Dustin's 14ft alumacraft conversion... lots of pictures!

[Dman23]

Great news!!! Got my baby out today for the first time and i am 100% happy. Tooh her down to the bay just about 1/4 of a mile in from lake superior. Bay had a pretty good chop on it with a wind coming right off the lake so it was a great test. Motor started up in about 8 pulls. Whew! First time its been ran since august.

Floor is solid and stable as can be in this size boat. Pedestals are also solid and the perfect height. Into the wind by myself i can probably only go half speed without a person in the front same as before. But with the wind i was able to open her up. Hit 28.4 mph by myself. Same as before. Absolutely love it!!!!

I will say i wouldnt want to be any higher. Floor height in this boat turned out great. I am suprised so many people put decks on this size boat. To me your already so close to the water it would just be overkill and reduce stability. Anyways, couldnt be happier!

 

[Dman23]

I do have one thing i sorta wish was different and i didnt think about while building. The floor is about 2 inch higher than before. Seat is a few more (total height from floor to wood base of seat is 13 1/2) 11 inch pedestal and 2 1/2 from the seat mount. Also, i am 4 inches off center now and before on the bench i was almost all the way to the right wall.

That being said before i used to control the motor with my left hand and hold the right wall behind me with my right hand. Didnt realize i did this before but now being more centered and higher it is really hard to hold the motor and the side of the boat.

Two options to solve this (and would actually like to do both if i can). Screw a handle on top of the gunwale so where i hold is a few inches higher. Or get a lower pedestal, or both.

I would actually like to do both for good measure. But i cant seam to find a 3/4 inch pin pedestal that is lower than my 11 inch. I found one thats 9 1/2 but i hardly think 1 1/2 inch will make a difference. Does anyone know where i could get a 5 or 7 inch pedestal extension?

Its something i can deal with it would be just nice to have those two things for driving. For fishing i would pit the 11 inch pedestal back in.

Anyone have any questions juat ask. But for anyone who is thinking about a similar mod i can tell you that you will love it!!!!

 

[Dman23]

One other thing... The 1 1/2 angle aluminum (1/8 in thick) side supports are really awesome. Going 28.4 mph in choppy water (it was a lot choppier in spots than the pictures make it look) the sides had zero flex. Maybe even better than before. I was beating the waves very good and the hull was not flexing AT ALL. Very happy camper.

 

[Dman23]

Did also get another strip of LED lights hooked up and a latch for the box. Than you walmart!!! Absolute only thing left is nav light mounts and hooking them up and i am 100% done. Wires are already ran and hooked up to the box so thats an easy task!

 

[ChitownBasser]

=D> Nice work. Now to put some fish in the boat.

 

[jimmy fins]

Awesome Dman. Glad it worked out for you. It's a beautiful mod. Bud, CONGRATS =D>

Jim

 

[Comstocker]

Nice project! I've got a little more wiring to do on mine then it can go back in the water. I typically fish the inland lakes though and haven't ventured near the St. Louis River or Lake Superior!

 

[Dman23]

I mostly stick to inland lakes too but since i live 5 minutes from the bay its a good testing spot. Your from the area and what lakes do you dish?

 

[Comstocker]

I've got a cabin on Comstock lake, about 20 minutes north of Island Lake before you get to Whiteface. A buddy of mine has a place on Fish Lake so I fish that quite a bit with him. I also fish with some of the guys from the Minnowfaces.com site, they are a blast to hang out with and put on quite a party at the Birch Lake campground every June.

I've got a '84 Alumacraft T 14-SF that I restored and added a front casting deck, autopilot trolling motor, and a few other things. It's a low side short transom boat, works perfect on small lakes and rivers.

 

[Dman23]

Ah thats cool. Im in duluth but fish up at island the most. Also rice, boulder, pike, and fish. Not the greatest lakes in the world for walleye but their close and i just like fishing them. Can usually bring home a handful of eater fish. Sometimes go for northern or small and largemouth when the walleye is slow on those lakes. Nice to see someone from the area on here!

This year hope to try whiteface. Also been to cadotte and hope to try there and bassett this year. Love the campground there

 

[jimdd810]

I was checking out your build thread. Awesome job! If you need any thing or want to get together and fish I live in iron river Wisconsin. Awesome job!

