BilletHead Posted January 30, 2015 Posted January 30, 2015 First of all the Billetheads need to come clean. We got us a new ride. An Excel 1754 Stalker Jet. Found this baby in Broken Bow Oklahoma. That was quite a trip From BilletHeadville for sure. Got it bought and home. Then to the river to begin the break in peroid for the motor. I noticed it taking on some water and when we got it out maybe a gallon more or less in two and a half hours. I traced it down to the through the hull livewell drain. Not in the hose but between the hull and outside fitting. I called Excel headquarters in Utah. Yes Utah ! I found out that Excel had been in Conway AR but after a tornado leveled the plant MudBuddy surface drive motors in Utah bought Excel and relocated the boat plant in Mountain View AR. Utah guy put me in touch with D.J. in Mountain View. A plan was made to drive to the boat plant and be fixed up at seven AM this morning. I backed the boat in the door to see five guys waiting. Got unhooked and those guys attacked the boat like ants on a mission. While this was happening D.J. took us on the "tour" Neat and amazed we were. I asked if I could take a few photos if it was allowed. You bet we have no secrets. The boat beginning, a roll of aluminum. Reeled out and flattened, Then bending, forming and welding, Prepping for and painting, The camo ones prepped, painted, spray on liner and then camo painted. They make as orders come in and in slower times they will do a run of best sellers/more popular models. Most years 700 boats a year. Now I did not order one custom for us just found the custom one that fit us We then took a walk to see what they had ready to go on the outside lot. I would say ninety percent are duck boats with pods made for mud motors and outboards. Then fishing which includes bay boats. Back inside they had about completed my project. I asked more questions. Also asked about mounting my trolling motor. He says we can install you some rivet nuts. I kind of wanted to just use nut and bolt so he said do you want an access port? Sure, and it was cut in and installed. At nine-thirty we were rolling the boat and trailer back to the door, So this is a shout out to the crew at Excel to publicly thank them for the fix and tour. They felt bad about the trouble but I am kind of happy with the minor glitch as we got to see something new today. A bit more about our boat. There are no outside ribs on the bottom of the boat. The inside ribs under the floor run lengthways from for to aft instead of across port to starboard. Mr. and Mrs. BilletHead Seth 1 "We have met the enemy and it is us", Pogo If you compete with your fellow anglers, you become their competitor, If you help them you become their friend" Lefty Kreh " Never display your knowledge, you only share it" Lefty Kreh "Eat more bass and there will be more room for walleye to grow!" BilletHead " One thing in life is for sure. If you are careful you can straddle the barbed wire fence but make one mistake and you will be hurting" BilletHead P.S. "May your fences be short or hope you have long legs" BilletHead
rps Posted January 30, 2015 Posted January 30, 2015 Awesome. Totally awesome. I positively enjoy people who are proud of product.
LittleRedFisherman Posted January 30, 2015 Posted January 30, 2015 Very cool indeed, and a sweet boat, congrats!! There's no such thing, as a bad day fishing!
Terrierman Posted January 30, 2015 Posted January 30, 2015 A 17/54 will be a nice stable river ride. Enjoy it in good health.
MOsmallies Posted January 30, 2015 Posted January 30, 2015 Smalliebigs is gonna freak when he sees this thread. He's looking at an Excel Jet right now!!! His main concern is the weight of the boat and how shallow it'll go... Any ideas how shallow your boat can go yet Billethead?
BilletHead Posted January 30, 2015 Author Posted January 30, 2015 Thanks everyone, We are pretty excited about this season. How shallow? Not exactly sure. To the point in break in no more than five minutes at full throttle. We did shoot one riffle on top plane. Did not measure depth but the pucker factor was up there. I don't think I have seen Mrs. BilletHead with such big eyes and we have been married over 37 years. A bit of gravel rash on the motor grates:) Boat jumps on top pretty quick. Still experimenting on loading. Putting trolling motor on a quick disconnect mount. Deep cycle will go up in front storage. All this can be pulled out easy depending where we decide to fish. Boat not a speed demon but I did not expect it to be. Like I said just messing we got over 26 mph with the Mrs. In the boat. When I dumped her at the ramp to back in the trailer over 27 mph with just me. Fast enough for us and if I am going to have a wreck it will be a slow wreck. Used a hand held GPS for measurement. At the ramp the Mrs. says how fast this time? I told her and she said are you telling me I am fat? I think she was baiting me Tickets to ride coming soon, BilletHead "We have met the enemy and it is us", Pogo If you compete with your fellow anglers, you become their competitor, If you help them you become their friend" Lefty Kreh " Never display your knowledge, you only share it" Lefty Kreh "Eat more bass and there will be more room for walleye to grow!" BilletHead " One thing in life is for sure. If you are careful you can straddle the barbed wire fence but make one mistake and you will be hurting" BilletHead P.S. "May your fences be short or hope you have long legs" BilletHead
jdmidwest Posted January 31, 2015 Posted January 31, 2015 Good looking set up. Next thing to add to my Navy will be a jet. I have to keep it under 25 hp so I can run the 11pt with it. "Life has become immeasurably better since I have been forced to stop taking it seriously." — Hunter S. Thompson
Members dtbrake Posted February 7, 2015 Members Posted February 7, 2015 Thanks everyone, We are pretty excited about this season. How shallow? Not exactly sure. To the point in break in no more than five minutes at full throttle. We did shoot one riffle on top plane. Did not measure depth but the pucker factor was up there. I don't think I have seen Mrs. BilletHead with such big eyes and we have been married over 37 years. A bit of gravel rash on the motor grates:) Boat jumps on top pretty quick. Still experimenting on loading. Putting trolling motor on a quick disconnect mount. Deep cycle will go up in front storage. All this can be pulled out easy depending where we decide to fish. Boat not a speed demon but I did not expect it to be. Like I said just messing we got over 26 mph with the Mrs. In the boat. When I dumped her at the ramp to back in the trailer over 27 mph with just me. Fast enough for us and if I am going to have a wreck it will be a slow wreck. Used a hand held GPS for measurement. At the ramp the Mrs. says how fast this time? I told her and she said are you telling me I am fat? I think she was baiting me Tickets to ride coming soon, BilletHead I didn't see if you had already said but what size motor you running? 60/40?
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