14' "'V" bottom conversion...

[honers]

Hey all....to start with....very nice forum....been in alot of them here lately and this by far has more features than any i've ventured thru....

Had my boat for about 5 months and i'm really tired of the bruised on the inside of my calves from gripping the bench seat while i'm casting for the big one.....

This forum has pumped me up to modify my boat into a boat with a couple casting decks....got my plans all drawn up....just hope with all i got i can put everything in it that i have planned...

question #1....what i'm wondering is can i use the front and back bench as a support for my decking...this would make the deck around 7" below the rim of the boat....Now most of the pics i've ran across seems everyone has removed the benches from their respective boat....I on the other hand....not looking for the $10,000 boat but just a good ole comfy one to fish in....

question #2..... I would like to have me a couple of storage compartments on each side of the middle bench....which is gonna remain there...this is for when i take the grandsons out fishing i dont have to worry about em wantin to lean over and touch the water and "splash".... #-o .....now...can i build the frame for these out of 2X4's or something of that nature or should i use aluminum angeles as seems everyone else does....

I'll wait patiently for any responses...and if need be i could post a few pics of what i'm working with...

tks

 

[Zum]

Welcome to the site.
Yes,pictures do help.
#1--sure you can use the seats as support
#2--alot of people use wood for the frame,aluminum is great,just pricey

 

[ben2go]

:WELCOME:

Benches are strong enough for decks.I would run aluminum angle from bench to bench to support the deck.The benches can be cut open for storage but there is flotation foam in them in case of a swamping.How wide is the bottom of the boat?If it's less than 4o inches I would keep the decks lower than the benches.Pics would help.

 

[honers]

ok...here is my first attempt at attaching pics....

my goal on this is to have the decking go all the way up to the bow of the boat....this will create a small storage area...

here i would like to have two separate compartments....one for a cooler / live well and the other side i'm hoping would be able to house two batteries...one for the trolling motor and the other for running lights and spotlight

well this should of been my first pic...my decking will go from the bow of the boat to the second rib in front of the bench seat and then the back decking will begin at the second rib in back of the bench seat.....with storage units on both sides of the middle bench

as you can see the top panel is a bunch of small boards place side by side...i would like to replace this with one solid piece of wood and construct me a brace so that i can attach my trolling motor for better control....spotlight would then be moved to other side as not to get in the way of the trolling motor....

Now if these photos turn out...if there is any other view that someone would like to see let me know and i can work on getting those pics attached....the last photo will be the first part of my project as it is still fishing weather and i dont want my boat to sit idle....

 

[Andy]

Check your local scrap yard, you may be able to get some good aluminum material for framing and decking? I know alot of scrap yards won't sell material, but it's worth a try.