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WhiteMoose

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Joined
Jul 8, 2009
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Location
Iowa
I don't plan on doing a whole lot to my boat, but I've been having a great time cruising this site for ideas. As of now, my plan is to build a small deck on the front that is just big enough to hold the trolling motor, maybe stand on to take a leak, and have a cubby door for life jackets. I'm thinking I can cut a hole in the bench seats and add a plywood lid that hinges up with the seats still attached. Maybe a rod box down the side sometime down the road.

Still trying to decide what to do about flooring. I'm going to do a lot of muddy river fishing with a big old dog that loves to drag mud and hair in and out, so I'm leaning towards a Tuff coat type of flooring. When you hose off your carpet, doesn't it get mildew?

Here she is!
boat.jpg


My first issue was this steel contraption bolted to the front. I couldn't imagine why they needed all that hardware. Each steel plate was 3/16" thick, and along with that steel pipe, it weighed a ton and had to go.
IMG_1007.jpg


When I finally got it all off, I realized why it was there. Yuck! There are 3 big rips in the bow.
IMG_1016.jpg


My temporary solution was to cut a couple strips of diamond plate that I had laying around that happened to be within an inch of what I needed. I want to bolt them on instead of riveting them so I can remove them easily again if I decide to try and have those rips repaired. If I do, what would be the best way to go about it?
IMG_1019.jpg


Speaking of rips, here are a couple others I found after I got it home. The first one is up in the front seam of the hull, above the waterline. Is this something that could also be fixed easily? The 2nd one is more concerning to me as it is back by the transom on the gunwale.
IMG_1008.jpg

IMG_1010.jpg


Lastly, my motor. I didn't get a picture of the motor that came with the boat, but I believe it is a 1973 Johnson 9.5. It is doesn't like to idle low, and I've got some nice blisters on my hands from pulling the cord about 200 times this weekend. It also has a lot of trouble shifting into reverse, as sometimes it decides to just click at me. When I did get it running, it is SLOW. I mean, when its wide open, we are going walking speed. The prop is a little beat up, would a new one make a big difference?Not sure if that is how its supposed to run, but I'd like something that can get me up the river a little faster.

Thats where this guy comes in.
IMG_1012.jpg

Its a 1983 Merc 25hp. The tag on the boat says she is rated for a 20hp, but I'm going to give it a try. I bought this motor for $500, but the interesting thing about it is that it may have been ran only once or twice. There was a little bit of gas sitting in the fuel filter, but under the hood it is spotless. An old guy my dad knew got moved into a nursing home, and his son found it in the basement and sold it to me. It's been sitting with a tarp over it for almost 25 years. His son thinks that he may have won it in a raffle or something, but never had a boat to put it on.
What do I need to do before I try to start this bad boy? I've been told that the water pump will probably need replaced, but how will I know? What else should I look for?
If the 25hp is too much motor for my boat, I figured I can at least get it running and make a nice little profit when I turn around and sell it.
Thanks for looking. Any input will be greatly appreciated!
 
that motor is in mint shape, even if you don't fix it it would probably still bring a pretty penny. Good luck with the build.
 
My next step is removing that front step/seat. What is the best way to remove rivets? Just drill through them with a small bit, or a bit the same size as the rivets?
I suppose I have to get them out before I know what size rivets to use to plug the holes with, huh?
 
Heres another question- Do you guys think I would be safe to remove ALL the bench seats in this boat?
 
Drill them out with a small bit, you can always go larger with the bit, but not smaller, remember that.

Do not remove all the seats - they are there for structural reasons. If you do remove them, I highly suggest you put some bracing back in to compensate for lack of structural support. There are plenty of people who have taken seats out, but it wasn't all, and it wasnt without making mods to compensate.
 
At the front of the boat you might want to have some Alum sheet welded over what's there now. As for the transom have the gunwale crack welded. How does the transom wood look? When I replaced the transom I added a 1"x6"x48" oak board to it so I could run a 25hp Mariner. I also mounted a 12 gal fuel tank up front and built a small casting deck over it to help balance the weight of the motor.
 
The transom wood is pretty weathered, but it still seems solid. I'll try to get a picture of it up here.
 
What do y'all think of this plan for my little front deck? Keep in mind that I won't be standing on this deck all day, its really just to be used as a step/storage, and to give me a place to mount my trolling motor. It may end up being bigger than 24" too, depending on where it falls with the ribs.

