Help please What is a Gorilla hull

[toledobasser]

Thanks brother , any idea how to contact Rickv? Josh is having his boat tuned at Toledo on Monday. Just curious . I have read some posts where once a boat was tuned they even gained 1-2 mph faster than before the GH was applied

I'm not sure if you can send a message without being registered as a user on the BassCat forum but here is a link to his profile on there. If you are able to go to it, maybe you can send a message. Click on the "Write Me" under his profile picture.

http://rick-v.basscatowners.yuku.com/

[jaxson]

Thanks Jim , by the way your red boat is killer.

[toledobasser]

Hope we have all helped you.

Thank you. I like it. It does shine in the sun. Can't hide from anybody though. LoL

[kking]

Thanks brother , any idea how to contact Rickv? Josh is having his boat tuned at Toledo on Monday. Just curious . I have read some posts where once a boat was tuned they even gained 1-2 mph faster than before the GH was applied

Rick is making points with the little lady. They have been on vacation in the mountains for last couple of days. He must be doing something right because he sent us some pictures of his wife cleaning his boat for his birthday. She was even using a toothbrush on some of it

[blakesfav]

Rick is making points with the little lady. They have been on vacation in the mountains for last couple of days. He must be doing something right because he sent us some pictures of his wife cleaning his boat for his birthday. She was even using a toothbrush on some of it

I think she's still trying to make up for when she bought her new camera and posted closeup Facebook pics of all of Rick's cute baits the day after he won a tournament :)

[mike464]

TTT for a BCB owner asking about this.

[jp71291]

Update on Gorilla Hull experience. Purchased the Puma with the Gorilla Hull with the assurance the speed could be made to match the speeds prior to installation. I paid the previous owner to take the boat back to Toledo Fiberglass to be tweaked. Prior to install the speed was 79+ solo and 77 loaded according to previous owner.After two weeks of testing both 25 and 26 Fury that each have been worked by Mark Croxton, here are the results. Engine height adjusted from 3 1/2 " below pad to 2" below pad , best solo speed 74.4 mph and best loaded speed 70.7mph.This is with no water in the livewells, two throwable cushions in the front box, and 10 plano boxes in the back two compartments, no fuel in the belly tank, 20 gal of fuel in rear saddle tanks. I have owned several fast boats including three Strokers that ran 100+ and had 35 yrs experience setting up boats to run, and this is not a setup issue. You can draw your own conclusions here, i just know what my experience has been and it is not what i was led to believe regarding performance. I am putting this boat in the shop to be sanded and painted with Imron

Have u spoke to Al?

[blakesfav]

If this is the same boat I'm thinking it is I know it will run the numbers you were told. I've been behind it on the Red River in multiple tournaments, running in the 78-79 range in my Eyra and not making up much ground. I think that was pre gorilla hull.

[jaxson]

Have talked to other BassCat owners with the Gorilla Hull and none of them are back to the speed they were before . I nfact they all lost 4-5 mph and have not gotten it back. Buyer beware the speed is not there.

[Bass Cat Boats]

The folks at Toledo Fiberglass are good people who went from building products to repairing them. Their business was supported by a geographic area (region) that has a lot of underwater obstacles, and anglers who contact those while fishing. They found A niche and they have offered a service to those who might otherwise have limited options in recovering some of their dollars invested in their toys. Then there are some who are just cautious and preferred to go the ounce of prevention mode, and have a Gator hull installed.

Fiberglass and boats from fiberglass fatigue at varying levels, depending on resin quality, resin content, fiberglass quality and the construction quality of the builder. The more you flex a hull, the more prone it is to damages. Eventually that fatigue wears the resin out (cracking sounds) from sliding over stumps. The more ice breaking sounds you hear, the more damage your doing to the hulls resins.

At one time we preferred Lake Millwood Boats be run a while locally and suggested those owning them to sell them out of their area. Those hulls would last forever on a Ouachita or Bull Shoals, though not on Millwood. At that time we had about 85% of the local Texarkana Bass Club in boats. Paraloma Trail, Big Bertha and running the Gas Line were commonly heard names. Keith Browning's boat had the nose totally scuffed in brown stain marks, like paint on the front of your brush hog deck. That was from cutting through brush instead of navigating and being careful.

Millwood in the early to mid 1970's set a bar on damages no reservoir will ever challenge, not the Ouachita River, Felsenthal, Conway, Lake Fork, Cooper, Black's or even the Red River. Those other reservoirs in that region offered an opportunity to Toledo for a niche business model they developed. Others have done it regionally for various reasons. Here it's on those 20' river boat bottoms that miss the gap at White Hole on the White River. Refinishing and polishing those bottoms to only do it again is futile.

