1248 Weldbilt Project

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mfu5324

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Hello all,

I wanted to share my boat project with everyone. Since this past August, i have scouring the net and these forms to put together my plans to build the best little boat i could. I will have many photos the coming days as the project is now near completion.

The boat will be used for river fishing trotlining and spring crappie fishing. It should be able to fish 3 comfortably (tho gear will have to be light) and i will take youngsters with me so it must be safe. That said, the major issues are

1. Small Boat (12 foot) - yes i know, according to most 14 foot is the minimum size - but i disagree. Do your research and you will find many dinghy's (Boston Whalers) etc are about 11 to 13 feet is all - and these things go on the ocean. (and, my dad already has a 18 footer)

2. Wide Boat (48 inch min floor) - if i could go wider i would have but stability is vital.

3. 20 inch Transom

4. Affordable - not cheap but not top of the line materials either. I want to do this project at a reasonable costs.

5. Lightweight - lightweight and affordable are oxymorons in boating - but i did my best

So i was on the lookout for a 1248 flat bottom (modified V's take up too much front room). Researching the options, it was down to WeldCraft and Weldbilt. I went with Weldbilt based on price (I actually got mine for $1165 brand new.

A few posters say that Weldbilt didnt offer a 20 inch transom, but i got one. I think they added this feature in 2013.

I promise a few suprises to you as you follow the post..
 
I ordered my boat in August - i had to wait until the last week of October to get it to save on shipping. If your from the midwest, you can purchase Weldbilts at AquaTech Marine in Quincy Ill

I actually worked the project backwards it seemed, i bought the trailer first, then the motor then the boat?? but hey, it worked

I searched for months for a used trailer (craigslist, etc) the problem i was having is i needed more than 48 inches between the wheels --- wow, when you find one wide enought they are built for 20 footers and barges. But i did manage to find one at a very reasonble price and best of all it was galvanized!! It is the Continental C412 tilt trailer https://www.continentaltrailers.com/galvanized-tilt.htm.

Brand new it costs $1,100 which i found very reasonable... however i snagged one in MN barely used for $550


Note: already had a spare tire but had to purchase the trailer guides from Bass Pro - $80
 

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It was now time for a motor..... the conditions were
1. 15 to 25 hp
2. Light weight
3. will never break down :)

I started my search and within a week i found exaclty what i wanted on craigslist, a 18hp Tohatsu (1993 model). Yes, i woul love a 4 stroke but the weight is killer... a small mercury 4 stroke weighs north of 150 to 200 pounds!!! THe little Tohatsue weighs in at only 76 pounds!!

I paid $575 for the motor plus $100 to ship it from Wisc. When it arrived i learned that the motor came with remote steering controls and the works (hmm my imagination started to work on me a bit... remote steering on a 12 footer... hmm)

I will take pic tonite and post them.....
 
As promised earlier, here are pics of the 18hp Tohatsu motor purchased on ebay
 

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Since this was a new purchase, I was able to make a few selections. Note goto https://www.backwoodslanding.com if you want to see the options available.

1. Length 12 foot, Floor Width 4 foot, Width across the top of the boat 68 inches
2. Side Height = 21 inches
3. 0.80 Guage Aluminum (could have selected 1 guage, but the weight went up by 60 pounds
4. Weight = 220 pounds
5. Transom Height (15 or 20?)
I had read earlier posts that stated Weldbilt did not offer 20 inch transoms, but I asked and they said they did so ordered a 20 inch
6. Color --- green, brown or unpainted?
Green was out, for some reason it just isn't appealing to me, Brown looks the best I think. When you paint the boats, all the welds and scratches disappear and the boat looks nice. However, I decided on an unpainted finish (no extra cost). I didn't realize they offered unpainted versions but they do. The reason for the unpainted is first, no paint to chip when I hit trees and logs, easier to weld fixes if necessary (no painting required), and I think they look good. The problem with unpainted finish, HOT HOT HOT shiny shiny shiny!.. need I say more... but I have a solution for that... so below are the pics the day I picked it up
 

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More Pics
 

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Sweet! Either the 20" is new this year or they don't offer unless asked. This is the original style layout I was going to go with bit went with the livewell. Look forward to the build.
 
