Intex Mariner 4 modifications and Tips

[bracus]

BTW, I've seen people talking about electric pumps in here. I ordered an Intex twin sized inflatable mattress for $10 from Walmart and it came with an electric pump. Uses C batteries and it works great. Also comes with connected adapters for all kinds of valves.

 

[thisusernamevalid]

Hi all, new user. Not new to inflatables (had an old Sevylor a while ago), but new to Mariner 4. Starting out with a MK 45lb motor. Back in the day (before the internet) I made a floor for my Sevylor using 3/4" plywood. Truth is, I made a half (rear) floor out of scrap I had laying around. I coated it with Thompsons Waterseal and mounted a cheap seat on a pedestal w/swivel. Worked fine, but it was heavy.

I want to make a floor and add some boxes and seats. I also want to make the floor sectional for better handling and storage. I see that most folks are opting for 3/4" or 5/8". I have always figured that with the support of the water underneath, 1/2" plywood would be more than sufficient to support someone standing. has anyone tried 1/2" I also want to make it sectional. How do sectional floor perform at the seams, where the sections meet?

Thanks!

 

[Khesro.amin]

Hi all, new user. Not new to inflatables (had an old Sevylor a while ago), but new to Mariner 4. Starting out with a MK 45lb motor. Back in the day (before the internet) I made a floor for my Sevylor using 3/4" plywood. Truth is, I made a half (rear) floor out of scrap I had laying around. I coated it with Thompsons Waterseal and mounted a cheap seat on a pedestal w/swivel. Worked fine, but it was heavy.

I want to make a floor and add some boxes and seats. I also want to make the floor sectional for better handling and storage. I see that most folks are opting for 3/4" or 5/8". I have always figured that with the support of the water underneath, 1/2" plywood would be more than sufficient to support someone standing. has anyone tried 1/2" I also want to make it sectional. How do sectional floor perform at the seams, where the sections meet?

Thanks!

Hi there
1/2 plywood with spray adhesive and run of the mill indoor/outdoor carpet should be fine. I'm a heavy guy at 230lbs and it has been phonemnal upgrade to have, I can stand on it comfortably. I had been using the plywood ontop of the pvc floor but recently decided to hit the lake with just the 2 piece plywood floor and it was amazing (not to mention less weight!). I did however notice that the floor would not completely hold down the keel in the front so an h section insert might help with that.

 

[thisusernamevalid]

Thanks. I thought 1/2" would be ok, although the keel never occurred to me, good catch!

I just found out that my state (Michigan) requires registration on motorized inflatables now, that's a change from before. How do others attach or paint the registration number, and how do you attach the decal (if your state requires one?)

 

[achakera]

what shaft size trolling motor works for this boat. just got mine and i see 30" shaft trolling motor and 36" shaft would a 30" work on this boat.

 

[marcchampagne]

what shaft size trolling motor works for this boat. just got mine and i see 30" shaft trolling motor and 36" shaft would a 30" work on this boat.

30" shaft should work just fine. I use a 42" shaft motor because that's what I had before I bought my M4 and it sits very high but I just angle the tiller down to where I am sitting. The motor mount sits very close to the water so even a 30" shaft would be a little longer than what is really necessary.

 

[bracus]

what shaft size trolling motor works for this boat. just got mine and i see 30" shaft trolling motor and 36" shaft would a 30" work on this boat.

I've been using a 55lb one and that seems to be the sweet spot for trolling motors. Worked just fine last week going against the wind. Already tired of hauling the battery though and looking for a used outboard motor. It's pretty darn hard to find one though. Running out of patience and may just get one of the Chinese ones on amazon and use it until I can find a decent used one 3.5hp or lower.

 

[achakera]

30" shaft should work just fine. I use a 42" shaft motor because that's what I had before I bought my M4 and it sits very high but I just angle the tiller down to where I am sitting. The motor mount sits very close to the water so even a 30" shaft would be a little longer than what is really necessary.

Thanks

 

[TheFlake]

Has anyone tried a one piece 1/4" plywood floor over the existing slat floor? It seems to me it would be fairly easy and lighter than a 1/2 or 5/8" plywood floor alone?

 

[achakera]

I have used 1/2" MDF plywood and painted with flex seal black

 

[dadofick]

Has anyone tried a one piece 1/4" plywood floor over the existing slat floor? It seems to me it would be fairly easy and lighter than a 1/2 or 5/8" plywood floor alone?

Waaay back in this thread like before page 20, someone tried 3/8 plywood and felt some pretty good flex so I don't think 1/4 would work in this case. I'm about to undertake the floor myself and will likely go with the 1/2" (7/16) stuff and then carpet.