Toledo's Gator hull is a simple where they run a chopper gun, applying fiberglass to the exterior over the outer Gelcoat and recover it with a spray on gelcoating that does not require much finishing. It is not a technical solution, it is rudimentary and an initial laminate skin coat to many hulls. The strength gained is by sandwiching the Gelcoat between that laminate, and the added material they install exterior which adds thickness. The tensions on the fiberglass are all reversed and thus the strength is in that outer skin that now is molded in reverse to your hull.

Since your adding moderate weight, then no it won't be as fast. There is no surface face like a molded Gelcoat and thus there is no plate face to damage on the outer gel sprayed rough texture. The physical properties are all different. That same rippled finish exterior is a change to a finished molded surface, and it is also going to be slower. You can refinish the hull, though we are extremely critical to 1/16" and 1/32" in places on the bottom. Those increments of detail will be lost and odds are they already have been deviated from due to damages if your seeing Toledo Fiberglass. Little changes in our hull, or perhaps many hulls, make a major difference in handling and performance.

That is the fundamentals on Toledo Fiberglasses process and how it works, why it works and what our expectations are. We like the us at Toledo and we do understand how their little niche came to be in that area. Just like several handymen have done in other areas to save their hulls from a bone yard for, or on, boats for decades.

BCB

[Bass Cat Boats]

PS to the above:

Bass Cat offers a custom extra laminate option in the bottom of the hull for those who run tedious stump infested waters frequently. The extra bedding of fiberglass and woven roving is an excellent option for those who plan keeping their boats numbers of years and reduce worry. It does sacrifice about 1 MPH from a stock hull due to weight. Since the weight is totally distributed throughout the bottom the loss is insignificant for many, and some don't notice any of this loss on excellent performing rigs.

This is a great option for those frequenting Millwood, Lake Fork, the Red River, Ouachita River, and other bayou style fishing waters. it also will help those anglers pounding frequently on the Great Lakes.

Then some ask why not include this standard, the reason is many of you don't want to pay for this option for those who abuse a hull. Most will not punish a boat in this manner and we already are heavy with weights similar to our competition. Insurance is for those who bump one very now and then, the added glass is for those who do it all the time. Their insurance will get used some too, just less than it would have.

[jayfaro]

Wonder if this could be an issue due to one of the cylinders being really low...if i recall, there was a Puma with Gorilla hull that had a weak #6...i think it was in Texas but not sure and I'm almost positive this was the boat. Just wondering if the speeds aren't there due to a sick motor? Also, not sure Al can do much since this boat was not listed on BBC (i dont believe)

[jp71291]

Wonder if this could be an issue due to one of the cylinders being really low...if i recall, there was a Puma with Gorilla hull that had a weak #6...i think it was in Texas but not sure and I'm almost positive this was the boat. Just wondering if the speeds aren't there due to a sick motor? Also, not sure Al can do much since this boat was not listed on BBC (i dont believe)

In this thread, the reference to Al is the owner of Toledo Fibeglass.

[jayfaro]

Al from Toledo makes WAY more sense! To the OP, hope it all gets worked out!

[jaxson]

There is no motor issues. Compression is normal. We talked to Don Weed ,and reran the compression test starting with #6 first with a new battery per Don's instructions. Turns out there was a weak crappy cranking battery causing the low reading

[jaxson]

Thank you Mr BCB for your reply . As always very factual and helpful. Looking forward to ordering a new 2017 Cougar in Sept

[discloco]

Is this “millwood” option still an option today? If so, what’s it cost?

[Jonestrollingmotor]

If I remember right, Basscats in this area could be ordered with the "Millwood" bottom. Sounds like it's still an option from BCB's above post. I was told at one time, Ark-la-Tex Marine (at one time before the owners death a prosperous Basscat dealer) ordered all their boats standard with the Millwood bottom. These are the Cats that sold me on Basscat as a boat. I was part of that Texarkana Bass Club where the largest % was running the Basscats.
John

[Bass Cat Boats]

At one time there were 58 Bass Cat's of 65 boats in the Texarkana Bass Club. That changed over the years with no dealers and changes in the late 1970's market, though it still was a strong percentage.

The extra Woven Roving is still available today. The fee is about $1,500 and we would strongly suggest that you get the Vinyl Ester resin option if your looking at Advantage or Vision models, it is standard on a Premium models.

[saebass]

At one time there were 58 Bass Cat's of 65 boats in the Texarkana Bass Club. That changed over the years with no dealers and changes in the late 1970's market, though it still was a strong percentage.

The extra Woven Roving is still available today. The fee is about $1,500 and we would strongly suggest that you get the Vinyl Ester resin option if your looking at Advantage or Vision models, it is standard on a Premium models.

when ordering a boat how do we order this what option is it called? (gonna order a pantera classic if that maters any)