DrNip,
Yes it is new this year.. I actually followed your questions and purchase you posted this past year...was about ready to go with the weldcraft too but decided to call the dealer in Ill and they said they now offer the 20 inch transom....
 
Interested in seeing how that 18 performs on the boat. Sounds like you got some sweet deals.
 
The first step in the floor was to kill 2 birds with one stone. I added the Foamular board between the boat braces. The braces measured 2 1/2 inches high, but given the taper at the edges, I purchased the 2 inch Fomular. Doing this added less than 1 pound of weight to the boat, added much needed flotation and allowed me to use lighter, thinner materials to cover the floor
 

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For the next layer of the floor (before the covering) My goal was to not use any plywood - too **** heavy. I had read on the boards about the expensive coosa board and the space station stuff and the airplane floors etc etc. Ya right... its a 12 foot jon boat -- no way am I going to lay 1/3 of the price of the boat for a piece of floor covering.

Now, I only needed a 4 x 5 piece of material (since my 3 foot deck came installed), so purchased the fiberglass board from Home Depot (you know, the stuff you put on the walls in a shower or bathroom) for $25. Waterproof, wont rot and lightweight to a degree. I was actually surprised but those boards are actually quite heavy. Once cut out the weight was around 15 pounds.
 

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after spending 30 minutes measuring the ribs, 20 minutes cutting the fiberglass board, 5 minutes of cleaning the fiberglass particles from my nose :), it looked awesome. But it sucked. When you walked on it, you could feel the ribs, it would bend at the corners, you could feel the weakness. If the boat was a show boat, it may be ok but throwing 30 pound cats on it and taking some of buddies along would destroy it in 2 outings.

So if your looking at this option... XXXXX didn't work for me. So I had to break one of my goals and break down and use plywood...

By the way, do your homework before buying that expensive "marine plywood". All it is is plywood that uses waterproof glue...it costs you like $60-$80 a sheet plus shipping.... Simply goto Home Depot and buy the ACX outdoor plywood - it is the same as marine plywood - it uses waterproof glue.

So here is the deal, since I had the Foamular between the ribs, I was able to use 1/2 inch ACX plywood ($26) instead of the standard 3/4. 1/2 inch plywood weighs 50 lbs, 3/4 weighs 75 lbs...... by only using a 4 x 5 piece, I added about 35lbs to the boat. I did cover the wood with some standard waterproofing sealant before installing..

Originally, I wasn't going to do anything with the sides, but I couldn't resist. So with the sides I used 1/4 inch ACX plywood ($24). The 1/4 inch weighs about 25 lbs, and I used about 2 x 5 of it.... which added 12 lbs to the boat.

So all in all, using plywood to do the floor and sides added about 50 lbs to the boat, bringing my total weight up to 290 lbs. Next, the floor covering (carpet?, spray on liner?, hydrofoam?)... stay tuned
 

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So it is time to cover the floor. After reading boards like this for the past 6 months, my first thought was to go with the hydroturf. After pricing it and paying for shipping, I realized it was going to cost north of $300 to cover the floor with the hydroturf.

Of course, marine carpet is viable option as that is all I have ever fished out of with the boats my dad owned over the years. $100 would be more than plenty to do the job with carpet. However, the hydroturf was quite intriguing to me. So I was on the hunt for an alternative.

I researched the spray liner (truck bed, the stuff bass pro sells etc) but decided to pass on it given the potential mess and potential problems removing it if I didn't like it. I do like the idea tho and may do this in the future if others make positive comments about it.

I looked into the rubber floor matting from Tractor supply ( https://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/rubber-horse-stall-mat-4-ft-x-6-ft).... but the matt weighed 100 pounds for a 4 x 6 piece... way too heavy for my liking.Floormat.gif
 

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I then turned my efforts to those eva foam mats (our kids have about a dozen of them and they are tough!!! they are over 3 years old and have spent their entire life outdoors in the Iowa weather... so the 100 degree heat didn't effect them nor the snow and below zero temps... so these suckers are tough and CHEAP. Walmart has a set of 8 mats each measuring 2 x 2 ft for $10!! CHEAP and strong AND LIGHTWEIGHT... all 8 mats weigh a grand total of ...... 3 pounds!

