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I've decided to pimp my 1957 feathercraft jon boat.
it's 15-1/2 feet long , 38" wide 2-1/2 seats , the half seat is at the transom and there is just enough room to put one cheek on it if your going in a circle.
I'm thinking of extending the back seat , putting the fuel tank under the extension, storage for some lures also , maybe a cup holder, and a spot to store the anchor and rope.
The bow to the first seat , adding a fishing deck with storage for a cooler, the battery , bow anchor and rope, and life vests . Maybe , just maybe a take down platform seat. Oh yea, cup holder there also , maybe a small storage area for bait and hand tools.
I need to build a protective long rod rod holder box along one of the inside, I broke a rod last year getting the boat docked and don't want that to happen again. A smaller rod rack below that.
Fish finder, light controls on a hinged plate in the second seat , that way I can keep it locked up , Lure and bait storage in the bottom of that part also .
You can never have enough lures , LOL !
Then it's figuring a spot out for the net , oars and rod holders.
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sounds like a project. but that dosnt leave much time for ice fishing between now and the steelhead runs.[:p]
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As any fisherman has come to know , you do with what you have on hand.
We are inventors and engineers in our own right, making due to suit our needs .
Today people call it "going green", we call it getting by .
The first step was to have the idea , the second put it on paper and go to work .
I skipped the paper and opted to use cardboard, tracing the outline of the stern and made it long enough to cover the extended seat area . I cut it out and checked it for fit , again making measurement corrections where needed and there were a few .
As you can see many measurements were made , over and over again.
I almost forgot about the taper the walls of the boat have, the seat bracing would have been useless if I forgot about this step . Other ideas that have bounced around for this area were where to locate the hatch for the fuel tank, additional bracing for the anchor bolt, and storage. I think I put in a little extra to compensate for later changes and additions.
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Here's the extended seat base , made from recycled wood .
The wood is from heat treated pallets made of pine , this means light weight ,no bugs , no rot, very little moisture and will soak up the paint that will come later to further protect it . The pallets were free, most places will let you have them if you ask . I chose Pine over the Oak pallets because of the weight difference and the minimal amount of support needed for the area.
The first pic shows the bracing underneath , the second shows how it relates to the cardboard pattern .
As you can see the center hole in the extended seat is for easy access to the fuel tank, the smaller hole will be a open storage area for things like fishing pliers , sun screen and "stuff". The sides have bracing to help support the seat when bolted on .
I needed to raise the back area where the motor mounts to keep the deck level once covered with plywood, thus , the boars cut out to fit the motor mounting area.
The large center cardboard area shown is where the original back seat is that will be covered . As you can see there wasn't much room to steer the boat comfortably in that location.
It may be a day or two before I do any additional work on this , it's being done in the house while the Mrs. isn't home because it's single digits outside and I gotta keep mama happy, LOL !
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remember to put a counter weight in the front, when I put the 5 horse on it, it lifted up the front significantly when I opend it up, A 40 pound kid up front was enough to bring the bow back down to water level.
I dont know the size gas tank your using, just remember it is 8 pounds per gallon pluss the weight of the tank.
I probably out weight you by at least 50 lbs, so you may be ok...
this is just something to keep in mind.
if you need to, ash is lighter and stronger than pine, but there is a dollar amount involved there.
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The motor is pretty easy on gas so it's just a 2-1/2 gallon tank, heck it takes a whole week of trolling to get it anywhere near empty .
I have thought of the counterweights because the bow does come up pretty high and easy.
I figured the drift anchor, heavy river anchor , lake fishing anchor, battery, cooler and tackle box should help to balance things out a bit .
Some of the design is a little challenging but when it gets complicated I just step back , take a break and think "easy and simple". That seems to help a bit .
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#1 , put the cardboard template on the plywood and cut it out.
#3 mounted the top of the framework to the plywood
#2 cut the gas tank access door , installed hinges and a hasp.
#4 cut out a 2x4 for anchor rope storage and a mount for the trolling motor.
#8 cut out box area for fire extinguisher
#18 put on riding mower seat mount, it will flip over and give me access to the gas tank storage area .
Still more storage areas to cut out on this but need a trip to the hardware store first .
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some body aint getting in any ice fishing I C. [frown][:p]
looks like it comming along nicely. I like the way you are utilizing every available inch to keep it down to size.
Just a couple things. I am sure you already know them, but for anyone else checking it out this is a good to know thing.
I hope you are taking time to weigh every peice before enstalling it to the boat. This way you know how much available weight you have used up.
Be sure to use velcro or styrofome cut out to keep the extingisher from bounceing round, you dont want a dammaged unit before you go to use it.
