TDB Pilots - more questions

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Dick Sargeant

Well-known member
Guys - I finally took some time this afternoon to test my new (old) TDB (14, classic) with my 8 HP Yammi.............I know I did not have all of my stuff but it moved right out and got up on plane before I hit full throttle.......so I think for gunning one guy, this should be great. I forgot how these puppies do not really like to turn at speed.......reminds me of my carolina skiffs ! I ran the outboard from the # 1 pin closest to the transom and that seemed to be the right place...... I did notice a rather odd semi circular splash up from the motor's shaft at speed which I think may be due to the fact that even on the first pin there is still some space between the motor's shaft and the motor mount/transom.

I am thinking of adding a small deck and affixing a few blocks to the bottom with west system, as anchors for the deck. I liked the way CGeminski put a series of pole holders mid ship on one of his projects on the inside edge of the gunnels so that a pole could be dropped in place to hold a back rest. I can then have a cross piece on the deck for the bottom of the back rest and I can set up in a sitting position about mid ship, facing the bow.

I plan to grass the boat heavily and use it without the blind. I do need to figure out how to cover some of the cockpit opening in front and behind me and will need to see if a small dodger at mid ship would be needed............hopefully not. I think if I can keep the deck about a foot away from the boats inner walls on each side, I could place decoys in this space and they would not roll around.

Trailer set up is bunks and I think I will add slicks and maybe some sort of roller at the very rear of the trailer. Because it does not tilt, there is a need to crank the boat up about 6-8 inches getting it on the bunks and I often launch in shallow areas and right off beaches when ramps are frozen.

Any thoughts and suggestions always appreciated. My next step is to clean, sand and paint the interior.

sarge
 
Dick, I will go and take some pictures of what I did.

I used 5/8" plywood.... it covers the front 54" of the cockpit. It is hinged at the bow end of the cockpit, and in the middle of the piece of plywood. Kodi sits on top when hunting. I also have a verticle piece of plywood about in the middle of the cockpit that seperates my 6 1/2 dozen decoys from me.

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D31_15372.jpg

 
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Thanks Phil - I would love to see how your boat is put together, looks great ! You just answered one question already about covering up the registration numbers with grass !!!!!

I have been wondering how to pull grass that starts in the grassing rail. tight to the hull and I think I may run a line around the outside lower edge of the cockpit through some small eye bolts all around and then tuck the top part of the spartina under that with about 6 " sticking up above the gunnel.

Dick
 
Sarge,

Two things that come to mind. since you did'nt have a load on.....all pun intended. You might want to think about adding a dolfin to your cavitation plate. It will keep you on plane at lower RPMs. Also you might want to reduce the pitch of your prop...this will give you more thrust in the lower to mid range...you will loose your top end RPMs.

Phil
 
Here are a few "in the dark" pics ..... hope this is clear to you
This is a view of the cockpit covered....from the bow
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Cockpit covered (fromthe stern)
D31_2939.jpg

Cover opened
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Cover opened
D31_2944.jpg

Under the cover
D31_2942.jpg

Cockpit
D31_2943.jpg

 
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Dick, When I first got the boat,I ran w/o any add ons.
It was ok ,but I felt it needed something.
I added the dolphin plates and it made a huge difference.
The boat was up on plane in no time and handled much better in the turns. It also let me run at lower RPMs. Regards,Mark.
 
Sarge,

Two things that come to mind. since you did'nt have a load on.....all pun intended. You might want to think about adding a dolfin to your cavitation plate. It will keep you on plane at lower RPMs. Also you might want to reduce the pitch of your prop...this will give you more thrust in the lower to mid range...you will loose your top end RPMs.

Phil

HI Phil - that makes a lot of sense but I'm not sure I would get too much out of a dolphin on such a small motor but thanks for the idea. I was pleasantly surprised at just how well it scooted along on the 8.
sarge
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Hi Phil - Nice job and thanks for showing me how you set that up ! That boat disappears against the shore, well done.........but don't light a match anywhere near that puppy !
thanks -
sarge
 
Dick, When I first got the boat,I ran w/o any add ons.
It was ok ,but I felt it needed something.
I added the dolphin plates and it made a huge difference.
The boat was up on plane in no time and handled much better in the turns. It also let me run at lower RPMs. Regards,Mark.


Hi Mark - I appreciate the info and will check that out.........not sure if they make em for an 8 but will check. Am real pleased with the boat and trailer, thanks again for a square deal ! How are you doing on the bigger duck boat ??
sarge
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Sarge... put "grass wings" on either side of your boats cockpit like my boat. They fold over the cockpit covering the entire thing. You can lay them down flat and have your head peek out, or put them on a 45 degree angle and hide inside (which is what I do). See my photos below.

View attachment sideview.jpg
Here is is without grass

View attachment closed.jpg
grass wings closed on a 45 degree angle, hunter hides inside

View attachment open.jpg
Flip the doors open when a bird comes in and shoot
 
FYI on the wings... your marsh profile will be higher.

