Custom Ice Fishing Boat

Customer: Bill Sibley
GM of Powerhouse Marine

 

Build: Custom Ice Fishing Boat

 

Size: 15×8 ice hull

 

Motor: 5.3 fuel-injected
General Motors LS engine

Gale Marine Bill Sibley

The Testimony

When I started to think about getting a custom built airboat, I went to Gale Marine and talked to Jake the owner. He listened to what I wanted, built the boat with pride, and made the custom ice boat perfect for me! Many of the parts that they custom made in their shop are more heavy duty than what you can buy.

The boat is used on the ice 90% of the time, so I needed one that would hold up to the harsh conditions – and he did just that. They made the trailer heavy duty, and it loads very easy. From start to finish, Gale Marine gets a 100% rating from me. The paint Job on the boat is outstanding. If anyone wants a custom built, one of a kind boat, Gale marine is the place to go!

The Build

Customer Bill Sibley, GM of Powerhouse Marine in Lacrosse, WI, came to Jake to build him a 15 x 8 custom airboat, which is primarily for ice fishing. This airboat is an ice hull to be extremely durable and reliable, well-made for our harsh winters. Bill also had wanted Gale Marine to create a few unique accessories within this airboat. So Jake began fabrication of this ice hull with 11 T bars for reinforcement and 3/8″ polymer on bottom and sides.

He then developed an extremely reliable engine built on the fuel-injected General Motors LS platform with a gooseneck gauge panel. A 5.3 engine is in this airboat. This engine produces superior reliability and a very good horsepower-to-weight ratio. To transform that power into thrust, efficiently powering his craft, he used 79EX Whirlwind Propellers with Ox Drive Reduction units.

Unique accessories for this sport are the ice auger holder, a simple removable windshield, and steps for the driver and passenger. We finished it off with a Reelfoot Custom Camo paint design with Mil-Spec, marine grade enamel camo paint from Camo Designs by Ricky. A little camo Hydroturf for traction and custom aluminum trailer and it was complete.

Interested in other custom builds by Gale Marine?