14ft Welded Jon

[jtf]

Thinking of building a smaller 1442 or even a 1436 boat when my 1648 jet sells. Reason is that it's hard to put-in a wider boat on my home rivers. Very rocky areas need a smaller hull to access. Would prefer a mod/vee and small jet. Welded would suit.

 

[jtf]

Only one I can find is Weld-Craft? Want a mod-vee.

 

[LDUBS]

If I even understand the difference, I would suspect most small utility type boats are going to be semi-V's. Not much help I'm afraid.

 

[LDUBS]

Klamath's 14' is a mod-V (Klamathboats.com). Northern California manufacturer so I'm not sure they would be available in your neck of the woods.

 

[jtf]

Mod-Vee vs flat bottom

 

[ruffhunter]

Alweld or Weldbilt. Weldbilt will be cheaper. Theyll make you anything .80/.100 gauge. Check out backwoodslanding .com upper left corner click on boat sizes and look at all the photos. I would get the 1442. I was going to get a weldbilt recently but found a new leftover alweld 1242 mod v dirt cheap.

 

[turbotodd]

I looked at Weld-Bilt when I was boat shopping. One of a few things I didn't like was how BIG the ribs are. Gives me some more ways to get tripped up while moving from front to back or even side to side. They're really tall. If I were to put a floor in it, the height of the ribs would have put the floor 6" above the bottom of the boat which reduces the amount of space inside as well as moving the boat's center of gravity (whether that makes any difference or not I do not know). Also the one I was looking at (1448 MV) had 7 strakes on the hull. 5 is plenty. 7 is going to be slightly more stable but will also slow the boat down some, not that I'm "that" concerned about speed but it was just another reason for me not to consider them. They are built ok, not great, but not bad either. Some of the welding was questionable which is not unusual of a mass-produced boat. Also the one I looked at did not have a horsepower rating; was a commercial rating meaning no floatation.

 

[WINGO-LINGO]

i LOVE MY 1436 for duck hunting. Less is more.

 

[onthewater102]

I'd go with the 1442 over the 1436 if you're trying to get in tight places - the extra displacement won't come with much extra weight so you'll ride shallower in the water. 6" shouldn't make a difference navigating tight areas, but welded boats are considerably heavier than riveted ones as they require much thicker material.