Gator Duckhunter

K

kulsh

Member
My question is , has anyone built or been in one of these boats? (Gator Duckhunter) I have had these plans for a few years now and never got around to building the boat. Well like I have stated in a post a week ago, I have been out of the duck hunting game for about 4 years and always hunted out of a aluminum boat. Well I am trying to get back into it and I am without a boat right now and money is tight. (just renovated a house) If I build a boat, My wife will not see the over all cost as in buying one for a few grand up front.

So if anyone has built one please give me the pros and cons of this boat. I will be hunting marsh and big water. (Lake Erie) I have included a pic

Thanks

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Built to spec it is a great marsh boat for 2 men and a dog. I hunted the York River in VA out of one for 2 seasons and was happy with it MOST of the time. (If you are not familer with it the York is big water and can nasty up big time without much warning.) It is not what I would define as a big water boat unless you are smart enough to stay at the launch when it's blowing up 2 and half or 3 footers. That said, it is a very easy boat to modify so that it will take some serious weather. If you add a couple inches to the sides and remove most of the aft rocker it makes a hell of a difference. If you go to the Gator site and join the forum ther eaer a lot of modifcations you can add. My weg site will show both versios that I have mentioned here. Brad Taylor has probably built as many as anyone and will probably chime in if he is not in Dakota hunting right now.

Feel free to ask any questions you like.
 
Take a look for Brad Taylor at toller boat works ,,he builds and sells them and from what I,ve seen does some great work,,,,Chuck
 
Kulsh,

Since you mentioned marsh and Lake Erie I can honestly say I have some concerns about that boat. Erie can be a nasty lake. I am sure the boat can be made safer with mods.

What type of materials are you thinking of building with?

I do agree with you about building the boat out of pocket its still going to cost you but if you willing to work at what ever pace your pocket dictates its a good plan.

Is the requirements two guys and a dog?
 
I've built around 14 to date and still own my original (which happens to be the picture you attached :)

As for pros:
  • If you've never built a boat, its a good one to start with
  • Plenty of help available over on the Gator Boats forum (myself included)
  • Easily modified to suit your needs
  • Very stable
  • Less cost than say a comparable stitch and glue boat due to the decreased amount of epoxy and glass
As for cons:
  • It is still a flat bottom boat and it will ride like one in rough water
  • Built to specs, it does take a bit of HP to get it up on plane (the hull is kind of a cross between a displacement/planing with all of the rocker in the rear)
  • The cost of materials is no where near the $160 estimate that is listed on the Gator Boats page
As Howard said, its easy enough to modify and if you're not really concerned about the overall lines of the boat removing the rear rocker will help you plane with less HP and give you a higher capacity. I've been out in some pretty nasty stuff but never intentionally and nothing near that of what I could imagine Erie could kick up too. With common sense and erring on the side of caution to the days you hunt and where you hunt it wouldn't be an issue. Just had a marine surveyor check out one of mine, and gave the thumbs up for inland lakes and protected coastal waters.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask and you can see more photos (if you haven't already based on your attached photo) at my website, http://www.tollerboatworks.com

Brad
 
I've built around 14 to date and still own my original (which happens to be the picture you attached :)

As for pros:
  • If you've never built a boat, its a good one to start with
  • Plenty of help available over on the Gator Boats forum (myself included)
  • Easily modified to suit your needs
  • Very stable
  • Less cost than say a comparable stitch and glue boat due to the decreased amount of epoxy and glass
As for cons:
  • It is still a flat bottom boat and it will ride like one in rough water
  • Built to specs, it does take a bit of HP to get it up on plane (the hull is kind of a cross between a displacement/planing with all of the rocker in the rear)
  • The cost of materials is no where near the $160 estimate that is listed on the Gator Boats page
As Howard said, its easy enough to modify and if you're not really concerned about the overall lines of the boat removing the rear rocker will help you plane with less HP and give you a higher capacity. I've been out in some pretty nasty stuff but never intentionally and nothing near that of what I could imagine Erie could kick up too. With common sense and erring on the side of caution to the days you hunt and where you hunt it wouldn't be an issue. Just had a marine surveyor check out one of mine, and gave the thumbs up for inland lakes and protected coastal waters.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask and you can see more photos (if you haven't already based on your attached photo) at my website, http://www.tollerboatworks.com

Brad

You have talked about the cost on this build what will be a more realistic figure without the extras that you put in your boats? Also I was going to take out all the rocker on the transom, I will be using a 7.5hp for this boat. The motor was given to me so it will have to do until I can afford a bigger motor. When I was talking about big water I should have stated that I was going to use this boat to hunt off the Islands within a mile of the launch on lake Erie. I would not be using this as a tender boat for layout shooting or anything like that. And for how I was going to hunt out of it, well I think I am on my own, Nobody I know hunts ducks anymore...
Brad can you help me out on the Gator forum, I cant register for some reason. It does not like my yahoo email address.
Thanks
For The Help
Keith
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I will be using a 7.5hp for this boat.
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While I have no experience with this exact hull, I just don't see 7.5 hp being enough to safely power any 14' planing hull boat, let alone one being used on big open water.
 
I will be using a 7.5hp for this boat.
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While I have no experience with this exact hull, I just don't see 7.5 hp being enough to safely power any 14' planing hull boat, let alone one being used on big open water.
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The hull is neither made for planing or big open water. Really I doubt any 14' planing hull is meant for big open water.
 
Brad

You have talked about the cost on this build what will be a more realistic figure without the extras that you put in your boats? Also I was going to take out all the rocker on the transom, I will be using a 7.5hp for this boat. The motor was given to me so it will have to do until I can afford a bigger motor. When I was talking about big water I should have stated that I was going to use this boat to hunt off the Islands within a mile of the launch on lake Erie. I would not be using this as a tender boat for layout shooting or anything like that. And for how I was going to hunt out of it, well I think I am on my own, Nobody I know hunts ducks anymore...
Brad can you help me out on the Gator forum, I cant register for some reason. It does not like my yahoo email address.
Thanks
For The Help
Keith
Click to expand...
Click to expand...


Had to ban yahoo, hotmail, googlemail and gmail about a year ago. Way too many spammers from those domains. If you need another free email address that will work over there, let me know and I'll shoot you a pm with the info.

Brad
 
Kulsh,
Keep in mind when we are being critical of the boat and conditions its because most of us went through the process you are going through now. Obviously the site has lots of people that have built Devlin boats so there is wealth of knowledge available on those designs. Have you considered any of those? With the smaller motor a displacement hull would be the ticket for safe travel to and from the islands.
 
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