bassassasin260 Posted June 2, 2008 Posted June 2, 2008 i just got a 14 foot jon boat and have a few questions how do i get it registered if i have no title? and what size is a good engine to push this thing with about 3 people in it? im lookign at a 7.5hp that i want to get. heres a few pics bet you wouldnt guess i got it for 28$, no leeks, not problems... thanks for any help Quote
Super User South FLA Posted June 3, 2008 Super User Posted June 3, 2008 I would go with a 9.9 and make sure the transom is in good shape. This should answer your titling questions: http://www.dmv.org/fl-florida/boat-registration.php#Fees_for_Titling_and_Registering_a_Boat_in_Florida Quote
bassassasin260 Posted June 3, 2008 Author Posted June 3, 2008 i just redid the transom today, fresh plywood with a thick coat of ruber undercoat and an aluminum plate on top thanks for the link on registering it Quote
bassassasin260 Posted June 3, 2008 Author Posted June 3, 2008 heres the pics of the fresh transom, and i also made a full deck for it, i still need to carpet it. i spent more on the carpet than i did the whole boat! lol im afraid the deck was a bad idea, it nearly doubles its weight and i have no trailer, i put it in the back of my truck... somebody dumped a saltwater boat out at the local wheeling spot and i raped it for all the latches, rod holders, and i got a nice little stainless bow cleat im carpeting the floor, deck, and im getting a swivel chair for the deck and one to mount between the back bench and the deck, and ill get a cushion for the back bench. the 7.5hp moter is such a smokin deal idk if i can pass it up Quote
alabamabassmaster Posted June 3, 2008 Posted June 3, 2008 I have the same boat, mine is an Alumacraft 14ft with a plywood floor and deck that I put in myself. With me, gear, motor, floor and deck, trolling motor, two batteries and one other person the 15hp max rating wouldn't cut it anymore so I had to go with a 25hp Johnson. When my boat was empty that 15hp would shove it great but with the floor, deck and bow mount trolling motor with 2 batteries and two adults the 15hp just couldn't handle the weight. Quote
bassassasin260 Posted June 3, 2008 Author Posted June 3, 2008 i plan on 2-3 people, a cooler, and a full front deck... 7.5hp suddenly seems kinda small. but i cant really afford more than 150$ on an engine... thanks for the tip Quote
bassassasin260 Posted June 3, 2008 Author Posted June 3, 2008 what size shaft do i need? will a 20" shaft be fine or do i need a 15" shaft? Quote
bassassasin260 Posted June 4, 2008 Author Posted June 4, 2008 got it all decked and carpeted between today and yesterday. probly about 15 hours worth of time into this. grand total on the whole boat is now around 70-80$ redid the transom with 3/4" plywood and put a ton f rubber undercoat on it Quote
XcoM274 Posted June 4, 2008 Posted June 4, 2008 You can always be long on the shaft. You only need to worry about it if you have a tall transom. My boat had a 15" transom instead of the standard 10", so I had to be sure to get a long shaft engine. Either will work with your boat, but the longer shaft will draft more. If you're planning to go shallow, you might want a short shaft. Great work on the deck! I commend you're bravery for putting 3 people in there lol, but 2 would be great. Quote
bassassasin260 Posted June 4, 2008 Author Posted June 4, 2008 yea, its becoming a little bit to much boat to be hauling the bed of my bros truck... my trucks a short bed so thats not even close to good enough. the long bed barely cuts it. lol all it needs is a 25hp and a few swivel chairs and im set! Quote
bassassasin260 Posted June 4, 2008 Author Posted June 4, 2008 found me a 20horse with console and steering and all for 200$. all i need is a little extra cash and its mine. Quote
alarcher Posted June 4, 2008 Posted June 4, 2008 Console only equals more weight bud. Hate to dig into your pockets but after a console and a 20hp motor your gonna want a trailer next. The decking job is awesome! Nice work! Quote
bassassasin260 Posted June 4, 2008 Author Posted June 4, 2008 the 20hp sold within 2 hours of him posting the add lol. i can see why. a perfect running 20hp for only 200$... so im pretty ticked. i threw her in the bed and went fishing with padles in a smaller golf course lake just to see if it had no leeks or anything and to get a feel for it, turned out to be a pretty good fishing day even tho we had to paddle lol. wasn't to bad fishing 3 people... at first i though it was unstable but after i got used to it its really not that bad. the ribs on the floor sucked and id love to put a plywood floor down but its already a hassle loading it in the bed with 3 people after a couple hours of fishing, having to carry it up a steep bank and all... I WANT A MOTOR! Quote
bassassasin260 Posted June 4, 2008 Author Posted June 4, 2008 i just got a 60$ bid on the go ped that came free with the jon boat, so the boat is pretty much free at this point ;D Quote
alabamabassmaster Posted June 4, 2008 Posted June 4, 2008 You did an awesome job on the deck and carpeting, I need to do mine like that. With all of the weight, I would suggest at least a 15hp but no more than a 25hp. I have a Johnson 25hp Short Shaft and it works great, mine is only rated for a 15hp but I take the chance because very seldom do they check that here in Alabama. If you live close to an Academy Sports I would suggest this trailer, I bought this with my boat and it's a good trailer for these boats. MCCLAIN 14-FT. JON BOAT Â TRAILER Quote
