parsond
Well-known member
I have a 1996 Hyde high side. What are some cool ways I might trick it out?
Trick my ride
- Thread starter parsond
- Start date
trout trekker
Well-known member
Trade it in for a custom build with all you wish and while you're at it, have Hyde build a power winch into the trailer. Either that or get used to paying your shuttle driver extra to shuttle your rig last and then hang around long enough to winch the boat back on the trailer for you.
Trick, answered two threads with a single post.:thmbup:
Dave
Trick, answered two threads with a single post.:thmbup:
Dave
mcnerney
Administrator
Dan
21 years out of a drift boat is enough, especially someone who uses it as a business!
Bite the bullet and get yourself a new Clacka or Hyde low side boat, you will love how the new low side boats row in the wind.
Clacka is currently offering discounts on 2017 models:
Mountain Driftboat - ClackaCraft Drift Boat Drift Boats - Located in Victor, Idaho
21 years out of a drift boat is enough, especially someone who uses it as a business!
Bite the bullet and get yourself a new Clacka or Hyde low side boat, you will love how the new low side boats row in the wind.
Clacka is currently offering discounts on 2017 models:
Mountain Driftboat - ClackaCraft Drift Boat Drift Boats - Located in Victor, Idaho
westcoast
Well-known member
I like the 100 year warranty.
In my opinion, minimalist is better. The less "stuff" you have in and attached to the boat, the cleaner the space is and the easier it is to actually fly fish from it. I kinda figured this out with driftboats when I got my Hyde Sportsman's Drifter. It's a two person drift boat with a bench behind the middle, open underneath the bench, for the rower, and another bench up in front for the angler, with a standing brace with a couple cup holders in it and two little worktables on the sides between the two benches. Swivel seat up front, rowing seat on the rowing bench. That's it. I found I loved the clean, open bottom and the space behind the rowing bench. Not much of anything for fly line to get tangled in, and whatever gear I brought I could just put it wherever it worked the best. Heck, if I didn't take my mostly non-fishing wife in it, I'd love it if the whole front bench was removed and the angler would just have a place to stand, since everybody I fish with stands all the time anyway.
I learned many years ago when angling from canoes that the less you had attached to the boat the better. Especially permanent attachments. They ended up getting in the way, adding excess weight, and making it more difficult to load and unload. Whatever I do to my solo canoes, other than moving the seat to a more optimum paddling position for my own tastes, is designed to be VERY quickly and easily attached and removed. It's why I don't like so-called fishing kayaks. They all have all this STUFF permanently attached or molded in, and permanent bases for even more STUFF to be attached. It adds poundage and some doofus designer's idea of what the angler needs and where it should be might not be where I want it to be or whether I want it at all. I'd rather do it myself.
I learned many years ago when angling from canoes that the less you had attached to the boat the better. Especially permanent attachments. They ended up getting in the way, adding excess weight, and making it more difficult to load and unload. Whatever I do to my solo canoes, other than moving the seat to a more optimum paddling position for my own tastes, is designed to be VERY quickly and easily attached and removed. It's why I don't like so-called fishing kayaks. They all have all this STUFF permanently attached or molded in, and permanent bases for even more STUFF to be attached. It adds poundage and some doofus designer's idea of what the angler needs and where it should be might not be where I want it to be or whether I want it at all. I'd rather do it myself.
At that age, if it has seen any real use, get a new bottom put on it!
Those crummy trailers Hyde, Clacka and Ro use always destroy the bottom of the boat where it rides on that single rear roller...
Hyde is the worst to have that happen to because of the layer of foam between the glass.... Soaks up moisture and will never dry out...
As far as tricking out a boat, less is always more when it comes to boats!
---------- Post added at 11:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:17 AM ----------
Unless the boat company is right down the road, any repair will be a major pain in the arse!
Those crummy trailers Hyde, Clacka and Ro use always destroy the bottom of the boat where it rides on that single rear roller...
Hyde is the worst to have that happen to because of the layer of foam between the glass.... Soaks up moisture and will never dry out...
As far as tricking out a boat, less is always more when it comes to boats!
---------- Post added at 11:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:17 AM ----------
Every drift boat company offers a warranty, I would be more interested in buying a boat that you don't have to use it!
Unless the boat company is right down the road, any repair will be a major pain in the arse!
westcoast
Well-known member
True that, but it really helps in re-sale knowing that they will replace parts on a 50 year old boat (assuming the warranty is transferable).
Kind of like my Eddie Bauer jackets that eventually loose their water penetration resistance, and I get a brand new jacket from them every 10 years
The warranty is only valid to manufacturers defects AND only pertains to damage that you completely break through the hull, they use so much glass "adding weight" that you are virtually never gonna bust all the way through, but you can still destroy the chine and need repairs... which you have to pay for...
If you blast a boulder and destroy the chine, it's on you.... Which it should be, but so many people misunderstand that 100 year hull warranty...
At the end of the day, you should buy a drift boat based on how it rows, not marketing BS...
Most people have junk oars and will never truly know how well their boat can handle, used to blow my mind someone would drop 8 grand on a new boat and to save a couple hundred bucks would go with anything other than the best oars... LOL
westcoast
Well-known member
Dam fine-print 
Dam fine-print
Every boat companies philosophies have pro's and con's...
I mean, if you could repair them easier, wood would be the ultimate material to use in all honesty... It floats, is quiet and wont dent like metal...
Plascore pretty much does all the good things wood does, but gives you more durability and is much easier to repair the outer glass layer on than wood would be. It just requires you to not use molds and thus hand building boats is much more labor intensive so requires more work and cost to build than a molded glass boat that can be built in a couple days from start to finish...
mcnerney
Administrator
If you ever feel froggy, have the rope removed, and switch them over to run the Pro-Loks style oar-locks...
Nothing remotely compares to those oar locks.
k_e_v
Well-known member
As a passenger in the boat and not a rower i dont understand the differences between good oars and bad. Care to elaborate anyone?
Mostly it has to do with weight and where the weight is....
You want the lightest oars possible and you want the least amount of weight possible in the blade as well as the fact you want your blades to float...
Your rotator cuffs will thank you...
Sawyer Square Tops are arguably the best looking oars out there and very very nice have good counter-balancing and buoyant blades... The ones without the black carbon fiber wrapping aren't as strong, but are more buoyant...
It's all give and take...
Something like a Pro-Lok graphite oar weighs about 1/4 as much as the Sawyer Square Top does, has buoyant blades and is even lighter on your shoulders. My boat was 18' and I used 10' oars, that was huge for me to have the lightest oar possible... For shorter shafts, it becomes less of an issue...
A good rower will want the ability to freely spin the oar blade to change its direction as it enters the water, propels through the water and exits the water. They will also move their arms in and out to aid in maneuvering the boat. The Pro-Lok system does this better than any, but the tried and true rope wrapped oars with A Frame or Cobra style oar locks work great too...