Anybody ever build a Zackbox?

david barnes

david barnes

Active member
When I was rebuilding my Fricke boat and starting my pond box I got to know the local Marine Shop manager at Gander Mtn. pretty well.We have both have been thru our share of boats and we were discussing what was most succesful boat todate. He built and sold several Chincoteague Scows and one Devlin BBII. He said his deadliest boat was a Zack Taylor boat he had in "Successful Waterfowling" called a Zackbox. He even went as far as calling Zack Taylor when he moved to Easton and went up and looked at the boat in person. He said at the time his dad had some rental boats at a campground and he converted a 14' starcraft v-bottom into a Zackbox. It's basically a decked v-bottom boat with a front decoy hatch and a rear shooting hatch.
I couldn't find my old copy of "Successful Waterfowling" so I ordered one and recieved it today.
It appears to be an easy conversion, and I already have a 14' starcraft v-bottom.
So making a long story short, has anyone built or converted a boat to a "Zackbox"

My thinking is since I'm the only one in our group to have a BBSB, I only got mine out once this year. My thought is with this boat grassed up it would allow 1 or 2 friends to follow in the Zackbox while I used the Fricke boat.

Any experiences with this type of boat would be appreciated.
Thanks.
 
I have a copy of Zach's book, that my wife gave to me, about twenty-five years ago. If you didn't hear, Zach just recently passed on to the great salt marsh in the sky. RIP Mr. Taylor.

I built a 12' Sneakbox wigeon from it not long after I received the book. Had a lot of fun and used it often for a while. Not big enough though for two guys, gear and a dog.

About ten years ago, I built my version of a "Zachbox". I used a 14' SMoker Craft "Alaskan" for the hull, framed the upper deck with aluminum, and decked it over with 1/4" plywood. I could of used aluminum but I like wood. I then added blind from a Bankes 14' "Dominator". (BTW, I purchased it from a seller from here!).

I don't really have any good "decking" pics, but I dug these up from a while ago. If you really need better ones, I'll have to dig the boat out from under all of the "snow-blower" snow and snap a few. May take a few days however.

WestBranch11-0817.jpg


WestBranch11-0816.jpg


Hope these help!

Jon
 
I just looked at thier website and the Alaskan deluxe 15 looked to fit my needs for my future boat purchase and there is a dealer relatively closeby.
Do you lik the hull? How much water does it draft?
What is the transom height & what are you running on it (HP)?
Thanks! I hadnt even looked at Smokercraft before you posted this!
 
Thanks Jon! I bought that book when I was in high scool in abot 1975 or 76 then some how lost it in several moves. I like the boat and will do something similar and add floatation in the deck and probably hand tie some grass mats for it.
 
David, on existing hulls, I have made 5 Zackbox type boats. Two 12' vee hulls, one 14' vee hull, a 10' flat bottom, and a 16' flat bottom. I presently own the vee hull 12' and the flat bottom 16', which is my inland lake and river boat. What info are you looking for?
 
This boat was inspired by the Zack box. A fourteen foot Aluma craft boat decked over in wood. The reasoning behind this boat was a first of all wanted a unsinkable boat. (for the waters I hunt in) This boat did serve that purpose. The picture doesn't show the back of the boat. No wave can come over the stern and fill the boat with water. I made deck beams out of 1/2 plywood cut 3" deep at 12" spacing. Decked over the top with 1/4" inch ply. I cut out the cockpit after decking over and lined the opening with 12" Western cedar. This makes a nice back rest. The piece cut out of the deck is used as a cockpit cover. So when not in use no water can enter. You can leave your hunting gear in the boat when not in use. This cover is also lockable.

There are some modifications I would make after having used it. First the deck was over built, too heavy. Ribs could have been 1" and decked with aluminum. Secound I would make hatch in the front deck. because of the seat that area of the boat is not very accessable. I believe the orginal Zack box had one. Good thinking Zack. Third I would have a electic motor on the bow for picking up decoys. If you are in two foot waves that is a real *&%& Fourth Steering, reaching over back of the cockpit for a long distant is tiring. I ran cables into the cockpit with a steer stick that was a work in progess. The one I used went side to side, and was removed during hunting. That would be revised to go forward and back and mounted on the side out of the way.View attachment Missey,river,strawberry 004.jpg

Over all the boat was very comfortable to hunt in with two people and a dog. The dog during hunting had a place where the splash well was with a blanket to lay on. The dog had good visiblity I also had a Army pup tent half that was attached to the cockpit sides that acted as a wind break and rain cover. The avator picture was taken in that boat.