 

[johnlaqua]

nice rig man, turned out great...its really simple but yet adds soooo much character to it which makes it that much better imho... one thing that i thought of doing when i get my tin and do it up is make tackle storage compartments, and fab some small dividers along the walls to use plano boxes in them, then theyd slide right in and out (i have a softside plano duffle style tackle box) then throw some of those leds in there as an accent, might be pretty slick....your leds added to my idea, so i figd id share with you

 

[MartyMoose]

I like the way you did the floor! The mod was simple yet very effective! Great job!

 

[Dman23]

Thanks guys! Got it out last tuesday with my dad for its first fish since the mod. Was really a joy having so much more room after those benches were out! Couldnt have done it this nice without this forum.

I was thinking about a tackle box installed, but the more i thought about adding any more boxes that couldnt be moved the less i wanted to add. After fishing in it glad i didnt build more, its nice to be able to move stuff for leg room when and where i want it at a particular time. I was going to make the box i built for my battery and electrical twice as big too and use the rest for storage, but i am glad i didn't. Instead i found a tote that fits perfect there, and if the front person wants leg room there, they can move the tote where they want to. In a 14 footer with a 48 inch floor, room for me is the highest priority. Being able to move things to create room where i want when i want ended up being more important that something permanent. And even in the first time fishing, found it to be the right decision.

Here is a picture of the tote i found at wally world. Fits perfect between the box and my front side support. Also a picture of my dad up front. He seamed to have more than enough room even being a bigger guy up front. Glad i didnt build a deck and just kept a simple 1 piece floor for stability and simplicity.

 

[Dman23]

Also added teo hooks on the transom. 1 to coil the anchor rope on to get it out of the way, and the other to coil the trolling motor wires on when its down (since i have to have about 3 ft of cord for when its up, its nice to get the slack out of the way when its down). Found these at wally world for $1.38 each.

 

[Dman23]

nice rig man, turned out great...its really simple but yet adds soooo much character to it which makes it that much better imho... one thing that i thought of doing when i get my tin and do it up is make tackle storage compartments, and fab some small dividers along the walls to use plano boxes in them, then theyd slide right in and out (i have a softside plano duffle style tackle box) then throw some of those leds in there as an accent, might be pretty slick....your leds added to my idea, so i figd id share with you

Those LEDs i got at walmart i the marine section. They are 7 bucks each and 100% waterproof. Very nice lights.

And yup simple with the floor plan was the what i was going for. My goals were to make it simple, as roomy as possible, stable, and as strong as it was before. Mission accomplished!

Oh one more minor detail. Was looking for a place for my little jon bottle that was out of the way. There was just enough room between the built in box and the tote with the curve of the tote i put two eye hole scews and a bungie to hold it out of the way and zero space taken up. Its all about the little details haha.

 

[Dman23]

Holy cow i left out even one more thing.... Got a phone holder off ebay for $9 shipped. Wow does it work perfect!!!! Holds the phone perfect for when i use my lake maps/gps app Navionics. It is crazy adjustable, holds the phone very well, and is super easy to take in and out (there is a button on the back side and when you push it the arms slowly spring open to release the phone.

My original plan was to drill 3 holes in the base And screw it to my shelf the depth finder is on, but it actually suctions very tough to the side of the boat. I would highly suggest this holder for a phone or gps! I would also very very highly suggest the app Navionics. Great for a speedometer, lake map, gps, depths the works for every lake in the US and Canada. Here is the ebay link for the phone holder. https://www.ebay.com/itm/251029466860?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_1586wt_962

 

[Gators5220]

I really love the simplicity of this boat, =D> ...I too have a small boat 15ft but I find one of the most annoying part about small boats is clutter, and in my build which is still in progress I'm trying to have a place for everything so there is organization and you can actually fish in it. I think the only thing I'm finding with my build is that I'm trying to do a few too many things with it (inshore salt, offshore salt, & bass fishing as I'm in Florida)...so it's a lot more cluttered than your boat and I'm quite envious of your lack of clutter. Lol...anyway nice job again. =D> =D>

 

[Gators5220]

O forgot to ask what kinda motor you got pushin that boat? She must move pretty good as light as you've kept her?

 

[ChitownBasser]

Good use of those hooks for the anchor rope. I am gonna borrow that idea. I bought two of the hooks when I started my project but never used them. Also, what's the verdict with the Navonics map app for the phone? I am on the fence about getting it. I do not mind the $10 price but as long as it works.