gonetothebuffalo

Last few years I've sacrificed a lot of prop meat to the gravel bar gods @ Rush to Buffalo City. I'm gonna be kind to the old gal & re-prop this year. Boat is a 20' x 42" Shawnee with a 1999 Johnson 9.9. We run the Buffalo while there's water but probably spend much more time on the white. I don't mind buying two props if that'll serve me much better. Most of my time on the White is spent 'getting there' and we're usually lightly loaded but I really seem annoyingly slooooow against any current. Most of our time on the Buffalo is with the boats overloaded with 3+camping gear, firewood, etc. Could I get an opinion on a 'middle ground' choice and then a couple of prop pitch options from the experts for each river scenario? I just never can keep it straight in my mind which direction in pitch is better for which scenarios (speed vs load). Thanks!

Howdy, Headed down to the Mountain View area to my brothers for our Buffalo River trip over memorial. I keep a Shawnee built by Gay in the 90's. at my brother's place. Last few times out I've been annoyed by some hinges, latches, etc that have lost a rivet or two & had to worry the whole time on the road if a drybox lid was gonna blow off. Finally motivated me to put some effort into fixing them. Anyhow I'm going to source some new hardware and replace it all with some more functional latches. Given the remote nature of where I'm headed, I need to order online a rivet gun & some rivets. Never worked with rivets before so looking for some input as to what type / size of rivets I'd need for typical boat hardware like latches, locks, etc on these river boats. Thanks in advance. Bill

Howdy. I traded the River Rat off for a early 2000's Shawnee just before our Memorial Day float on the Buffalo last spring. Our 'group' has been on the Buffalo for 18 years now (Rush to Buffalo City) and I guess all of the years of good luck finally managed to catch up with me. On that maiden voyage of my Shawnee, I managed to put her down at Clabber Creek due to high, fast water and my piss poor attention. Anyhow, in the 'sinking' I managed to knock a hole in the bottom about mid ship. It was a good piece, probably about 6" in diameter. It also broke loose an old repair by the previous owner that's more of a crack about 7" in length, just about 6" forward of my handywork. Luckily we never put in without a couple of wal-mart-special fiberglass repair kits and multiple rolls of duct tape in DIFFERENT boats Patched her up & floated the remaining 20 miles over 3 days without incident. My brother knows several of the local river boat makers and one of them told him that they could re-glass the entire bottom for about $450. I've gotta get moving soon & get the thing ready for the spring. I was thinking this over & wondering if anyone have a supported opinion on whether I'd be better off to just have the two patched areas re-done professionally vs going with a complete re-glass of the bottom. I can't help but wonder if the re-glass is going to add too much weight. We tend to run these Shawnees with probably 'more' than enough weight already. Would the extra weight be too much & cause it to draw an extra draft? Spots on the Buffalo can get pretty shallow as is with guaranteed boat dragging if it's been dry at all.. Thanks in advance for any sage words of wisdom (yup, I know, stow the beer until past Clabber Creek this time..)

The Shawnees are solid. The Supremes as others have mentioned, are the Cadillac. But beyond seeming a more, shall we say 'finished' overall product, the Supremes appear to be offered in more varying dimensional layout as well as options / colors, etc. Someone mentioned the Shawnees only had one mold, which isn't right as they do provide a couple of different commissary widths as well. All of that being said, I would think that a big decider for all but the most patient would be the fact that last I heard, the Shawnee's were a 2-3 YEAR wait. I know there was some talk about recent ownership change so I can't say if they've ramped up production but it used to be one at a time. My brother that bought 3-4 of them over the last 15 years waited 1-2 years for the last 2. Matter of fact, still waiting on last 1. But he does love 'em. When my River Rat goes, it'll be for the Supreme unless an absolutely irresistible deal happens along on a Shawnee. Right place, time & money does sometimes yields a fire sale.. PS. One other thing. Last I knew, the (possibly previous) owner of Shawnee was pairing them up with the easyloader trailers, which seem to be a heck of a nice rig. I think I've got some good picture of a few Shawnees. I'll post 'em if I can dig them up.

Hate to revive an old post but figured someone else might wonder about 'the Rat' at some point.... I've had one for a couple of years that I bought right. It's not a bad boat although my model is one of the narrower ones at 36" if memory serves. I just run it during the summer on the Buffalo. They haven't been mfg'd in years, I think since the early -mid 90's. Story I heard was some former Supreme boys set out to build a 'better' boat but somewhere along the way got busted 'borrowing' supplies from Supreme via a currently employed buddy.. All of that being said, I like mine pretty well for the Buffalo. Doesn't draft hardly anything. Being narrow didn't hurt anything last memorial day after all the flood damage rearranged & tightened up many of the chutes from Rush to B. City. My party @ memorial day runs several Shawnees and an occasional Supreme. A lot of locals are married to the Shawnees. If I was to move from the 'Rat, it would be to a Supreme. Just a much more finished product.