With the 8 HP it might not be a problem, but with a 25 horse, with out securing them open when motoring.... I would be worried that the wind would catch the flaps.. (it has happened to me on a previous boat/blind that I used a side hinge like that)


JMO
 
FYI on the wings... your marsh profile will be higher.

With the 8 HP it might not be a problem, but with a 25 horse, with out securing them open when motoring.... I would be worried that the wind would catch the flaps.. (it has happened to me on a previous boat/blind that I used a side hinge like that)


JMO

agreed Phil, I was curious about the material because I might do something that would lie flat as opposed to teepee.
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I have run my boat with both a 15hp and a 25hp, at full throttle of both motors the grass wings remain folded open and have never gotten air under them. Keep in mind that the added weight of all the grass helps to hold them down. If you are truly worried, you could also rig up something to hold them down when you are running the boat... maybe a bungee? Come to think of it, I have run the boat with the 25 with no grass on it and the wings never moved an inch.

That being said, I never trailer the boat with the wings open, both wings are closed and I put a rachet strap around the whole boat & trailer mid-ships to keep the wings down when traveling on the highway. This also holds down my boat cockpit cover.

The grass wings are made of fiberglass, the boat came that way... I imagine you could make them out of marine plywood as well. Like I said, the wings give you versatility.... you can lay them flat and have just your head peak out for a very low profile in the marsh (your TDB has about another 6-8 inches of vertical room inside the hull over my boat) so this could work well for you, or you can keep both wings on an angle when hunting, which is what I do. I have blocks of wood tied to each hinge with decoy cord, I put the blocks under the wings by each hinge to hold the doors up on an angle. Either way, the wings eliminate the "black hole" of your cockpit by completely covering it with marsh grass.

I also keep a set of canoe paddles secured on the inside of each of the wings.... when I get into shallow water I can tip the outboard up and paddle to my hunting spot. Also, if the motor dies I still have some sort of open water propulsion (a push pole may not reach bottom). The canoe paddles were cheap ($15 for both from Cabelas) and they are lower profile than a typical boat oar... so you have more room inside the wings.

I also saw you mention putting a floor in the boat and gluing it down? I made my floor in two pieces out of cedar. They were made so that there is about 1/2 inch of space below them and they fit in the boat perfectly without any wiggle room. I take them out whenever I need to.... you may have old shotgun shells, marsh grass, duck feathers, water, etc below that you want to clean up. I used Gorilla glue and brass screws on the entire build... it should last me quite awhile. I can upload some pics of the floor if you would like...
BTW, my floor does not go hard up against the port/starboard sides of the boat, it only lies beneath the cockpit opening or the area you would walk on. The outside edges have no floor and my decoys, fire extinguisher and a push pole store here. I did put shims under the outside edge of the floor so no shotgun shells or anything else could roll underneath. Also, the flooring stringers at front and rear do run from side to side (port to starboard), this keeps the floor from moving around on the inside of the boat.
 
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I also put my registration numbers and sticker on the inside of the grass wings.... they are visible when motoring the boat, but not able to be seen when hunting. Hard to see in my photos, but they are behind my buddies hand.
 
On my boat... the floor was WAY tooooo flimsy... so, I epoxied a total of 1" of plywood to the floor... very little flex. i like it much better.
 
In regards to the "flaps" on the blind, I have them on my current boat and my previous boat (not a TDB 14) and the only time I have ever had them come up was in a serious cross wind, I have even towed the boat home missing a bungi cord and they did not fly up. My flaps are made of of louan and have held up fine, granted they have alot of paint on them and the current boat is stored in the garage. Louan is cheap, easy to work with, light, semi tough, and easily replaceable if broken.

Sarge, I would be trying to save every ounce of weight if you are only going to run an 8hp on that hull. I started with a 15 on my TDB 14 and was finally happy with a 2 stroke 25.
 
Chris, Hank and Phil - Thanks very much for the ideas and taking the time to explain how your boats are set up - much appreciated !

I was very surprised at how well this hull moves with just me, fuel and the 8HP yammi but I know that I need to keep it light to avoid really changing that.

The other consideration for me is keeping it low, especially for using as a deluxe layout in the marsh with a rising tide so covering the cockpit black hope may end up as a lightweight combination of grass and blind material but we'll see.

First project will be to prep and paint the interior and include a non skid polymer on the floor. Then I have to get in and try some different stuff to see what set up will keep my eye level with the gunnel and work backwards from that to set up everything else, hopefully there will be room for a small deck.

The way I have it figured, when I get this puppy done my biggest problem out in the marsh might be avoiding taking a NAP !

thanks again,

sarge
 
Dick glad to see you found a nice boat sounds like you have a nice little project sorry we couldn't get together with mind good luck Clark
 
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