Why get a new boat?
I have been guiding out of my 2011 1725 Lund Pro Guide on Mille Lacs Lake for the last 5 years (Pictured on the right). I love my Pro Guide, but I have wanted a boat that would improve client comfort, space, as well as the capability on a big lake such as Mille Lacs. After looking at a number of new boats, I quickly learned that new boats are incredibly expensive! I looked at a number of different Rangers, but they all seemed to have some sort of caveat. Some of them had great hulls, but less than reliable motors. Others were priced too high for being 20 years old. I needed to find a boat that had great bones, a reliable motor, and with some elbow grease, would shine up! I have extensive experience working on boats, so why not put that to good use!
Would it be a boat without setbacks?
What is a good story without a setback? Would it really be a boat project if there weren’t unanticipated major issues? The floor was not rotten in the normal areas, but had issues underneath the driver and passenger seat pedestal bases. Alright, no big deal, nothing that a bunch of work, a bunch of fiberglass and resin cant fix!
New Construction!
I created templates out of 1/4 inch plywood. Coosa is expensive, so I was willing to sacrifice a few sheets of cheap plywood to ensure that my coosa was cut perfectly.
More deconstruction?
While working in the boat, I learned that the bottom half-inch of flotation foam was waterlogged. Since I want this boat to be the best it can be, I may as well tear it all out and start fresh! (This was much easier said than done. I am glad that I decided to do it, but it added a considerable amount of time to the project.)
Time for Fiberglass
While writing this, I am having flashbacks to being itchy, and wearing a respirator. Fiberglass dust and shards from cutting it is incredibly itchy. Polyester resin is also particularly smelly, with volatile compounds that evaporate during the curing process, which are particularly damaging to lungs. Often, resin thicknesses are compared to the thickness/viscosity of common household materials. I often refer to thickened resin as peanut butter, which is resin with chop strand for structure, and fumed silica, until it reaches the thickness of peanut butter. I utilized peanut butter around the edges of the coosa, filling the small gaps between the boat and the coosa. I then laid down a single layer of chopped strand mat, to aid in some structure to prevent the pour foam from buckling or warping my new floor.
Seat Bases and Fiberglass
The next step was to fill the holes utilizing the coosa from when I cut the holes with the hole saw, as well as a bit of peanut butter, to adhere the plugs in place, as well as sealing the holes. I also installed the seat bases. This is how it was done in the ranger factory.
Mysterious Rattle?
When Ranger connected the top and bottom parts of this boat, the edges around the cockpits were not glassed well. I utilized an oscillating multi tool, to cut out the delaminated fiberglass, and replaced it with several layers of tabbing. I also utilized peanut butter to fill any gaps, and to aid in adhesion.
Gel Coating the floor!
Apparently polyester resin is water-permeable, due to the volatile components flashing off during the curing process. I needed to gel coat the edge where the old carpet trim was to create a finish edge, but I also needed to seal the floor with gel coat. I first sprayed the edges around the perimeter of the floor with gel coat catalyzed with MEK, and then sprayed a finish layer of black gel coat, mixed with Duratec High-Gloss additive. I rolled the floor with black gel, and then sprayed the floor with a mixture of the black gel and high gloss additive. This additive is necessary to ensure a complete tack-free cure, and provide a good finish.
Carpet and New Hatch Handles
I won’t go too into detail with the carpeting process, as there are many phenomenal resources and YouTube videos. I utilized 24oz carpet from boatcarpetbuys.com. I utilized Landau Top and Trim, which is a spray grade contact cement. I spray it with the cheapest HVLP sprayer that Harbor Freight sells, and it works amazing.
Another significant upgrade was to go to the newer style Perko hatch latches. I bought a hole saw adapter, which allowed me to bore out the 2.375″ holes to 2.5″ holes to allow the new handles.
Finishing Touches
The fenders were in terrible condition with gel coat that I could not revive, so I sanded the fenders down, and sprayed them with black gel coat.
Improved Boat Control
I added a 6″ setback Bob’s Machine Action Jac Extreme, that I got from NorthStar Wholesale & Marine. This will provide phenomenal boat control, ensuring that my clients and I are as comfortable as possible in all conditions!
An Older Ranger 620VS
While scrolling on Facebook Marketplace one day, I laid my eyes on this 1999 Ranger 620VS. This old boat was a bit rough around the edges, but had all of the right things. Powered with a Yamaha OX66 VMAX 225, known for their reliability and longevity. I fell in love with the color. The gel coat was cloudy from oxidation, but I knew that with enough work, it would be an amazing boat!
The Work Begins!
