Fishing Deck

[Barnbldr]

I know there's been a ton of posts about adding a fishing deck to boats, but I was unable to find 1 important detail... Where to attach the deck supports on a fiberglass tri-hull. <br />Can you put a screw in anywhere?<br />If not how do I find where?<br />I plan on using aluminum supports as suggested in previous posts, but I am worried about the screws not holding the weight.<br />It seems to have had a small deck previously, but I am planning on expanding.<br />Thanks for the help in advance!<br />

 

[fatpratt1996]

Re: Fishing Deck

Is it possible to build a tight fitting wood frame and put the deck on top? Build it tight to the outer edges of the voat and you will need no screws in the hull

 

[MarkCz]

Re: Fishing Deck

The best place to anchor the deck would be the area that the previous seats were anchored to. I would be reluctant to put any supports to the floor unless the floor is very sturdy. I built a forward deck for my 13 ft whaler out of 3/4 plywood and used a 2X4 along the rear edge to support the weight all the way to the boats side rails were the seats used to be resting.

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Fishing Deck

Looking at the pic, I see no reason why you can't glass in some supports and glass some ply to extend the deck. Just don't go crazy, weight can add up quick.

 

[hayhauler]

Re: Fishing Deck

Did you put the piece of aluminum angle on the front?<br /><br />It looks to me like the boat was designed to have a piece of plywood over the supports on the bottom, which makes some sense for a 14' boat. I would think that you need the deeper middle as a place to put your feet. That doesn't mean you can't put in a raised floor, but I'm not sure I would on that short a boat.<br /><br />A picture showing how the back is set up would help, but from what I can see I would probably remove the angle, or maybe drop it to where it would support a piece of 3/4" plywood, sitting on the structure that's there and not try to build the floor up too high for the boat.<br /><br />From the glue on the bottom, it looks like that may have been the floor too at one time, but I'm having trouble picturing what you've got.

 

[prockvoan]

Re: Fishing Deck

I would go with glassing in supports,then add a peice of 1/2" plywood(treated) if you didn't want to glass it.

 

[Barnbldr]

Re: Fishing Deck

Here's a better picture, top down of what I'm down to:<br />

<br />And here's what I'd like to see:<br />(Very roughly )<br /><br />

<br /><br />Basically what this guy did here:<br /> http://hometown.aol.com/brideg19/BassBoatConversion.html <br />Only, this looks extremely heavy!

 

[Darrendude]

Re: Fishing Deck

I would just bring the plywood out about 4 inches on the sides and use those rails as support. I used 2X4's on mine. An 8 ft 2x4 only weighs 10 lbs