adding a casting deck to a fiberglass hull

[b_carione]

I'm looking for some help. I have an old sears tri-hull gamefisher. The boat is in very good condition. I wanted to add a casting deck to the front for bassfishing. I am looking for suggestions on how to attach the wood, or maybe I will use steel angle iron, stringers to the fiberglass hull. Any help on how to do it, and also should I use wood or steel? Thanks

 

[crab bait]

Re: adding a casting deck to a fiberglass hull

how big's your boat.??

 

[CTD]

Re: adding a casting deck to a fiberglass hull

The old Sears Gamefisher tri hulls came in 12 and 14 ft length if I remember right. I think I would epoxy some cleats to the insides to support the deck, maybe add a vertical brace if needed.

 

[b_carione]

Re: adding a casting deck to a fiberglass hull

it is a 14ft tri-hull

 

[glass from the past]

Re: adding a casting deck to a fiberglass hull

I am doing the same to my 79 Chrysler tri hull. After checking out some of the posts here, I am gonna use aluminum and 1/2" CDX, cover it in epoxy and throw on some carpeting. There is a guy here named Jason J, who put together a great looking casting deck on a tri-hull, he has a site for his boat he calls "skanky beast" which has great pictures as well as some good tips. Check these links out for some ideas. Good Luck with your project.<br /><br /> http://70silverline.250free.com/silverline.html <br /> http://www.secretweaponlures.com/odf/odfsite.html

 

[Mikevn1500]

Re: adding a casting deck to a fiberglass hull

 

[b_carione]

Re: adding a casting deck to a fiberglass hull

Originally posted by glass from the past:<br />I am doing the same to my 79 Chrysler tri hull. After checking out some of the posts here, I am gonna use aluminum and 1/2" CDX, cover it in epoxy and throw on some carpeting. There is a guy here named Jason J, who put together a great looking casting deck on a tri-hull, he has a site for his boat he calls "skanky beast" which has great pictures as well as some good tips. Check these links out for some ideas. Good Luck with your project.<br />How are you connecting the aluminum to the fiberglass?<br /><br /> http://70silverline.250free.com/silverline.html <br /> http://www.secretweaponlures.com/odf/odfsite.html

 

[glass from the past]

Re: adding a casting deck to a fiberglass hull

My boat has a 1" fiberglass lip that runs along almost the entire interior of the bow area. It used to have two bench style seats in the bow. and this is where the seats where bolted in from the manufacturer. So I built a frame that sits right on this lip as it is a level and even on both sides, then I am going to just screw it down directly to the lip (or bolts where I have access). If I had a wooden floor in the nose I would also have connected the frame to the floor as well, but my wood floor stops in the cockpit and the entire nose is fiberglass and carpet. If your boat is different and you can't connect to the fiberglass, build the frame to connect to the floor instead, that may be durable in the long run.

 

[JasonJ]

Re: adding a casting deck to a fiberglass hull

On my rig, I had bow seats so it was very easy for me to just bolt in a casting deck over them. I can unbolt it and remove it if I ever feel the need down the road. i don't see a reason why you couldn't epoxy 1x1 wood strips, using cloth to sheath the wood strips onto the hull. Then you can lay in the deck, and glass it in or screw it to the lip created by the glassed in strips, and put in supports underneath if necessary.

 

[b_carione]

Re: adding a casting deck to a fiberglass hull

thanks for all the info. the front of my boat is open. I think I am going to epoxy a 2x3 to the floor and use epoxy and bolts with a thin steel backer on the outside to fasten the cleats for the outside edges.

 

[glass from the past]

Re: adding a casting deck to a fiberglass hull

Hey Jason J, <br /><br />What do you know about carpeting? What did you cover yours with?

 

[JasonJ]

Re: adding a casting deck to a fiberglass hull

I didn't use carpet, I used Evercoat No-skid, a protective coating with non skid niblets in it. I personally am not a fan of carpet in a boat, but if a person is to use carpet I feel the best way is to install it with a snap system. That way if it gets wet, you can unsnap it and let everything dry out, otherwise the carpet can retain moisture which can cause problems down the road. Any decent marine outlet or online place can hook you up with marine carpet. Just don't use anything else but marine carpet, the other stuff is even worse about retaining moisture.

 

[b_carione]

Re: adding a casting deck to a fiberglass hull

Hey glass,<br /> I am looking at using velcro to stick my carpet for the same reasons. I am also looking a using a rubber nubbed material. I saw it in Cabelas. It is a little expensive though.

 

[glass from the past]

Re: adding a casting deck to a fiberglass hull

Hey Carione,<br /><br />I like the rubber coating idea, it's a real cool look when it is finished. I was toying with the idea of re-carpeting the whole deck, but boat carpeting is gonna cost about $100 for that much. Maybe non-skid throughout would make sense in the long run? Although I still got to get a chair and a mount for the casting deck, so I may have to go with carpet to avoid a problem with Mrs. Glass'.

 

[b_carione]

Re: adding a casting deck to a fiberglass hull

In case anyone is interested I started my project on Wednesday March 3rd. I will post some pictures and details as soon as I get some time. So far it is going smoother than anticipated. Keep your fingers crossed.

 

[bassin large]

Re: adding a casting deck to a fiberglass hull

I added a removeable deck to my 12' fiberglass Gamefisher. It turned out to be a little tippy, but its ideal for the calm lakes that I frequent. I also fish the Delaware river, so the removeable deck work out for this.Bass Boat Conversion

 

[b_carione]

Re: adding a casting deck to a fiberglass hull

that looks great. how are you holding the decks in place? here are some pics of what I did so far. getting close hopefully I'll be fishing by 1st or 2nd week of april. the pedestal will go in the front. I still have to cut the hatches and attach the trolling motor<br /><br /> http://www.directimagehost.com/is.php?i=14381&img=bframe.JPG <br /> http://www.directimagehost.com/is.php?i=14384&img=bframerear.JPG <br /> http://www.directimagehost.com/is.php?i=14989&img=crptrght.JPG <br /> http://www.directimagehost.com/is.php?i=14989&img=crptrght.JPG <br /> http://www.directimagehost.com/is.php?i=14990&img=rghtfront.JPG

 

[JasonJ]

Re: adding a casting deck to a fiberglass hull

Looks like its comin' along just fine.

 

[b_carione]

Re: adding a casting deck to a fiberglass hull

I want to thank everyone for their help. My first phase of the conversion of complete. The boat is now ready to fish and crab for us jersey boys. I finished on 4/12. Here are some of the final shots. I be back in the winter for more help on probably on the next phase. Thanks again.<br /> <br /> http://www.directimagehost.com/is.php?i=22477&img=boat_001.jpg <br /> http://www.directimagehost.com/is.php?i=22477&img=boat_003.jpg <br /> http://www.directimagehost.com/is.php?i=22477&img=boat_004.jpg <br /> http://www.directimagehost.com/is.php?i=22477&img=boat_006.jpg