F&F Boats

[JLT]

I have about decided to let them build me a 1650 jon. I would like to hear what some of you guys on here have to say about them.

Thanks,
JLT

[torch]

Best boat I have ever fished or hunted in. I am going to build a 2084 with deep sides. They say I can run up to a 200 on it.

[savethehens]

I love mine I got a 1652 right before hunting season. But if you get it painted make sure they put a primer on the boat mine does not have it and wear I walk the paint is fading away to where it is shiny but it is a awsome boat. I put a 70 on the back of mine with a 18 gallon tank. It would be hard for me to buy anything else.

[Anatidae]

Just curious......I'm assuming that 70 is console steering? Man, that's a helluva lot o' motor for a 1652 . What does the hull weigh, anyway?

[JLT]

thanks for the responses guys. I am going to order mine today. 1650 tiller steer with a tunnel hull, and I am going to have them put the vinyl material on the inside. I think War Eagle calls it Gatorhide?? I will outfit it with a Yamaha 50 hp 2-stroke 20" transom. I am putting built in box in the front deck to house a 12 gallon removeable fuel tank.

[savethehens]

it might be heavy but with that 70 that thing will move. would no have anything else on the back. Plus I didnt want just a duck boat I wanted something I could pull a skier or more than 3 people

[Kealhofer]

Check out the Gator Trax first. Make a trip to the plant and I bet you will change your mind from a f&f

[outlaw josey wales]

i used to be a dealer for them and you wont find a cheaper priced boat built as weel as they do. dont know about gtrax. they aint got much for a shop at f and f but you cant tell by product. we had a 28 foot cab boat wit hbed bath ac tv and $#!+!!! it was unreal with 250 hp on it and it ran almost 50 on gps. they are the cheapest boat builder i know of and you get to order it like you want it. shop around and look at quality also and you will see what i mean i got 1860 and it is like a tank but you get what you want it is yours

[q.back4]

how do you get in touch with f&f.....where are they located....thanks

[duxfearme]

take a look at the gator trax you will be glad you did

[outlaw josey wales]

1 870 367 8311 is it if i remember correctly. ask for doug and tell him your wants and he will build it. i hear alot about gtrax but i havent heard of anyone around here with one. you can build an f and f for about 1/2 price of war eagle and that is fact. i sold 2 boats one day to a customer and his buddy that went to f and f and war eagle one afternoon and they sent him over to me since i had some boats in stock. i sold 2-- 2172 for 6800 for boat trailer and seats a piece of course and war eagle wanted 11000 for just one boat no trailer?!! if you see one of their boats and see some pricing you won't think twice about another boat.

[big gumbo]

I have my dream duck, catfishing ,river tamer all on paper, now its just convincing the wife to let me pull the trigger. IT will have a .125 bottom with .100 sides, Fand Fs are tanks. A FINE EXAMPLE OF ARKANSAN CRAFTSMANSHIP. I'm looking to go with a tunnel hull desinged for a jet outboard, I jsut don't like the egornomics of mud motors, besides its not the goop I need to get thru, its ft. deep sloughs and stumps and shallow snd bars and bends. I'm thinking a console forward and centered design to equal out the draft. 18 ft to 19 ft is the length I'm going for.

[Kealhofer]

I am about to order almost the same setup. The reason I say go look at the GatorTrax is b/c the whole boat is 125 and the entire hull is one piece rolled. That means the sides look like a canoe that will allow you to roll off of logs and mud. Get in some mud with a boat that the bottom is welded to the sides and try to pull it sideways and all you do is push mud. This will slide right over it. The back of the boat is rolled also. Same thing happens, you don't push mud or logs, you roll over them. The boat has a air boat type rake, which means you can go over things easier b/c it is not such a steep angle. There are alot of good options to make it just like you want. Also, for the motor, forget the jet. You are giving up reverse and read the manufacturers site, b/c you have to be in around 10" for it to work properly. Get an outboard with a hydrolic jack plate. It is better b/c when you trim a motor you are pushing the back of the boat down. The jack plate allows you to lift the motor straight up. Use this with a tunnel hull and you can go is every bit as shallow as a mud motor. The bottom of the motor will be about 2" lower than the boat. There is no way to beat this setup, b/c if you are getting in the river, let the plate down and pick up the speed. When you get to the shallow, lift it up and keep going.

