Klamath 12' aluminum boat customization - fishing

[marcuscarr]

or...How to get on the water and stay married.

The lake that I live on drops in water level every year to the point that ski and bass boats can no longer be launched. My goal with this project was to come up with a really cheap boat that I could launch in shallow water.

My criteria...

light enough that I can get it up on the truck myself
must be able to carry 3 adults and gear comfortely
must have a fish finder, rod holders, beer (or soda) holders
must be electric driven
must be cheap! we already have a ski boat, canoe and 3k worth of kayaks

so the search began for the cheapest junk aluminum boat I could find. The search ended with a 12' wide beam Klamath with a new humminbird 525 fish finder. $300 Invested so far.

Here are a few pics from before I started.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

i would pressure wash the heck out of the interior, repaint with some gray rustoleum, throw a deep cycle battery and trolling motor on it an go fishing. 12 foot is really a 2 adult boat and a kid. this is a 14 footer i did, a couple of years back.

 

[marcuscarr]

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

That would be much faster. If I get tired of using the wire wheel, I may switch to that.

One reason I am running over it with the wire wheel is to remove about 5 layers of paint and to bring out the holes. The I am repairing the holes with an oxy/ace torch and alladdin 3in1 aluminum rod.

Here are a couple of images of the bow handle. Both pictures are the same "after" photo, but I places black dots in the locations of previous holes on one.

 

[marcuscarr]

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

Here are photos of the left side mostly primed and the transom plate removed.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

i see you have an angle grinder, 30 - 60 grit sand paper is faster than a wire wheel, and does not leave little bits of steel in the boat to rust later. get a sanding disc and try it. you can also cut thru the hull with it if not careful.

 

[marcuscarr]

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

Here is my first concept.

This shows the grey carpeted deck.

red is hatch locations, the very front one is for the battery
green is pole storage
grey are seat base locations

 

[marcuscarr]

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

Good idea on the sandpaper. I have a couple different sanders that I can try. Probably the random orbital electric would be best. Maybe the air sander, but it runs very fast.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

i use a sanding disc on the angle grinder, remove the guard. your idea if fine, if you can find light enough material, remember the boat is only designed to carry so much weight. also raising the deck will make the center of gravity higher, making the boat unstable side to side.

what i would do is put a scrap piece across the seats, put the boat in the water, and then stand on it. if you think 2 people can stand at the same time without one throwing the other off, then go for it. there have been a lot of people take unplanned swims, with this type conversion on small boat.

 

[marcuscarr]

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

asdf

 

[marcuscarr]

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

Here is the use case ont he boat...

40% Just me
30% two kids and myself
20% two kids, my wife and myself
10% two buddies and myself


The last time my buddies and I went out, we had 600# of guys and #150 of equipment. That was interesting. Maybe 3" of freeboard.

Incidently, if a grown man tries to pee, standing in the front of a tippy canoe, and you wiggle the canoe, it stops the flow for a second. You can do this about 6 times before the threats get really serious.

 

[marcuscarr]

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

Good point on the standing up. Most of the fishing we do is trolling for crappie, so everyone if the boat stays sitting. I figured by adding 3/4 plywood, they would be sitting at nearly seat level. The combination of pole storage and pole holders should kind of force people toward the centerline.

I also considered a front trolling motor and casting chair, but I think I will opt out on that. I will just put a trolling motor on the back and keep everyone at seat level.

The kids like to run around the boat and I plan to keep them at floor level in the middle of the boat when they do that. If they stand on the deck, I will just throw them in the water to prevent the boat from capsizing =].

 

[jasper60103]

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

I see you have rod holders for storage in the plan. I was curious how you would make those? I would like to add something similar to mine.

 

[marcuscarr]

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

For the rod holders, I will go with something similar to this picture...

 

[marcuscarr]

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

I also felt a need for the trailer because this boat would be pretty heavy once the plywood was in.

I did a search on craigslist for "trailer" max price $100

and came up with this for $95...I bought it on my lunch break.

I am now into the whole project $400 and I have the following...

12' aluminum boat
14' fiberglass sportsman
2 seats removed from the sportsman
1 seat that I already had
trolling motor and battery that I already had
trailer
carpet
plywood
fish finder
pole holders (scrap wood)

I really just need to come up with some hinges for the storage.

Here are pictures of the $95 deal.

 

[jasper60103]

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

For the rod holders, I will go with something similar to this picture...

Ok, it looks like something you can buy and mount to boat.
thanks.

 

[marcuscarr]

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

I figured I would cut the rod holders from some scrap wood or a piece of 1/8 aluminum and pop rivet them to the boat.

 

[Arkman]

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

I'm excited to see how this goes. I'm in the same boat (no pun intended) I have a 16' aluminum lund that I want to do something similar. Keep posting photos and let me know how it goes.
Josh

 

[marcuscarr]

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

snapped a couple pictures of the $95 trailer/boat combo. I will probably trash the boat or give it away, but I think I got a deal ont he trailer.

An interesting note with this trailer is that it has a pin that can be pulled to allow it to tilt.

I have only seen this mechanism on heavy equipment trailers. I have no idea why that would put in on such a tiny trailer.

 

[marcuscarr]

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

Quick update for those that may be following this.

The trailer was 18" too long. I cut the back cross member from the trailer, cut 18 inches off the rails and welded the cross member back on. It looks like it is going to work well.

I am also reconsidering putting a deck on the boat. If I leave the deck off the boat, I can use seat clamps with swivel seats. The clamps could be moved around to suit the number of people in the boat. Those clamps run about $12 each. I have 1 already and would probably start with another 2.

If I went the deck route, I would have to invest quite a bit in seat mounting equipment.

I also found that rod holders (not storage rod holders) are more difficult than I thought. I picked up some 5 degree holders from Walmart but the seats sit too far below the gunwalls to use them. I tried fitting some Scotty mounts to the side, but realized that I wouldn't be able to turn the holders if I mounted them the way I was considering. The tops of the gunwalls are too narrow to mount anything on...I was stuck.

I figured I could build up boxes on the ends of the seats to mount them on, but thats were I want to put the cup holders...a quick web search...

Scotty makes an oarlock mount that looks like just the ticket. I ordered a couple of the mount and figured I can just use the rod holders from the other boat in these mounts.

 

[marcuscarr]

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

Re: Klamath 12' aluminum boat restoration

Tashasdaddy mentioned pressure washing the interior. Good call. It took most of the paint off and now I am considering an annual pressure washing to wear off all the paint, then just leave the aluminum exposed.