New Jon Boat Project!

[CAnglr]

Hey everyone after lots of rain and work i finnally took all day yesterday to finish the boat.  I ran all the wiring and built the rear deck. Gonna take it out tommorow and see how she handles with the added weight.  Thanks for all who have kept an eye on the project.

here she is as she sits

front deck

rear deck

rear hatch open

front storage compartment

cooler and livewell setup

electrical wired up with lightws front and rear for night fishing for cats>

anyway after its voyage tommorow im will see if i want to mov the trolling motor to the front of the boat or not.  I have a few other things like fire extinguiser to add but 99% of it is done.  Thanks for looking enjoy!

Joe

[jeremyt]

Man thats sweet, it looks like it came from the factory that way.  I bet you could make a lot of side money doing that. Great job.

[CAnglr]

Well the test run went well I took it out today with my not so light freind and myself.(about 450lbs of people) and it handled great.  They fished off the front deck while i fished off the rear deck.  Moves are definatly calculated but once we got our sea legs everything was fine.  the only way i could see tipping this thing is iff both of us were on the same side of the boat and one of us jumped.  I tried it and the gunwales came within a few inches.  All in all i would call it a success.

Here a pic of the boat and trailer along with my tow vehical.

let me know what you think.

Joe

[thefishingone]

How much did this project cost you? Even include the boat price in it.

[CAnglr]

Well lets see...

boat $700 after tax and tags

Trailer was $500 tax and tags

gas motor was $200

electric motor was $150 with rebate

battery was $50

aluminum was about $60

Plywood was $25

Carpet i cut pre cut for $45

Misc wireing plugs switches about $150

Im sure im forgetting something But right around $1800-$2000 sounds about right.  But again that including everything.

Thanks

Joe

[BassMaster_17]

Great Job!!!!!!!  You should enjoy that for years to come!!!

[thefishingone]

After I saw this I was like wow I want to do that. Just wondering could you weld the aluminum to the boat and weld the other aluminum together? Or would that be harder to do?

[spin king]

Unless you know someone who will weld for free, it would be a whole lot more expensive to weld the frame.  

How did you attach the deck to the frame?

[CAnglr]

Yea the rivits were a whole lot easier i think.  I just drilled all my holes in the frome then ran around with my rivit gun and rivited it all together.  I fastend the deck to the frame work using self tapping stainless steel screws.  Worked pretty well just make sure that you pre drill the holes because i snapped plenty of screws learning that  the hard way.

Good luck

Joe

[tennwalkinghorse]

Looks great so far keep use posted and keep the pic coming :)

[Certified Public Angler]

man good looking boat there.  Im jealous, Ive been searching craigslist forever looking for something that will leave me enough cash to mod it.  Great work man.

[Big Tom]

Awesome job.  It turned out awesome!!!

[MikeFromOleMiss]

where do you buy angled aluminum like that?  lowes or something?  Also, im a big guy, 6'4 300lbs,  would the aluminum support me or do i need to try wood?  

[CAnglr]

Thanks guys im currently looking for a fishfinder around a hundred bucks to add as well.  Yes i bought the aluminum at lowes.  Looking back i spent way more then i should have as my local scrap yard has scrap aluminum for cost.  Would have saved me about half my cost.  Good Luck with your project.  As far as support my deck can support me (200lbs) and my freinds (250lbs) With only alittle bit of flexing.  So if you smart about it and were you put your supports you should be fine.  I know some other guys on here frame different ways you might want to check out theres and find out what looks best to you.

Joe

[MikeFromOleMiss]

As far as support my deck can support me (200lbs) and my freinds (250lbs) With only alittle bit of flexing.  So if you smart about it and were you put your supports you should be fine.  I know some other guys on here frame different ways you might want to check out theres and find out what looks best to you.

Joe

thanks man, ill do that.  Im thinking about a wood/aluminum combo.  

[ad870]

Boat looks great.  You do great work.  Two things I noticed that I wondered if you would change if you were doing it again.

1.  Does the cooler get in the way when fishing?  I thought about doing this on mine but was worried about that part of it.

2.  On your back seat can you use your tiller from the pedastel mount and if not I'm afraid you are going to have a wet butt quite a bit of the time from your carpeting on the bench.

Not being critical because I took on a similar project and yours looks 10 times better then mine.  

[CAnglr]

Hey your not being critical at all.  I enjoy being able to help others with there projects if i can.  

