Busick: foot room

Andy Grant

Andy Grant

Well-known member
I am about 3/4 of the way cutting out frames and plywood on a wood Busick layout. It seems like most complain about foot room in them. Is it THAT bad?

My knees aren't great, so I am considering lowering the foot area at an angle to be able to put size 11 waders straight up and down. I don't want to add any displacement. So some narrowing will be in order.

This will add to the time to make it. I may just build to plan and change later it needed. Any thoughts?
 
i would put the dropped foot area in

i have a lake boneville with the dropped foot area and it makes it so much better

easier to get in and out and way more comfort also has hydro turff on the floor which also seams to add comfort
 
What does the dropped foot area look like exactly? I have some original plans that don't mention that option. I could figure something out, but why reinvent the wheel?
 
Increasing the foot room is a must and I think that if you contact Paul he has plans for modifying the bottom. I have a Busic fiberglass and it gets damn uncomfortable is short order and my son has to take his boots off in order to get down into position. Contact the man himself....Paul is very helpful.

Willy
 
Well from the pattern, it looks like there is 7 1/2 inches of foot room. My wader boot measures 13+ inches. i tried standing on a tile floor with my feet at the required angle. I did not make it one minute. Dropped foot box it is.
 
Just narrow it up so you don't change the displacement. Otherwise you'll have to add ballast or the slap from the foot end will drive you crazy!
 
We own the busick plans and boat now. The plans do not give details on how to drop the box and adjust displacement. However alittle math is all that is required. But if you plan to modify the box width thats gonna make your apron different as well so Make sure you make the adjustments before getting to far into the build as the first thing you do is put the apron together with the opening of the box in the middle.

The math is easy take the original square inches of the box and then adjust the width and depth to the same square inches until your happy with the depth but be advised your changing the stability of the craft as well by doing so. And why we do not Offer any modifications to the plans for that very reason. We don't want your layout becoming your coffin.


We spent alot of time recently with a newly designed hull for the UFO that now sports 13" of foot room with a very wide shoulder area and is also completely towable. All still using the exact same deck. Lots of time figuring everything out but it is complete and works exactly as the design said it would. A hull design like no other and cannot be recreated without copying it due to the shape needed to create such a hull that allowed for this kind of foot room that still rides the water as it should level on the chine of the boat.
 
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DeWayne could not have said this better!!! I build one awhile back and added depth to the box to allow for foot room...what a mistake! Once completed, the apron of the boat was @ 1" above the surface of the water which caused a major slap with any wave and the boad was nowcompletely unstable. I had to cut @ 4" off of the box to get it back to the original specifications, sold the boat, and bought a MLB.


Just narrow it up so you don't change the displacement. Otherwise you'll have to add ballast or the slap from the foot end will drive you crazy!
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I did some calculation, but they are not really straight forward. The shapes are not square or even simply wedges. However, I near as I can figure, I will need to add 10-15 pounds of balast to bring the boat back to level.

I did start laying out the pattern for the apron last night, adding width to create the narrower box.

I don't hunt big lakes, but I have experience wave slap in my Marsh Rat. That was NO fun annoying. I think it even flared birds.

Hopefull I will have time to finish cutting out parts today after work.
 
DeWayne could not have said this better!!! I build one awhile back and added depth to the box to allow for foot room...what a mistake! Once completed, the apron of the boat was @ 1" above the surface of the water which caused a major slap with any wave and the boad was nowcompletely unstable. I had to cut @ 4" off of the box to get it back to the original specifications, sold the boat, and bought a MLB.


Just narrow it up so you don't change the displacement. Otherwise you'll have to add ballast or the slap from the foot end will drive you crazy!
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I have made one as well, foot drop included. size 13 boots, it is a must. with your legs splayed wide, it really starts to wear on a guy. I personally think the MLB boats are even worse. The supermags are better, but the classic is the worst. After I made mine, I too noticed the slap. But, being a bigger guy, if I get down in mine and put my gear bag up between my legs, for me the slap goes away. Stability was NEVER an issue, I don't know what happened for Dan. Now a few of my buddies who tried my boat who are all smaller than me, they have the slap, one guy just shoved a 15# anchor up by the feet and never had an issue. One buddy went to make one and instead of dropping the box, he raised the foot hump on the top, giving the clearance needed. IF i would make another, this is what I would do. IF I was modifying what I already own, I would narrow up the box about 3" per side, you will still have more than plenty of foot room in my opinion. there was a layout boat made in Appleton years ago, Muddy Bottoms or Muddy Rivers, anyway, Muddy something, they basically looked like a Bankes layout but on the bottom, they went deep in the foot, but narrow, as in your 2 feet were tight together, but upright, not splayed. I sat in one on dry land, was surprisingly comfortable. Never floated one. Anyway, that is my opinon. Best of luck. Love mine, just don't need as many as I have....
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I did consider making it to spec., then cutting a hole for my feet in the top. Glass a small water-tight dome on the top and put a goose shell over it.

This boat is meant for geese and puddlers. So, being hidden is a priority. Low is likely the best way to do that.
 
Andy here is what I would do. If you want to narrow the box. Simply lay out 4 sheets of luan and then trace the outside of the patters only. Narrow the box at the foot by 6" total. then cut the luan. But remember you will have to modify all the stringers and the front bulk head as well. But by narrowing the width 6" you should be able to drop another 2" in depth. I would NOT drop more than 2" period.

The new UFO hull looks like a stingray and has a hull that is wide in back and narrow at the foot. And it worked perfectly for our needs. We have applied for copyright protection under the VHDPA. Now we just allow the process to take place and hope to receive a certificate in the mail in a few months. Its a hull design we have spend a long time perfecting.
 
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should work just fine.

the other thing is your "bubble" with a goose shell will/would work just as good.

give us an update when it is done and hunting. would love to see pics of it on the water.
 
Andy, that looks good. As long as you don't increase the total cubic inches of displacement, and you don't change the displacement location too drastically from current location relative to the center mass of the load the boat will carry, your boat should still float level. And, I would surmise that narrowing and deepening the box would be similar to a dagger board or center board on a sailboat or BBSB and actually make the boat more stable. I would think if you start the drop at about the area your knees will be and angle it down to the max depth it would let your legs bend naturally and you will still be fairly comfortable. You can fine tune things with ballast if needed, depending on the total weight of the gunner and his equipment.
 
DeWayne

That is exactly what I am planning. I will trade having to add a bit of ballast for comfort. By my calculations it should be around 15 pounds. Not much for a 100+ pound boat.
 
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