Jon Boat to Bass Boat Conversion Pitfalls

[casts_by_fly]

16 hours ago, KSanford33 said:

Unfortunately I'm still a few years away from that.

 

As it turns out, 24DC on a battery does not mean 24 volts direct current. So my battery is 12v. Who knew?

 

It is probably a group 24 based on the capacity specs above.  Group size is a standard footprint/volume definition for lead acid batteries.  Group 24 is small and usually low capacity, but often enough for a cranking and house battery.  Group 27 is the bottom end of capacity for a trolling motor and I'd only use it if you have a charging system from the big motor to top you up a little through the day.  Group 29 isn't common.  Group 31 is where the all electric boats start for capacity.  They are big and heavy, but if you need the capacity that's where you are.

[Motoboss]

Saw this video and thought about this thread. Pretty nice conversion.

 

 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

What a dream that boat would be for my home lake......I've been shopping on FB marketplace for something similar, obviously not nearly as nice as that one.     That thing is money.

[Dwight Hottle]

On 10/13/2022 at 7:38 PM, KSanford33 said:

Unfortunately I'm still a few years away from that.

 

As it turns out, 24DC on a battery does not mean 24 volts direct current. So my battery is 12v. Who knew?

24 is the group size & DC stands for deep cycle. The higher the group size number the bigger the battery dimensions. 

[WRB]

On 10/13/2022 at 12:14 PM, KSanford33 said:

For those of you who have done a Jon boat to bass boat conversion, what pitfalls did you run into? Mine will be very basic since I'm still going to transport it in the back of my truck, so weight will be an issue; but I wanted to see what issues anyone ran into with theirs.

Better have a winch in the pick up to load the boat!

Tom

[MN Fisher]

Just now, WRB said:

Better have a winch in the pick up to load the boat!

Tom

Or a couple very strong friends...

[KSanford33]

31 minutes ago, WRB said:

Better have a winch in the pick up to load the boat!

Tom

Thankfully a buddy of mine showed me how to do it relatively easy. You take a couple strips of rope, add handles to them, tie them to the front of the boat (there's a big iron ring there), then stand in the bed of the truck and basically deadlift the front of the boat in and slide it in from there. I've done it a handful of times so far and it's easy enough. I have to take the trolling motor off of the stern because of the angle though; otherwise it'll hit on the ground. It's pretty far removed from these guys with their 50k+ bass boats, but I'm happy with it. I'll take pictures of it next spring when I'm done modifying everything.

[WRB]

Do what the motor cycle guys do; 2 x 12 plank with a angle iron piece that goes into the truck bed gate hinge and slide the boat in lieu of dead lifting to save your back! Remember after adding seats, framing and decking material the weight increases significantly.

2000 lb 12V ATV winch cost less then $70.

Rugsel is $67.

 Tom 

PS, consider adding folding/removable  transom wheels like Velvor.