He needs a 40 hp.
2025 Devlin Snow Goose Thread
- Thread starter HenryHawthorne
- Start date
He needs a 40 hp.
jode hillman
Well-known member
I will agree with what Henry said. I recently went to my Yamaha dealer looking for a short shaft in 30 or 40. He said they were not available and the long shaft would be my best option. I don't know why this is but it seems the case
HenryHawthorne
Member
Yes, the lower hps still come in short shaft. But the SG needs a 40hp, and only Tohatsu (among major mfrs) still offers one. So, I could go down to 30hp and find several, go with Tohatsu's 40, or search for a used (in which case I'd probably go for an older 2 stroke and lose some meaningful weight). But as it's ok to use a long shaft and there are some benefits, I'm planning to design that way. I can always cut down the transom if I change my mind or find a great deal on a ss.
HenryHawthorne
Member
I haven't sketched it out, yet, but will later this morning. I wasn't thinking full width, but I was thinking in front of the motor. Your points are good ones. My pup is well place-trained and controllable in that respect, but you are definitely right that it would be adding activity in a place with some risks. I'll sketch it and if I still think think there is any value in the idea will post it for further discussion. Appreciate the feedback.
HenryHawthorne
Member
I spoke with a friend that owns and runs a major boat/motor/trailer and parts company in our area. His belief is that the short shaft market has gotten too small for the major manufacturers to want to compete for it - that most boats made these days simply have higher transoms now. He says it's also been more common for a while when someone brings in an older boat with a lower transom for repower that they want the transom rebuilt (or plate added) for a long shaft than straight repowering with a short shaft.
Clinton John
Member
Clinton John
Member
Google brought me right too it.
HenryHawthorne
Member
Yep, that's the only one I could find, too.l - confirming what Tod learned and confirmed by my local vendor.
HenryHawthorne
Member
Here is a sketch, more or less to scale. Top "as designed", bottom has the addition 9" of length fore to aft, and 3" in width taken from each flotation chamber. The blue is the "insert" that brings the splashwell up to deck height, but that still allows water to get to the splashwell.
It's a bit narrow (fore to aft) at 16"... unless I extend the concept through the added deck/seating - in which case I get a touch over 2' from tiller mount to fore end of the deck. That is plenty big for a 50-60lb lab.
In this scenario, the dog would be there only when actively hunting - would be moved to the hull floor in transit. I think this could be trained quite easily, but there are obvious complications as Tod points out so not likely to pursue this option. On the other hand, making an insert would be easy and cheap, so this is a concept I could experiment with once the boat is completed and reject/eliminate with no real loss.
Maybe more importantly, this does give me some validation of raising the motor (to accommodate long shaft) and getting full or nearly full clearance at deck height when fully tilted.
HenryHawthorne
Member
Modeling is tougher than I thought. First, tools aren't really scaled to work with 1mm plywood. Second, I really have to shift my normally perfectionist mindset to a good enough mindset - it's only a freakin' model! Anyway, the basic shape is done. A good learning experience in terms of understanding the basics of lofting, stitching and build process - and now I can better visualize size and scale and think through how I'll use it what finishing touches I'll wait for the real build.
Next step is material gathering and making a decision on upside down or rightside up build.
Next step is material gathering and making a decision on upside down or rightside up build.
I've always went back-and-forth with if it made sense to square up (rectangle up) the cockpit (that is a LOT of cockpit in day-to-day hunting. I made locking covers for mine and that would have made it a lot easier. I don't know if that little bit extra cockpit you get benefits anything. If you go with a typical high blind the squaring up may make the whole thing easier to make. I think my decks along the side must be wider than designed from the looks.
To do it again, I would 100% build flapper boards rather than a blind and a flat side deck and straight cockpit combing would be a big benefit.
On the dog box thought. What about taking the front deck and flattening off a platform on the front. Kind of partly inset into the crown of the deck. You could make it slatted like you wanted for draining and it would make the front a real nice casting platform. Would be sharp to do it in teak slats.
To do it again, I would 100% build flapper boards rather than a blind and a flat side deck and straight cockpit combing would be a big benefit.
On the dog box thought. What about taking the front deck and flattening off a platform on the front. Kind of partly inset into the crown of the deck. You could make it slatted like you wanted for draining and it would make the front a real nice casting platform. Would be sharp to do it in teak slats.
