Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Mike Collier on June 5, 2011 at 6:26am

You might want to look into Montanan Boat Builders and look over Jason's Kits.

He offers some pretty good looking boats as well as kits for them and his prices are reasonable, as it goes.

Most of the peices are cut on a CNC and the plans are easy to decifer.

 

I just built one of his models, although it wasn't in kit form, and I am pleased with the results.

 

Here's a link to his site.......

 http://www.montanaboatbuilders.com/driftboats_recurve.htm

 

Sandy  Pittendrigh at Montana River Boates also offers some plans, but not kits, for boats he has designed and has some pretty good models as well. http://montana-riverboats.com/

 

The first thing you will need to decide is wether you want a framed boat or a stitch and glue.

Montana River Boats offer both, framed & stich and glue methods.

Myself, I prefer the stich & glue as they are much easier to build and can be built right side up, whereas most framed boats are built upside down untill the bottom panel is is in place and then flipped over for finish construction.

The type of boat will mostly be determined by it's use (white water or fishing up to class III), both styles can be built to suit you needs, although most framed boats are more geared towards white water, class III and up.

 

Good hunting and congradulations on you choice to build your own boat, it is a most gratifying experience, especially when you get to sit in a boat you built yourself and enjoy scenery that you can only experience from inside a boat.

 

Here's a pic of the one I am nearly finished with. It is derived from the Kingfisher from Montana Boat Builders, with a few added features I incorporated into the build.

 

  

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kent Klausing on June 5, 2011 at 7:02am

Mike – Thank you for your help! Your boat is beautiful!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on June 5, 2011 at 10:42am

Kent, Mike has suggested some good sites with lot of information. Another good resource is; http://www.mckenzieriverdriftboat.com/. It is also informative and they offer a variety of kits. Randy Dersham, whom originated and provides this site has good information on the drift boat design characteristics and how they affect each other.

Two additional resources that have proved helpful for many of us are: 1. The past forums, blogs and personal pages located here. The search function allows you to lookup specific topics and explore the answers and discussions previously provided. There is a wealth of information there and we are always open to more questions. 2. There is a wonderfully informative book you will find in almost every drift boat builder or admirer's library. It is Drift Boats and River Dories by Roger Fletcher, a frequent contributor to these pages. Roger has investigated the history of the McKenzie and Rogue River drift boats. His work has helped many of us build boats and understand the building process. You can find information and excerpts from his book at: www.riverstouch.com .

 

Welcome to the site we look forward to seeing pictures of your build and details of your experiences. Everyone learns from this interchange!

 

Good luck and enjoy the process.

 

Rick Newman

 

• ▶ Reply