I just picked up a semi v Aluminum boat last night from a buddy (Its either 12' or 14') Its in great condition, however there arent any tags or information that list the weight capacity. Im about 300 lbs, and Id like to build fishing decks and add motor, battery and so on. When I do that and add a fishing buddy with me, the weight will start getting up there.

Is there some sort of way to guess what it will be rated? Id look it up but I dont even know the brand of the boat.

Thanks in advance for any help

Dex

That's not a lot of info to go on.  Dose it come with a bill of sale and a title.  If not you may have a hard time registering it.  If you can't register it you can't take it out on public lakes.  If it dose have a title then some helpful info will be on the title.

Same thing happened to me. I needed a capacity plate to register my boat (in PA) and they gave me a sheet to write down the dimensions of the boat. They then sent me a capacity plate with all the info plus the max HP of a motor. I think they measured length, beam at the widest point, transom height at the motor, and maybe something else.  Here is a starting point.  

* On vessels with no capacity plate, use the following rule of thumb to calculate the number of persons (weighing 150 lbs. each, on average) the vessel can carry safely in good weather conditions.

Number of people  =

vessel length (ft.)  x  vessel width (ft.) / 15

Sooooooo.. a 14' boat with a 4' width would be 3.73 people or 559.5 pounds. Roughly.

If its a 14 foot you should be able to get away with up to a 15 hp. And decks but, word of caution build light or it will push like a barge. In the pic shows my front deck to do it over I would have cut it off about 2 ft behind the bass seat.

I have the same problem with a 1432 that I bought fromthe original owner.  He can only remember the year tht he bought it new.  The data plage is still their but only gives the HP rating and the serial number.

I gave up looking for it and just starting doing a comparison to other jon boats that were the same size both in transom hight, side hight an lenght.  And took my best guess from that

I have an old 14' FB tri-hull and I ripped out the old weathered deck that a previous owner built and built a new one. Mine has a weight limit of 600#'s. I weigh about 230 + or - . I'm a fairly good framer/carpenter even though I'm an accountant and I went about it like framing the floor in a house thinking stability. The joists the previous owner used was 1X1, I used 2X4 and 3/4" ply. It would barely plane with me by myself with a 40HP. Add my wife and son, 115# and 48# respectively or even worse, my brother who tips in at 245# and it wouldn't plane at all.

Gotta find that happy medium between structural soundness and weight savings. Had to rip mine back out. Glad I didn't carpet it before a few test runs!

My 14' semi V-hull boat with a 5' beam still has the plaque in it.

Max 4 persons or 570lbs.

Persons, gear, and motor 830lbs

Max hp 25

Hope this helps...

and Welcome to the forum!

I just joined the forum and was browsing through some old posts and saw this.  The boat in the picture appears to be an old StarCraft Seafarer from the late 60's.  I have the 16' version.  The 14' has the following ratings;  Boat Weight 215 lbs, Max Capacity 850 lbs, Max HP 30.  I'd be interested to know how it's handling with the front seat removed and the platform added as I'm thinking about doing the same to mine