 

[damonowens]

Re: Intex Mariner 4 modifications and Tips

I think I'm done for now with my upgrades to my M4 for now. I test fit everything after work in the backyard to make sure it all works.
Here are some pics of my set up. Should be out on the water this Monday.
View attachment 174099View attachment 174100View attachment 174101

I love the oarlock table! Any chance you have a diagram of it? Materials?

 

[insane1984]

Just got a Mariner 4 and am wanting to do the floor mod.
From all the videos I've watched and reading this incredibly long thread I'm left wondering a few things
1. Should the keel be inflated or is this optional?
2. Should the board be angled slightly up on the fore and aft sections or is that dependent on if the keel is inflated?
3. (arguably my BIGGEST question) Does the plywood type matter regarding wood type? Birch vs pine vs sande? Or does it not really matter as long as I sand and seal it?


Thanks for the input!

 

[pelican*]

Just got a Mariner 4 and am wanting to do the floor mod.
From all the videos I've watched and reading this incredibly long thread I'm left wondering a few things
1. Should the keel be inflated or is this optional?
2. Should the board be angled slightly up on the fore and aft sections or is that dependent on if the keel is inflated?
3. (arguably my BIGGEST question) Does the plywood type matter regarding wood type? Birch vs pine vs sande? Or does it not really matter as long as I sand and seal it?


Thanks for the input!

Insane, I use pine, i brush a coat of fiberglass resin on all my wood projects that are going to get wet and then paint the color i want. good ideal to route all edges. I just finished building a wood seat for my Achilles 310. HAVE FUN.

 

[replikant]

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[replikant]

Has anyone had any success locating an Air Deck floor for their Mariner 3 or Mariner 4? I'm trying to contact manufacturers on Alibaba.com or AliExpress.com to see if there are air deck floors out there that are compatible with either of these 2 inflatables. I feel like its the perfect solution for portability. Better than having to build a wood floor, and much lighter in regard to weight.

I discovered air deck floors when considering an inflatable catamaran.

 

[Biff_Elwood]

Thanks to everyone throughout the years who have shared with us their great tips & ideas on how to modify our M4's. I'd like to share a few pictures of my 3 piece 5/8'' plywood non-slip painted floors. I've been using these for a few years now and they work well for me. I weigh 240lbs and they are very sturdy. After a day of fly fishing on the Bow river, the boards are easily rinsed off and they dry quickly.
May you all have a safe boating season.
Enjoy.

Thanks for all the info. What did you use to wrap the edges?

 

[Andy_Capp]

New to the Intex Mariner 4 and this awesome forum.

I quickly scanned the 106 pages of this forum looking for a heavy duty transom mod so that I could mount a 15hp motor. Can anyone point me to any ideas? Thanks in advance!

 

[MarvinW]

This thread is literally MASSIVE.

So massive in fact, that I can say without a doubt I'm sure I missed many points well made, many picture accompanied tutorial and so on. I was hoping someone somewhere had made some kind of index, as even google was pointing me to this thread on most of my Mariner 4 inquiries I put in, but it almost never landed me on a relevant page.

Anyway, I had a Excursion 4 but one of the floor seams bursted and made an enormous middle I beam 3 times the size of the other one's.... sure, with a wood floor on top you could almost claim it's a 'keel' but nah, it still handled like a ... well a cheap inflatable. I still have it, but I been cutting up the wood floor pieces I made for in order to... I'll come back to that!

So now I upgraded to a Mariner 4. I don't even fish... I mean I will probably surely start fishing some time in the future, but that's not the primary reason I bought it. I just want to be able to go to the lake or river and go on the water with my kids. Since I don't drive a car, I have two bicycle trailers hooked up to each other and my bike off course. That way I can split the weight, it's working so far at least

Now, I got a full electric setup with a vx-50 ECO from Rhino and two 80Ah LiFePo4 batteries from Greencell. That's nice and portable, but allas I have a son who always was envious at everyone on the water with a boat which actually went faster as he could walk... And I tried those weedwacker engine's, a 1.2hp 4 stroke, on my Excursion and it's just sweaty donkey balls so loud. Kids hated it, we were still going slow and we couldn't make ourselves understandable over the noise.

So, after asking around what kind of engine I could use and looking online, I came to the conclusion it had to be an older two stroke since those offer the best power to weight and I don't mind mixing my fuel. And it's not like I drive a car daily so people complaining I'm hurting the environment running 'inefficient' dual banger just keep it shut and move along, have a nice day But, I didn't want to buy another weedwacker, it needed to be water cooled ( thick cooling walls dampen the combustion noise and almost all wc engines have exhaust through the prop ).

Tohatsu was very well recommended to me, lightweight reliable almost 'bulletproof' engines.

So I have a M5B ( I think... never got the manual but I'm pretty sure it's written somewhere on it ). It's a 20kg 5hp motor and I hope it won't be to much for the simple limited mods I'm able to apply and still transport everything on the bike trailers ( yes, that includes the outboard itself as well as the boat and everything else I would need ).

