craftsman or homelite and boat questions
 

i have started reading the fourm starting from the last threads moving forward. i have been through about 70 pages and still have some questions. i have found a craftsman weedeater motor which is 32cc and only a year old. i have also found a homelite which is an older model either 25-30 cc. they were both on craigslist. 50 for the craftsman 25 for the homelite. i know everyone says to go with a homelite, but i just thought i would ask if it would work too.

another question i have is the hull. i would like to build my own. i downloaded the plans from itlwaters. would it be easier/cheaper to buy a zipp kits that is already cut out and ready to go? or would it be cheeper to buy all the wood seperatly.

RE: craftsman or homelite and boat questions
 

as I am also getting ready to do my first actual build, I will be choosing a Zippkitts model,just to re-familiarize myself with lay-out and construction, while squirreling up all the tools,glues,epoxies needed to do such a build....... I suggest the same for you as the quality and cost of the ZippKitts are superb,and will help your learning curve also when it comes time to do your own scratch build.... [8D]

RE: craftsman or homelite and boat questions
 

im building my first boat and so far i have maybe $15 into the hull. Still need to get a homelite and drive system which will be another $80. So i think im coming out ahead.

RE: craftsman or homelite and boat questions
 

Sounds good guy's. You will spend about 350.00 building a weedy boat. Saying you have no radio. The homelite will be a better motor because there are more aftermarket parts that will work on it.

RE: craftsman or homelite and boat questions
 

The reason for going with a homelite is because there is actually an aftermarket for them incl. water jackets and headers/pipes. The craftsman i'm guessing is a bottom cylinder (sparkplug faces the ground) which works, however isn't the ideal location for longitudinal CG which you want to keep as low as possible. take the exhaust can off the homelite and see if there is a bridge or not. that will tell you if its a 25cc or a 30cc. I myself have a twin 25cc weedy scratch built boat. It's not my first boat but it is my first gas boat and my first build. I think i might have spent $25 all told into the hull and purchased gear from varous vendors.

RE: craftsman or homelite and boat questions
 

ok thanks for the help guys... i think i will go ahead and build the 48" mono from scratch. i have a few radios and lots of extra parts so they might come in handy, but i think i might be safe and get an fm radio for this boat. i have a shockwave 36 that i bought last year and all i did was break in the motor. today was the first day i actually started tuning it, and dang that thing flys. i am hoping my gas boat will compete with the shockwave, but from reading it looks like they only go 25-30, but hey, can you really complain? my biggest expense for the boat will probably be the hardware. anyone know where to get cheap stuff? the cheepest strut i have found was 38 from topsecret

RE: craftsman or homelite and boat questions
 

this guy has some pretty good stuff, im not sure if he has struts but he has stingers http://stores.ebay.com/Head-of-the-River-RC-specialist

RE: craftsman or homelite and boat questions
 

For a "fun boat" it is hard to beat the Aeromarine in-line strut and rudder. cheap and fun!

RE: craftsman or homelite and boat questions
 

[link=http://69.49.183.35/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=XP2P]XP-2P[/link]
Low price in-line strut rudder. Haven't got mine mounted yet, but looks like a good product.