Just thought I'd ask the fishing experts this question. I'm sure most of you have one and thought about the building process. Wether it be a drifter or a sled I'm looking for input on the key (need to have) features. I had the chance to run up the Snake from Lewiston in a 2001 CustomWeld STORM. What a sweet ride! Dodged several rude rafters and kayaks that seemed to have forgoten that the person coming down river has the right of way no matter what your in!!!

I'm in the process of building a sled. I ordered the plans out off a place in Hayden Lake Idaho. I've finished the trailer at a cost of $1700. That includes twin custom built axles with flow thru spindles. The flow thru spindle isn't a bearing buddy, these things grease both bearings not just the front. The frame is 4 X 3/16 C chanel, painted with a POLY primer for now.


The hull is going to built inverted on the trailer with the following specs:

Hull lenght: 20'
Bottom width: 70"
Beam width: 94"
Side height: 30"
Bottom thickness: 3/16"
Side thickness: 1/8"
Transom thickness: 1/4"

Now this is where it gets tricky! I'm going to run a 10 degree dead rise with a 18" delta vee that will extend 8' from the transom. For those that don't know the 10 degrees will help get on step faster and leave less hull in the water. The downside is it'll be a rough riding mother in open water. The hull at this point will except any motor pump combo as long as you limit it to 850lbs max without fuel. So how about some input people....Am I NUTS? Should I just make a $350 a month payment for twelve+ years?

you putting an inboard in it, i would.

Go down to whitewater marine and talk to Bill. He will hook you up with a Northwest Jet. Best boat your money can buy. Its a cool thought... building your own that is... but I have this vision in my head of what this boat might wind up looking like and it ain't pretty. Sorta like building your own truck.

Look at a Storm again and then look at a Northwest.. take a ride, the the choice is really easy.

On another note, if you were coming down stream you would indeed have the right of way assuming that the rafters were rowing up the river. If you run across rafters who can row up river.. give them the right of way anyhow because they would have to be some huge butt kicking monsters with arms like tree trunks.

Going out for sturgon up river from Glenns ferry tues.. Life is good

There's no reason why you can't build a damn nice sled on your own. From experience I'll tell you that sometimes it's cheaper just to go buy one, so if you're doing it to save money the I'd really step back and take a good look at what my total cost would be ( what is your time worth?) But, if your doing it because you enjoy fabricating and you'd like to be able to say to peopl " Pretty cool sled huh. Yeah, I built it myself." then go for it. How are you welding the hull? Are you going to T.I.G. weld it, or are you just going to use a spool gun?

DOG, You bet I'm going for and inboard and it'll have a pump hooked to that. Thinking somewhere between 250-300 hp with an American Turbine or a Hamilton. I sure would love to get my hands on a used 212. Thats one of the few trades offs in building your own. You don't need 40 grand right off the bat to do it. You work at your own speed when time and money permits. I have about $4,000 invested so far that includes the trailer and all the material for the hull, recessed self bailing bow, windsheild, and the semi hard top. I work at a place where I can get the aluminium really cheap compared to somebody walking in off the street and buying it.

B-Run, Believe me, I've been down and checked out most of the major makes of sleds. Duckworth, Weldcraft, CustomWeld, Alumaweld, NorthRiver, ThunderJet, Miller Marine, NorthWest, and even got the chance to check out a FishRite. I've spent gawd knows how many hours researching this project. Used to spend half my Sunday down at Bill's before he moved and fenced his sleds in. If I was going to out and out buy a sled it would be a NW. It was a WWA member on the Aluminium Jet Boat forum that convinced me to go with a 10 degree deadrise. I started with a 14 degree then changed it to 12. I cut the frames and now I'm going to recut them to 10. Figure if I'm going to do it I might as well make a really shallow draft. Like you I've wondered what this boat will look like once it complete. I've heard horror stories of guys not figuring the chine radius out and ending up with a stub nosed sled. Even thought Woolridge still makes a stub nosed that seems to be a decent sled. The hard part is going to be getting a 20' sled out of 6'x20' sheet. I'm going to have to scab a piece in the front which could be tricky to make it look right. I noticed NW did this when I was checking there sleds out at the boat show. When it comes to the motor/pump installation, I'm planing on having Bill and his crew help me with this. In the next month or so I should have the jig built and the frames and stringers welded together. Once this is done I'll swing by the monthly WWA meeting so you guy's can laugh at me .

ZoZo, I'm going to use both processes in building it. I spent 8 years in the USAF as a Metals Technologist (welder/machinist). I've been certified in just about every material. This includes thick(1/4) and Thin(.032) aluminium. I would prefer to tig the whole thing but even though you have maximum control it's a very slow process. Where as with MIG your control isn't as good but it's fast. As far the cost of this thing.... I estimate about $10,000 to 12000, not counting my time. Your right about how much my time is worth. If I was to figure that in I might as well get a payment book. I guess alot of it has to do with the fact I've always enjoyed working with metal. There's always those people that think the glass is half empty and say it can't be done. Depending on how this thing turns out the two top names for the sled are BITE ME and CAN DO.....


[ 05-28-2001: Message edited by: SnagMagnet ]

hey snag, my wooldridge resembles that snub nosed remark. have you ever been to the I-F ISH.COM board, many opinions at that place about boats

DOG, I meant no offense about STUB NOSED sleds. If you think about it that part of the hull should never hit the water. I'll check it out. I value any opinion wether it's good or bad. From what I hear Woolridge makes a damn nice sled!!!

no prob snag.

Stub nose boats are pretty cool when done right. You see it most often on bigger boats like Bentz. Seems like it frees up a bunch of space, and when you ride in them you can actually see whats right in front of you. I would think if you were building your own, you might as well design it with stick steering instead of a wheel. About the pump. I have seen some manufacturers use this mickey mouse pressure plate type of deal between the motor and the pump. Works great until it don't work at all... I doubt that you could find a used 212, but don't write off a 3 stage hamilton. I bet you could find one and they work great. I have a 212 and it really blows some water but also seems to find every stick in the river. The 3 stage does not seem as prone to collect sticks.

Dog salmon, I can't help it.. Woolridge might make a good boat but you could enter one in an ugly baby contest and win every time!!! All the ones I have seen look like somebody set out with a blank sheet of paper and went out of their way to make them ugly. They did a good job. Just ribbing ya about that but you gotta admit it.

Snag, I should take you fishing sometime, You live real close by I bet. Fact is, I am leaving in about 20 min for Kinghill.

ya it`s ugly, but like you say, you can actualy see where your going, alot of the sleds have no visibility.

Believe it or not I have been thinking about the SNUB nosed idea....Could be a nice place to hide some high qaulity floods behind some 1/2" lexan.... add some Spots up top and you would have mean machine at night that just might turn some heads... Looks ain't everything... Ya never know... you just might come across somebody hung up on rocks using a hand held light..... Help has arived..... been there done that.....

<~~has a feeling there are a few WWA members aboard the BB..... Almost afaid to go to a WWA meeting..... I don't own a suit and tie... There isn't a damn thing wrong with a BUTT UGLY sled.... As long as it serves the purpose....

Snaggy-
Just promise you'll post some pics of the finished product...or better yet, keep us updated on pictures of the process from begining to end. Im sure there are alot of us-including myself-that I have no idea what goes into making a sled. I think everyone on this board would get great enjoyment of watching this process unfold in front their very eyes.