First time running it, STOCK mount just drilled the holes in the transom out so I could mount it a few cm higher. I knew it wouldn't last, but it was the last day I say my son before summer vacation at his mom so I thought heck I'm going to make a new one anyway. The failure point was with the extensions going at the top rear tube bending so much the plastic insert just shattered not able to handle the torque. The alu pipe was mostly straight even afterwards but it was clear what the problem was.

So: fixing the issue.

Limitations: due to having to be able to put everything on my bike trailers, I can't add a wood floor to mount things on.

Solution:

1. Bought 16mm steel pipes which fit snugly in the alu piping, and extend them to the oar holder where they are hooked into with a compression knee ( no welding machine or I would have welded a nut inside to I could thread a bolt through the our holders ). The old stop is also engaged with the stock end blocks.

2. Cut of a floorboard piece from my Excursion 4 floor, epoxied them together with two rails sideways for strength and mounting / attachment options. This small ( 40cm ) wide piece of board will sit on top or below the slat floor ( if below, I'll add an opening just like for the keel valve ) between the tubes quite snugly. Hopefully snugly enough so I can tension the top of the transom to it with a ratchet strap. If I think it's not snug enough I'll put under the slat floor to help distribute tension. That and the steel pipes should hopefully be enough to keep the transom steady.

3. In progress / contemplation on how to approach best: The transom mount does not push equally on the back of the tube, most people mention pushing a 2x4 between the tube and the transom but I think that's to thick. I'm thinking of modding the transom not with a single piece of wood but with a thin metal sheet which will go between the connection pieces and both distribute the force on the entire backside in order to keep the transom as stable as possible. I will drill this in with self tapping screws and epoxy. Between the standoffs and behind the sheet I'll add some wood for structure depending on how thick of a sheet I'll be using. I would love to both follow the contours at the back of the boat, and make a flat extension to the transom itself so it's not scooping water pulling itself under.

I'm mostly worried because the transom height has to be quite steady for the motor to work properly ( low enough in the water to not cavitation and not to low so it can't expel cooling water ).

I'll post pictures after I'm done or when I get stuck and really need some precise advice.

Happy boating everyone!

 

[MarvinW]

Can't seem to find an edit post button?

Was test fitting everything so I could shape out the sheet metal, I'll leave
some flanges I'll bend in.


I don't really like the tension ratchet it's a temp mounting solution anyway.


I know I could build a bench to attach both the extension and put tension on but a bench has to be wider as the floor and the floor is the max width I can transport.




*don't mind the mess..... the two bike trailers are connected together and hook up to that old bike. They are loaded now with the Mariner 4, two 80Ah LiFePo and a Rhino 50lbs trolling motor as well as an inflatable sup board, but I can load it with the Tohatsu on it's side on the back trailer ( dealer said it would be ok, just make sure to shut off the gas and expect it to take longer to start ). Can't go fast, any slope is torture either on the legs or on the poor old rim brakes ( happy to live in the flattest piece of land in the world tho.. or so they say ).

My tiller extension is getting delivered tomorrow, I'll be able to see if it's long enough to get a workable seating position so the back doesn't drop to much when I'm alone. If not I'll have to extend that extension even further with some diy I guess ( thinking, I have one of those aluminium telescopic handles for painting, I could hopefully add that with a coupling if needed.

Now, what I would like to do with the mount still after this is done, is add some structural support behind the sheetmetal to help add some force distribution away from the two eye sockets ( proper term? Not sure? It sound alright to me, but that's probably because the direct translation to my native language is aok with calling them 'eyes' ).

Also, if this isn't sufficient to hold the transom steady with the engine, I'll consider adding two 16mm steel pipes ( with T's on interval to form a structural ladder for strength ) to the back of the transom with some clamps, and have them run to the floorboard instead of getting tension from it. Depends as well if the transom still wants to either roll back like on the stock mount, in which case tension helps prevent that, or if it doesn't in which case it's more important to help distribute the forward force?

I'm no engineer, never had a boat before other then an even cheaper inflatable, know nothing about 'hydrodynamics' and will welcome any and all advice and considerations

*I'm using the quick connects I used on my Excursion 4 for mounting with the trolling motor, I think those are strong enough but not sure? Reason I used them is that it's very hard to line up the bore holes for all the connections, and it's easier if I start with the quick connect.

I also notice I haven't added the hose clamp over the abs inserts to prevent them from exploding even if the rod would get bend awkwardly ( or well. prevent it from exploding as long as possible ). Those clamp will add pressure and rigidity I think.

Edit: also, why does the edit button show up for this post but not my first one? Some evil conspiracy to make sure any newbie mistakes are forever preserved and no one will be able to edit out their shameful ignorance