BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

I GOT A DUMAS BOAT KIT GIVEN TO ME FROM A FRIEND.
THE ONLY PROBLEM IS NO INSTRUCTIONS OR PLANS
CAN ANY ONE HELP ME
THANKS

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

Best of luck getting them . I believe , that there are a few here that might have built one of those from the kits , and maybe , they might scan you a copy of the lousey plans ( why do I say lousey ? yet to see ANY Dumas plans that are good ...:) :) :) usually TOO vague and tend to leave alot out . )
Hopefully , there will be someone who can pitch in and assist .

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

Lucky you - no Dumas instructions or plans. Ask for help from someone at the pond and you'll be a mile ahead. The thing Dumas noted for is very poor instructtions and plans.

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

You guys didn't mention how bad the supplied framing material is. You would be money ahead to replace all the poor quality "mahogany doorskin" framing with good quality ply from the hobby shop. The supplied wood is easily splinterred and broken compared to 1/8th inch ply from the hobby shop.

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

All the above downers concerning Dumas are true. I have a Big Swamp Buggy kit complete. I will have the instructions and plans copied and send them to you. I will need your name and street address to send them. PM me with the information and I'll send them along.

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

I like mine, did not build it though. Just bought it!!! hehe

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

Thats the one you got off ebay right? Looks good but who's the mug standing beside it? :D

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

Is that an airfoil that I'm seeing on the bow?

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

Yes, it had it on. I have not touched a thing on it. YET>>

Why, is there something that I should know about regarding the spoiler?

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

No, just wondering what I was seeing.

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

Good eyes Chris , I thought that was something just to the other side of the hull .
Now .. the airfoil , COULD be good , OR , could be bad . Try it with and go with it ... see how she performs and take it from there .
If she seems to stay too wet and rides hard on the water , then , I would remove it ... but , if she gets on plane , has a good ride attitude , then leave well enough along .:D
I will say ... that the DUMAS's seemed to have MANY problems with ride attitude and with a LOT of "messing" with , they could be a GOOD hull . Now , it is very possible , that the fellow how put that there , messed around enough to where the foil is beneficial , rather than a hinderance . ( or for looks )

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

It seems to ride nice. One day It was somewhat windy & some chop on the lake. I was able to open it up and go into the wind. Never looked at all like it was going to flip or roll.
So far so good. I took off the Master Airscrew 11x7.5 & swapped it with a APC 11x8. Going to see how that performs in the morning.

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

CFRACR,

What size motor are you running on that?

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

.61

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

Has anyone any advice on a prop & prop size that performs well on this boat with a .61.

I have tried a few and think I still have not found the "sweet one" yet.

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

.61
Which 61 ?
On a KB 65 SPORTSTER , I run a 3 blader , 10X 7

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

Right being a three blade you need to go smaller.

its a ASP .61

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

Well tried out a few different props with some different engine degree angle's. I found that it runs best at 0 degree's (engine level) with either a 3-blade 10x7(MA), or a 2-blade 11x8(APC).
Hard to tell the difference in speed between the two. I should have a chance to radar this Sunday.
Whatever the speed I think its at top hull speed. Based on the fact that in the straights it's skipping the surface. Coming out of the water in whole and skipping the surface like rock tossed across the pond. It will do a 180 degree slide turn from full throttle & tracks nicely.

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

Major, Still looking for that plan, I have one.

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

Major,

Sorry I don't have my original plans.....(shame) but please feel free to ask any questions as I have built my Swamp Buggy and it goes great.....I will post some pictures for you have a look at so you can hopefully get some ideas to help you with construction. I do hope it helps.

Regards

Pete

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

Pete, Do I see two fuel tanks on your boat?

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

Hey there Brother,

Yep sure do....I had to run a small 2oz pick up as I was having major issues with get fuel up to the carbie.....(Or should I say no fuel to the carbie.....of the record having the fuel tank below the engine , "not" a good design) it works very well and I have tucked the pick up behind the engine to improve air flow.

Brother the other benifits of the extra tank is that you get a little more time out on the pond and the fuel does not get so frothie,so to speak!!


Pete

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

Hmm... I wouldn't have thought of that, good idea. I haven't had any problem with frothing on my boats, I guess Iv'e been lucky. Even my chopping board doesn't have any problem and it has the most vibration especially when I run it on gravel.

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

"frothy" fuel can be remidied by a squirt of WD40 in the jug of fuel. I used to have the same issue with one of my trucks. Duratrax recomended adding the WD40. Never gave me any trubble, and it solved the foam issue.

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

Hey Pete, to have two tanks do you need to pressurise the lower one, or is the pressure from the muffler enough to move the fuel. I am planning on using this method on an airboat that i am about to start making and i am trying to find the best way of doing it

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

Hey Adam....

Yes I have just run a pressue line from the pipe to the lower tank and it works very well, when I was runing in the engine I was having a great deal of problems getting the fuel to draw up.....so I had to add the pick up, for me this was the best way to get a constant fuel supply.