Looks like your taking your time and doing a good job... if you want a stain that you can use tomsons seal over, you can pick up a jar of cheep instant coffee to change the color of the pine to almost a wallnut shade. then you can put tompsons on it every couple years.
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I'm going to paint the inside of it with a latex paint , something bright. the exterior top will be covered with a thin marine carpet , green or grey .
The fire extinguisher will have the quick release on it. the front under compartment (Plastic door for quick removal )will house life vests, top compartments not cut out yet will hold bait canisters , hand tools and such. Once the unit is in for it's first fitting I will mark out and hole-saw out areas to reduce some weight .
I have a house outdoor outlet cover to cover lighting switches , running lights and separate power switch for the trolling motor .
So far I'm just using odds and ends from the junk drawers in the shed, I have $13.00 invested so far in nuts, bolts and screws.
Right now it only weighs 12 pounds, not bad but still have to watch how much goes where .
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Working on enclosing the bow opening today .
(34a) Started with the basic needed areas, one opening for a cooler , one for the battery. Brace to mount against the seat then cut to length.
(35a) center brace fits into groves , this will be attached to lid and give support for walking on when closed.
(36a) Lot of steps here , cut to length in the boat with all the angles, added side braces for support
(37a) have the plywood shape cut made sure it will fit , overlapping the seat 1" so it will butt up onto the seat and not sag .
(41a) painted it just to seal it , haven't cut the hatches yet . I want to replace the old bow and deck support wood first then dry mount the frame on to get the measurements for my openings cuts.
(42a) Just to show how i did the side braces , used a block of wood cut on a angle , pre-drilled the nail and screw holes in the block so I wouldn't split them when mounting it .
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I love when a plan comes togther. Looks like you are spending ample amount of time to get her right.
this section looks interesting.
so are you going to add an air-ator to the cooler for them bass tournys?
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Gee I thought only us tubers and tooners only had fun like this.[:p] Looking good. How is the weight factor fit in with such a small boat? I mainly use my pontoon to get around. a 7' inflatable that I pimped out with trolling motor and other fun stuff. I know a weight limit is out there for what I do.
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Coolers for a picnic lunch and soda pops out on the island, the happier the gals are the longer I get to fish[bob  ].
Using two garden tractor batterys in a full size battery box , one for the trolling moter and fish finder , one for the lights, I plan on doing some bow fishing at night and some camera work.
I picked up some marine carpet from a camper clearance sale , whoot whoot !!!
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your deffenantly thinking ahead there... [sly]
I am glad to hear the youngsters are still doing the fishing trips. Good plan for sure. [cool]
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Started working on removing the old decks when the 2' of snow hit us. The bolts used when I replaced the old boards were not aluminium as I thought but coated bolts that rusted solid. I had to chisel out the boards then cut the rusted bolts out with a hand saw.
I plan on putting in wider decks so I have come up with a solution to mounting the flooring and being able to bolt the bottom in without struggling to get a wrench under the decks (I will have very little room to work with), those pics will come next.
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had to empty the boat from the last storm , snow and ice , no damage at the seams, the temperature is below freezing .
measured the ribs, cut boards to length and numbered them , located bolt holes , drilled and counter-bored the holes, painted and installed the slats, placed flooring for the first two sections on the slats to locate good spots to drain any water in the future with the shop vac, sides of the boat were marked where the floor slats are mounted when I go to screw the flooring to them.
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laughin at my self here, till thiese last pic's. I was thinkin you were doing all this work to your other boat...
This is a much better boat to suit your plans. I was thinking the other one was a bit shallow and had me wondering.
now it all makes sence to me, I must be getting old.
those screws were most likely stainless steal, "yes stainless steel dose rust, it just takes longer" They have been using stainless in marien applications for over 50 years.
I know they are expencive, but I hope you replaced them using the same. anything else will rust on you big time and quick, even if it is painted.
I managed to go out and pick up my new fishing license this weekend. They had a buy one, get one free... so I bought an all species and for my free one I picked a stergeon license. [:p]
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Started putting some of the parts in today , didn't take pics yet but will soon . The bow area won't take a hard cooler due to heigth inside the compartment(7-1/2"), so it's a plastic storage box modified into being a cooler going in .
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24,28, and 29 show the bow section being installed . I have to run the wiring for the bow light and head lights for running in the river then attach the anchor rope holder. First I put in the floor , the frame , then the deck plate, then installed the hatch , when everything was in place I attached them in with metal corner braces.
25,26 and 27 show the aft section being fitted. Some minor tweaks need to be done for the fuel line. I had to eliminate the under seat reel and spool storage containers for the fuel tank to fit in it.
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looks like she is comming along nicely.
I like the carpet job.
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