Mountain Buzz banner

Mini Max Frame Size

23K views 24 replies 12 participants last post by  jakebrown98 
#1 ·
I am designing my frame for the mini max, and was wondering how others have set their frames up.

I am going to be droping a cooler in the front bay for a passenger seat, and am debating running a captains box for the rear bay.

How wide and how long have people been able to go on this short boat?

Kyle
 
#2 ·
I use the 48" wide x 50" NRS Longhorn frame with 7.5" oars.
I added a cross bar in front of the foot bar for a swivel seat for my sweetheart.
(Or two can sit on the front thwart.)
I have not tried a cooler in front.
I know I have to pretty much max out the distance from my rear seat bar to the front seat bar or my knuckles hit the back of the swivel seat -- ouch.
 
#4 ·
I have a setup similar to what you are looking to do:

http://www.mountainbuzz.com/forums/f44/raft-porn-needed-lets-see-them-rigs-40045-26.html#post305625

My frame is 48" wide by 56" long. The captains box is 24" wide, 13" long. Fits perfect between the thwart hinges inside the tubes. The same dimension for the cooler would be ideal up from too, although I just a cooler I had.

The one thing I don't like about this frame is the oar towers. I may swap them out for the NRS towers to get them outboard a bit more. There are a couple of other designs very similar to this in the raft prone thread, including one with NRS towers I believe.

I just ordered tubing and fittings and built this frame. Not hard at all, just need a saw and some patience...
 
#5 ·
I have the Hyside Outfitter 12. Next size up from the Mini Max. My frame is 54 wide X 65 long. My dry box off my cataraft (34 long) fits snugly between the thwart knuckles. I have used a smaller 52 Qt. Cooler, but my 105 would fit. I just ordered parts from NRS and made my own custom sized Compact Outfitter frame. The NRS guide suggested 7.5 ft oars for the 54 inch frame, which sounded too short to me. Even 8 footers felt short. I went with 8.5 ft oars and used the NRS 10 inch oar towers to get the extra width. It worked perfectly on a 7 day Deso trip last spring. Study your specs and shoot for the max size dry box and cooler you can fit, buy the NRS frame parts, and make a basic frame. That Mini Max will be a hoot to row! Have fun with it.
 
#7 ·
Don't know if it will help, but I'll try and attach a photo of my 48x54 Puma frame. I think it is of similar width to a minimax. I recently added the seat to the frame, and may try and get rid of a crossbar, though it makes a good mount point for my Pelican case (tools, first aid, handy stuff). The front bay was sized for my Gott 34 qt. cooler, but I also have used gamma seal buckets dropped in there for dry boxes. I'm about 200 lbs., and have found the boat needs all the gear forward for balance when I'm solo (so far, actually all the time in that boat).
 

Attachments

#8 ·
Like Johnovice above I'm using a longhorn like frame. 48x50 I think.
I could have gone longer with the side rails but as it is I can put a 65qt yeti up front and could put a box in back. The extra length would come in handy for more rigging options but that nrs stuff is heavy and I wanted to go light but still have some flexibility. I posted some pics on here so you can search and see what it looks like.
Have fun
 
#13 ·
Thanks for all the pics and ideas.

I am starting to lean more towards a Bighorn type frame with a ply wood bench for the rear seat so I can tie a couple .50 cal cans to the edges of the seat. It will let me have a shorter frame with more room fore or aft for storage as well as under seat storage.

I am a little surprised that everyone is running a 48" wide frame. I thought they would be narrower.

Keep em coming! This is still very much a work in progress.

Kyle
 
#15 ·
In response to oarframe, I think you need to see and experience John's frames in person. John and many others may share a different view of perfection. To quote Antoine de Saint-Exupery, "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." I have one of John's frames and use it regularly, around 30 to 50 times a year, to run all kinds of rivers. We run remote hike in runs like the Gunnison Gorge, and Black Canyon. We run extended multiday trips like Cataract, the Grand and the Dirty Devil. John has mastered his set up. He can load his boat with his kitchen, food for four for 6 days, a fire pan and wood, drinking water, his overnight gear, and all the other gear(safety/repair/first-aid) into his Hyside mini-me and not look overloaded. In fact every trip we go on where there is a big boat, for us that means bigger than 10.5 feet long, the rower of said raft generally is in awe of what John's frames can do. I have seen him convert around 20 big boaters into mini-mers. In fact Hyside has focused on his frame in the last catalog and according to them because of John's frames Delta CO is currently the World Capital for Mini-mes. His frames are also bomb proof, at 14 lbs he has found away to make them almost indestructible. I love my frame and he is currently building me one for my new mini-max. The best part is the frame is so collapsable that two people can carry the frame, the boat, the raft/fishing gear, and even overnight gear. We can be anywhere in only one load. But, they aren't for everyone. Which is good for me, because if everyone had one it would be much harder to get to rivers void of people.

On a side note, John used his frame and mini-me to do a 30 day self support (meaning he carried his own gear and food) down the grand at 40,000 cfs.
 
#16 ·
Yes, 48" wide is fine. I think length is your question. The reason I mentioned the "hitting my knuckles" issue with the 50" long frame was a warning about the length. I think the NRS longhorn is/was only available at 50" long (and I was brand new to this stuff when I got it so didn't consider any other option). It looks like the 56" long frame that Boilermaker posted would fit -- the issue being the upward curve in the tubes. My boat and frame are stored for the winter so I can't say much -- you might take a string and tape 56" to see how much gap you might or might not have in the middle of the string (between the string and the tube). I'm still a novice so others might chime in regarding how much is too much gap. I think the standard size NRS siderails jump from 50" to 65" but I think they or you can cut them down (that is, if you wanted to go the NRS route -- you don't have to buy one of their pre-designed frames, you can just buy the various parts).
(I apologize if al this is patently obvious to you; just trying to help.)
 
#17 ·
NRS will sell you whatever length side rail you want. You don't have to stick with their stock sizes. I put together my customized Compact Outfitter by just buying the parts I wanted in the size I wanted. Measure and get the longest side rail that will fit. Length gives you more options.
 
#20 ·
to bmagtutu and John the welder - I was not knocking John's frame, and am actually impressed by the 14lb weight. The comment was meant to be tongue in cheek as it sure does not look much like a "frame" in the conventional sense but more like a way of attaching oarlocks to the boat.
 
#22 ·
If you order fittings and tubing online (lots of places to buy from), you can get the materials and cut to whatever size you want. I started with a bit longer frame initially, then cut it down a couple of inches once I figured out where I wanted stuff, how big a rowing compartment I wanted, etc.

Even if you buy parts from NRS, I'd suggest ordering on the long side - you can always go shorter. It's kinda tough to stretch something that's too short... LOL
 
#25 ·
I use my Culebra frame on a Mini Max all the time. It is a 48" NRS. I believe the side rails are 65 or 68". The frame sits a bit outside the center of the tubes, which is fine, and that allows the longer side rails to fit. There are probably 3 to 6" nubs sticking past the end crossbars. You could cut it down yourself if you wanted. Me and the boat's owner like 8" towers and 8' oars. We're both over 6' tall.

I agree with the wooden seat (though not the cans) as it is a cheap and light way to go. My seat is just 1x pine. It is curved on the back to fit the inside of the Culebra thwart, the ends sit on the side rails, and the single crossbar goes about under the middle of the board. A $5 used jigsaw and some sandpaper is all you need. Be creative and have fun.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top