Flooring a 14 ft Northwoods alum.

[revrich1941]

I have 1998 14ft Northwoods alum. with 3 seat and no floor. My wife loves to fish and we use this boat on small lakes with no ramp. She had knee surg. and now has trouble getting around in the boat with the big seats. It is deep vee in the front and rocks a lot. So I would like to floor it. I do wood working but this is a new work for me. Any help will be greatly appricated.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: Flooring a 14 ft Northwoods alum.

Welcome to the site, great place for boating info.

What I did with my 12' AeroCraft aluminum rowboat was design two sections of removable decking, built out of pine slats. I like to be able to remove them for transport, portaging, cleaning, and in case I don't want the extra weight in the boat for a particular excursion.

There is a link in my signature for the project in case you want to see what I'm talking about. Just scroll thru the pictures until you see bare wood decking and check it out.

I've been very happy with it and as a bonus it keeps your feet dry when fishing in the rain.

Good luck!

 

[revrich1941]

Re: Flooring a 14 ft Northwoods alum.

I should have stated that I wanted to get rid of the seats so my wife could walk about in the boat. I saw sschefer's 14' western tinny and liked that.

 

[sschefer]

Re: Flooring a 14 ft Northwoods alum.

I should have stated that I wanted to get rid of the seats so my wife could walk about in the boat. I saw sschefer's 14' western tinny and liked that.

That was my awakening boat It was where I realized the keep it simple principal was the key. All you need to do is cut the seats out and lay down two stringers in the bottom of the boat then lay in the floor. After that it's just like building a house except the outside walls are curved. I used a little flat stock here and there but most of it was just architectural aluminum angle like they sell at Home Depot. The stringers are 2x2x1/8. The floor was done with 1/2" shop grade cabinet ply. I coated it with 2 coats of poly urethane and then carpeted.

I sold that boat to my brother who weighs in at over 300 and it held up fine. He just sold it for 4500.00 and it's 20 years old!