Stein

Well, found out from those that know better on the woodenboat forum that I have to let the epoxy cure a week before topcoating with paint so I'll finish coating the outside tonight then back to finishing the trailer. It all needs to get done but it's pushing my finishing date hard. The paint needs about 7 days to cure as well. Talked to DMV and county treasurer about what is needed to license the boat. Have to go to county treasurer to get the registration done first, listed as UNTITLED, then send supporting documents and registration to DMV to have hull ID and hull plate issued then I have to go back to county treasurer with all of the above to get a title issued on the boat. Have to have a title here on any boat that has a motor on it. Thought about registering it in AR since it will live there but don't have time this time around to go to Yellville. Probably do it on renewal. Permanent residence is still in NE anyway. Homebuilt trailer isn't a problem, just tell them you made it, color and weight capacity and they issue the registration.

That's a pretty boat! Rod racks, yes. False floor, no. Added weight and a place to trap water and start rot. Same thing with no carpet. Holds water. This way it will be "hose friendly". I never did add a drain plug. Thought about it a time or two. There are limber holes in the ends of each frame and the end seats. With the rocker in the front and rear I'd have to drain in one of the three center sections as they would be the lowest. But, it's light enough to just dump if necessary. On the false floor front, one thing that will be made after the boat is completely done is if you look at the frames in the post above one of the four frames appear to be put in backwards in the front of the boat. I wanted the two flat surfaces of the frames facing each other. I'm going to make a table that will have folding legs like a card table that will just fit into that space. It will be 1/2" plywood, fiberglassed and epoxied and painted lust like the floor with supports under the center of the table between where the legs fold to support angler weight when fishing. When we want to stop somewhere for lunch just pop it out and set it up. I'm using folding camp chairs for the seating in the boat so take them as well and be able to have a comfortable place to sit for lunch while fishing. Better than squatting on a gravel bar. Won't really even notice it when fishing. Haven't decided the official design yet for rod racks. I'm going to want something secure, maybe typical "gun rack" style with a bungee attached over them to hold them while trailering. The biggest problem with any racks is making them "snag friendly" for fly lines. They are also something that will likely have to wait a bit. Big push now is to get it built and the trailer done as we are heading down 6/1/17.

Been thinking about bringing that truck down to AR and leaving it at the house permanently. Be nice to have either an extra truck for a shuttle vehicle for kayaks or the trout boat if we want to do a one way float or even if we just want to drive my wife's car down for a long weekend at least we would have a truck to launch boats. Probably should start another thread to get the opinions but what off-road rock crawling opportunities are there around Bull Shoals? I know I can go to Disney near Tulsa which is a great rock crawling area but maybe old "impassible" forest or fire roads locally?

Just a big ol' one ton ex-military CUCV. It has a lot of work done to it by the previous owner which is exactly the way you want to buy things like this or race cars - pennies on the dollar. Dana 60 front Dana 70 rear alxes, 37" tires with Hummer H1 12 bolt wheels, shackle flip, lift, 52" springs, buncha other mods. It does pretty good, though.

Buncha fat fish there! Great outing.

Got a late start tonight. Got the next coat on the inside but not the outside. It all evened out this time from the last pic where the soft parts of the pine drank up the epoxy more than the hard parts. Get the outside done tomorrow then let it cure a few days then paint. Taking the rock crawler out this weekend to Tuttle ORV park in KS so plenty of time to cure. Started on the trailer a bit tonight. Got all extraneous brackets cut off and ground flush and taillight mounts made and welded on. Need before pics. The trailer is a treat but it's solid...enough.

While I love an old Champion and glad you are restoring it as soon as the trout boat is done I'm starting on a new 22 foot wood lapstrake construction boat and it's going to have to be lofted full size (that takes 8'x24' on the floor) and the rest of the shop will be the building jig and strongback. I just won't have the room. Sorry.

I also think carpet is the least expensive and easiest option. It's not hard to replace and if it is currently glued down it might be a lot of work to get to a completely smooth surface for paint or vinyl. Most adhesives don't sand worth a hoot. Also it isn't as fussy when trimming new pieces to fit. Vinyl will show every little error. I did my Ranger 10 years ago.