DECKPLAN.jpg


I designed it to use the least amount of aluminum to save some $ and weight, and also to maximize the storage space. I figure it will only require about 13' of aluminum. The local metal shop quoted me 3/16" aluminum angle @ $1.85/ft.

I also wanted it to be easily removed so I can hose out the bottom of the boat once a year, and be able to paint my boat sometime down the road. The aluminum tabs will be cut from the same 1" x 1" aluminum angle I'm using for the frame. The plywood deck will be anchored to the frame, but not the boat, so the plywood and frame can lift out as one piece. The deck will just be bolted to a couple of the tabs, and resting on the floor.

I know there are some curves to the boat that I'm not taking into account in my sketch, but I assume I'll be able to work around them.

So what are your thoughts? Will this be enough support?
Should I use 1/2" or 5/8" plywood?
1/8" or 3/16" aluminum?
Thanks!
 
thought I could bend my 3/16" aluminum angle to account for the angles, but it is just breaking :evil:
 
Whitemoose
Not sure what your trying to bend 3/16 for or how much bend you need but if you will take to a fab shop thay will do it for you cheep/free if you just start telling them what you are doing and talking to them.Look at my mod JUST MY THINKING it is about on page 3 now as i am working alot and no time .The bending was free after talking to the guy at fab shop wielding was 60$ most of the people that work at these places are just like us at like to fish and will thing what you are doing is cool and will help you out.
mike
 
Thanks for the reply caveman. I was trying to bend the aluminum to make brackets, but decided the only thing I can do is use steel brackets. I found some nice thick steel angle brackets for about $1.50 that I should be able to bend in the bench vise. They appear to be stainless, but what if they aren't? Can I paint them to prevent rust & any bad interactions w/ the aluminum?


Sorry to hijack my own reply, but does anyone foresee any possible issues with this modified bench seat design? If I cut the top of the bench seat out but leave the sides, is that enough reinforcement to keep the sides of the boat from caving in or the ribs from cracking?
seatidea.jpg
 
Well I made some good progress yesterday as the wife is out of town for work. Its really amazing what some fresh carpet will do.

Here is my frame for the front deck. I used a lot less material then a lot of the other projects I've seen on here since I'm not putting a seat up there, only the mount for the trolling motor and some storage underneath.
IMG_1059.jpg


This is how I anchored the legs to the hull. I had a lot of trouble working with the curves and angles, but I found a pretty easy solution in making a "foot" that pivots on the bolt and putting only one rivet through the hull since all of the force is dead load and there will pretty much be no chance of shearing.
IMG_1061.jpg


Here is the finish product (well for the front of the boat anyway). The cubby door was the hardest thing to figure out, but I love how it turned out.
IMG_1064.jpg


Here is a closeup of the trolling motor mount. It is just 4 pieces of plywood to get up over the top of the boat, glued, screwed, sealed, and carpeted.
IMG_1065.jpg


Here it is with the motor on.
IMG_1067.jpg


... and a close up of how I did the cubby door latch.
IMG_1068.jpg


Unfortunately I ran out of carpet and the carpet came from a friend of a friend that he got on clearance so I'm really hoping I don't have any trouble finding more to match. I'm going to quit for the rest of the summer so I can actually get some fishing in and start work again this fall. :)
 
nice job would love to see more did the middle seat compartment work or what i lvoe the front deck how does it hold up looking for something like that on my boat
 
Nice work!!
Whatever you do DO NOT get rid of the 25!! Use it. If it ends up being too much for the boat, wich I doubt, you could BOL for a bigger better boat to use the 25 on.
 
WhiteMoose said:
Thanks for the reply caveman. I was trying to bend the aluminum to make brackets, but decided the only thing I can do is use steel brackets. I found some nice thick steel angle brackets for about $1.50 that I should be able to bend in the bench vise. They appear to be stainless, but what if they aren't? Can I paint them to prevent rust & any bad interactions w/ the aluminum?


Sorry to hijack my own reply, but does anyone foresee any possible issues with this modified bench seat design? If I cut the top of the bench seat out but leave the sides, is that enough reinforcement to keep the sides of the boat from caving in or the ribs from cracking?
seatidea.jpg


Take a look at this thread. When I saw that mod I knew it was exactly how I was going to do mine. Russ has it right! IMHO.
https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=4493&start=70

Don't take the entire top off, leave a lip around the outside.
 

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