Also re the frothy fuel I have been told that adding a small amount of silicon can help!

Pete

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

Hey pete_f, i'm just building my dumas big swamp buggy, (had it around sence highschool) and was wondering if you had made the horizontal stabilizer so they were removable? I'm not sure if they would need to be...

I'm definatly going to use nice ball-socket connections for the tie-arm or whatever you would call those... That is what got me looking online for solutions at first when I got to that part in the plans.

major1: if you still need the plans, I can scan them for you and put them on online. Not that they help much. haha.

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

Hi Matt

Not sure what you mean by "horizontal stabilizer" if you are refering to the rudders.....yes they can be removed, but that is just the nature of the hinges that I used (nylon with a piano wire though the centre) did not like the way Dumas designed it brrrrrr. The ball and socket set up works very well.....made it easy to keep the rudders parallel, can not remember who makes them I think it was "Dubro". Matt thanks for the compliment re the boat I am very happy with how it turned out, if I can be of any help don't hesitate to ask!!


PS Matt I'll take a scanned copy of the plans if that is ok.....I have misplaced mine!!!

Pete_f

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

how much do yall usually buy them boats for?

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

Hey guys , Just starting to get my get my boats back on the water had some down time for too long , so on Pete F's boat looks like the enigine tower is plastic . Is that what dumas supplies in the kit now (just curious) ? sorry if I'm behind the times but been out of it for awhile . My boat is all wood and my plans are buried in a box in the attic somewhere since I moved here I so if anyone can give me the rudder dimensions I would really appreciate it ..

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

I also just bought a 31 in dumas swamp boat and need plans to finish if anyone has them my email is [email protected] thank you

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

i put the plans up if anyone else wanted them also::

[link=http://matthardwick.net/misc/dumas_big_swamp_buggy/]dumas big swamp buggy plans[/link]

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

xenocide!

THANKS!

I was just going to ask for those. You beat me to it!

And yes those plans do suck!

I was mesuring known part on my screen to known parts on what i got , to get an idea of the demensions of the rudders are.

When I got mine it had a brass water rudder. More on that to come in another post.

AGAIN THANKS xenocide!

Britt

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

hi jest got my self the big swamp buggy from dumas what is every one using for paint. i saw some wood boat kids using dopes and a clear coat. what is gonna be best and will the dopes work. also is it better to have the engine a little more forward or back on the engine stand for tracking. im gonna be trying a O.S. .71 four stroke with pump. planing on running a 11/8 2 blade prop my dad suggested for that engine. any other tricks or tricks for this boat go ahead and email me at [email protected]

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

If anybody is having trouble getting pressure in the tank and fuel to the carb because the tank is low, try one of these,
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWA:IT&ih=010
if you cant get them here try your local fish tank shop
they are not made for this use but they keep the pressure in the tank and the fuel feeds the carb better, i have tried them on my SC .40 and had the tank 5 inches lower than the carb intake, without the valve the engine ran only a short time as it was starved of fuel, then i fitted the valve and fired the engine up, and it stayed running at various speeds until the 4oz tank ran dry. for 99p you get 3, I think that is money well spent. these things work so well i got 9 for myself (bought the company lol)
Just connect the end that says IN to the exhaust pressure pipe and the OUT end to the carb feed pipe

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

I AM BUILDING ONE OF THESE BOATS. I WOULD LIKE TO USE SOME SORT OF MECHANICAL LINKAGE FOR STEERING AND THROTTLE CONTROLS. CAN YOU RECOMMEND ANY SPECIFIC COMBINATION OF PARTS I COULD USE TO ACCOMPLISH THIS?

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

what you are looking for is a pushrod

a solid metal rod....youll also need Z bend pliers to make a Z shaped bend so it can hook onto the servo arm and the horn attached to the rudder

edit: look at next post, i have the links to what you need

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

this and this

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXL475&P=ML PLIERS

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXK059&P=ML PUSHROD

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

Hey guys,

I recently dug out my partially assembled Big Swamp Buggy kit, and I'm currently in the process of reconstructing some missing pieces. I'll be building this kit over the coming weeks, and eventually fitting a K&B .65 onto it. Does anyone here have experience installing an engine of this size on the kit? Will any modifications of the stock engine tower be necessary? How much prop should I swing for maximum speed? What's the biggest fuel tank I could use in this kit?

Also, I was thinking about attaching metal to the bottom or some type of skids so that I can run it over snow or mud without damaging the hull. I suppose I would need to use copper flashing or something similar(pliable and rust resistant), does anyone have suggestions on keeping the installation water-tight?

I'm relieved that I can still find information on this boat here, and it's encouraging to see others still running strong! If you have a boat like this sitting around, snap a picture and show it off! I'm trying to think up paint schemes for mine, and it's always great to get some new ideas.

RE: BIG SWAMP BUGGY
 

Not sure about the prop or engine mount questions, but for snow and ice running, I would attach a piece of coroplast to the bottom of the hull for protection. Cheap, tough, light, and easy to add and remove.:D