Front and rear seats are in, filleted and taped and one coat of epoxy over the entire inside and outside. Light sanding and then paint this week.

The other thing that we have is good compost. My wife has two horses. All of the manure and wasted hay gets pushed into long piles about 4 feet high, six feet across and many yards long. Take the loader and flip them once a week and in 6-8 weeks it is as dark and fine as coffee grounds. I used to put 2-3 ton on each garden every fall and till it in to fallow over winter. I've stopped now mainly because I'm tired of fighting the weeds from the compost. The weed seeds pass through the horse intact and grow like mad in new soil. If I really needed the compost to bring up the soil quality it would be worth it but I really don't need it any longer so I just spread it back on the brome pasture with the manure spreader and then I bale the pasture every June/July for their hay. Recycling at its finest and the weeds can't really get established with the good grass cover.

II don't know if they are much north of Wichita yet, haven't seen any this far north. I think it will be too cold in the winters to sustain them but who knows. I actually thought about bringing dirt sometime. Just load up flatbed trailers full when I am just coming down and don't have the boat in tow. My lot is very sloping and the backyard is useless so I have considered stepped boxes all the way down sometime. They would run from zero to two feet high on a transition of maybe five feet. Hardest part would be getting dirt TO them. There is a road below our lot at the back of the property. It's probably 100 feet from the back of the house and probably 30 feet from the walkout basement down to the road. Good 30-40% grade.

We are fortunate to have good soil so it's easy for us to go bigger, You can see my wife is fairly wasteful with space when laying it out. . I have dug down five feet in various spots and still in black dirt. No rocks, no clay. It will be one of only a small handful of things I would miss when I move to Arkansas.

We are so far behind you guys. Lettuce, beets, peas and spinach just starting to come up, everything else ls just starting Put in peppers broccoli and brussels sprouts and a few tomatoes, Need to plant another couple dozen tomato plants. This is the small garden that has rabbit fence. The big garden has been tilled and the electric fence put up for the deer. They are rough on baby corn plants. That one is about 1 1/2 times this size. It will have corn, squash and more tomato plants. My wife cans a lot.

Helper? No helper, unless you mean my wife who helped me flip it twice! Really there's nothing to be impressed by for woodworking skills. It's the first wooden thing that I have made other than a set of shelves.or whatnot. I'm more comfortable with a welder and grinder but thanks all the same! Last coat on the bottom. Flip tomorrow to epoxy the inside. Hope the taped off areas come off with little persuasion from a utility knife through three layers of epoxy.

Good to hear. Got another coat on tonight. Hate this slow progress stuff. Can't do anything else but wait for coats to dry.

It's not that bad. I did one on an '85 Ozark bass boat that I keep at our cabin up here in Nebraska last year. I also found it competitive to buy the whole rack and cable like Bushbeater did.

The bottom will always be the graphite black. The graphite will be jet black when all three coats are on and it is actually a wear resistant surface. The first coat you can still see color and weave through it. Interior will be be painted a sand color and dark blue on the two outside panels, bow and transom. Going to go oil based paint now. They carry Rustoleum Topsides oil based marine paint at Menards.

MVP (Major Visual Progress) has been slow coming so no responses in a couple of days. Spent a couple of days filleting and taping every seam and joint. Then flipped it over and finally rolled on the first of three graphite-filled epoxy layers tonight. Two more to go then flip and sand and epoxy coat the inside before paint.

I would "like" this but things like that have gotten people killed or worse.

You were wise to save your money. That's all that I have to say about that.

Great report and congrats on hitting the hatch. I don't second guess posting this report. Something to be happy about given all the problems.

Three more weeks. Hope the boat is done in time. Otherwise have to plan a July trip down.

Transom knees installed.

Built some seat framing so not much visual progress so put up some current status photos. Waiting for more epoxy and fiberglass tape to show up so I can fillet and tape all of the inside joints.

It's the little things that take time. Laid out, cut and fit the transom knees, laminated two 3/8" ply with epoxy. Ties in the transom, station before it, sole below and seat above. Should tie it all together into a rigid box. Still need to add water drains and air circulation holes. Going to add two more corner blocks between the plywood sides and transom.