Putting Live well Inside Bench Seat

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MrGiggles

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I have an Alumacraft F7 that's 48 inches wide with bench seats.

I've contemplated removing the middle bench quite a bit, but it seems like a barrel of monkeys, and would take a lot of work to replace it with a structure that will retain the boats integrity.

I really want a live well. The only decent place to add one is in the bilge behind the rear bench, but I don't want any extra weight back there, and it's not easy to get to since I fish from the front of the boat, and I don't want to put it along either side as it will make the boat list.

The middle bench is plenty big and in a nice central location.

I would lose some flotation foam, but it wouldn't be hard to add back in a few discreet places.

I'm sure the fill hose will need to go to the transom, what about the drain? Could it go straight out the side?

If I cut a 10x20 hole the bench should still have more than enough material to remain strong.

What is good to use for a liner? Not sure if a cooler is a good idea since the insulation takes up a lot of space, and most coolers would be too wide. Maybe I could buy a soft cooler and steal the liner?
 
It might take awhile, but I'd tend to keep an eye out for a suitable liner that would fill the bill, then start making the mods to fit the liner. I don't know of anything just offhand, but you maybe could find something at your local farm goods outlet.
Some kind of commercial kitchen pan?
Perhaps a modified plastic fuel tank?

Roger
 
Looked around in Lowes today and wasn't able to find anything that was close in size. Needs to be roughly 20x10-12.

Wouldn't mind aluminum but the material is expensive and so is a guy that can weld it.

Thinking about cutting out the area and using it as a mold for fiberglass, but I'm not sure how feasible that is.
 
If I were you I would just bit the bullet and buy a premade hatch and liner..

A tempress 1323 is close to the dimensions you specified. The 13x23 liner has a one inch flange so the cutout dimensions are closer to 10.5 x 20.5.
https://tempress.com/store/1323-Access-12-Liner-White-p1527538

You would need a hatch/lid to go with the liner and a tempress hatch would match it perfectly.. However, there are several companies that make hatches in that size that would also work and might save you a few bucks if you shop around.
 
Remove the bench seat, flip it upside down and cut the ends to where they'll fold up into an aluminum tank. I used stainless steel button head bolts with stainless nylock nuts and 3m5200 to seal it all up. My seat became a 22 gallon live well. If you want it in the same location in the boat you just make new structural mounts on each side from aluminum angle fastened to the gunwales with more stainless button head bolts, nylon washers, stainless steel nylock nuts and 5200. It's been since 2013 that I did mine during my build, no problems at all. I ran the full hose in the drain channel in the floor of the boat and the drain in the other drain channel. The overflow is a hose ran down the starboard side of the gunwale in the stiffing channel to a through hull fitting at the transom. The only thing I have left to do is install an aerator. I'll try to post a link to my build so you can see my pics.
 
I hope this works, if not you have the title of my build so you can search for it.

Buckethead's 1974 Duracraft 1720

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?share_fid=21494&share_tid=26781&url=httpss%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eforum%2Etinboats%2Enet%2Fviewtopic%2Ephp%3Ft%3D26781&share_type=t
 
blunt said:
If I were you I would just bit the bullet and buy a premade hatch and liner..

A tempress 1323 is close to the dimensions you specified. The 13x23 liner has a one inch flange so the cutout dimensions are closer to 10.5 x 20.5.
https://tempress.com/store/1323-Access-12-Liner-White-p1527538

You would need a hatch/lid to go with the liner and a tempress hatch would match it perfectly.. However, there are several companies that make hatches in that size that would also work and might save you a few bucks if you shop around.

This probably be what I end up doing.

Materials for fiberglass are going to be at least that much, plus the time. The liner is pretty much a drop in, fit a lid and go fishing.
 

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