Jon Boat For Big Guys

[Tim97]

I'm looking into getting a 1540 jon boat. Im a big guy at about 450 lbs I would only use it for small lakes. So what do you all think?

[MN Fisher]

19 minutes ago, Tim97 said:

I'm looking into getting a 1540 jon boat. Im a big guy at about 450 lbs I would only use it for small lakes. So what do you all think?

The wider the better for jon boats - some places still have 2019 models of the Tracker Topper 1542 for about the same price as the Alumacraft 1540 - might pay to search around a bit.

[moguy1973]

Boat weight capacities are weird to begin with.  A 2021 Bass Tracker 175TWX has a capacity of 4 people and 555lbs.  So if you put 4 people in it they can only weigh about 135lbs each.  Yeah, that's not happening... I guess you  could run with half a tank of gas and that frees up about 80lbs.

[MN Fisher]

15 minutes ago, moguy1973 said:

Boat weight capacities are weird to begin with.  A 2021 Bass Tracker 175TWX has a capacity of 4 people and 555lbs.  So if you put 4 people in it they can only weigh about 135lbs each.  Yeah, that's not happening... I guess you  could run with half a tank of gas and that frees up about 80lbs.

Except most boat capacities do NOT include things like - motor, tank, battery. So you have to subtract all that from the capacity - then your 'passenger weight' is what's left over.

[moguy1973]

18 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Except most boat capacities do NOT include things like - motor, tank, battery. So you have to subtract all that from the capacity - then your 'passenger weight' is what's left over.

Well, Tracker lists the boat I mentioned above to have an 1100lb weight limit for passengers, motor and gear.  So you get about twice the max weight of passengers to put other stuff in the boat.  A 60hp 4 stroke Merc that comes on the boat weighs about 250lbs, so that leaves about 300lbs of other stuff you can load into the boat.  It has a 21.5gal tank, so full of gas that's another 180lbs, 21gal live well, fill that sucker up and you are out of max weight if you have three 185lb guys in the boat.  And that's without any gear.  I'm sure there's a lot of fishermen out there that overload their boats on a regular basis.

 

[roadwarrior]

I fish with some BIG guys. I have a strong preference for the stability and comfort of a

pontoon boat.  Shop around, there are great deals on used boats. Be sure to have the

motor checked by a reputable mechanic. The boats themselves are virtually indestructible.

[schplurg]

On 4/5/2009 at 7:25 PM, BRIAN77703 said:

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.

 

Oh ya sure, the old "the motor sucks but hey I'll buy it off ya real cheap!" trick.

[Fishes in trees]

It is a dilemma to bu sure.   I have an 18' Lowe.   I weigh 215 more or less (221 last doctor visit)

Another passenger about my size or lighter has very little effect on driving the boat with the big motor or fishing with the trolling motor.   I have one buddy who is 6'  350 lbs more or less.

He can't fish with me.    Standing on the back deck,  the trolling motor steer all wonky.  He can't stand for long.   The last time he sat in the pedestal chair, I was worried for the chair.

 

2 big guys in a Jon boat?  I'd be concerned in anything less than an 18 footer and even then I'd recommend a life vest that you KNOW will float you and that you KNOW won't slip off if you hit the water unexpectedly.  Also you'll want some power to move you around.   A 24 volt 80 lb  thrust minimum.   Any 12 volt trolling  motor, even the largest one made, is going to be slow and not quickly responsive in turns.  Just more stuff to think about.

 

Several years ago I was fishing in a relatively local stump filled conservation lake, came into a cove under trolling motor power, came across 3 guys high centered on a stump.  They were all bigger than me.   They were in a 16 or 14 foot Jon boat and they were STUCK.  Jon boat has a 10 horse Evinrude.  (In this lake, anything over 10 horse must be operated at wake only speed). I guess these guys wanted to go fast, I don't know.    Anyway they had swung into the cove, under power and got high centered.   Trying to spin off using the 10 horse, they struck a different stump, sheared the pin and the prop was currently at the bottom of the lake.   They had a 12 volt Shakespeare trolling motor.  Didn't know what was wrong with the battery, in their own words - "We charged it last week and it worked fine."

 

I had trouble keeping a straight face, but I knew if I was stuck like that I'd want someone to try to help me if they could, so I had to help.

Their first idea was to throw me a rope and have me pull them off the stump.   OK. "We'll just hold on to the rope".  Ok, I thought - bad idea, but ok.   Needless to say the guy wisely turned loose of the rope before getting pulled out of the boat and was before the boat got pulled off the stump.

 

We should tie to the boat, I told them.    Ok - they tied the rope to a mooring cleat.   Another bad idea - the cleat broke.   Tying to the front of the boat wasn't doable - couldn't reach it.  Finally tying to the rings where you'd strap the back of the boat to the trailer worked - I got them off the stump.   They were 3/4 mile from the launch ramp and couldn't make any headway against the wind with their tiny trolling motor, so I had to drag them - transom first, against the wind back to the launch cove.   They got soaked.    There just wasn't any place to tie to the front of the boat that anyone could reach.   Oh, yeah, there WAS a boat cleat but it got broke pulling them off the stump.

 

Got them to the bank of the launch cove, right next to the ramp and said - See you later - I'm going fishing, good luck.    In the chit chat before I left the cove, they just couldn't understand why the trolling motor would 't pull them.   They genuinely believed that trolling motor batteries recharged themselves over time - just like car batteries do.

 

Anyway - rest of the story - never saw those guys again, never saw their truck in the parking lot, nothing.   Maybe they learned something - maybe they didn't.   Point of the story is that heavy guys in Jon boats need to be prepared for the unexpected.   Don't count on me - I only fish that lake every other week or so - in decent weather, so I might not be around.

[J Francho]

To avoid confusion over answering a 12 year old thread, I split this into a new topic.

 

I would be looking for a 48" wide bottom boat.