Another positive about these EVA mats is they come in any color you like.... black, grey, blue, etc...... and you can buy them in multiple thickness from 1/4 to 3/4 inches....... I have no concern about their durability.... I know they are strong, my only concern is the fact you will have a lot of seams in your floor as you link and glue them all together.......

I would be very interested to hear from those who have used these types of mats.....
 

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I was about to pull the trigger on the EVA mats from walmart, when I found Best Step Anti Fatique, EVA foam ROLL. Instead of the EVA mats, this was a roll...so this meant less seams! ( https://www.sears.com/best-step-antifatigue-foam-floor-mat-black/p-00914118000P).

Now, initially, when I first looked at these on the Sears website, i had no interest as Sears states these mats weight 58 pounds. A few days went by and I decided i would simply goto my local Sears store to see if they had them and to see if they truly weighed 58 lbs..... well low and behold, my Sears store had a whole box of them, on sale for $22 per 4x8 roll. When i picked a roll up, it weighed 0.58 lbs... that's right, a roll weighed 1/2 a pound... so for everyone looking at these, the website is incorrect with the weight....
 

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So after weighing my options, i decided to go with the Sears EVA foam rolls over the EVA foam 2x2 foam mats. I picked up two of them figuring it would be enough.

Note,,, there are several concerns i have with these Sears EVA foam rolls tho... first, they are only about 1/4 inch thick... but they are strong.... if i went the eva mat route, i could get the 1/2 or 5 /8 thickness. Second, there is no choice of color. Now the website shows them as black, but they are actually a darker grey. Although this color will go great with my unpainted silver boat, i am concerned about how hot they be this summer. Others who have used them say they don't get hot... we will see.

So i went with the Sears EVA rolls.... if they fail, or they are too hot, i will definitely replace it with EVA mats next for $10 to $20 i will try those.

Installing the EVA Foam Rolls - through research, i learned that folks have had great luck using Weldwood Contact Cement ($14 at Home Depot)... boaters who spend the big bucks on hydroturf use this stuff, so that is what I used. NOTE - read the directions.... its really easy... cover the floor surface, cover the back of the EVA foam, drink a beer (wait 10 min), then lay the EVA foam on the floor. No hurry in this step guys.

The hardest part.... make sure you have weights to place on top of the foam once you lay it. the stuff wont lay flat as you lay it...so make sure you have weights ready when you start.. as you can see from my pics.... thank god i had just bought a box of paper for the office that morning :)
 

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WARNING WARNING...... if you ever layed your own tile... the golden rule is to buy tile from the same truck.... buy it all from the same load... otherwise the colors may differ. well guess what... i had purchased two rolls of the Sears eva rolls back in Sept.... i ran out and purchased another roll in late October.... GRRRRRR the newer roll is a bit darker (see pic)... but hey, its a 12 foot jon boat right!!! BUY MORE THAN YOU NEED AND RETURN WHAT YOU DONT USE... note to all!

So below are the final pics of the floor with the EVA foam on it. At this point, this is all i have done. Over the weekend, i will have completed several other things on the project and i assure you all, there will be some suprises for you ... so make sure you check back over the weekend.....

Final thoughts on using the Sears eva rolls..... well, they are actually quite strong... they didn't rip or tear and feel strong. It is the most comfortable boat floor i have every walked on... let alone set on.... amazing. (if this covering doesn't last, i will definatley try the thicker EVA foam mats before going to carpet). By the way, i had a large seam about 2 foot in front of the back seat,,,,and the seam is hardly noticeable... so i think the numerous seams in the eva mat route would be a non issue... that contact cement holds it down good. I also dropped the screwdriver a couple of times by accident and the sound was totally muffled by the eva foam, much more so than if you dropped it on the wood or carpeted wood......
 

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