I am looking at buying an older used jon boat, that is a 10 footer. I would get a 12', but I am only limited to a van that does not have a hitch.. so the boat would be going inside the van and a 12' would stick out way too much (a 12' would stick out 5', as opposed to a 10' which would stick out 3'). I fish alone 95% of the time, so this would be just for 1 person.
The boat I am looking at getting is 10' long and 42" wide. I have a 48lbs minnkota foot operated trolling motor that I will be mounting to the front. How stable is a 10' jon boat? I've never used one before and the 12's that I've been in were all pretty stable with 2 people.
I also thought about making a modified deck on the jon boat. I wanted to cut away part of the front bench and make a lowered deck (3-4" off the bottom). That way, my center of gravity would be lower on the boat and make it more stable as opposed to a raised seat on the bench. Any thoughts on this, also how would I go about and reinforce the hull after cutting the bench down?
Below is a picture of the boat in its current state.
The boat I am looking at getting is 10' long and 42" wide. I have a 48lbs minnkota foot operated trolling motor that I will be mounting to the front. How stable is a 10' jon boat? I've never used one before and the 12's that I've been in were all pretty stable with 2 people.
I also thought about making a modified deck on the jon boat. I wanted to cut away part of the front bench and make a lowered deck (3-4" off the bottom). That way, my center of gravity would be lower on the boat and make it more stable as opposed to a raised seat on the bench. Any thoughts on this, also how would I go about and reinforce the hull after cutting the bench down?
Below is a picture of the boat in its current state.
