New Gator Trax HD Super Sport Boat

[Glenn]

We have been asking Gator Trax to get us a lightweight performance rig for some time.

The new boat is the HD Super Sport 1750. It comes standard with the 45 horse HD Super Sport Light. We geared the package so that it will carry 4-5 passengers or heavy duck hunting load.

Here is what we did.

We took the 17X44 hull and transformed it into a 1750. It has 3" lower sides, 17" or 20" transom, a lighter deck and internal frame, resulting in a lightweight Gator Trax boat.

Standard Features
45 HD Super Sport Reg or Light (loaded)
Power Trim
Electric Clutch
Tiger Prop

1750 low transom Mud Buddy edition with outboard hull package
Natural Gear camo
Positive turn rounded chines
Twin rear pod seats
Opposite front seat pedestal
Two additional passenger pedestals
Extended front deck
Twin 130 watt light bar
Running lights
Front grab rail
Grab bar

Options:
35 HD Sport
1750 Huntdeck
GT edition (single rear pod storage) no flotation
GT Green

With galv trailer, spare and side guides. $13,337.

We are filming our new DVD in LA next week and will get photos.

[HaydenHunter]

Pix????????

Can't wait to see 'em!

[burnt barley]

what does the hull weigh?

[Speczilla]

And what guage are they using?? Something less than 0.125 I would presume?

[sandman7655]

you guys are gonna break my marriage up with all this new stuff.




i am gonna miss her:poster_oops:

[snake]

Originally Posted by sandman7655

you guys are gonna break my marriage up with all this new stuff.




i am gonna miss her:poster_oops:

New stuff ? As if the 45 mag alone was not enough

[Trail'nTree]

What are some of the speeds, and will it be available with the hunt deck?

[sandman7655]

check out some of the mudfest videos and you can see the speed and performance:banana:

[ALMODUX]

As offered, there is not a hunt deck version, but it IS an option you can add. It might add a little weight. It for sure will add a little cost. The point to the whole exercise is to lighten the weight where possible...once you start saying you want higher sides, hunt deck, boxes, etc....you kinda get away from the premise it was built on. In reality, the 54" hulls are a bigger version of the idea, and if you wanted the ultimate in lightweight vs draft and size, you could have them build a gator hide-sized hull with a conventional boat interior....62" hull, 15" sides, same sheet as the 50" boats....you can always do almost anything you want with Kent and Gatortrax. Figuring out what is practical is up to you. :017:

[Ring King]

Kinda sucks for some of us who already dropped a bundle on a rig that doesn't compare in speed and load handling though. My rig was was about a grand more than that one and gets an average of 25mph with two people and gear, but I guess that's the real difference between the 42 and the 45.:019:

[BoatDR]

Originally Posted by Ring King

but I guess that's the real difference between the 42 and the 45.:019:

and the fact that your hull has 6" higher sides and about another 100# of options added too.

The point to the whole exercise is to lighten the weight where possible...

[ALMODUX]

It's one of those things that goes back to 'You can't have it all'. What you can do is have a little more performance with the options you want by getting a square transom as opposed to tapered...that will increase your lift/pad surface and a larger/heavier boat will always run a little quicker, all else being equal. I'm betting my personal rig is at least as hard to push, if not harder, than most Gatortrax combos around....due to all the options, weight, tapered transom, location of certain options, etc....I NEEDED the 45. It runs my rig like a 35 would run that Supersport. My trade-off is having all the barge and goodies I want in my boat, but having to pay $ for the extra HP to make it run like I want at that size. There ain't no free lunch.:tomato:

[Ring King]

Oh I'm pretty sure I qualify for the "need a 45" club. Problem is I have the cash to do the conversion, but if I do it I won't have the money to put a 75hp Optimax on my Xpress. That boat has been sittin' since Katrina with no motor on it and really is beggin' to be repowered!!

The 45hp Hyper Sport may be fast, but it don't compare to a 75hp Merc on the back of a 16 foot aluminum boat!!:no: It's hard to compete in bass tournaments in a mudboat that only does 21mph with the batteries up front for the 24v trolling motor on the bow. During hunting season the speed is adequate, but for the off season it just don't cut the mustard.

