Arthur Armstrong Duck Boat Co., Inc. “ AADBCO “ bought the assets only to The Duck Boat Company in the spring of 2001. While we are not obligated to do warranty work on TDB’s purchased from The Duck Boat Company, we will try to accommodate reasonable requests from The Duck Boat Company customers whenever possible.
When we first purchased the assets to The Duck Boat Company we started production at a facility in Michigan. In the summer of 2002, we moved production to our headquarters in Kentucky where we are better able to control quality and cost.
Our owner, Tom Wilson, is a graduate from M.I.T. and has been building high-strength, high-performance composite boats for over 30 years. (Check out our Poke Boats at www.pokeboat.com) Being a pilot with a love for the aircraft industry, and having over 36 years of experience producing lightweight high-strength composite parts, led Mr. Wilson to seek out applications for use of composites in the aircraft industry. This technology is being used by the military in the H-60 helicopter, more widely recognized as the Blackhawk. This superior technology is currently being implemented in our high performance duck boat, still known as “TDB”.
As you can see, Mr. Wilson is an engineer and a boat builder, NOT a salesman. You will not see him out and about, schmoozing potential buyers. His main tasks are product development, product improvement and technical advisor. His goal and the goal of Arthur Armstrong Duck Boat Co. Inc. is to produce a safe, high quality product that will give hunters many, many years of enjoyment. We will not pump out boat after boat in hopes to make a quick buck. Maturity and years of experience tell us this is NOT the way to earn a great reputation and build a strong company.
This leads us to the rumor that “TDB is out of business”. Yes, The Duck Boat Company is out of business. We purchased the assets in 2001. The new builder of the popular “TDB”, Arthur Armstrong Duck Boat Company, Inc. is going strong and has been since 1992.
Our brother company, Phoenix Poke Boats, Inc. has been in business since 1973 and designs and manufactures super lightweight recreational boats. Phoenix Products, Inc., our sister company, designs and manufactures specialty military aircraft parts, primarily for the H-60 Blackhawk Helicopter and the A-10 Warthog attack aircraft. Check us out through the Better Business Bureau, The Chamber of Commerce (Berea and Kentucky) or Dun and Bradstreet.
This is our guarantee –
We guarantee we will not be the cheapest boat on the market. We will not try to compete with cheaper “knock off” boat manufacturers that are using inferior products in construction and then comparing their boat to our “TDB”. The materials we use in our boats are high quality and thus cost more. We use Armorcote Gel Coat, which is stronger and more costly than standard marine gel coats. The fiberglass we use is a specially woven product designed for high-speed power boats. It is extremely strong at 38oz. per yard.
We guarantee we will be honest with you if you have special requests concerning the building of your boat. Some manufacturers are building features into their boats that we feel are unsafe. We have lost a few boat orders because we would not compromise our position on this. If a customer wants a special feature that we feel is unsafe, we will refuse to honor the request. Again, we are boat builders not salespeople. We accept the fact you may choose to buy a boat from another manufacturer. So be it. We will never compromise what we feel is unsafe for you just to sell a boat.
We guarantee that we will probably make a mistake or two. Please understand that we are not perfect and that whatever the mistake, we’ll do our best to satisfy you and make it right.
We guarantee that we are in this for the long haul. The business decisions we make today will affect us in the future. We won’t compromise our principles today to sell a boat if that compromise will most likely come back to bite us in the future. We know “TDB” is the best duck hunting boat of its type on the market today and will be in the future. The resale on a “TDB” is very high. Used TDB's will usually sell for the same price they were purchased at and are rated in the N.A.D.A. Marine Appraisal Guide.
The Duck Boat, “TDB”, has been around for almost 20 years. Some of the guys who own them will tell you the only reason they’re around today is because their “TDB” brought them home safely. A happy TDB owner once told us, “bad luck can get you into a hairy situation; good equipment can get you out!”