Good idea or waste of time?

Hi all, new to the site and I got a quick question. I just got a little 1232 jon boat from my buddy for dirt cheap. I'm thinking of tricking it out a bit. I wanna cut out the middle seat, put a small deck on the front and back, and add some kind of stabilizers to the sides. I'm wondering if yoy guys think this is a waste of time, or a fun project. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks, Nick

Im sure a lot of people think my projects are a waste of time, but I enjoy them... If you enjoy working on a project it's not a waste of time. Go for it!

A waste of my time may not be a waste of your time.

I'm thinking I'm gonna go for it

pics (or drawn ideas) or it didn't happen!

Most consider a 36 narrow ...32 is canoe width..If your a small guy with good balance ..it will be OK Kinda like getting on unicycle and rideing it..Other than that any project is a learning experience..I'm a salt water so I'm a little harder on Boats

i put a deck on a 1232 once...it was a waste of my time...it would tip when the trolling motor changed direction!!

I'm planning on making some kind of an outrigger for it, like for a canoe, to add some stability. Do you guys think I would lose too much of the structural integrity if I cut out the middle seat? Some people tell me it's fine, others say it'll make the boat taco in.

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=326151#p326151 said:

ParadiseFeller » Today, 1:49 am[/url]"]I'm planning on making some kind of an outrigger for it, like for a canoe, to add some stability. Do you guys think I would lose too much of the structural integrity if I cut out the middle seat? Some people tell me it's fine, others say it'll make the boat taco in.

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I wouldn't remove the seat, but I've seen others that have. The risk of tacoing would be made worse with outriggers.

I personally wouldn't get too crazy with a boat that small. Maby a few basic mods., but not too many. Save your time and money for a bigger, more stable boat.

overboard said:

I personally wouldn't get too crazy with a boat that small. Maby a few basic mods., but not too many. Save your time and money for a bigger, more stable boat.

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x2

I understand the enthusiasm.

But...

That's one of those boats that "is what it is."

If you can, enjoy it within its limitations, see how you like life on the water, and make modification plans for the boat AFTER this one.

As it stands, this boat is intact. Once you mess with it, it will never be worth what it is now.

Your choice.

Have fun, be safe.

I'm not fully decided on anything yet. We had three people out on it the other day, and it wasn't TOO unstable. Maybe I can do without outriggers. Do you think decking it and putting in a wood floor would give me more stability or take some away? Also, if I cut out the mid seat, is there a good way to reinforce it so it doesn't taco?

You could add some sort of a floor to the bottom just to make it nicer to stand, but as Kismet suggested, you should maybe fish it as is, or with little modification. If you enjoy it enough maybe you can find a nicer sized boat that can support further modifications.

Obviously you can mod the heck out of it, but once its all done you might be kicking yourself for not having a bigger boat.

It's basically a free boat. Also, I'm not really the biggest guy (5'10", 140lbs) so I kinda wanna see what I can do with this boat. It seems pretty well fit for me, but I'm just always worried about rolling it and losing my tackle.

Understandable! I'd suggest maybe bringing a few boards out on the water one day and laying them around and seeing how it feels to give you an ideal of how a deck/floor will feel. Then you can go from there!

I have had a 12X32 Alumacraft from Acadamy and after the first time on the river and swamped it, I got rid of it quick. The purpose I had for it was to keep it at the river(base camp) and fish and trotline out of it and keep my 14X48 alumacraft at home to use on different lakes around. But after capsizing it just by trying to get to the bait bucket(I'm 6' and weigh 185lbs) I decided to send it on its way. I would not do a thing to you 12' jon just to keep the weight down. And be careful of who you take with you on the boat.(size, weight, experience, ect.) Good luck in your fishing and boating, BrazosDon

Well, I started today. Ripped out all but one transom board, and began grinding off the paint

Are you going to replace that wood?

What are you going to power this with?

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=326437#p326437 said:

SumDumGuy » 17 Aug 2013, 17:37[/url]"]Are you going to replace that wood?

What are you going to power this with?

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I'm gonna take that board out later. I'm leaving it in for now because the handles are bolted through it. Easier to lug around for now. I have a small trolling motor I'm planning on using. We have an electric boats only lake in town, and this would be perfect for that.