Dream ProDrive Rig?

How would you have it built? Mine is as follows..

Boat:
18 X 54 (21" SIDES) $5320.00
PD-324 - Spotlight $175.00
Boat Accy - 48" or 54" Multi-Postion Seat / Gun Box $295.00
PD-305 12v Accy Plug $40.00
PD-318 Spud Kit $175.00
PD-221 Pro-Drive Push Pole $95.00
Boat Accy Auto Bildge Pump (500 GPI) $145.00

Motor:
X36 – $5870.00
36 HP
CAMO MOTOR $175.00
PD-272 ROCK GUARD $250.00

DIAMOND CITY TRAILER $1775.00

Accessories:
HDS5 - $550.00
Ram Mount - $50.00
Hydro-Turf (wood) - $400.00
L.e.d Bow Light - $400.00

Boat = $6,250
Motor = $6,120
Trailer = $1775.00
Acc = $1400.00

Grand Total $15,545 +TT&L

Wow!!!!!!

That would be a bad sob

FUNNY STORY..

My wife is in our home town for the holidays since I'm guiding everyday anyways.

I text her two pics of the ProDrive rIg and a loaded Ranger Crew I have been debating on buying and told her I was going to Buy them, jokingly. She simply text back how much, I said 20k, she simply replied OK.. I did the double take and I ask her why she kept one word texting me and she said it was bc she was writing me a novel type text on how hard I work and how I deserve it, plus it will help be keep my customers comfortable and keep them coming back after a great hunt and she knew I have sources to get stuff at great deals so go for it.... JAWDROP....

PMy wife just posted it on her FB the pictures and said look what. My baby is getting.... Holy Carp!!!!

sounds like a keeper cody. and man that rig sounds good too

Cody actually that is not to bad I looked at one of the Gatortrax lay down duck blind rigs with a mud buddy around 35 hp; if I remember right, at BPS Bossier 2 years ago and it was $21k and change plus TT & L.....
This is the rig I have been day dreaming about here
http://phowlerboatcompany.com/?page_id=349
The boat is $3600 plus about $500 in accessories/ add ons.
The trailer is $1100 and the motor ; a Copperhead 12 horse, is about $3300. So I am looking at about $8500 plus TT & L

That's a good comparison of different boats for different applications

Wow, I've had to fight to keep mine for the past 4 years. Doesn't help that it takes up whole garage. I'd go test some out first if you haven't already. It's been a great ride with no problems so far. Just wish I had a little more speed. Just go dual 36s!

I have seen several duals for sale but idk..

What size boat are you running?

That was the one thing my wife demanded, yes demanded..

Find somewhere to keep them other than in her garage, lmbo

NOT A CHANCE

18X54 with the 36

I ended up only getting a couple extras.

-Pedestal mount for driver seat
-Trolling motor bracket
-Ext deck
-Camo motor and boat(outside)
-hydrolic trim of course

Ended up putting hydro turf in myself.

Can get kind of slow with 3-4 guys, dog and all gear in the boat.

You just have to sacrifice the speed for accessibility of hard to reach spots. You can still get stuck and quite often if your not careful. Tons of fun though.

Sweet boat! I have a very similar set up. You might like the performance of the 1848 better. Definately get the high sides. I have an 1848 with the low sides and I wish I had the taller sides.

Scratch the spotlight kit. It is junk and will be broken in no time. Get the extended deck. I also wish I had a pointed front. You can get a much cheaper push pole too.

Thats a sweet trailer too!

I picked mine up used and basically paid less than half for what you have listed.

You are welcome to drive mine next time I bump into you.

The Phowler rig I am looking at is the 16 foot unit. I'll have to add the TM bracket as well because I see a future for a rig like this running at the HWY 19 crossing @ Fork just outside of Emory chasing spawning bass in the spring and then blue gills when they bed up. I think the 16 footer could probably accomodate 2 or 3 hunters and dog with gear ok. I may keep my trailer that I have under my 14 foot jon boat if I decide to go shorter with the 14 foot version. It is a tilt trailer; Moody I think, and I don't think you can even get a trailer that does that any more. It gives you a lot more options for launching......

I wanna try both the 48 and the 54

I will scratch the spotlight kit since I'm putting the led lights on the bow

Why would you like a pointed bow and extended deck?

Hmmm, not sure. I would say the extended deck is a must though.

It's nice having that extra room up there. Especially if you do some fishing.

I'm running my dream boat,

gator trax 18x62 5500HD BAMF (52 horses)

If you want a demo hit me up, if your set on the prodrive I understand and respect that as well!!

-Matt

That extended deck is nice to tuck stuff under and you dont have to step over it as far getting in the boat. It also might help stuff from blowing out... It also makes a good place to sleep when you are holding the spot.

