Devlin Mallard build?

Joe Giurfa

Joe Giurfa

Member
I have been contemplating building a devlin mallard for a few months now. I read all of the best estimates from the devlin page. Its says about a 100 hours for rough completion and wanted to know from the experts on here what kind of actual time I am looking at. I am very handy with wood and tools but have never built a boat before. I hunt mostly shallow water impoundments and occaisonaly the great salt lake, but not often. I wanted something big enought to hold me, some blocks and the pooch, while still be very concealable and low profile.

the other option I have been considering is building a small marsh skiff out of Extruded polystyrene foam and wrapping it in glass and epoxy. Price wise this boat is about 1/3 that of the devlin mallard which I estimated at around 650-700. Price is not my main concern as much as time is. With the season only six months out I just want to make sure whatever I build is ready to be gunned out of.

Many thanks

Joe
 
I have been contemplating building a devlin mallard for a few months now. I read all of the best estimates from the devlin page. Its says about a 100 hours for rough completion and wanted to know from the experts on here what kind of actual time I am looking at. I am very handy with wood and tools but have never built a boat before. I hunt mostly shallow water impoundments and occaisonaly the great salt lake, but not often. I wanted something big enought to hold me, some blocks and the pooch, while still be very concealable and low profile.

the other option I have been considering is building a small marsh skiff out of Extruded polystyrene foam and wrapping it in glass and epoxy. Price wise this boat is about 1/3 that of the devlin mallard which I estimated at around 650-700. Price is not my main concern as much as time is. With the season only six months out I just want to make sure whatever I build is ready to be gunned out of.

Many thanks

Joe
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Joe,

To get one together very basic, I think Devlin's estimates are okay for someone good with tools and that likes to work fast. To get one very basic, would not include wiring or hardware or any custom work like shelves or cockpit covers and would be a pretty rough boat in the end. I don't see the point in building a custom duck boat if you are not going to customize it adn many agree, so usually it takes longer than his estimates. I couldn't and wouldn't want to try to get one done before next season.

Tod
 
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Thanks Tod, that is what I was figuring. I am still gonna order the plans and start laying everything out, but since I wont have to worry about getting it done by this coming season I will be taking my sweet time. So I guess its foam and epoxy...which should do the job just fine for one season.
 
Joe, believe what Tod says,I am near completion on my BB3,almost a year later,this was my first build,not my last, enjoy the build and post pics,no such thing as a dumb question on a build,if you need help this is the place, Happy building Brian Rippelmeyer
 
Good luck on your build!
One questions: Why the Mallard vs. the Broadbill or Bluebill?
The reason I ask is that the Mallard is more of a displacement hull, which means it will be seaworthy & stealthy but also slow.
The Broadbill & Bluebill are planing hulls (ie: faster) and are pretty much have the same low profile.
Just something to think about.
 
Joe,
I agree with everyone else on the time it takes to build one of these boats. That said I was the exception to the rule I started by cleaning my Garage out on July 1st and scarfed the plywood on July 11th. The test drive was September 6th and the paint was still soft. I was hunting her in Canada Speptember 9th. I was bing carefull of the paint because it was still soft. Finally I realized its a hunting boat so I stoped. Plus the paint got hard.


I did not have the floor in my boat last year though so I did cut a corner. Other then that I built her exactly as I wanted and Im happy with how clean it came out. Another thing I I figure I had between 250 and 300 hours into my build and its a Black Brant 3. I work for myself and work was slow last summer so I spent lots of half days on her and work lots of evenings.


If you have a boat you hunted out of last season my advice would be to start your build on the Mallard with no expectations of when you will finish it. The process is enjoyable and if you dont have a timeline you will "waste" lots of time on details. Those details make these boats what they are.

In the next few weeks I will be powerwashing my boat and making some mods to her. She is getting a toe rail, cutting the corners on the pods for motor tilt clearance, and then bonding in the floor.
 
If you truly understand construction and workflow.. and have knowledge of working with fiberglass and epoxy.. you can fly through a smallboat build. I believe Devlin says that a honkerwaseither 325 or 360 hours.. I build my modified honker Iin 165 hours.. Electrical included. The key is knowing what you are going to accomplish each day.. .and don't have distractions. I got my material in early April, and had my boat wet mid August. I also was training for an Ironman triathlon that season.
 
Carl, the reason I choose the mallard was that most of the impoundments I hunt are small and shallow, so I usually dont have very far to go. The boat will probably be powered by a 5 horse or something to save on weight. Most times I have less then a mile to travel and from the plans it looked like the mallard had a lower profile then the other boats. Cover is at a premium where I hunt, mostly sparse bullrush.

Brandon, I will take your advice and just take it nice and easy with no preset time constraints, I think in the end I will be happier with the outcome then if I just rushed through it.

Phil, I understand workflow plenty well, I am a project manager. However I am still green when it comes to epoxy and all aspects concerning it. ordered the DVD and hand book from Devlin so I will get those plugged into the brain housing group.
 
Joe,
With the book and DVD ( I only had the book) you will do just fine. I dont remember who said it but half way though the boat you will know how to build one. Its true!
Have fun take lots of pictures and post them up for all of us. You will find after a while you will be doing one thing on the boat but thinking two steps down the road on what do do next.
 
Joe I too chose the dev. mallard. My pusher is an old,but trusty evenrude 6. I got everything for my build except the 6mm plywood I got to get time from work to make a road trip to get that . I hope to start scarfing next weekend . My biggest problem is trying to figgure out how to do the pic. thing on line! Good luck to ya on your mallard.
 
I chose the mallard as my first duck boat build and had a great time building it. I have used it for mostly duck hunting and push it with and old 3hp evinrude and it works fine, most of the best hunting water in mn is on WMA and you have to row so the mallard rows great. I made a couple of small changes to the original plans. This is a great site to help get you through the building process!!!
 
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