restore 'ole floater

[jonb14]

Fellow John Boaters ...

I recently bought a 14' jon boat as a "' '07- 08 Winter project" a fixer upper if you will and thus far invested $200 in alittle welding work.

I have BIG PLANS for it after read'n the many possiblites on the other site as this is the first one I've ever owned.

Building a casting deck, installing some swivel seats, electrical power, strength'n transom and of course lots of camo paint.

I'm new on this board so go easy on me, I've read throughout the previous site as I said before "Aluminum Boat & Repair Board" and it was a tremendous help.

Here are a few pics, it may not be pretty but at least it floats.
BTW, it doesn't leak it rained last night and I didn't empty it before taking the photos

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: restore 'ole floater

on that boat mount your swivel seat on the existing seat, put 1/2 inch exterior ply, loose laid down for a smooth deck. the boat is really to narrow, for a raise deck, and be safe, center of gravity too high. electric can be run thru PVC pipe, attached to the gunnel. i have painted many of those with the $1.00 can of spray paint.
by the way this forum has no connection to the alum board. it just died.

 

[DJ]

Re: restore 'ole floater

Good ideas from Tashasdaddy.

I'll also add to be careful with the casting deck. You want to keep the center of gravity low.

Don't worry about the members on this board. We're all nice!

Good luck, keep us posted.

 

[jonb14]

Re: restore 'ole floater

How about if I do something in between the floor and the lines?

 

[DJ]

Re: restore 'ole floater

That's pretty high. You'll be surprised at how that difference in height will destabilize the boat.

Before you do anything permanent, do some experimentation.

 

[jwilkey84]

Re: restore 'ole floater

i agree with everything said so far. Have you actually taken the boat out and tried it? Lean from side to side and see how tipsy it really is? And the camo paint you mention makes me think that you may be thinking of duck huntint out of this thing, you sure don't want a tipsy boat for that. On the contrary, if this is your first boat tinker and have fun with it, and be willing to learn from your mistakes.

 

[jonb14]

Re: restore 'ole floater

If I go this height, would it be safe enough?
I'm looking to place some plywood down and then carpet it, install a couple 9"-12''
Pedestal Sets w/ swivel seats.

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: restore 'ole floater

That might work. Only way to know is scrounge some plywood, cut to fit and try it out. You can duplicate the swivel seats, roughly, using old milk crates turned upside down for your test run. As said by others, that's a narrow boat so it could get tippy. Test your deck/seat ideas in shallow water. If it gets tippy enough to scare you, explore other options. I have duck hunted out of similar but wider boats, equipped with folding camp chairs between the seats...set up after we anchored out and tied down. Have fished out of john boats where the swivel seats were attached to bases that clamp to the existing bench seats...that way you can move them around on the benches from side to side. Not as high as the pedestal seats, but still comfortable...and stable. Both of these options worked well for what we were doing. When motoring to fishing/hunting spots, we just sat on cushions on the exsiting benches...to keep the boat low and stable while underway.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: restore 'ole floater

my suggestion is to try a 5 gallon bucket, on the existing deck, then put the bucket on the existing seat. the best situation is to mount to the existing seat, as in my little red and white boat, 2nd best is to use the pedistal mount to 3/4 plywood and the ply attached to the boat ribs.

it is possible for the boat to capsize, or not as bad, you take an unplanned swim, can ruin a great day. you are also going to find that mounting the pedistals were you are thinking, that boat is going to get extremely cramped. no place for tackle of tackle boxes. you will be tripping all over everything.

 

[jonb14]

Re: restore 'ole floater

My bad :redface: I forgot to mention, the most important remaining factor
The additional added weight of my fish'n partner ... 125 lbs

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: restore 'ole floater

beautiful Rotty, you see mine in my avatar, that's how i got my screen name.

 

[jonb14]

Re: restore 'ole floater

That's a good looking dog there as well, my brother use to have a Alaskan Malamute.
Snow white w/ blue eyes, her name was Blue.