The pointed bow will help you glance off stuff instead of coming to a dead stop. I was wishing for one driving through the green timber in arkansas last week.

52 horses would be reallly nice. Didn't mudbuddy just come out with a 60something horse?

True that. I tuck my layout under the deck to keep it from blowing out.

x2 on the pointed front.

pointed bow will handle rough water and wind MUCH better than the straight bow will. I have a straight bow and it's the one thing i dislike about my boat.

It will be interesting to see how far and how fast these motors gain horsepower as time passes. My son kart raced for a few years and I got to see first hand just what you could do with a small engine and actually built an engine for him that was strong. It was a single cylinder Briggs Racing Raptor 5 hp engine but even that engine was capable of producing many times the horsepower that it was originally designed to produce. The guys that ran in the unlimited and outlaw classes could squeeze 42 horsepower out of one of these little engines on nitromethane. These V-Twins have multiple advantages over that old Raptor design and no, no one will be running them on nitro, but there still ought to be a lot more potential on premium unleaded for these V- Twins. I figure 100 hp won't be to far down the road.

I got cha

18x48 for sure,carries a load better than the smaller 17ft'er and no sacrifice in speed. The 18x48 will also plane better than the wider boat.

If I was you though I would contact Pete Willett as Sinkey told you and have him build you one with a thicker bottom and a Gator Tail. That coming from a guy that had a 1754 ProDrive that I liked but think that a custom from Pete would be even better.

No idea, when I ordered mine it was the biggest single carb motor they offered (2013 model) They have a HD7000 (dual carbs) and it's about 55HP from what I remember. I wanted the simplicity of single carb.

I'm far from an expert on these things, there's a guy on here that reps for them, knows a lot more than me. I was researching about 2 years before I finalized my build, found a guy on this forum and he demoed his rig for me, spoke with the owners at GT on several occasions before I commited. Best boat I've ever owned.

-Matt

This was my Dream boat for four years.

You trade it in for a fourwheeler due to lack of water? Zing! How fast can you go in that new rig of yours?

I like!

16 mph with battle load.

Not bad, you been doing any better up there? Might be the worst in a while.

18x 54 cc all the bells and whisles , pd all the way , pulling with a gator crew . wish i knew how to post up a pic for ya cody
mac

Have not been the second half. Ham sales have been Great!

see if i can load it up

^^ nice

It is a busy time of year for you guys. I'm sure you'll get em in January!

Nice!

I've run about ever configuration of PD boat made. 100% get the 1848 with tall sides and tall transom. Get square chines not tappered or rounded. Like duckiller said, the spot light kit is useless. Run a hardhat light.

100% stay away from Phowler boats unless you don't like quality.

Willet does build a dayum fine rig as does Brother in South LA if you can ever get him on the phone. One of the two will build my next rig.

I checked out the Excel rigs the other day and they are pretty sweet.....never rode in one though....if I could have my dream rig it would prob be an excel 18x56 35hp Mud Buddy

Nothing like that Red River water! Love it! Nice rig as well!

Owned or ran almost all the different PD's. Here's what I would add.

Bow rails...Nice for tying stuff off to when you got a boat load of dekes, layouts and customers stuff. Also good for pulling boat around. You'll be surprised how much you'll use em.

Extended Deck. Covers gas tank and gives you a place to store stuff out of the way.

That's a great post ^^

I bought Rob's rig from him earlier this year. It is still my dream rig and he kept it in great shape. Use to hunt with an outboard and small jon. It runs great. In my opinion gatortrax makes some nice boats and throw a pro drive or gator tail on it. Also, I live in LA and everyone has lightweight custom hulls that perform great and if you get stuck, a lot easier to get out. My Prodrive has kept me on the birds, shot my limit the last 5 days in a row on the same lake in all different places.

Lakeway...I own that boat and if you are looking into getting one let me know and I can take you for a ride in one. I have the 14ft model with the 18hp copperhead.

I beg to differ...the welding leaves a bit to be desired. I don't think they cleaned up all the beads like they should have but I have been running the s**t outta mine for the last six months and I love it. I am sure that a prodrive has much better quality but, they cost a lot more. Us guys on a budget don't have the luxury of running "about ever configuration of PD boat made." I am sure you know much more about mud rigs than me but, I have been MORE than happy with my purchase.

Cody,

Take your time. The rails are the ticket. Build it how you want it.

I beleive the rails are a must as well! I use then to pull it and secure things

My "dream" Prodrive would be 20X54 with duals, reverse, extended deck, gunbox, and rails. That's about it.

Yea I should have said my realistic prodrive, lol

And I bet even you would find a way to get it stuck

Of Course. That'd be like having a lifted 4X4 and it never going off the concrete. You have to see what it can do

Lol