making a tunnel haul

what kinda of boat length width and size weight and hp motor are you going to run ? what is your jackplate set back ?
It's 1:14 am and we just got back for all day in the glades I check back later tommorrow or monda to see if I can answer your questions once you give a few details

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Thanks Robert for replying,

I have a sea-ark 20' 72" bottom I have a johnson 90 it run great and get on plain easy I hunt 4 guy most of the time my boat is heavy it set the water 8" or so loaded.
I don't have a jack plate yet.

Thanks again
Chuck
 
First off I want to make sure you know by adding a tunnel the boat loses displacement and will set deeper , you can counter this by adding "Pods"


that size boat I would have a 3' min tunnel and probally at least 4' if you have room. make a insert that you can just cut out the area and weld or rivet it in place make the bottom of the tunnel 10" and the top 6" form front to back have it slopng in the front you want about a 1/2" rounded rise form the bottom in the back you wan it to be about 8" deep . You will need to add a tunnel vent in the top center about 1/2 to 3/4" form the front run this vent out a thurogh hull fitting above water this will break the suction and allow the boat to rise up and gives you a little more speed .

jack plate if your buying one the best is a hyd that has up/down motion and trim the maunals are ok but take a little longer to adjust. you can also build these if you have teh notition to. the further set back you get the high you can raise your motor I would say get a 8 or 10" set back
 
here are a few more angles it pretty simple once you get over cutting the hole in your boat to start with :)

these are not the greatest pictures but there what I have on the computer it should give you a ideal of the different angle of the tunnel on the same boat

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Thanks again, looks like a nice boat this should help me a lot I'm know going to start on my boat until sometime this summer
 
I have used my mig welder for alum a couple of times. What do you want to know? Personally I never had that great of success with it, but I hear it's easier if you have a spool gun instead of the spool in the welder. The best I came up with was (and it's been awhile) was with holding a longer arc and "spraying" the wire into the weld. For me the local tech school has a great welding shop and the new Miller tig welders. After you use one of them, it's hard to go back to anything else.

Andrew
 
Thank for the reply I have a hobart self feeding wire I know you have to use a different type of gas. I haven't welded mush anyway. i'm thinking about taking a class from our local tech school also. I'm going to try to make a tunnel this summer on my boat it is .125 gage
 
The mig will work if the alluminum is pure metal "without impurities". You may want to pre-heat the area prior to welding as well. Tig is really the way to go with alluminum. A few years ago I attempted to mig together an alluminum frame for a blind. The metal was cast square tube. The welds penetrated properly but I was able to simply pull the pieces apart, "not good especially for a hull". In my opinion as a welder, get the welds tiged (heliarced). Good Luck, and take a class, you'll learn alot.
 
Take the class, you will really enjoy it and learn alot. I have taken a couple of welding classes here, had to take the basic class, then took one on welding pipe and another class on just tig welding. All of the instructor let us bring in our projects into class to work at some point, and they will help you with the tougher spots.

Lesson learned though, most colleges have rules about guns and ammunition, make sure your boat is clean of any shells, live or spent, it's worth the time to clean the boat, trust me.
 
I've welded for a long time and recomend doing the fab work yourself and getting someone to weld it for you. If you want to do it yourself a high freaq AC TIG welder is not a cheap date and you'll want to practice (a lot) before you attempt your boat!! Just my 2cents.
John
 
tig is the way to go but the machine is expensive and I don't have access to one the spool gun is also easier because you get less birds nest when you start learning. a mig is what I use all the time you need a short torch 6-8and the teflon wire feed tube instead of the metal one keep your cable as straight as possiable alum wire is soft and will kink up easy. Tig will make the neatest looking seams
The class is a good idea also letting someone with more experience weld actual weld it in place is good thing too
 
I welded almost every process welding boiler code and nuclear valves but I admit I've never used a spool gun. I can see where the cable issues would be reduced. If you have access and can see around the gun it may be a good alternative. I was just saying that for a critical weld it may not be a good place to experiment. With all my experiance I can have problems with thin aluminum. Your boat looks good so maybe you've got something there.
thanks for the posts, John
 
Thanks everybody,

I will deffinitly practice a lot before I even think about doing this job and rethink again before I cut a big hole in my boat. I do have a friend that has a welding shop I have not told him about doing this yet I know that he will do this for me. I'm a DYI type of guy I been told by my friend that I was (king of mudifcation) ha ha I don't think this project should be my first aluminum job after reading all the advice from everybody. Maybe I'll try something that dosn't float.

Thanks Again
Chuck
 
Chuck, I have done a lot of welding, tig, stick,a little wire feed. I started welding alum with tig in the dark ages. hee hee I haven't done much in the last twenty years. The last time I did alum was like starting all over. I would sugest you take a tec course in tig welding alum. It is completly different than carbon or stainless steel. In any welding class there is some kid who picks it up real quick while others have to work on it. You will also gain the experience of what is a good alum weld even if you don't do it yourself. Find youself a good welder and you do the fabricating. The instucter I had welded alum all the time on small ships. I can still hear his words " If it's bright and shiny it's a good weld. If it's frosty it's not. Good luck with your project the adventure of learning some thing new. pete
 
Hello there. I am a welder, and have welded alot of aluminum. The mig welder will work fine on aluminum. The big key to it though, is to keep the whip as straight as possible. The major advantage of the spool gun is that it is pulling the wire, instead of pushing it. If you get your machine and gas flow set correctley it will work fine. I do recommend using a tig on the welds on the outside that show the most. Use the mig for the rest though, to help cut down warping and to speed things up. You will be there forever trying to tig a entire boat. That is just my opinion, from my experiences.
 
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