Alright, the boat needs a new floor. That certainly isn’t ideal, but there is nothing to it, but to do it! I started by tracing a line around the entire floor, leaving a 3″ flange where my fiberglass will overlap, to create a good structural connection for my new floor. I knew that I wanted to replace the floor in a way that will be solid for the remainder of the boats life. I decided to use a composite material called Coosa, along with traditional fiberglass and polyester resin. The guidance of the wonderful folks at Express Composites in Minneapolis was incredibly helpful, and they sell all of the components that I used throughout this project.
I did not find a lot of resources for specific information on doing this process on this boat, so I will go into more detail than seems necessary, but this is necessary to help others embarking on this journey.
Coosa is Cut!
The plywood templates worked phenomenally, the coosa fit perfectly without any trimming. Okay, cool, so now we slap some fiberglass on it, and call it good, right? Unfortunately, no. In hindsight, I probably should have, but what fun would that have been?
Installing the Coosa
Utilizing polyester resin thickened with cab-o-sil, and strengthened with 1/4 inch chop strand, I adhered the coosa to the boats fiberglass stringers. I utilized stainless steel screws to hold the coosa to the stringers while the resin cured. I marked out where the stringers are, where the seats will be, to ensure that I did not add screws that would interfere with later steps.
New Foam!
I have utilized Total Boat’s 2lb density pour foam in several other projects, and I decided that it would be perfect to fill the voids under the floor, as well as provide some structural support. I drilled 3/4 inch holes in areas near the stringers, equidistant between each other. This will allow me to pour in the foam, and ensure that it is expanding from one area to the next. I did some volumetric calculations to determine an approximate volume of the area needed to be filled. I then utilized the volume of a sample pour of the material to determine how much pour foam I would actually need.
Fiberglass Reinforcements!
I wanted to ensure that the floor would have no issues, so I laid down 2 more layers of chop strand mat, with a layer of 1708 biaxial fiberglass sandwiched between them. I also utilized some peanut butter to level out the areas where there were hard transitions around the seat bases and the edges. I also utilized strips of fiberglass mat and fabric to connect the floor to the 3″ flanges that I left.
Removing the Carpet Trim, and Fairing
This model boat had a trim piece up from the floor about 2 inches around the entire floor. The trim on my boat was in rough shape, and rather than replacing, I decided to get rid of it. (This is another one of those times when I am glad I did it, but it took exponentially more time than I anticipated). I filled all of the old rivet holes with a polyester based filler that is easily sand able. This filler is the white substance in the photo, called Syntek P-14. I also utilized this filler to assist in the fairing, to smooth out any of the areas with harsh transitions.
Done with the Fiberglass and fumes, Right?
Wrong! One of the Achilles heels of this boat design was the step in the rod locker. These steps are nice, but are notorious for ruining rod cork while rods are in the rod-locker. The starboard side rear compartment had delaminated and became soft. I cut out the original foam, and cut out a piece of coosa, laminated it to the hatch, and then laid a few layers of chopped strand mat over top of it to provide reinforcement for the hinge attachment. There were a few other worn areas on the other hatches, which I addressed by adding chopped strand mat and resin to reinforce.
Buffing, Polishing, More Buffing, More Polishing.
One of my more drastically inaccurate estimations was the time that the gel coat revival would take. I wet sanded with 1000, 1500, and 2000 grit sandpaper. I then buffed with Presta SuperCut compound, followed by Presta Chroma polish. This took many many days, which I never would have anticipated. Although it was a painstaking process, the reward of the old girls shine coming back was definitely worth it.
AquaTraction!
The guys at AquaTraction Western Minnesota hooked me up with a custom floor! Their product is fantastic. I have had it in my jet boat for a season now, and I absolutely love it. It is easy to clean, and feels great to stand on!
Accessorizing
The boat sure looks good, now it needs to perform just as well! The guys over at Tutt’s Bait and Tackle hooked me up with a few brand new Garmin Echomap units, a Garmin Force Kraken, and a livescope setup!
Conclusion
It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey, right? This journey was particularly unpleasant, because it took hundreds of hours. (Seriously, at this point I think I am well over 500 hours into the project). There were so many days that turned into nights, that then turned into mornings. The project involved too many fumes, and far too much fiberglass dust. There were many nights where I wondered whether or not it was going to be worth it. There were many highs and many lows throughout the project.
My goal was to create the nicest boat that I could, with the limitations I had. The result is better than I ever could have imagined. The old boat was just trying to rot away, and through blood, sweat, and tears, it has become my dream boat. I didn’t buy my dream boat, but I certainly built it. With enough stubbornness, and a little naive optimism, no problem is too large and no boat is too far gone.
Ready to fish?
This custom-built Ranger 620vs was designed for comfort, precision, and serious fish-catching.
Book your guided trip today and experience what this boat—and Mille Lacs—can really do.