GooseBoots

Be patient friends. The Resin, Carpet, and Stripper Fumes are getting to me. Today, I redefined just exactly what kind of boat I was building. Durring one of my Fume induced Halucinations, I discovered I was actually building a BackDuckAss Boat. Just hang a duck beak up front, a pair of backwash guards at the rear, and a pair of oars over the side and I'm done. Can you say Aflac... All kidding aside, my deck bench seat skins are about 1/2 way done, and my stripping is about 1/2 way done. d**n the aluminum looks good, but I'm still going with Rustoleum Marine Primer and Topside Paint. I have all the parts for my custom Gooseneck FishFinder mount. Looks like it's really going to do the trick. My main deck skin frame is made up of 2ea. 1/8" thick aluminum angle stock, 2ea 2X3" studs and 1/2" plywood. It's all resined and carpeted. Should post photo's in 2 or 3 days, Bruce

Snafu #1 presented itself today. Did a test patch for interior paint and had poor adhesion. When dry, the paint peeled with the lightest touch of a finger nail. I'm using Rustoleum Marine Topside paint so I called Rustoleum Tech Support. Turns out I will have to strip to bare metal, clean with denatured alcohol, and the use their Topside Marine Primer. Of course, wifey doesn't understand why I want to paint the interior, so I showed her where the touch up paint doesn't match the factory paint. In addition, the dark green carpet deck and the work involved in making the upgrades, dictates the opportunity and need to get a solid paint in the interior. More pics to come. Bruce

Well, I finally started the upgrade on my new boat. I'm going to post pics on the completed steps, and not every photo I take. I know bandwith is valuble Cyber Real Estate. This first Photo is of my new "stock" jon boat. The blue tape is my paint prep. The stock paint job is alot to be desired as expected. Since this boat will have to be stored outdoors year round, I decided to paint the inside of the hull. When my interior paqint is done I'll post a new Pic. Thanks, Bruce

I wonder if a local Insulation Company would spray a boat? I know they use closed cell PolyIso to insulate homes around here. If they can fill in between 2X4's, I would think they can do a boat easily and it wouldn't take much material. Just a thought... Bruce

I think just using screws by themselves could be a real problem. In the case where you are using a Brush Finished 9" Base where Philips Screws, screw down into the plywood, it wouldn't hold well. In my case, I'm using 3/4" and 1/2" plywood sandwich where I can use a carriage bold up through the plywood and a nut on the topside of my economy mount/pedestal. Bruce

Thanks Folks, I found the parts I needed on-line at http://www.grandbrass.com/pipe.cfm Looking Good pics soon. Bruce

It's funny that I just bought one of these while looking today while looking for a fishfinder bracket. I have my transducer mounted to my trolling motor. Won't work like I'm trying to accomplish although the clamp is nice. Bruce

Well, one last detail I need to solve as I begin my Jon Boat build is how to mount my FishFinder. I have Humminbird 343C which is a small (portable ?) unit. I'm trying to find a way to mount it so it can be flexible and moved. Most importantly, I need it nearer to me so I can see it (glasses). I'm imagining a Gooseneck like those clamp on type lamps. However, I can't find one with the gooseneck long enough. It would have to reach from the bottom where a seat mount plate is, to about 30" high. I'm still looking around. If anyone knows where a gooseneck as such can be found, I can turn it into a mount. Thanks, Bruce

Shadrap, I went to the coroplast web site and looked at their product. I have extensive experience with the products on their website, being a retired Postal Employee. The coroplast they show on the site is what the postal service uses for Letter Trays and Flat Boxes, and well as used for packaging by other companies. If you are referencing something stronger that Coroplast post a link, because I don't see how Coroplast could possibly stand up to any use as decking. Thanks, Bruce

I'm painting the inside of my new Jon Boat with Rustoleum topside marine paint. My factory paint is new and sound so I'm going to give it a good degreasing and cleaning with my powerwasher then paint. The factory paint is flat and there is plenty of friction on a finger pull so cleaning is all the prep I'm giving it. In keeping with my Bass/Duck scheme, I'm using Beige paint with Hunter Green carpet. Photo's to come. Bruce

I am really suprised at the resurrection of these old aluminum boats. It takes me back to my childhood days in Boston when our dads took the old wooden Lapstakes (sp?), stripped them of paint and installed the new High-Tech Fiberglass and Resin bottoms. Ahh...Those were the days, seaworthy again... Good Luck, Bruce

Wayne, we have the same H.P. restriction here in Pennsylvania. Next spring I'll need to deal with this issue. I'll probably get a 9.9 also. From what I understand, I'll really need the outboard for river fishing locally because of the swifter current. My 14' jon calls for up to 15 H.P., so I'll have to get out on these lakes and rivers. As an example, if I end up concentrating the Susquehana getting after Smallmouth, I'll get the 15 H.P. I just need to fish some of the restricted lakes, and depending on how far away they are, that will make my decision. Bruce

