10' jon boat and lots of free time

[bass kickin]

i want to have a nice rig for my pond... i was thinking a carpeted floor, seat, and trolling motor what do you guys think. also i can only find $5/sq. foot outdoor carpet where can i get some cheap

[Grey Wolf]

Welcome.

You really need marine carpet.

I see you've got part of your face blocked. Are you wanted by the law or just ugly ?

[Wayne P.]

The 10' jon I used to have was rigged with a bow mount foot control trolling motor, a slighty raised swivel seat on the middle tank seat, and I put the grass-looking outdoor carpet on the bottom and 1/2 way up the sides. I glued the carpet directly to the hull and didn't add any flooring to increase weight. I wired the motor to be powered by the battery mounted at the transom for better weight balance and had a duplex electric outlet at the bow for the motor and electronics.

It didn't take me long when I first started fishing in boats to find out that controlling it was a lot better and more efficient when done from the bow. Every fishing boat since then has been set up that way.

[done]

x2 it is not nice, you NEED marine carpet. Lowes sells it around here. It is different.

This may be a "duh" comment but, I would also recommend you get some plywood on the floor and attach the carpet to that. If you get creative, you can make it removable, to if you get a particularly wet day, you can easily remove it  and dry it out.

Another pierce of advice, cover every part of aluminum bench you can with carpet. My first year on mine, I did not do that. The blistering on the back of my legs was legendary (granted I was in NC and it was 90+ every day), I burned the crap out of myself. 

So my question would be, how far you want to take it? I did mine up with nice carpet, pulled 40ft of wiring to give me a fish finder, nav lights, TM, bilge pump, even a plug for a radio. It was fun but very labor intensive and probably a few hundred  dollars when all was said and done (I did it in phases over time).

[bass kickin]

good ideas. probably go with the removable floor so i can keep it clean. and my uncle told me to get the bow mount as well so that sounds like a good idea. if i get it on the pond and it's relatively sturdy would it be possible to put a little 3 hp motor on it to take it to the river or would the trolling motor be enough. 

[Wayne P.]

My first gas outboard was a Merc 2.2 HP used on my 10' jon and I got that after I had it rigged with the bow mount. I think the boat was rated for 5 HP.

[MSPbass]

Have you had that baby in the water yet? I had a 10' jon that looked an awful lot like yours (Sears Gamefisher?) and had all sorts of plans for it. However, on her maiden voyage, it became all too clear that she was not going to handle much in the way of modifications. There are other things you have to consider besides length. She was sturdy, but narrow and tippy as heck. No one was going to be standing and casting, that's for sure.  I scrapped all my plans and let her go to a duck hunter. If I stayed with it, there's no way I would have done anything but carpet the benches, floor the middle and maybe floor the back space for the t/m battery.

Marine Carpet should be pretty easy to find. Home Depot, Lowes & Sears all have it. Even Bass Pro has a budget buy that's $7 for a 6' roll. The advice I got when I was planning was ½ plywood coated good with Thompson's Water Seal, cut to fit between the benches with carpet stapled on the underside. I would have set the floor on a few feet to, just barely, clear that rib. But that was just my experience. I've seen some amazing work on little jons; so good luck to you! Let us know how it goes.

[done]

Have you had that baby in the water yet? I had a 10' jon that looked an awful lot like yours (Sears Gamefisher?) and had all sorts of plans for it. However, on her maiden voyage, it became all too clear that she was not going to handle much in the way of modifications. There are other things you have to consider besides length. She was sturdy, but narrow and tippy as heck. No one was going to be standing and casting, that's for sure. I scrapped all my plans and let her go to a duck hunter. If I stayed with it, there's no way I would have done anything but carpet the benches, floor the middle and maybe floor the back space for the t/m battery.

Marine Carpet should be pretty easy to find. Home Depot, Lowes & Sears all have it. Even Bass Pro has a budget buy that's $7 for a 6' roll. The advice I got when I was planning was ½ plywood coated good with Thompson's Water Seal, cut to fit between the benches with carpet stapled on the underside. I would have set the floor on a few feet to, just barely, clear that rib. But that was just my experience. I've seen some amazing work on little jons; so good luck to you! Let us know how it goes.

Also...do NOT use any pressure treated wood. It will not react nice with your hull...

[jamarkwe]

Have you had that baby in the water yet? I had a 10' jon that looked an awful lot like yours (Sears Gamefisher?) and had all sorts of plans for it. However, on her maiden voyage, it became all too clear that she was not going to handle much in the way of modifications. There are other things you have to consider besides length. She was sturdy, but narrow and tippy as heck. No one was going to be standing and casting, that's for sure. I scrapped all my plans and let her go to a duck hunter. If I stayed with it, there's no way I would have done anything but carpet the benches, floor the middle and maybe floor the back space for the t/m battery.

Marine Carpet should be pretty easy to find. Home Depot, Lowes & Sears all have it. Even Bass Pro has a budget buy that's $7 for a 6' roll. The advice I got when I was planning was ½ plywood coated good with Thompson's Water Seal, cut to fit between the benches with carpet stapled on the underside. I would have set the floor on a few feet to, just barely, clear that rib. But that was just my experience. I've seen some amazing work on little jons; so good luck to you! Let us know how it goes.

Also...do NOT use any pressure treated wood. It will not react nice with your hull...

No treated wood?....The wood I just ripped out of my 2005 Tracker 175 is treated wood.... The hull is just fine...No damage at all...No reaction at all and it was screwed directly to the aluminum framing....It has been in there for 6 years now(mfr date 2004)