinforcement 
was well under 10k I run a 1976 cadillac 500 with a direct drive carbon fiber prop my cage, rudders, gas tank, and controls all came out of an old florida boat u can get all of this cheap if you can get to florida it is easily avalible just gotta research and make sure you get a reliable motor. if you cant find caddy a 350 chevy with 2:1 gear reducer works great for small boat I would love to have a fancy new big block motor and reducer and prop but to much money to just go fishing.
this boat has been thru many crazy conditions on erie and is very safe they build a great hull cheap. my boat isn't the fastest out there but you will find out you don't run fast on erie ice i have plenty of power to climb back on to ice and climb over piles. I transport myself and 2 other people shanties bait and auger.
do your research and you should be able to build a safe reliable boat 17k to 25k (daily driver)
you don't have to spend 50k to 100k (corvette) like people think. I love my boat and would haul my grandmother on erie in it.


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## 65redbeard (Mar 12, 2006)

neat looking boat


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## rutnut245 (Jan 18, 2009)

The main point I liked about these boats were their light weight.They can run across 3" of ice without busting through.We also muscled them up onto the trailer by hand when they weren't perfectly centered.These boats also had an aluminum framework installed for extra support.They were engineered very well.We ran all over on 3.5 gallons of fuel.The power -weight ratio is the key factor in my book.I've had experience on more than a few different airboats and I was very impressed.


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## Carpn (Apr 5, 2004)

You could build a decent mini airboat pretty cheap. Bowfisherman have been building pusher fans to use on bigger bowfishing boats for awhile. We build ours our of big briggs, kohler, honda, and kawasaki 4 stroke engines. These motors can be had at around 40 hp now without making any mods to the motor. With mods guys are getting close to 60 hp. Couple that motor with a belt reduction and a big wide prop like a IVO, whirlwind wini airboat prop, or powerfin and you could get plenty of thrust for a mini airboat.
Here are some guys doing it as a business.
http://shallowwaterspider.com/


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