Console

[jrl5678]

SO, Bought a jon boat. It was made by a custom builder around here (Houston, TX.) It is 15'6" long on the paper work and about 60" wide. It has a CC. The bench seat behind the console is not very tall. The console is low to the ground. I am trying to have raise the CC or perhaps replace it but people tell me it can make the boat top heavy. What do you people think? I will try to attach some pictures soon.

I have some posted on here bot no this sub forum.

Jon

 

[jrl5678]

 

[LDUBS]

If you are just raising the console to put the wheel in front of you, I can't see why there would be any significant weight/balance issues.

 

[DaleH]

If you are just raising the console to put the wheel in front of you, I can't see why there would be any significant weight/balance issues.

I agree, I think you could easily go up 12" to 18" and not notice any adverse balance issues. Heck, create additional storage under where you 'lift' it.

 

[maintenanceguy]

I think you could raise it 20 feet with almost no impact on balance of the boat.

Think about the boat's center of mass. There is so much more hull, gas tanks, batteries, and other stuff at the bottom that the weight of the console is almost negligible.

I added about 10 inches to mine to get the steering wheel above my knees. The last owner must have been bent over the whole time he was in the boat.

 

[LDUBS]

Hopefully you have enough slack so you can keep the existing cabling. Cabling -- is that a word?

 

[MrGiggles]

I agree with what has been said, balance is no issue.

If it were my boat, I would remove that piece of plywood (or whatever it is) that makes up the middle bench, and leave the "box" underneath it to build a new seat base off of. Then rebuild the console. This will open it up quite a bit, more like a real CC type of boat.

Looking at the bracing along the sides, I don't think that middle bench is structural, shouldn't be a big deal to take it off.

 

[JL8Jeff]

A taller console will not cause balance issues, there's not much weight to it. My Lowe center console is at a great height for me being 5' 6" tall since I prefer to stand while operating the boat. I added the windshield and grabrail which works out perfect.

 

[jrl5678]

The Bench seat is all welded in Al. I don't want to cut on that.
I believe the current Console is just lagged in to the wooden floor. The steering cable needs replacing so I will make any console adjustments prior to ordering a new cable. I am not sure the remote controls have a lot of slack but I will figure that out. I am not sure about all the decisions that were made about how high the console is and why it is very low and a little weird to drive all day.

Right now the console hides the gas tank but it is not really useful for storage and not really very nice place to mount any electronics. I am going to shop for CC replacements or plans to make one out of plywood.

 

[DaleH]

Right now the console hides the gas tank but it is not really useful for storage and not really very nice place to mount any electronics. I am going to shop for CC replacements or plans to make one out of plywood.

Looks like you could easily make a plywood base that would move the existing console up 2' or more ...

 

[Jim]

Great looking boat by the way! The taller console will be a huge plus.

 

[jrl5678]

Thanks JIM, it was built buy a guy near Houston who makes custom jon/tin boats. It is heavy all welded not a big box store Jon. I am shopping for a set of pans for a CC or a fiberglass one. I would love to find one in the Houston area to shave shipping and what not if I were buying.

Any ideas?

 

[JL8Jeff]

You might want to check out the console web page at AK McCallum just to get an idea on sizes since they list the dimensions.

https://www.akmccallumco.com/check-out-our-accessories--steering-consoles-storage

My boat has the Lowe center console which is pretty narrow but I really wouldn't want it wider in a 1652 boat. You can see how the console is made from 2 pieces of aluminum. The sides are all from 1 piece that is bent to form each side/front and it has a flange bent in at the bottom to attach to the boat floor or stringers. The top/front is a separate piece that has wood attached to give it strength for the steering wheel to bolt to and then the top/front was welded to the side section. You could probably mock up something from cardboard (from a cereal box) in a smaller scale just to see how to bend it into place. I'm 5'6" tall and the Lowe console is 30" to the top, the front face with the steering wheel sits lower than that. If you're taller, you probably want to go with a taller console but I guess it would depend on arm length as well.

