im going to make homemade live well

[ilovevintage81]

I bought a 18gallon aluminum gas tank today for my boat.It is to tall for my boat.Its a square.What im going to do is make livewell out of it.I was going to drill hole in bottom for a drain plug,and cut top off level with the top of my boat.I have a 14ft aluminum boat 48inch beam.i was going to raise the back up with wood level with top of boat like on a bass boat.and put a bench seat in front of it.I got a atwell blower with tank.Do i need ventilation for gas tank area since ill be closing it in?I read the laws in kentucky and not forsure.Should i put the livewell elsewhere since it will hold like 15 gallons of water?Im afraid of wieght issue in back of boat 9 gallon gas tank ,2 BATTERYS.I HAVE CABLE STEERING SO ILL HAVE A LITTLE WIEGHT IN THE FRONT OF BOAT.IS there a small pump i can install inside of livewell to pump water in ,a pump that can be reversed and pump water out?I want to make a bait well too thats like 6gallon.What kind of airator would i need that will airate both wells?I know the bass boats fill up on there own.If i decided to do it the way they do on bass boats would i have to put in water ,and find the water line ,and is that how far the water will rise to?I didnt want to use plastic boxes .What i will have in bait well is shad or shinners,but i believe shiners need a circle well so any info on that?

 

[jigngrub]

Re: im going to make homemade live well

Post pics of your boat for the best help and advice.

 

[GT1000000]

Re: im going to make homemade live well

Like J-n-G mentioned, pics would help to get you some good suggestions...
Even if you have an outboard engine, ventilating an enclosed fuel tank is always a good thing...it can be as simple as some vents all the way to an electric type blower...
Unless you have really good math skills and a marine engineering degree, the next best way to determine where you can put stuff on a boat is to actually float it and add the expected loads to it using some form of ballast, if its a water type load, like a livewell, use some old fuel cans or buckets with water in them to simulate the sloshing, if its dead weight you can use some bricks or sand bags, use some straps to secure the ballast, don't forget to take into account the usual stuff like passengers, fishing gear, full fuel load, etc...drive the boat around and see how it sits and behaves...

 

[ilovevintage81]

Re: im going to make homemade live well

Good ideas guys.Only problem i cant post pictures on the phone just avatar picture,and i dont have acsess to a computer,i go to tap browse and it doesnt do anything,because it has a popup window first.I need to figure out how to post the pictures.

 

[Mullin]

Re: im going to make homemade live well

I'm not sure where you would fit it in the back of the boat if you already have 2 batteries and a gas tank?

I have a 14' Valco, I enclosed the back area, and added my livewell inside the center bench. Sorry, I don't have any good pics here to show.



added pics to my sig

 

[ilovevintage81]

Re: im going to make homemade live well

I looked on youtube and seen a few done like that the other boat i had had a baitwell in front and two luvewells in rear.Im still thinking of options and the most wieght my boat can handle.