marshman
Well-known member
had this boat for a while.. been fishing out of it just plain, and wired temporary... tired of tripping over ribs and slipping on slippery wet aluminum...
waterlogged foam under the front deck made tge front very heavy and float now heavy...
decided to cut out the front deck, remove foam, and replace deck.... had a good plan to leave 1 inch all the way around--- then bolt flat bar to the underside of remaining lip, then drill and tap holes to replace deck.., plan worked...
but I decided to scrap it and build a wood deck and make a storage compartment... under the front deck there was a small access hole, then a baffle or divider, then a hollow air space... only the very front 2 parts had foam.. tons of dead space to me.. so I removed the little divider, and my storage will be 2 ribs, and I'll replace foam in the front part...
also decided to cut in to the back bench and make storage... that had waterlogged foam too.. I will say, weldcraft put plenty of flotation in this boat but after sitting in weather for many years it got waterlogged and super heavy... I filled a 55 gallon trash bag that weighed over 100 pounds-- foam!!
I have wires ran--6 gauge on starboard side for trolling motor, 2-10 gauge on port side for depth finder and nav light.. I made an access hole and cover plate on the bow to access/hide my wiring..
my trolling motor was mounted to the now with some rubber anchor bolts but it was always shaking and working loose--drive me insane having to tighten bolts back down every other trip.. made a visit to a local fab shop and had them build me a riser do I could through bolt it solid with lock nuts underneath...it is rock solid now...
at this point-- I have floor made, trolling motor mount complete, holes drilled for tm plug, now nav light socket, paint touch ups, wires ran, need to finish building a deck, (deck is cut out, storage hatch framed, need to finish supporting it, need to finish designing/constructing rear storage, carpet.. started carpet on floor but having fits with wrapping in the U shaped notches--thinking about stripping it and starting over with installing floor, then carpet.. I'm not crazy about the carpet I bought anyhow...
waterlogged foam under the front deck made tge front very heavy and float now heavy...
decided to cut out the front deck, remove foam, and replace deck.... had a good plan to leave 1 inch all the way around--- then bolt flat bar to the underside of remaining lip, then drill and tap holes to replace deck.., plan worked...
but I decided to scrap it and build a wood deck and make a storage compartment... under the front deck there was a small access hole, then a baffle or divider, then a hollow air space... only the very front 2 parts had foam.. tons of dead space to me.. so I removed the little divider, and my storage will be 2 ribs, and I'll replace foam in the front part...
also decided to cut in to the back bench and make storage... that had waterlogged foam too.. I will say, weldcraft put plenty of flotation in this boat but after sitting in weather for many years it got waterlogged and super heavy... I filled a 55 gallon trash bag that weighed over 100 pounds-- foam!!
I have wires ran--6 gauge on starboard side for trolling motor, 2-10 gauge on port side for depth finder and nav light.. I made an access hole and cover plate on the bow to access/hide my wiring..
my trolling motor was mounted to the now with some rubber anchor bolts but it was always shaking and working loose--drive me insane having to tighten bolts back down every other trip.. made a visit to a local fab shop and had them build me a riser do I could through bolt it solid with lock nuts underneath...it is rock solid now...
at this point-- I have floor made, trolling motor mount complete, holes drilled for tm plug, now nav light socket, paint touch ups, wires ran, need to finish building a deck, (deck is cut out, storage hatch framed, need to finish supporting it, need to finish designing/constructing rear storage, carpet.. started carpet on floor but having fits with wrapping in the U shaped notches--thinking about stripping it and starting over with installing floor, then carpet.. I'm not crazy about the carpet I bought anyhow...