1) the cooler does get in the way a little bit when moving around the boat not so much when fishing.  Im thinking of making a carpeted peice to cover the hole so i can pull out the cooler and use the whole front deck if need be.  

2) Yes i can reach the trolling motor just find while cruising on the pedestal seat.  Its quit comftable acually but the shaft on my trolling motor is pretty long so i have alot of adjustment.  In order to run the regular motor i just remove the pedastal and put the seat directly in the base.  Im pretty happy with it overall though.

Joe

[CAnglr]

Hey guys just an update will post pics tommorow but i just got home from picking up a 1959 evinrude sportwin 10 hp outboard.  The motor look like new! Pumps water started on first pull shifts through all gears and picked it up with the tank all for $150!  Cant wait to try it out on the boat.  Will get pictures tommorow.  Any recommendations for this motor for me to look out for or do?  What would a proper fuel mix ratio be.  I also noticed it has a [ressurized gas tank and i just purchased a new tank for my other motor and i was wondering if i could modify that tank to work on this motor wich runs on the pressurized system.  Thanks guys will get pics tommorow.

Joe

[done]

Nice work. I got the exact same boat except a 8 HP Mercury motor on it. You have any issues with the weight on it riding too low.

I have been looking to do what you are doing there but to date, have been concerned about the weight. It does ride pretty low in the back and I have been worried about it getting swamped by some of the less than courteous boaters I have run into who do their best to do so.

What thickness was that on the plywood you used for the deck? Also, if you were to guess what do you figure the total cost was for you on this one?  

Thanks for this post dude. You have given me some awesome ideas.

[CAnglr]

Hey thanks for the reply.  I still have plenty of free board left on this boat im not too worried about it.  And total including the new motor would be somewere in the $2200 range since im selling the old motor.

Here are some pics of her i took it out this morning and it took a few pulls to get it started and it idled kinda ruff.  once it was opened up it ran great but just did not wat to run at idle speed.  Thinking of runing a can of sea foam through it and she if it helps. PLugs look new as do the wires.  any ideas? I messed with the idle adjustment knobs and diddnt notice to much of a difference.

I also took a video while i was out driving and man ill tell you what this little boats flies once i got it planed out.

Enjoy and thanks for the help..

Joe

[done]

Not too sure on that. My tracker is my first outboard. We had a mess of I/O when I was growing up. Probably am being paranoid by the chance of getting swamped. With the boats my father owned growing up, having a wave go over the side was never an issue. Actually, the times it is really a concern are when I am sitting still and get hammered by some dude screaming right near me in a ski boat. If I see 'em up front I can use the trolling motor to take the waves up front. Probably nothing a half decent bilge pump couldn't handle if it did anyway.

Also, how is the stability with it? I know most folks on here highly recommend jon boats no less than 42" wide. I have found with mine currently if I am alone standing and casting is fine. If I have 2 folks on there, sitting is really better  unless you have 2 REALLY balanced folks on there.

[done]

Did you put any finish on the plywood? I have seen posts here suggesting not to do so. Just curious. I just about have the entire aluminum superstructure built on it.

I really appreciate you posting this in such detail. I am actually, going to something extremely similar to mine. I am moving the battery forward though behind what is the middle seat since that space is not used at all right now and i could use the extra weight up there to help plane it out more with the 8 hp motor.  I am also adding some extra flotation stuff under the parts of the deck that are not part of the storage area. I probably would not have thought of it if not for this post.

What, if any superstructure did you use for the middle section flooring? I was nervous about just putting plywood down as is.

[CAnglr]

Sure no problem just post pics of your project when your done so we can see it!  As for the floor between the rear and center seat there is no frame.  By the bench seat there is a 1x2 screwed to it since there is not ribs there but everything else is supported by the ribs themsef and it is pretty sturdy.  I treated what little wood i used with thompsons watersealer befor installing.  I think what you read was that most recommend not using pressure treated wood since it can ruin the aluminium over time.  Good luck with your project.

Joe

[done]

Did you use marine plywood? I am having issues find some around here. Probably end up with normal plywood and indoor/outdoor carpeting cause nobody carries the carpeting either.

[CAnglr]

Nope marine plywood weighs a ton!  Most people just use regular plywood and treat it.  the marine carpet is avaiable through lowes is you have one near by.  it is rubber backed so the glue doesnt seep through when you use it.

Joe