Work in progress - Saturn SD470

[brook011]

Hi All,

Just wanted to give people a few pics of what a frame looks like on one of the Saturn boats. I think these are made normally for converting rafts, but the principal is the same. Very solid seating, the seats are extremely comfortable, the front seat is awesome, full view of anything in front of the boat and well off the bottom. Also, there is still tons of space below the frame to mount stuff and lock stuff down. Very solid product. Still need to paint the numbers on it, was probably going black permanent marker and stencils unless someone has a better idea. Anyways, let me know what you guys think so far. Note that this is a fishing boat,and will be used primarily for lake fishing in freshwater.

Ryan

 

[brook011]

No Title

This picture will really help illustrate the SD470's size. I wanted to help give people an idea of the size of this thing, so someone doesn't go buying it thinking they can just roll this out at the beach They could but by myself this boat takes about 45-50 minutes of strenuous work to get it out, the same day I bought this and inflated it, I bought a trailer for it.

 

[mrdrh99]

May I ask how much you have into it? I'm thinking of getting the aluminum frame to mount a seat on an air floor

 

[brook011]

The frame is not cheap, but it's definitely made for situations like yours. I spent about 800$ on the entire frame with seats, though I have extra cross bars not shown here and a cooler mount for an extra bench seat in place of that big thigh bar/boarding bar in the middle. Entire thing is EXTREMELY stable. I was on the trailer a bit ago, on the boat, sitting on the seats while working on stuff. They don't move, it feels like I'm sitting in an office chair. Very happy with that.

You could probably get into a frame for around 275$ if you just buy the seat bar and braces for it. It's extremely sturdy, the bars themselves are thick but light for what they are. You'll need to have d-rings on the side, if you see the blue straps on the side, that's whats holding it down. That's the only disappointment so far for me is my glue job was a bit sloppy "never drink and glue ".

Total invested right now is about 3000$ including trailer and motor, though the motor is too small and I will probably trade up to a bigger 35-40hp motor. I still need some navilights and possibly rail mounted rod holders -- thats another nice thing about the rails, tons of mounting real estate that doesn't have to be stuck onto the boat.

 

[Sea Rider]

Nice rigging, will that 470 plane slow, take its time with just a 9.8 HP engine, or just good for fast non planing speeds ? A 30 HP would be ideal for that huge size fishing platform, you already have a trailer, so engine could live mounted at back transom permanently. Just inflate sib properly for free stress best engine/transom support.

Happy Boating

 

[brook011]

I got it out for the first time today with the dogs. Speed wasn't that great, as expected. GPS said I was going 6.8-7.5MPH WOT. I was getting some weird hiccups in power for half a second, but I think it's because I forgot to shut the valve on my gas tank and pressure wasn't adequate. I'm not sure if I'm going to upgrade the motor yet, I think I can still get it tuned into a 9.8hp, which would probably get me around 8-9mph. For inshore fishing it would be great, but if I want to fish on the big lake I'll need to get to at least 15mph for quick exits off the lake.

Some notes : The frame is awesome. I can't say enough about how stable it was, at one point I was over about 60 feet of water standing with no issue. The aluminum floor is incredibly stable too, no give at all in it, stays rigid and flat the entire length.

My trailer lost a bunk nut somewhere, I have to recheck all of that, but it got safely to the lake and back. I had to get in the water and a neighbor helped me get it back on the trailer, as I had to strap it down and put pressure on the bunk.

The boat handles 1-2 footers no problem, I was actually happy when some of the larger boats went by so I could practice through a bit of chop. I took it out about half a mile and shut everything off and just enjoyed lunch on it. Really good first test though. Again the frame made the boat, I don't think I could do inflatables without it, though I can see the appeal of just the boat with no extras like you like Sea Rider. Fortunately the frame can come off pretty easily and I can revert to that for days at the beach. I can't wait to keep working on this boat

 

[brook011]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVLXquSlQXY heres a video fully open. Motor is good at least and shouldn't be hard to trade up or upgrade to 9.8hp and just be happy with a slower boat. Guess I gotta find someone who needs a smaller kicker.

 

[mrdrh99]

Shouldn't be hard.... Glad to hear you like your boat and frame