[Gun Doc]

You know, speed is unquestionably fun and power may be necessary in a bind or to carry a load. But other than that, I think some of us are losing perspective. Let's say you are going to run ten miles, which is a pretty far piece for a lot of us. If you have a 20 mph rig (now considered kind of doggy) it will take you 30 minutes. If you have a 30 mph rig (still considered a pretty hot deal) it will take you 20 minutes. Leaving 10 minutes earlier ain't so bad, and it is a lot less $. Also, you may not even be able to run that 10 miles at 30 mph. Speed comes into play when the distances are long. Yes, speed is fun, but I just compared 20 mph to 30 mph. Worrying about the difference between 24 and 28 is really splitting hairs. Glenn once told me he wouldn't sell a motor such that the rig was faster than 20 mph. That seems low, so maybe it was 25, but I'm sure it wasn't higher. He said somebody was going to get killed running around in the marsh that fast. Now, I'm pretty sure he was talking about a longtail, so I guess the speed limit has increased. Even so . . .

[ALMODUX]

Well, you'll get killed a lot quicker with a longtail running over 20 than a shorttail over 20...at least in my opinion.

I run better in the off-season with my 24V TM on the bow and the extra battery in the boat than I do during hunting season. I have a 13gallon tank in the bow, also. I think all that has MUCH more to do with where you put an extra battery or two than the weight of the TM and extra batteries vs your hunting load during hunting season.

I'm with you on the 'real' speed of a BIG outboard for fishing tournaments, etc....but I do have folks going from 200hp bass boats to mud rigs for tournament fishing, for the simple fact that the bass boat may outrun them to the edge of the mat, but then they have to pull out the TM and use that and 36 volts of batteries for another 20 minutes to get to where the fish really are, when the MM rig might get to the weeds a bit later, but will blow by that TM to the holes they need to fish in, making up for time there. I think part of it is also that they can know that they've made the fishing tough on their competition for at least a few minutes by racing through the weed beds in their shorttail rig.:damm:


Point being: speed is becoming less and less of an 'issue' of concern for those that saw it as such.

[RC]

It gets mighty cold running much over 10mph in the winter over this way! The power will be nice ,when the wind is 30/40 mph in your face,and the boat is full of junk!

[Ring King]

Most of the bass clubs down here specifically prohibit mud motors, mud boats, and airboats from entering the tournaments. They're considered an unfair advantage for getting into places that may require crossing mudflats to get into.

Also, here in S. Louisiana if you desire to hunt the WMA's instead of paying a couple thousand in lease fees you have to run 25 miles in one direction to get to most of 'em. Twenty-five miles at 21 miles an hour sucks!!!!!! Especially if halfway through your hunt you see a big front comin' and it looks like the weather's gonna turn nasty in a hurry. Add to that our famous 30mph winds that pick up from out of nowhere and the slow speed you were running to get back to the landing just got that much slower.

Now I'm not saying that my 42hp HyperSport/Gator Trax combo won't cut the mustard. I'm just saying that a little more speed and or power would sure help to make the going a little easier.

[Gun Doc]

As I said, "Speed comes into play when the distances are long." It was only one sentence, but an important one if you do run long distances. The 20 mph / 30 mph difference is 25 minutes if you have to run 25 miles.

[propeater]

AHHH But fast is fun!!!!

[Gun Doc]

Originally Posted by propeater

AHHH But fast is fun!!!!

No question. But it is often not necessary, unless your goal is to run fast, in which case it is.

As to the limiting of MM, etc. in bass tournaments: Let me get this straight. You can have a $40k 300 HP fiberglass missile, three depth finders, a 36 volt trolling motor that may be controlled by wireless. The total computing power on the rig is likely more than the equipment NASA took to the Moon over thirty years ago. Yet, you don't want to compete against a Briggs and Stratton powered aluminum boat that may cost less than $10k because he can go some places you can't?! So, who has the advantage here? And who has the brains? Whatever.

If you can't make one of the those credit card company commercial/jokes that ends in "priceless" out of this, you ain't thinkin!

