Need help identifying my wooden drift boat

Can anyone help me identify the origins of my wooden drift boat? I bought it about 5 years ago in Southern Oregon off Boat Trader. It was in pretty sad shape cosmetically but very solid. Over the years I have done quite a bit of restoration work to the boat. There is a data plate as pictured but there was no paint left on the plate. I have always assumed that the '900' is a weight capacity, the '4' is either number of passengers or outboard horsepower, the '15' is the length of the boat, and '61971' I always thought might be a date code.

I have already sent these pictures to Steve Steele who was kind enough to examine them. In his opinion this is not a Steele boat. The craftsmanship appears to be very nice. The way the ribs and the gunwale angles are cut tells me this may have been a factory built boat of some kind. The plywood is clear on both sides and the distance from the scarf joint to the bow (stern?) is over 9'.

There are a number of details that I have added to the boat that should not be considered in trying to identify it. I put in the stern seat, the rear knee brace, the slats across the bow compartment, the anchor system, and the aluminum chine strips, but otherwise it is as I found it.

The boat measures 15' 4" on center. There is a removable transom cap as pictured. If anyone has a clue as to who built this boat I would be happy to get that information.

 

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Kay on December 6, 2011 at 2:19pm

Thanks Randy, great input.  Confirms my suspicions that the boat is fairly old.  To visualize what it looked like when I got it subtract the rear knee brace, rear seat, vinyl floors, bow compartment slats, anchor system, seat cushions, fancy fly deck etc.  I also replaced the original galvanized half-round steel chine strips with aluminum.  I would be happy to supply more detailed pictures.

Permalink Reply by Roger Fletcher on December 6, 2011 at 4:44pm

Excellent points, Randy. My research into the older boats showed no hull or manufacturer ID numbers save for the later (post 1935) name plates such as Hindman's and Kaarhus's.  Kevin's idea that the stem post plate was added later is possible. Those longitundinal battens on the underside is something I just haven't seen on a boat built after 1960, and then they were rare. Are they something you added, Kevin, or did they come with the boat? The Boat Safety Act of 1971 didn't take effect until 1972, so except for assuming that the last two digits refer to the year, the other 5 digits are up for grabs. Here's my SWAG: the last 4 digits refer to the year and "6" refers to either the month, the number of boats built that year or ever, the builder's or seller's self-assigned number, or, or, or. If any builder was responsible for 600 plus boats, we would know of him. Keep us posted on anything you learn that might shed more light.

Permalink Reply by Kevin Kay on December 6, 2011 at 5:11pm
The battens were there when I bought the boat and look old as dirt. They are held on with slotted, not Phillips screws. In my world of classic car restoration this is always an indication of age as slotted screw use went out long ago.
Permalink Reply by Charles Ray Heater on December 6, 2011 at 6:46pm

Kevin:

Our shop continues to use slotted screws especially in the areas of heavy wear.  Slotted screws are much easier to remove in the areas of the chine cap and I would venture on the bottom as well.  Removing Phillips head screws are very difficult in areas of scuffing.  We use either silicon bronze or stainless steel screws in slotted only.  The silicon bronze screws come in Reed & Prince heads which resemble Phillips heads and they must be removed with a R @ P bit.  If a Phillips bit is used, it will strip the R @ P screws every time.  Another reason our shop uses slotted screws only.

Permalink Reply by Don Hanson on December 6, 2011 at 9:14pm

  I will say I do not like Reed and Prince screws.    I encountered them in bronze while working in a shop that restored and built traditional wooden craft of all types...and Reed and Prince seemed the easiest to strip out of all of them, especially when you add a little Dolphinite or caulk into the screw or on the driver bit...

  I never could figure why square drive (Roberts?) screws are not universal in the USA......They work better than most other patterns, in my experience.  Tacoma Screws has a line of square drive sil. br. wood screws that are very strong.

  Don Hanson

Permalink Reply by Randy Dersham on December 9, 2011 at 6:37pm

Roger, I think you are absolutely right.  It is so obvious. This is the sixth boat of 1971 for that builder.  All we need to do is find another builder plate with the same pattern of numbers (something like 31971 or 21969  etc.) that has the builders name on it. 

A group this large should be able to find a Coast Guard plate on the boat's stem above the fly line deck with a five digit HIN.  

1. who has a Don Hill and what does the Coast Guard plate look like? 

2. who has a White Water Boat Works (Tony Noe)  and what does the plate look like? Although I think Tony was in the 80's. 

Permalink Reply by Don Hanson on December 9, 2011 at 8:57pm

Here's the plate that was on the Don Hill boat I restored last spring.  You will note the size and the location of the plate is pretty much like the boat we're trying to identify, but different information that has been surmised..Just looking at the style, the lines, the materials and some of the details...that made me guess Don Hill might have had something to do with this one in question.

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Permalink Reply by Don Hanson on December 6, 2011 at 8:20am

  It looks like a Don Hill boat to me.  I am no expert, but I see some clues and the overall lines just look "Don Hill" to me.  The knee hooks, the location of the brass plate, the shape of the top of the stem, the shape of the bash boards....these all look like the two Don Hills I have worked on.

Permalink Reply by Kevin Kay on December 6, 2011 at 2:21pm

Hi Don, thanks for the input.  A brief search for pictures of Hill drift boats show some amazing similarities.  The rower's seat for example is a dead-ringer for some I saw on this site.

Permalink Reply by Dave Z on December 9, 2011 at 11:51am

I'd personally like to have a few sheets of fir ply that look like that on this boat.  Nice piece.

 

Permalink Reply by Mark Heskett on December 30, 2012 at 12:54pm

This looks a lot like a drift boat I just got. It has the same removable fly deck exactly and the I.D. plate is the same but I can read mine. Mine was built by the Rouge River Boat Shop that was owned at one time by Jerry Briggs in Grants Pass. Mine is a Mackenzie  not a rogue drifter style as Jerry is known for. Mine was built in 1973 and I bought it from the original owner. It also has the same galvanized cap on the chine. Ill post some pic later when I get home.

Permalink Reply by Jim Hall on December 30, 2012 at 5:39pm

I just got lucky....no, bear with me!  I 've become the servant(owner) of a 1972 Briggs' Grand canyon Dory,  I think its the 6th or 7th one he built.  It has a HIN plate on it and your postings about a plate with no paint/just stampings looks familiar.  Infact, if you were to stencil in "Rogue River Boat Shop" across the top it would match this exactly.  It specifies load capacity, max. hp, max occupancy and (it seems) the date of completion.  This boats plate is embossed 12372 and I know that the boat was completed in Dec. of '72.  

Jerry Briggs is the culprit, if you ask me.  I can try to get you a picture of this HIN plate if you were interested.

Lucky you,

Jim Hall

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