Jon Boat restoration(finally the hard part is done)

[cotton]

Me and my fishing buddy got this jon boat,trailer,trolling motor, and battery. We decided we wanted to turn it into a bass boat. Neither one of us had much experience in anything like this and we would use time after work to work on it. Total time took us around 30hours of work. Half of which was us bickering back and forth on how to do something(to many chiefs not enough Indians) haha. Thought I would share how we did it just in case anyone else was interested in doing the same. After $200 in Carpet, Wood Treatment and nuts and bolts this is where we are now. Any questions feel free to ask!

[bamabassman]

THAT IS AWESUM!!! that is the way to do a flat bottom boat my friend. slick,sweet and looks pro made. you are going to have sooo much fun in that rig buddy. thanks man.

[nobass]

man if thats what it looks like when you do not know what your doing . if you did i can not guess how it would look any better great job you will get many hours of pleasure from it,

[cotton]

Originally Posted by nobass

man if thats what it looks like when you do not know what your doing . if you did i can not guess how it would look any better great job you will get many hours of pleasure from it,

Thats because you didnt get to see all the 2x4's we had to throw out from bad measurements haha. We put the boat on the water yesterday for the first time since the restoration and it is unbelievably sturdy! If we could do it anyone could.

[carolina-rig-01]

That is awesome Cotton, you guys did great!

[BBD]

man I wish my 10ft jon had a beam like that so I could deck it!

[nofearengineer]

Your DIY'er looks awesome, Cotton. Keep it up.

[damian2b]

That does look sweet! I want to do something like that with mine but need to find the time! What size boat is that?

[walkeraviator]

I have a question. Does all the extra weight from the wood make it less stable? I want to do this as well but worry about the decking eating up the weight capacity of the boat.

[Fishnngolfn]

Looking good!!!

[cotton]

Originally Posted by damian2b

That does look sweet! I want to do something like that with mine but need to find the time! What size boat is that?

The boat is 14feet

[cotton]

Originally Posted by walkeraviator

I have a question. Does all the extra weight from the wood make it less stable? I want to do this as well but worry about the decking eating up the weight capacity of the boat.

It is all 1inch plywood and 2x4's and suprisingly it makes the boat more stable than it was. Not to mention it verly sits deeper than the old water line.

[bamabassman]

the extra weight will make sit deeper in the water. BUT if oyu were to add some styrofoam insulation like i have seen some do. it'll raise it up some, while also making it ride a bit quieter. at least iw as TOLD this. seen one that had the sheets of styrofoam glued in and he said it was quieter and didn't sit as deep. sitting deeper makes wakes come in more.

[fish2]

nice looking boat. you gonna put a motor on it?

[Strike_King 609]

Nice Job guys

[JESTERxHEAD]

Originally Posted by bamabassman

the extra weight will make sit deeper in the water. BUT if oyu were to add some styrofoam insulation like i have seen some do. it'll raise it up some, while also making it ride a bit quieter. at least iw as TOLD this. seen one that had the sheets of styrofoam glued in and he said it was quieter and didn't sit as deep. sitting deeper makes wakes come in more.

I think it would not draft any shallower with insulation, It is displaced by air anyways...so technically it would slightly draft deeper given the 1-5 lbs of insulation.

Unless the insulation is displacing more water...(outside the boat) then it wouldnt change the draft depth.

but it would make the deck quieter for sure!!!! and safer. if you were to swamp the boat it will not sink...

[bamabassman]

like i said jester......I DON'T KNOW FOR SURE PAL. this is jsut waht i was TOLD. whether it is true or not..........(shrugs). lol.

[keithdog]

Thats lookin real sweet pal! NICCE JOB FOR SURE!!

[MississippiBoy]

Originally Posted by bamabassman

like i said jester......I DON'T KNOW FOR SURE PAL. this is jsut waht i was TOLD. whether it is true or not..........(shrugs). lol.

No, any extra weight, whatever it is, will make it ride deeper in the water. The boat displaces its weight of water...that's what makes it float. So, if you add any weight, it's got to ride lower to displace more water to make up the weight difference.
Think about this...say the boat weighs 1500 pounds, and it rides at a certain level in the water. I don't know how deep, maybe a foot. Now, picture a 1500 pound block of styrofoam, 6 inches thick, floating on the water. It's going to cover a lot of area, but it's going to float really high, probably only an inch or two deep. It still displaces the same amount of water as the boat, it's just spread out a lot more.
So like Jester said, adding insulation will make it ride deeper, but quieter.

[Bob Smith]

Did you hinge the decks or put you some doors on it so you use that space under the decks for storage? Nice looking job. I noticed that you had 2X4 vertical supports from the bottom of the boat. Gotta give you guys some words of caution. If you get in rough water and you can run fast enough to get a little pounding going on, those vertical boards could create a hard point that will cause the aluminum to start cracking at the point of contact. Just be careful, and enjoy it. Don't worry too much about the weight, you will definitely know if you load it down too much! lol

[BigBurlyBass]

Wow great job makes me wan't to it...

[cotton]

Originally Posted by Bob Smith

Did you hinge the decks or put you some doors on it so you use that space under the decks for storage? Nice looking job. I noticed that you had 2X4 vertical supports from the bottom of the boat. Gotta give you guys some words of caution. If you get in rough water and you can run fast enough to get a little pounding going on, those vertical boards could create a hard point that will cause the aluminum to start cracking at the point of contact. Just be careful, and enjoy it. Don't worry too much about the weight, you will definitely know if you load it down too much! lol

The vertical supports are on the ribs of the bottom, I cant see them creating a hard spot all the way through unless we were actually jumping stumps We only use a trolling motor on the boat also so no issues there anyhow.. The back deck does have a door on it that faces the front of the boat. The front deck doesn't have any. We spaced out from the livewell to the back deck to have the perfect room for our coolers so plenty of room for everything.

[nofearengineer]

Here's a riddle for you, Bama.

You're sitting in a john boat, in the middle of a swimming pool. You are holding a bowling ball.

You toss the bowling ball over the side, into the pool. It sinks to the bottom.
(This part also works with a bag of Shimano reels...the only difference would be the good feeling it would give you. )

Does the water in the pool rise or fall?

Have fun with this one.

[bamabassman]

hahahaha bryce. heard this one before man.water stays the same level. with the ball in oyur hands or if oyu srop it into the water.

like i said, we were talking about whether or not the boat will sit higher with the foam in it. and like i also said, i AIN'T no expert. that's why we have ENGINEERS here right? LMBIG OL BUTT OFF!!!!

[nofearengineer]

Is Bama right, folks? Is he?