[duxfearme]

damn bubba i am gonna have to put you on staff you are good salesman

[DM919]

Man, no offense on the Gator Trax. Looks like a great product, but exactly like a Go Devil. Were they first or was there no patent to worry about or what ? Just curious. Love to have it as a second boat.

From what I have seen of them, for a specialized situation---in the water that the rest of us have to wade---Go Devils or Gator Trax, probably also, work very well. Loooud and slow, but very functional or at least when I see them come through my decoys about mid-morning while I am trying to work a big bunch and apparently they are just making it up there to me, they appear to be. Friendly folks though---but not the exact time that I would choose to appreciate conversation with a visitor that just pulled up and held on to my Avery blind, and asking if we had seen any ducks. And my buddy, who is not as nice as me, said, " Well we, haaad. a minute ago but some idiot pulled up in our decoys right before we got them committed. Might have been working undercover for DU, Green Peace, the AGFC, or something." And without missing a beat, he continued, " How about ya'll ? Already limited out or coming in for tomorrow's hunt ? "

But I don't think we are comparing the same things. For example, you would have alot of trouble following me in a Gator Trax to my hunting hole, because the limbs and button willows would beat you to death, trying to stand up and drive. Heck, the bottom of the boat floor isn't low enough sometimes. It would at least slow you down tremendously during that drag race to the hunting spot each a.m.
Not to mention being ejected when you hit cypress knees, submerged dams, logs, or stumps in the high water of winter.

For the guy that was asking SeaArk, War Eagle (formerly DuraCraft which I once had), and F & F are in Monticello, AR, as strange as that would seem. I was always under the impression F & F was Aluma-weld founders, after--- the customary 5 years out of business clause when you sell out to a company, ended. But I am not sure of that.

F & F barely is mentioned on the web, doesn't advertise much, if at all, and I think I know why. I had barely even heard of them when I purchased a third-handed 1646 boat and trailer made by them.
The guy (a somewhat notorious duck hunter and dog trainer) I bought it from was buying a larger one. The only thing I worried about a little was that he is too much like me-----rough on his equipment when it came to using, but not abusing, his hunting gear when the ultimate goal of calling, working, lighting, and killing greenheads in a secluded spot was at stake.
To make a long story short if that is possible at this point, it is as good a boat as I have ever seen, driven, or rode in. I have jumped three beaver dams a morning going in and three beaver dams coming out, everyday I hunted one year when we guided the first 17 days in a row, and there is not a bent spot, leak or anything noticeable wrong with the bottom of that boat.-----Touuugh!
And that was with 3 to 4 people and gear in it---and one of the dams was so far out of the water I felt like James Bond when he jumped that ski boat over the levee in one of his movies. You had better get a running start and god forbid you not hit it hard enough and have to try to pull it across----because then the sweat was coming even in 15 degree weather.

They don't have too advertise.
In South Central Arkansas, they have the reputation with the die-hards as the best boats going. The preppies , the "look cool" hunters, and the Avenue riders ( along with alot of really good hunters) buy War Eagle (another really great and much more eye-catching product). F & F's are stable as heck---where you can stand up pn the corners when needed with out ejecting yourself or others, yet rides high in the water.
Don't really know what happened to Aluma-weld, the first all welded boat I had seen. ( Sure hurt the JB Weld epoxy market when they came out, ha, ha--at least with my Dad, who thought JB Weld was a miracle substance apparently.)

And now I have a question, how much is a new F & F 1646 approximately, if anybody knows ? I may need to sell mine and tryin to determine what to ask. Sure hate to though. Anybody interested in making an offer on boat and trailer ?

Oh and off topic, if [b]we don't stop DU from building reservoirs north of the Duck Capitol of the World, State, none of us in Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennesee, or the Sportsman's Paradise are going to need a Duck hunting--- anything anymore. May already be too late. Been pretty bad for me the last couple ----or we can hunt ducks on Valentine's Day.

Oh boy, another missed holiday. That will go over well at home.