Not really. Half of the butt hinge will be fastened into the plywood edge of the seat base which sits atop of the bench seat member. The other half of the butt hinge will fasten into the sides of the bench seat member. If you go to the Tracker web site and look at the Topper 1436LW, you might get a better idea what I'm talking about. Honestly, I really didn't give much concern about the LiveWell as I did for the thicker aluminum and greater weight capacity. I'll be posting photo's from start to finish when I start next week. Thanks, Bruce

My mods are ready to go. I'm just getting ready to start. When my Butt Hinges and Hasp arrive, I'm starting. The hardware I can't hide are the hinges and hasp. A pedestal and seat will be mounted on plywood which will sit directly over a live well cover on the bench seat. Dual hinges will allow me to swing up the mounted seat to open the live well, and dual hasp will hold the mounted seat tightly against the bench seat to keep stable and tight. I'm not really sure If I will ever use the live well as such, but I will need to check on the drain plug from time to time One option in hiding the bright hinges and hasp is to use Camo Tape like I use for turkey hunting, I'll look more at that after I'm done with construction. I am approaching my mods strickly as function over form due to the dual use purpose. However, If I were building a pure bass conversion is would be quite a different approach. Note that I own a complete woodshop with high quality stationary machines and have built fine furniture with them. Thanks for your help, Bruce

I'm getting ready to start my own build. My boat is a Bass/Duck boat and will have shallow decks. This is so my Decoys and Gear won't get knocked overboard, and will be hidden by my duck blind material. Based on my build, stainless screws and finish washers painted to match the green carpet is not a bad thing. This will allow me to remove the decking for cleaning, inspection, wiring, and future changes. I also will have to have exposed hardware where a seat post will be positioned over a livewell/storage box that has a drain plug, that I will need to get to. However, if your build doesn't have the requirements that I have the blind fastening as suggest in this thread makes for one clean and awesome looking rig. Bruce

I looked at the Clamp Type seat mount brackets. They look flimsy enough to not want to hold in place. Most of the problem is the angle of the bracket. My tracker jon bench seat are straight sided, and not angled which would make a horrible fit. Luckily I had the opportunity to place this bracket on the jon boat I bought at BPS.

Well, after quite a bit of pondering, I finally decided on a New Jon Boat. I bought a Tracker Topper 1436LW with a Value Line trailer (BPS). After wasting two hours trying to build outriggers to bulk up the roof rack on my TrailBlazer, I gave in to a trailer. The roof rack is to lightly built for anything other than a luggage carrier. Now I need to decide on my interior mods. I did own a pick up truck that I had a rhino-liner installed. I would like to have that appearance along the sidewalls of my boat, and carpet for a deck. The only problem I had with the rhino-liner was during the summer heat it scuffed black marks on my cargo. If anyone knows of a similiar product for marine use that won't scuff, let me know Please. This boat will double as a duck boat. That's when I'd get the benefit of the lining. Decking and carpet will be installed via Plywood, Resin, and Carpet. I'm going to keep it as low to the boat bottom as possible, as well as removable for maintainence. That's all I'm looking at right now. Once I start working on it I'll post photo's. Thanks, Bruce

Well, so far I'm getting the Tracker 1436LW from Basspro. It has a little thicker Aluminum, and a live well (non-aerated). 14' is the maximum I can go on the top of my TrailBlazer. I definately will have to fashion some sort of outriggers since the beam of the boat extends beyond my roof rack. I looked at Thule and Yakima rigs, but they want and arm and a for them. I have the tools so I'll build my own. Wifey has no interest in boating and fishing and has yet to retire. Since I retired early at 49 y/o, it'll be tough to get over her on the boat deal. Bruce

I haven't looked beyond a jon boat because I'm limited to what's available in the local area. Also, I will almost always have at least one other person fishing with me due to my health. A friend called me to discuss that I may be better off with a V-Hull 12' aluminum boat over the 12' Jon Boat. Apparently, Bass Pro Shop has a Tracker Topper 12' Jon and a Trapper Guide 12' V-hull. Which would be more stable, and can I use my Minn-Kota 36 lbs for both? Thanks, Bruce

Hello, I'm GooseBoots (Bruce). Newly retired, I'm going to get into freshwater fishing here in SE Pa. However, due to stupid deed restrictions, space available, and my steep driveway I can only get a 12' jon boat. Anything larger and I'll have difficulty getting it on top of my TrailBlazer. I do realize the limitations of a flat bottom jon boat. Considering my dilemma it's this boat or no boat at all. I picked up a Minn Kota Endura 36 TM this weekend. Although, I've done alot of reading and searching on the internet any and all comments and advice is welcomed. Thanks, Bruce