Finally a Fast Fun and Functional Recovery Boat

[mtbenjamin77]

I've built recover boats for most of the guys at the lake, all slow and steady and for the most part reliable. I finally got a chance to build myself a receovery boat. It's an alligator tours airboat converted to brushless with an Aqua 1800kv Castle Mamba Monster V2 and a 4S 5000mah pak and a simple paint job. Here's a vid.........

[egneg]

Great video and the boat looks like fun as well.

[DK535]

Did you reinforce the front with foam?

[mtbenjamin77]

No,

There's a carbon fiber guard just under the bow.

[lenny]

Nice,
Get some more videos of the thing running around.

[Heaving Earth]

Nice rig, but let me ask the obvious questions, how well does it work with different hulls and when a boat is upside down? Also when the boat is way out there how easy is it to line up?

[mtbenjamin77]

The rods are about 1" wider than the hull so you just line the recovery boat up with the boat to be recovered. Just like any other recovery boat. The best part about this setup is you can steer it very easily even with a recovered boat. The drawbacks, I've found is that it won't work too well in heavy chop like 4" swells or worse, but I never run my boat in rough water like that so no big deal. I end up driving this thing more than any other boat. The 4S 5000mah lasts about 20min. The boat is over powered and will blow off easily at full speed and will flip if you take a corner hard and don't power out of the turn. Other than that it's fun to drive and it gives me something to do when my other batteries are on charge.

[MAMBA2200]

i will offer up a little advice on mine i installed trim tabs wider the better and that stabled the tour boat out well in turns

[Doby]

Nice on calm days........but I suspect the wind would play havoc with the steering, particulary when pushing another boat.

[mtbenjamin77]

i will offer up a little advice on mine i installed trim tabs wider the better and that stabled the tour boat out well in turns

I added a 45 degree chamfer to the sides which makes it slide sideways at speed. Works great but you have to stay in the throttle or it will flip. It just takes some time to learn to drive it well.

[mtbenjamin77]

Nice on calm days........but I suspect the wind would play havoc with the steering, particulary when pushing another boat.

the wind does have an affect when setting up the recovery, but you can learn to use it to your advantage, just like when docking or loading a full scale boat on to a trailer. As for the wind while in tow, the prop puts out plenty of power to overcome any affect of the wind. This setup steers in tow better than any other receovery boat at our lake, by a landslide.