View attachment Missey,river,strawberry 004.jpg
 
Would like to add that all though my first boats were flat decked and used plywood, that my later boats have a 1 1/2" roll and used a waterproof commercial sign board plywood, Dura-Ply. The 1 1/2" roll, leaves the deck flat enough to stand on and flyfish, but has enough pitch to allow water to roll off, instead of pooling on the decks.
 
I built a variation of the Zack box years ago, it was on a 12' V bottom aluminum hull.
I cut the sides down, and installed new gunnels. I framed out for a rounded deck with about a 6'x28" cockpit that had a hatch cover over the front two feet.
With a 8 or 9.9 hp outboard, full of gear, that boat went fast, and handled some pretty ugly conditions, as I had to cross over two miles of open Bay. You layed down in it just like a sneakbox, it hid almost as well.
Actually, this was the best duckboat I ever owned and I've had a few. If the rivets hadn't started to fail due to electrolysis, I'd still be using it.
 
Very interesting thread.
I am "mechanically challenged",
so if anyone has some old work in process pictures"
or other photos of what the deck looks like ,
I would appreciate seeing them.

Did anyone ever build a Zack top or other top on a semi vee jon boat?
Thanks
Tom
 
It seems like most folks are going for one of the Boat Blind options on a multi season hull now.(Cabelas' Northern Flight, Mudbuddy, Avery, etc.) They're light, easy to remove and they work pretty good, especially for two or more guns.

I've seen Zack box type decks on full size boats, but they were high and boxy, and wouldn't hide well on a salt marsh.
If you have brush/tall reeds and such, it probably won't matter.
 
Tom,

I decked over two 14 ft V-hulls. Not the Zachbox style deck but a longer more open cockpit similar to the Devlin designs.

The first one was done in wood loosely based on deck Richard Brunson's submitted to Wildfowl Magazine's Chuck Lichon's Boats & Blinds contest. My construction photos are here.

View attachment wolvdeckgoosin.jpg

View attachment deckngoose.jpg

The old 1961 Wolverine bit the big one due to a trailer issue and I bought a new Starcraft. This time I went aluminum. I was going to hand rivet (solid aluminum rivets) but a fellow CT waterfowler who welds as a hobby, volunteered to weld it together for me. when I made the deck I posted three large posts here and unless there is a lot of other interest I'd rather not tie up
Eric's space but would be glad to email the construction pictures.

View attachment 1sternflipcockpit.jpg

Here she is afloat

View attachment openner boat loaded.jpg

View attachment 2nddayduck.jpg


Scott

View attachment wolvdeckgoosin.jpg
View attachment deckngoose.jpg
View attachment openner boat loaded.jpg
View attachment 2nddayduck.jpg
View attachment 1sternflipcockpit.jpg
 
All the small "V" bottom aluminum boats I've seen are only V'eed in the bow area, pretty much flat most of the bottom, so they sit nice and stable grounded out.
 
Scott---that's a really neat looking rig!!!!!
Was the top permanent or did you lift it off at the end of the season?

I'll send you a PM with my email address---I would like to see/learn
more of the construction process.

Thanks
Tom
 
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For you guys who have built them, I have a few questions/ thoughts

Would it be good to frame it with 1x2 Cedar and add foam flotation between the ribs?

Cover with 1/4 plywood for the deck?

Cover with Dynel and westsystems epoxy for strength and water resistance?

I think this .... would be strong, safe, waterproof, and provide a safe surface when walking on the deck.

It's another 6 1/2 months till the season opens and I need something to do.
 
These are small boats, so you don't have to get carried away with framing, cause you'll probably never stand on the top deck. When I framed my rounded deck, I sawed the shape out of regular 1x6 for the cross members, and screwed through the new gunnels into the cross members, you only need a few and you box out the cock pit with 1x4's. Just enough framing to screw down your 1/4" plywood deck panels, you can add flotation between the cross' if you wish and FG too if you desire. Depending on the hull you start with, there will already be foam somewhere, usually under the seats. I left the bow seat and foam in, but took out the aft and mid seat to leave an open cockpit.

This is just a quick synopsis, remember this is essentially a modernized, one man layout "sneak" box, so some compound angles and boat building skills are necessary. If your just building a flat deck over your existing non modified boat, it's a lot easier, but not as sleek. Just realize your not building a house, and scale your framing down so the boat doesn't weigh a ton and become top heavy.
 
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