Removing bench in a jon boat

[dumpyrcm]

I bought a 81' lowe jon boat back in December and have been working on fixxing it up.I want to make it more open, so i want to take out the benches for more walking space.
will that make the boat unstable?
its 14' with a 36" bottom.

 

[lncoop]

Re: Removing bench in a jon boat

There was an excellent thread on this very subject a month or two ago. I believe you'll find it in this section if you perform a search. Good luck.

 

[mphy98]

Re: Removing bench in a jon boat

Usually the seats are part of the structure. Removing them without any support would cause the sides to cave in. If you remove them, you must brace the sides.

 

[steelespike]

Re: Removing bench in a jon boat

imo some jon boats are barely held together when comeplete.
Removing seats without adding reinforcement will turn the boat into a noodle
When I removed just the seat braces to the gunnels on my 77 big beefy Crestliner 18'utility
you could see it flexing in the swells.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Removing bench in a jon boat

I bought a 81' lowe jon boat back in December and have been working on fixxing it up.I want to make it more open, so i want to take out the benches for more walking space.
will that make the boat unstable?
its 14' with a 36" bottom.

Welcome to iboats.

It will not work. Need more room? You need a bigger boat.

Removing the bench seats is similar to removing the framework and as people mentioned...... it will flop around and more then likely sink. Yes, it will be even more unstable then it is.

 

[JB]

Re: Removing bench in a jon boat

What Bob said. When the hull starts flexing it breaks welds, loosens rivets and even cracks hull metal.

If you must have walking around room add a flat deck from seat top to seat top with hatches for getting underneath. You will obviously have low gunnels but at least your boat won't break up and sink under you.

 

[5150abf]

Re: Removing bench in a jon boat

I stripped mine down to the keel 2 years ago, this is a bass style boat wtih a main deck and 2 casting decks, to rebuild and was amazed how floppy ti was without the deck, it was like a wet noodle.

Of coarse I put everything back in it got more and more rigid so as everyone else said, no you can't take those out, the boat would flex itself apart very quickly.