The Duck Boat Company update

[Tony H]

Good Morning everyone


First a quick apology for my lack of keeping everyone here updated and left hanging. Last year about this time we posted some progress photos of the introduction of the TDB line and they all seemed to come to a dead in. After weeks of work we come to find out we were missing important molds to complete the boats. So we sought out to find them and while it took a couple months we done just that. Apparently when the molds were moved back to Michigan the last time someone dropped the ball and left a whole truck load of them sitting in a warehouse in Kentucky. Luckily Tom kept them knowing some day someone would be looking for them. We were able to pick those up and then after some major problems with an arrangement we had with Nickels Boats to build the 17SC for us That ended as well with us bringing the 17SC and 21Sc to Ohio as well. So in October in the midst of our busy season and the loss of my Black Lab we purchased 15 Acres of land with almost 20K sq feet for production of all our boats in one place.
Today we now have 2 production facilities up and running. 1 for the production of the Layout boats we build and 1 for The Duck Boat's. We also have a Office facility that will be equipped with 2 small sleeping rooms for customers who would like to come see the facility and or coming to pick up a boat. This will allow them a place to stay if they wish to spend a day or 2 here or so they get a good nights rest at no cost to them before making the trip back.
Here are a few photos of the production plant for the Duck Boats with the 14SC and 17SC molds all set up and ready to go. Note in the photos how many molds each production boat requires to produce the finished boat. This is why the TDB boats are so well liked and super strong. They were designed by an engineer and designed right. The 14 Classic is also ready to go. We had to redesign that particular set of molds to rate for more HP and will begin working on it as well. So while I cannot give you a exact date we will being offering these great boats back to the market, I can tell you we have busted our ass to finally put all the molds back in 1 place and we now have the proper facility to make this happen. We know have everything in house.




My apologies to those who were left hanging here at Duckboats.net and we will be keeping you all updated with progress as it is available.


Eric, you were interested in the 3pt floatation system of the TDB if I recall and want to tell you that we will definitely be touching base on this particular system and why it works and how it has made the TDB line a 30yr plus boat in regards to the way it was designed and built and how the floatation foam plays a very important part of this. Eric, Mold 3 from the left in the first picture is the Backbone behind the TDB. This is the magical mold that holds all the foam completely sealed to the hull preventing water from ever getting to the foam. Mold 2 from left is the hull holding the structural grid system and the interior liner as well. More to come on all this as we build the first one.


Thank You to all and we hope you had a very Merry Christmas and will have a Great New Year.




some photos of the new 5000 sq ft Duck Boat Production facility for your viewing pleasure.

Tony Homer

 

[Gene R.]

Tony, I was wondering what was going on with the TDB production. It's great to see you and Tom in Akron have kept some great boats alive by purchasing the molds. Nice to see you have some space to work. Very thought out with bunk room for clients driving in to pickup or watch build. That's a duck hunters idea of a Bed & Breakfast Organized and clean facilities tell a customer a lot about the care put into a product.
Nice your back & good luck,
Gene R.

 

[Gerald N]

What a well thought out operation and even providing for the customer after the sale. So many people in business today feel they are entitled to a customers business and have zero customer service skills. Way to go on the overnight rooms.

Are you going to bring any of the AA hulls back into production. Great design and boat at the time but with modern materials they could be perfect little boats for the back waters when bigger is a hinderance. I have a AA Wigeon from mid 80s that I picked up this spring and rebuilt the transom-great boat so far and exceeding my expectations but so much more could be done with that old 80s design. I am sure many would be or are obvious.

Good luck.

 

[Rod VanZile]

Tony,
It's good to hear from you again. I own a 14 TDB Classic purchased new in 93 from the late Tom Kondrick. I bought this boat with safety in mind and knew they were very seaworthy vessels. Please keep the safety flotation as a BIG part of your build process. It saved my life. The boat will float full of water and you can get back in and bail it out. I know because it flipped on me, actually a slow roll upsidedown. We were able to right the boat, bail it out, and drift to shore from the middle of Houghton lake in Michigan. You are welcome to contact me via private e mail if you wish.
Rod V

 

[Tony H]

What a well thought out operation and even providing for the customer after the sale. So many people in business today feel they are entitled to a customers business and have zero customer service skills. Way to go on the overnight rooms.

Are you going to bring any of the AA hulls back into production. Great design and boat at the time but with modern materials they could be perfect little boats for the back waters when bigger is a hinderance. I have a AA Wigeon from mid 80s that I picked up this spring and rebuilt the transom-great boat so far and exceeding my expectations but so much more could be done with that old 80s design. I am sure many would be or are obvious.

Good luck.

Yes we are already producing the Black Jack and the Broadbill. 2 Wonderful boats the duck hunting community have been missing for about a decade. We also have the Widgeon, Sneaker and Puddler as well for a rainy day.

As for the bed and breakfast, I doubt I could convince the wife to make breakfast for visitors but they will have a place to stay with TV, bath and the necessities they would require on there stay. I have my wife on decoration duty now. And we are looking for some great photos of The Duck boat that we can blow up and have printed along with any nostalgia products from the old days, hats, shirts, banners, anything that we could purchase and use for decor in the Office/overnight rooms.

 

[RLLigman]

Tony, are the molds currently configured in such a way as to allow you to do a closed-cell expandable foam injection or pour for the hulls on the Sea Class boats? Boston Whaler uses this process, as well as one of your direct competitors. BW(toured their production facility prior purchasing my Conquest) cants their molds on the dolly cradle to be bow high prior the closed-cell expandable foam pour, allowing the chemical reaction as the foam expands to literally push all the air out of the flotation foam receipt chambers via a vent hole in the bow area of the mold plug. Complete evacuation of the air in the interior foam chambers is gauged via the small mound of foam that purges through the vent plug hole near the end of the foam's expansion reaction cycle. Encapsulating the flotation foam within several fiberglass hull layers, as well as doing the foam insertion as a one unit process confers significant structural rigidity to the hull because the foam bonds to the interior fiberglass surfaces, as well as enabling the flotation foam to be a continuous one piece unit within the hull. Use of closed-cell floatation foam, which is non-absorbtive with respect to water intrusion, ensures an additional layer of redundancy in the boat-build cycle, extending hull longevity and integrity.

A couple of years back, there was a post on the ContinuousWave website that consisted of a series of photos of a BW Sport 14 that was blown into the open waters of Atlantic Ocean from its mooring site on the east coast of the U.S. The hull eventually washed-up on the European Continent's coastline, having spent well over a year "at sea". It was not a pretty boat, but it was an intact hull unit, readily recognizable as a BW.

 

[Tony H]

Rlligman,
YES, that was one of the set backs we had we were missing the most important molds to both the 14 and 17SC boats. They both have a structural system that is built from glass and then glassed or we will glue them to the hull. If you look at the first photo of the 17SC molds the third mold from the left is that very mold. This is the skeletal mold which holds all the floatation foam for the 3pt floatation system of the boats. We will install this skeleton and then drill holes in it and fill it with floatation foam and then glass the holes back over to make it water tight. We do add more foam to the build but this is the MOST IMPORTANT part of the whole process.


I will post photos one we get to that stage to show you how this all comes together and also for piece of mind to those interested in purchasing a boat as well.