1981 polarkraft 1780 -need design help

[Anthony B]

Hi fellas,

Been combing through the forums for a while and can't find anyone who has modded this model polarkraft.

Backstory
Long story short, I have wanted a boat my whole life and I was given a 1981 1780 deep/mod v with a 70hp johnson by my neighbor when he saw me taking my boys out on an inflatable. Incredible gift and answer to prayer. The only condition was it was parked for 8 years in the woods. After 6 months I got the motor running and took it put on the lake last weekend for some fishing with my 4 boys

Design questions
1. I was hoping someone had a pretty good design for seating up to 5 people. I have 4 boys that like to go fishing. I don't NEED a huge casting deck but more concerned with seating and rod placement.

2. The back bench and side seating frames have foam in them. Can i remove these if i add an aluminum subfloor and foam to below it? Or will the hull be compromised. There are additional ribs below the back bench, but they don't run all the way up the boat.

3. Im thinking about moving the console towards the back of the boat, but it already boat rides really high going wide open. Any concerns on having too much weight in the back? I may be able to move the batteries up to the front.

Also looking for design guidance based on. Experience, as I said I am looking to fit 5 in this thing on the regular.

 

[LDUBS]

Wow, you have a great neighbor! Congrats!

 

[overboard]

I never set a boat up for 5 people, but it looks like it already has seating for 4. The only thing I think I would do to that boat is install a floor to eliminate tripping over the ribs, and then figure out the simple things that needs to be done from there. Personally, I wouldn't remove the rear bench or those side compartments, with 5 people you are going to need a lot of "stuff" on the boat that needs to be stowed out of the way and not laying all over the floor.
That is a nice boat, I think you can get it to where you want it without doing major modifications.

 

[LDUBS]

X2 - Overboard's suggestion to add a floor. Maybe a cooler strapped down to the floor with padded cushion on top for additional seating?

 

[Gstevens]

I run a few different boats and one of them has an open cockpit with no benches or other seating- a roto molded cooler or even a flat top igloo works for seating. You can mount tie downs for it or keep it loose depending on size and hp/speed of boat. If you really want to limit the footprint in the boat- a 5 gal bucket with a hunting/ice fishing seat on it works great as a mobile seat and a storage container.