Here's my new "old" boat....

[Ed L.]

My dad bought this boat in 1963. I was 8 years old. He sold this boat to his deer hunting buddy in 1973. It's been in a shed since 1980. Last week he offered to give it back to me and of course I couldn't say no.



Dad replaced the original 20hp with this 25hp but I can't remember what year the motor is. The serial number plate is gone. Is there anywhere on the motor you can find the serial numbers such as a block location?



Here's something I've never seen on a boat before. The transom is aluminum but is sandwiched with plywood on both sides to get the proper thickness. This is all dry rotted but will be easy to replace.

I know it doesn't look like much now but by next duck season I hope it looks like the top boat in this picture. I realize the boat in the picture is a Alaskan and mine is a Starcraft. But I won't tell if you don't.





Take care,

Ed L.

 

[Lee Harker]

Ed, look for a silver "freeze"plug looking disc on the block, it should have the number on it. Let's see a pic of the whole motor. That looks like a cool project, that boat is DEEP!

 

[Ed L.]

Found it. 4226060 is stamped on the disk. Here's a picture of the whole motor. It's an exhaust above the prop so I know it's old enough for shear pins anyway. It still has plenty of compression. The mice had fun under the hood though. It's going to take a little TLC to get her going I'm afraid.

 

[Rick Kyte]

From the looks of that boat it's been through plenty of adventures. What is the length?

Rick

 

[Ed L.]

It's been around the block a time or two. Length 16', 66" beam and 31" deep in the bow with a 16'" high transom.

 

[John Molnar]

Good for you.. Once you get the boat up and running this is going to be the most rewarding boat you will ever own... John

 

[Eric Patterson]

That boat has tons of potential. Let's see a first class resto.

 

[wis boz]

Ed:
That should be fun restoring something of your dad's! Looks like Mississippi river written all over it.
wis boz

 

[MLBob Furia]

Looks like the ideal boat for big rivers. Down here, guys used to bend conduit for blind frames and create "Ohio River Hoop Boats." Those deep v-hulls can haul a lot of people and gear safely in snotty weather. Lots of potential there, and even better that it has a "history" for you.

 

[Ed L.]

Bob,

I've only heard of one other refer to the "hoop" blinds but I've never seen one. Can you explain what they look like? Every year this boat hauled 5 guys, 2 dogs and all the camping equipment for a week long duck hunt. Never felt over loaded. Of course we only went a mile down river and you always felt safe with your dad.

Ed L.

 

[MLBob Furia]

Bob,

I've only heard of one other refer to the "hoop" blinds but I've never seen one. Can you explain what they look like? .....you always felt safe with your dad.

Ed L.

Back into the "archives for this one. These are the only pictures I could find of a "hoop" boat I once owned. I'm asure we might have more, but I'll have to look through some boxes. That's my oldest boy Matthew...he's 31 now. Wow! The Chessie in the picture is a rascal we once had by the name of "Dutch Mike." I'm a confirmed black lab man now, but I will admit that Dutch was the finest marking dog I have ever owned. If ducks fell, he knew where every one of them was, and I have some great stories about retrieves he made for me as well as for neighboring boat-blinds. Unfortunately he had the Chessie mentality - killed every cat & dog in the neighborhood + ate all the local children - and is no longer with us.

The "hoops" are lengths of electrical conduit shaped with a bender and permanently affixed to the gunnels with brackets (usaually located over a seat for a solid base for the end of the conduit hoop to sit on. Straight runs of conduit were used as side pieces to tie the hoops together (note the flattened end of the straight run so it could be bolted to the hoop). The height of the side brace was determined by what you wanted for visibility while seated. Other straight run pieces were affixed at both ends to give stability to the whole structure of the hoop-frame . Marine snap fasteners were screwed at intevals into the framework, and then snaps were attached to whatever blind material was used to cover the frame once you set up. As you can see, back in those days we used burlap ( spray painted on the outer side). The wealth of materials available now would make for great blind covers. The burlap covers were folded and stowed in a bag, and the blind frame was always fixed in place for trailering, etc....no problem. Snapped on quickly ( also note the letter painted on the inside of the cover so we could easily tell what piece went where. I'm sure with some ingenuity on the clamps attaching it to the boat, one could design it so the whole framework lifts off for off-season use as a fishing boat. If I recall correctly, our "top" on this boat blind was a piece of rubberized green tarp salvaged from an old pole-vault pit cover at the high school I was coaching track at at the time. We covered it with a piece of the burlap. The top snapped on across the rear and had some lattice strips attached middle & front for stiffness. We just threw it back when we stood to shoot. Rolled the top up and laid it down the side of the boat during travel.

The whole blind - conduit, snaps, burlap, fittings, spray paint, burlap(given to me in a roll by a supervisor at the Ohio State Fair when I did a carving demo - but we also used to beg feed bags at the mills for blind material) probably cost us less than $50 to make back then.

 

[Rick Pierce]

Look like the "wheel pants" on an old Waco or other biplane...

What a neat project to play with!

 

[Ed L.]

Bob,

Thanks for the history lesson. I remember a lot of old wet smelly burlap decoy bags and burlap covered blinds. We hunted a place called Lake Odessa back in the late 60's we would cover this boat with burlap over a wooden frame. I remember I called in my first duck by myself there. My dad had told me if I'm asleep DON'T SHOOT UNTIL YOU WAKE ME UP". That mallard sat there a long time while I tried to wake dad. Then our lab saw it and over the gunnel he went. Well that woke dad up as he asked "Why didn't you shoot?" What's a kid to do.....;-)

He's one of dad and me and our lab Copper. Kind a looks like a chessy, I miss that old dog.

 

[Ed L.]

Rick,

Ithink it'll be a fun project. The trailer that came with the boat rusted out and collapsed. This trailer was from my grandads wooden boat that was stolen. The decals said TeeNee or something like that. I don't know the year of the trailer but the boat was a 1960 Dunphy.

 

[Mike Repp]

Ed love those fenders on the trailer, hope you can restore the trailer too. Great looking boat, what great memories that must bring back! Good luck on your project.