Too busy playing with my dinghy to fish

Not sure if I shared any of this adventure previously.
My wife travels working conferences late winter and all spring. Once my freezer was stuffed I stopped fishing and started scrolling.
Well somehow the algorithm at Meta knew about my dad’s childhood adventures and my decades of envy.
Enter the “Mini Max”. It started with pics in my feed and then Facebook stuck the plans in my face. What was I to do?
With my wife still on tour I headed to Menards!
Now I’m like 3 full months into this adventure and I have about 1.5 hours of actual boat time logged and 20 gallons of fuel burned…the boat is grounded again.

I rebuilt a 1963 10hp Johnson because my 3hp was disappointing. The latest part to break is the rubber hub in the prop :(

Turns out I like working on the antique OMC outboards so I’m finishing up a full restore on an 18hp Evinrude :)

10hp topped at 23mph, can’t wait to try the 18.
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Just curious. That little boat looks as though it was homemade. Did you have to get it inspected to get a USCG capacity plate and how was maximum hp motor determined?

On a side note, I'll bet that's fun hauling across the lake at 2mph.

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Originally Posted by Opie1

Just curious. That little boat looks as though it was homemade. Did you have to get it inspected to get a USCG capacity plate and how was maximum hp motor determined?

When my dad made his in the 60's it was registered USCG with my dad as the manufacturer.
Now you have to get water/highway patrol to inspect it to confirm that it is home made then send paperwork to Jeff City for them to assign a Hull ID/plate. If the bureaucrats ever finish my paperwork (4 month backlog in JC), I think I have to take it back to HP to have the HIN installed.

No one asked me about HP or capacity. I think real manufacturers have to determine/calculate HP ratings based on engineering specs and their threshold for liability. Capacity is based on how much the boat will float with a hole in it. Mine is estimated to float 900 lbs per the original designer. It has 3 sealed (mostly) compartments that I filled with white foam.

I used the think the USCG HP and capacity was a legally binding number, but I don't think it's enforceable. Pretty sure if you exceed it, you assume any liability and if you are insured, they might try to wiggle out of paying claims.

On a side note, I'll bet that's fun hauling across the lake at 2mph.

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When my dad made his in the 60's it was registered USCG with my dad as the manufacturer.
Now you have to get water/highway patrol to inspect it to confirm that it is home made then send paperwork to Jeff City for them to assign a Hull ID/plate. If the bureaucrats ever finish my paperwork (4 month backlog in JC), I think I have to take it back to HP to have the HIN installed.

No one asked me about HP or capacity. I think real manufacturers have to determine/calculate HP ratings based on engineering specs and their threshold for liability. Capacity is based on how much the boat will float with a hole in it. Mine is estimated to float 900 lbs per the original designer. It has 3 sealed (mostly) compartments that I filled with white foam.

I used the think the USCG HP and capacity was a legally binding number, but I don't think it's enforceable. Pretty sure if you exceed it, you assume any liability and if you are insured, they might try to wiggle out of paying claims.

It's even more fun at 20mph :)

That looks like a blast!!

Really neat Jake do not think I have ever seen one. Used to like working on the old motors myself.

That will be a blast at LOZ main lake July 4th weekend

That boat reminds me of the souped-up nitro or alcohol go carts, which have two purposes--go fast and have fun!

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Originally Posted by Baitwaster

their threshold for liability

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^^ This!! ^^


Looks cool, Jake! Let me know how it works spider rigging! :Rofl

Nifty lookin ride!

Cool project, looks fun to drive. How big can you go on motor?


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Looks interesting!

That's awesome!!! lol Nice wood work!

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Originally Posted by Clownfish

Cool project, looks fun to drive. How big can you go on motor?

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I've heard or guys going pretty stupid big. My dad's buddy had an ancient 20hp. He describes it as super heavy because it had no rubber or plastic. But other than fuel lines, neither to the 60's models.

The 18hp I'm building only weights 10 lbs more than the 10hp. The prop difference is pretty big though. 8.25" diameter to 9.25" 8 pitch to 11.

It will grab quite a bit more water and go 3" farther per RPM (pitch in a perfect world). @ 4500 rpm that's 1125 feet per minute faster or nearly 13mph :witching. But I'm hoping to gain even more. Think my 10hp might be kind of tired. Lot's of 10's report much higher speeds than I'm seeing.

Best I've clocked so far is 23mph but I haven't had the gps on much. And it's NEVER calm anymore :banghead.

I just wanted to post a quick follow up. Should have done this last month since that's when the state FINALLY finalized all my paperwork. Took 7 months to make it legal, 2 trips to the highway patrol and another to the DMV, plus 3 filings through the mail to Jeff City. Everyone said it can be done very quickly if I drove to Jeff City though.
Oh and they wanted to charge me sales tax based on my receipts (if I had any) even though I (would have) already paid sales tax on those receipts. Good thing I built mine all out of scraps.

When I was a kid my dad caught me playing with my dinghy, he said "quit doing that son, you will go blind", I said "dad I'm over here". :Rofl