bassassasin260 Posted June 5, 2008 Author Posted June 5, 2008 i had no idea you had to be within spec of engine rating to get it registered? im going to have a huge prob registering it as the guy i got it from found it floating down the canal... so its as good as a stolen boat prety much. i need some help on registering it, i get a headache thinking about it, and now the motor has to be in spec too? i know for one thing florida is very cool about most laws, like for example we dont test for emissions and dont have limits on hp for our lakes and such so i think i wont have trouble with a big motor... the boat does have a vin and it was last registered in 99. maybe sooner but the sticker was 99. Quote
bassassasin260 Posted June 5, 2008 Author Posted June 5, 2008 i went to the local wheelin spot to see if this boat trailer id seen out there was still their but someone had already took it. i ended up getting a 90hp force engine cowl so ills ell that bad boy for 50$ on ebay... yes i go to the wheelin spot to go junk hunting now and then, its how i make my money for the most part... ebay ownes Quote
alabamabassmaster Posted June 5, 2008 Posted June 5, 2008 going to have a huge prob registering it as the guy i got it from found it floating down the canal... so its as good as a stolen boat prety much And he sold it to you for $28? Â ;D What bothers me is the tag it has on it already (FL-55-8FN), when you register it they will ask if it has ever been registered before and because it has a tag on it already it probably has. To change it into your name you will have to show a bill of sale which would be hard to get so it's a tough situation. The only way really is to say you built it and make up a serial and register it that way. Quote
bassassasin260 Posted June 5, 2008 Author Posted June 5, 2008 i was actualy just thinking about riping the vin off and i was going to take those numbers off anyway, and saying that i built the boat from scratch. i could easily make a fake bill of sale, but i don't know the previous owners name becasue the guy i bough it from didn't exactly loose the title, he found the boat floating down a canal... is there anywhere i can run the vin so i can get the real owners name so i can make a bill of sale? Quote
bassassasin260 Posted June 5, 2008 Author Posted June 5, 2008 so can i fit a 40hp or would that be way to much? its not a tiller, id put a remote throttle and my own tiller handle im also lookign at a 20hp evinrude which is my first choice but it doesn't run which is no big deal, its a 2 stroke and it has spark and compression, ill clean the carb and i guarantee itl run. my concern is he says the condition of the lower unit is "unknown" which leads me to believe something is wrong, so are the lower units on 70s omc 20horses bulletproof or do i need to worry about it? the whole motor only costs 100$ and im willing to put 100$ into it. so think thats the one ill go for. Quote
alabamabassmaster Posted June 5, 2008 Posted June 5, 2008 i was actualy just thinking about riping the vin off and i was going to take those numbers off anyway, and saying that i built the boat from scratch.i could easily make a fake bill of sale, but i don't know the previous owners name becasue the guy i bough it from didn't exactly loose the title, he found the boat floating down a canal... is there anywhere i can run the vin so i can get the real owners name so i can make a bill of sale? No, you would have to go thru the courthouse and then they would get curious so the best thing I would recommend if you're going to put it public waters, remove any numbers and tell them you built it from scratch and register it that way. Quote
bassassasin260 Posted June 5, 2008 Author Posted June 5, 2008 so what is involved with registering it as a boat that i built? just go down to the dmv with the jon boat in the bed so they can take a look at it and they will take care of it? there must be more to it... Quote
alabamabassmaster Posted June 5, 2008 Posted June 5, 2008 so can i fit a 40hp or would that be way to much? its not a tiller, id put a remote throttle and my own niger rig tiller handle I would not put anything over a 25hp on it because too much hp can be very bad. (Learned the hard way) LOL! im also lookign at a 20hp evinrude which is my first choice but it doesn't run which is no big deal, its a 2 stroke and it has spark and compression, ill clean the carb and i guarantee itl run. my concern is he says the condition of the lower unit is "unknown" which leads me to believe something is wrong, so are the lower units on 70s omc 20horses bulletproof or do i need to worry about it? the whole motor only costs 100$ and im willing to put 100$ into it. so think thats the one ill go for. I would ask to run it first, see how it sounds, check for leaks, weak compression, the common stuff. The lower unit is fairly basic, if there are no oil leaks, find out when the last time the oil was changed in the lower unit. Before running it, ask and make sure the water pump is working because it can overheat if it's not. What year model is it? Quote
alabamabassmaster Posted June 5, 2008 Posted June 5, 2008 Quote so what is involved with registering it as a boat that i built? just go down to the dmv with the jon boat in the bed so they can take a look at it and they will take care of it? there must be more to it... Well, I'm not sure how other states do it, most are going to require an inspection of the homemade boat however being that it's under 16ft I'm not sure. This can be easy but in some cases it can be pure hell because of the questions and blah blah. Â Â Quote
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