HenryHawthorne
Member
It is a lot of cockpit, unless you're really planning to hunt 3 regularly. I'm not, so shrinking it makes sense - and squaring it is logical, too. I really like your blind setup, but leaning towards removeable flapboards, too.
We think too much alike! Front dog deck is definitely an option. The obvious downside is dripping water into a relatively dry chamber (and likely gas and maybe battery).
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I was thinking a well underneath that the slatboard drops into.
HenryHawthorne
Member
We may have both been overthinking it, Tod. If I use the front deck for the dog, water will just roll off the deck. I could flatten it a bit, and am now thinking of taking a little crown out, anyway, for fishing. And I'll need some non-skid of some form for both.
Got my order in with Raka for Resin and glass, checking out wood soon. Need to do some shop cleanup and prep, then get to work on some sawhorses.
That will for sure work. I was thinking of a flat spot set in the overall crowned deck. If you did it so it looked intentional, I think it would look sharp. However, if you are considering flapper boards having the least crown possible would be beneficial. You could consider a flat on the top of the "crown" and then angled, but non crowned sides. I think that would look sharp as well (see below).
One thing that I missed in my build that I came to appreciate over the years is having your epoxy temperature stable and preferably nice and warm. It is so nice to work with when nice and warm, it is easy to push around (water vs honey) and it absorbs better. I thought people who worried about that were being overly picky, but having your epoxy under controlled conditions far outweighs the effort. Think dorm fridge or cooler with a light bulb in it or something like that to bring the temp up to a warm room temperature like maybe 80.
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RM Anderson
Member
HenryHawthorne
Member
Raka arrived, awaiting other supplies. Have put together some plywood scraps for some practice with epoxy, fillets, and glassing next week. And picked up basic materials for the strongback for an upside down build - but need some additional design water line dimensions for the bulkheads from Devlin if I'm going to build this way.
In the meantime, sketched out a potential dog box/platform and played with the idea of flapboards to get a sense of scale. One nice thing about a model - you get a much better feel for the scale of the boat, and though this Snow Goose is bigger with more freeboard than other designs it's really pretty low. If seated on a 12-15" box or seat, I'd need roughly 40" of blind height if I wantwd to have another hunter amd shoot over the side - that's a lot more than I realized. Definitely going to have to play with some different ideas on how to make it all work as I'd want.
In the meantime, sketched out a potential dog box/platform and played with the idea of flapboards to get a sense of scale. One nice thing about a model - you get a much better feel for the scale of the boat, and though this Snow Goose is bigger with more freeboard than other designs it's really pretty low. If seated on a 12-15" box or seat, I'd need roughly 40" of blind height if I wantwd to have another hunter amd shoot over the side - that's a lot more than I realized. Definitely going to have to play with some different ideas on how to make it all work as I'd want.
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RM Anderson
Member
Henry,
I've been contemplating some of the same things you are in regards to flapper boards, etc. I spoke with the owner of Blind Grass and he said his product will stand unsupported 16." To my way of thinking, our flapper boards don't need to be full width. My goal from the start was to build a blind that allows shooting from the sitting position to accommodate my needs as I get older. Therefore my plan is to do a combination of a carriage style dodger and flapper boards. Richard
I've been contemplating some of the same things you are in regards to flapper boards, etc. I spoke with the owner of Blind Grass and he said his product will stand unsupported 16." To my way of thinking, our flapper boards don't need to be full width. My goal from the start was to build a blind that allows shooting from the sitting position to accommodate my needs as I get older. Therefore my plan is to do a combination of a carriage style dodger and flapper boards. Richard
HenryHawthorne
Member
I'm going to play with some ideas alongside the build so once I have the hull done and flipped I can do real mock-ups. I'm seeing some of the synthetic blind material pop up on sale now that the season is over, so will buy a few different samples to have on hand. My gut says to just have the lower flapper boards (single) and extend above that with grass and the like (at least for the shooting side), but we'll see. The lower boards would certainly suffice when hunting solo if shooting over the stern - or maybe leave them off entirely and pull canvas over most of the cockpit.
I'm currently envisioning a canvas dodger on the nose, pulled back at least to the cockpit, for a backdrop in shooting over the stern mode and for a dog hide. But I need to mock up some ideas for that, too.
RM Anderson
Member
Bent my dodger hoops today.
