Jon Boat For Big Guys

[BRIAN77703]

Ive been looking into getting a jon boat and adding a lower deck, but the thing is iam a really hefty dude close to 330 pounds and my fishing partner is about 250. would a jon boat be an ok fishing boat for us ? evan after adding all our gear and a small deck ? . i do want a little stability also. another thing to consider is my truck is an s10 with a 2.2 v4 it cant pull my bass boat. any advice would be helpful fellas.

[Raul]

Ive been looking into getting a jon boat and adding a lower deck, but the thing is iam a really hefty dude close to 330 pounds and my fishing partner is about 250. would a jon boat be an ok fishing boat for us ? evan after adding all our gear and a small deck ? . i do want a little stability also. another thing to consider is my truck is an s10 with a 2.2 v4 it cant pull my bass boat. any advice would be helpful fellas.

That would depend on how big the jonboat is, you two in a 12 footer -------> I don 't think so, you two on a 16 footer ----> about right.

[KYntucky Warmouth]

My dad has a 14ft? or somewhere close....might be 16 but he is about 400 or so and I am around 275 and fish comfortably...have had another fish with us that weighed somewhere in between with little problems

[Raul]

Ok, here 's when we start the discussion between what you do, what you supposed to do and what you should not do.

The boat has a weight carrying capacity.

Let 's say you got a 12 fter, with a carrying capacity of 440 pounds, you weight 330 and your pal weights 250

330 + 250 = 580 .........uh, that 's 140 pounds more than the max carrying capacity of the boat. :-/ and you haven 't even included the outboard weight, let alone seats, cooler, batteries , seats and tackle.

The boat can carry you both ? well it ain 't gonna sink if that 's what you are asking me. So you can put 580 lbs of people in the boat, you are not supposed to do it but seriously you should not do it.

The boat can carry that weight but it 's unsafe to overload it.

So it doesn 't matter what you do, it matters what you should do and that is what counts ......... it 's your hide and the other guy 's hide what 's at play and your hide is an invaluable asset.

Safety comes first, never overload a vessel.

For you two big guys the bare minimum is a 14 ft with a 64" width ( 1100 lbs of carrying capacity ).

[BRIAN77703]

hey rick do ya have a deck built ? post some pics of your boat if you can

and i want to follow the weight req. i do want to be safe.

[Catt]

Bottom width is the key to stability in Jon boats; with that kind of personal weight I would not go smaller than 48.  

[done]

Bottom width is definitely the key but before you buy get the specs on the weight. I know the tracker boats jons for example on their site they list the official CG ratings which have weight limits. I have a Tracker topper 1446 and a casting deck I built on it. My rear one works great for me. The front one 50/50 on whether someone can use it. My buds usually can, my grandfather has to sit his just cannot balance on it.

So if you got 2 big guys I would not recommend a 1446. Look at the tracker site and get an idea of what their CG ratings are for various sizes then call around and ask dealers in your area about the ratings for various sizes.

As these guys say though, do not exceed to CG limits, yeah it may work, but it may not be safe.  

[BRIAN77703]

thanks fellas iam currently lookin for a boat now.

[Micro]

I'm 6'4" and 300lbs.  My 1548 long transom is everything I need.  

[done]

Happy hunting Brian, throw up some photos when you pick one up!!

[HPBB]

why don't you look for a small metal bass boat. like a 15-17 foot tracker or similar boat. your s-10 can pull those style boats. I have a buddy that pulls a 17 foot lowe bass boat with a 50hp  on it  with his 2.2L s-10 and it pulls it just fine

[BRIAN77703]

thats a nice boat micro, see fellas i have a 20 ft bass boat, but its been sitting since my father passed. iam going to bring it home soon and try to fix it up. but my little truck barely pulls. yea i do want one of those tracker boats but my funds arent really allowing me do get one. maybe if i find for a steal i might have to go get me a loan for one.      

iam just worried bout getting a jon boat cause we had a john boat before and i took it for its maiden voyage and the weight balence was completely off, i was in the back and the front was almost sticking straight up. thanks for the advice felllas.

[Micro]

The ***-end on my boat sticks up a little, too. But not that much. It will catch the wind, though. I always keep my motor in the water which keeps me from twirling around.

[flechero]

see fellas i have a 20 ft bass boat, but its been sitting since my father passed.

None of my business but maybe you should take your s-10 and the money you are about to spend on another boat, and put it towards a "new" vehicle that can tow the bass boat.  That way you are in a larger, safer boat and you haven't thrown away money on a second boat that may or may not meet your needs.

The used truck market is pretty ripe these days.

[BRIAN77703]

see iam in a big thinkin battle  about that. my bass boat is a 1992 javelin 20 ft bassboat with 150 johnson on it. it need some tlc. like new carpet and new seats and other odds and ends. and some wiring issues. and now my uncle is telling me the motor is no good. but he also wants to buy it for 500 bucks. and hes not the worlds most trustworthy uncle either so. i figure it might be cheaper to buy a old hunting and fishing truck but i dont know. i might post a poll up or sumthing when i get the boat back home and actually go through it real good to see wat all i need to fix on it.

[Kansas Angler]

the boat with the motor being bad would be worth more than 500 dollars so i wouldnt sell it at that price if i were you. i would take it to a mechanic and have him check the motor over

[done]

ditto. If the hull and everything else is in workable shape, that seems like a low-ball offer.

Get the motor checked out, my bud had a 45 HP 2 stroke that was "dead". He took it to a decent mechanic and for a couple hundred bucks, he got that motor running like brand new. It was impressive and has run like a champ ever since.

I would bet (if you're like me), getting the new truck would be the better way to go. I mean you got the boat already. You probably have more reasons to trade up on a new truck (hauling stuff, towing, etc) so the cash you spend there will actually get more use.