Jon Boat Modification

[Taylor1617]

Question for you guys. Just moved onto a private lake that is electric motor only. I was gifted an extremely old jon boat 12 footer, about 40 inches wide. I want to paint it and rig it to be my bass boat. My one concern is the height of the boat in the middle is only 12 inches. Seems like pretty small sides. Is that normal? Will it be okay on a medium size lake? I just don’t want to start doing modifications to it then come to find it’s not going to work. Let me know your opinions!

[TOXIC]

Totally depends on what modifications you are going to do to it.  If you mean things like adding a casting deck or any mods that add weight, then you have to be careful not to overload the boat or make it top heavy.  No Jon does well in rough water so you always have to be cautious.  

[Catt]

What @TOXIC said ?

 

Instead of adding casting decks I would add a floor & fish standing on the floor. Use the small front deck for accessories.

[BigAngus752]

What @Catt said.  I have a jon that size that is not powered.  I carry it in the back of my truck.  I made two floor sections for it using ground-contact-grade plywood.  I framed them to match the floor contour and fastened the framing to the plywood but did NOT fasten the wood to the boat because I carry the boat by hand to the water and the wood added weight.  This way I can carry the boat to the water and drop it in and then carry the two sections of floor and drop them in the boat.  

[Catt]

@BigAngus752 Awesome ingenuity! ?

[Taylor1617]

Great info guys. My boat will likely not be moved since I live on the lake. My initial thoughts were to put on some chairs, floor the bottom as mentioned above, then just make a little extension the front to have as underneath storage that I guess someone could stand on but I would assume that would be pretty unstable. I also would just put a cover on the back little portion to cover the battery and stuff. 

 

Ive been reading a lot lately but have seems a bunch of different thoughts. What are your recommendation on plywood size?

[Deeare]

How many acres is this medium sized lake?    Does it get windy?    I had the same size Jon and they suck in wind/waves.  Sell it and get a vhull!!   

[Taylor1617]

Actual area does it pretty windy. Lakes exact size not sure, but big enough where there can be some waves. How much could I really sell a boat for that is super old? Again, my biggest fear is doing all this stuff to it then having it not work well on the water. I guess I could try it out first out there, but really wanted to get the project started!

[TOXIC]

What type of other boats do you see on the lake?  Which are the most popular?  That will give you a good idea.

[Taylor1617]

People have canoes and stuff but almost everyone has a pontoon. Don’t see many small fishing type boats.

[curtis9]

I'd fish out of the boat some before putting any time and money in it.  I had a 14/42 jon boat at one point, and it's fine for sitting, but it was fairly unstable.  

 

I live on ~130 acre electric only lake, and have a 15/48 jon boat that I've added a deck extension, lighting, rod holders etc.  It's much more stable than the older boat and enables me to stand on the front deck while fishing.

[Taylor1617]

Yeah, now I’m thinking this may not work. Haven’t had a chance to get out on it yet but I do plan on having 2 people in it at once. And I figured out I was miscalculating width for beam. Actual metrics is 1230. The boat was given to me so I want to make it work but now I feel I shouldn’t really invest anything into it. Seems like it may be just too small.

 

Do you guys agree?? Then with my next question realistically what can I get a wider used job boat for? Maybe 14+ length? Cause now I’m itching to get one but limited on funds.