6.5 hp Pusher Fan on Pond Prowler boat

[@noyopacific]

I have thought about getting a small air drive unit to push a boat out to our Minnesota island cabin when the ice is too thin to walk on and too thick to use a propellor without damage. The old school method for crossing thin ice is to push a canoe with a pitchfork.

[@LoneStarHovercraft]

There are a lot of people who use small airdrives to get across the ice on a jon boat. It works great but does require more power than this one, usually 20 hp minimum to move a useful load in a small boat.

[@zachmac]

Funny I was just looking at these boats today wondering if they'd work and then your video came up a few hours later... I'm looking for a Hard Water option up here in VT and was wondering if a 30hp would sink this boat? lol... Trying to find a good cheap hull that can occasionally go between water and ice...

[@LoneStarHovercraft]

It's a decent little boat, but 30 hp would probably be too much for it. There just aren't enough hard/structural points on the boat to anchor anything heavy to. I'm not sure about running on ice. The plastic is pretty tough but not sure how it would hold up. For a stronger plastic boat, that could handle a little more power, I'd check out the Sun Dolphin 12 ft.

[@dislikebutton5291]

I always wanted to build an airboat but I don’t know how hard it is to register one/ make it legal here in Georgia

[@johnvan8852]

Have you considered removing the governor for a little more rpm and power. Seams pretty safe upgrade for real extra cost. Get to 4100 probably

[@LoneStarHovercraft]

You can, but not with this type of fan, which has a low max rpm rating. But with a different type of propeller, you could rev the engine much higher.