BUT, I really don't mind. If the tournaments will stay out of the backcountry, I'll stay out of the tournaments. Fair trade!

[Kman]

I live here in S louisiana and fish lots of tournaments. INCLUDING St Jude, Childrens Miracle Network, and all the clubs there are to fish in our area. I have never heard of them banning a mud motor.:WTF:

In addition, if you are traveling 25 miles by way of water to a WMA in Louisiana I think you may need a road map to some better launches!!! The only ones I could think of that would be that far would be Pass A Loutre in Venice....and ...well..that's it! I could be wrong, and certainly don't protest to know all of the WMA's or much less know how far you run when you hunt. BBBBBBBBBBBBUUUUUUUUUUUUTTTTTTTTTTTTTT! I think you may be exaggerating a tad on the 25 miles. I think you just wanna haul ASS!:banana:

[Ring King]

I hunt both Pass A loutre and Biloxi Marsh. Not sure of the exact milelage to Biloxi Marsh, but it's a 40 minute ride in using the outboard and running high 30's. No road map in the world is going to get you any closer than the one showing Breton Sound Marina in Hopedale!!

Even the local bass clubs here around New Olreans specifically ban the use of mud motors and airboats! Pro Anglers Tournament Association has a specific clause about the use of such motors, and any of the bigger circuits you care to check also have the similar wording. Now I'm not trying to fish the BassMaster Classic out of my Gator Trax, but the BASS weekender circuit is certainly not out of the question. The following is an example of a rules page from the ABA which is another circuit that I've fished with before. The problem with them is that boats without steering wheels are not allowed.

http://www.alamobassn.com/tournament_rules.php

[Kman]

Reading over those rules it only restricts steering wheels like you stated. You could have a rig that ran 100mph and they still wouldn't let you fish it without a steering wheel. So I am not really sure of what you are saying about speed or mud motors has to do with these tournament rules. There is remote steer for these mud motors now so you can get around it that way. BTW, I ran an 18x50 huntdeck today with a 42 and got 26mph on an engine with 21 minutes on it. What size hull did you get? I can't remember and am too lazy to pull the file.

I guess there are some tournaments that might ban mud motors although I have to agree with Gun Doc on how that is considered "unfair" to the guy in the $40,000 Ranger that runs 75mph!! I wonder if a little *****in to the right guy might make a difference with all the latest improvements in the mud motor industry? See if you can get a web site or a phone number to any of them that specifically ban mud motors. I may not get past the receptionist but I would at least like to call and make them tell me why.
If you don't have time, no sweat, just curious.

PS- You need closer hunting grounds!!! I will call the state and see what I can do about getting them to relocate Pass A Loute upriver for the 06-07 season!

[BoatDR]

Originally Posted by Kman

PS- You need closer hunting grounds!!! I will call the state and see what I can do about getting them to relocate Pass A Loute upriver for the 06-07 season!

Nah.........Catrina moved enough marsh land around......how bout making a down river launch!!!

[Ring King]

I bought the 1750 huntdeck, but loaded it with a good amount of options. My fastest speed in it came at Mudfest in the shallow water over mud. With two people, one battery, and 11 gallons of gas I hit 27.6mph. That was with the bare minimum of stuff in the boat. We averaged 25mph for most of the day though.

The problem is once I put the hunting/fishing stuff in the boat an then add a second person. My speed drops down to 21-22mph. I still have to play with the weight distribution and get my trolling motor batteries out from under the extended deck. I've already moved the gas tank and cranking battery to the rear of the boat. I'm gonna try putting the two trolling batteries in the seat pod in the middle of the boat to see if it helps any. With them under the extended front deck my passenger has to sit next to me in the back to even get 20mph.

I think the extended front deck option is a great thing for fishing comfort, but I've found that on my rig it just isn't the right place to keep the gas tank and batteries. Way to much weight up front even with just the cranking battery and gas tank kept up there. It gets extremely nose heavy and tends to plow. I think I'm gonna end up getting a tupperware container that fits under there and just keep the life jackets and safety equipment up there.