Edit: Here's a guy on Ebay that will make a custom console if you know what size you want. You might want to reach out to him to see what it would cost. https://www.ebay.com/itm/234042459488?hash=item367e048560:g:FOsAAOSwGotWnO1Z

 

[jrl5678]

I have been doing some mock up. Made a taller front made the seat more sit-able. I am wondering if people have a preference to where the wheel is. Flat, straight up and down, angled a little? Also how high to you like the wheel. I found a set of plans for a CC and the center of the wheel was 39" but I feel it is a little high. I am looking at 34" ish. Ill post some picks of my stick built model.

 

[maintenanceguy]

I''ve been on boats where the wheels were perfectly vertical, perfectly horizontal, and somewhere in between. I don't think it matters at all, at least not the way I boat. I rarely go more than 20 miles from the launch ramp. That's probably 40 minutes of "driving" time. I move the boat around a little once I get to where I'm fishing, crabbing, clamming, or whatevering but I'm not sitting in the seat all day driving. Most boats have the steering wheels 20º -30º from vertical. Mine is that way too but I really don't think it matters much.

New topic: If I was to do it all over again, I would get rid of the console completely. I could build a little box to mount the accessory switches. I could mount the VHS radio into one of the seats - I almost never have a reason to use it, just keep it in case I have an emergency. I could mount the chart plotter/fish finder somewhere else. Then I would install a stick steer along one side of the boat. In my little 1751 jon boat, the console takes up valuable real estate.

 

[JL8Jeff]

My wheel is about 28" high at the center and I think it's about 6-8" too low for me (I'm 5'6" tall) and it's at a more vertical angle. I could use the whole console to be 6-8" taller to get the wheel up, the controls up and the windshield/grabrail up higher. But I'm used to it so it's not worth spending money to make any changes. I barely run for 5-10 minutes to go upstream so I'm not at the console for very long.

Here's a picture of my console.

 

[jrl5678]

maintenanceguy,
I oddly don't fish much. I like to drive the boat around but I am arguing with myself over loss of space in the boat and a console that holds the gas tank, battery, wheel, and "stuff." I did not see where you were from but also South TX most of the year is worth some sun shade. I also do nto want to make my boat more complicated which I believe is what you are also talking about.

 

[jrl5678]

My wheel is about 28" high at the center and I think it's about 6-8" too low for me (I'm 5'6" tall) and it's at a more vertical angle. I could use the whole console to be 6-8" taller to get the wheel up, the controls up and the windshield/grabrail up higher. But I'm used to it so it's not worth spending money to make any changes. I barely run for 5-10 minutes to go upstream so I'm not at the console for very long.

Thank you for the pic. I found a random line drawing of a CC that had some important dimensions on it. It had a slanted wheel but it was 39" above the floor I think 34 is a better # for me (that is my jeans inseam # I did not just make it up.) I want a place to mount a fish-finder/Chart Plotter, I was gifted an older one that works great. I want to have a grab rail and probably some type of T-Top, summers down here start in April and run through October. Mostly I like to drive the boat and explore. So I spend a bit of time under power sitting or standing.

Do you wish you had other engine gauges?

Other people what gauges do you have what would you like to have?

 

[jrl5678]

Mock up so far, 38" fore to Aft, 48" high, the front bench is desinged to hold a 12 gallon gas tank, and the wheel is at 34" centered

 

[JL8Jeff]

Do you wish you had other engine gauges?

Not really. The only gauge I have is the voltmeter and I didn't look at very often so when my rectifier/regulator went bad, it killed the battery before I found out there was a problem. I just put that gauge in because it was the only one I had sitting around and there was a hole in the console where the old Evinrude system gauge was (I converted from 40 hp Evinrude prop motor to Mercury 60/45 jet). I do check the voltage now from time to time since I ended up replacing most of the ignition/spark components.

How wide do you want to go with your console? My boat is a 1652 but it measures 48" wide at the floor where the console is so my 19" wide console works well to leave enough room to walk around it to get up on the front deck where I spend most of my time.