Finally getting a new (to me) tin boat, a 1436

[RBuffordTJ]

Way to go man, looking real good

 

[Hydrilla]

Hamar507, to answer your question- I do have an idea, as I have been keeping track of the project cost in a spreadsheet, the best I can anyway. I will put that information here once I am done, there are still some blank fields I need to populate.

I can say that it's more than I expected it would be, and I don't even have an outboard motor yet. Part of it is I think that when you do a project for a first time, working on something you aren't familiar with, you tend to spend more money than if you've done it before. Why? I think because when you are experienced, you tend to plan better, you don't buy extra of this or that, or pay Lowes/Home Depot prices for stuff if you don't have to. I have made many late night trips to Lowes for things I didn't account for or have enough of. (Tip about buying stuff at Lowes- MAKE SURE you provide your phone number when you check out, they really can do lookups based on your phone number, and can process returns with no receipts with no problem at all!). I think next time, I will be able to plan over 90% of the build before I raise a hand to pick up the first tool.

Even with good planning, I say you should take your original estimate and add a good percentage of cost to it. I don't think you really save money doing things like this yourself versus buying a pre-built or pre-rigged boat. What you can gain is peace of mind in knowing that you did something right, as well as taylored to meet your needs. Not to mention the pride in the end result. OK, let me get off my soap box and back to my day job :mrgreen:

I've followed your progress throughout this modification. Great Job. Do you have a ball park $$ figure of what you have invested in the project? I could not imagine the hours invested. You ended up with something to be proud of though.

 

[Hydrilla]

The paint is completely dry, so I put everything back in the boat to see how it would look. I'm not going to get anymore actual work done until Saturday. It's cool to see how she's going to look though.

 

[jasper60103]

nice, very nice. Good job!

 

[USSWormy]

Great work! I know you are going to be very happy...... =D> =D>

 

[danmyersmn]

nice job. its nice to be so close to done! My rig is on hold as I await a possible relocation. If I end up moving I am going to have to stick my rig into storage until fully transition and then retrieve it. So its sitting waiting on me now. I have done projects like this in the past. I try not to think about what the cost is. If I have some $ to spend I do, if not, I wait. Add it up? no way!

 

[RBuffordTJ]

Looks great man!

 

[Hydrilla]

I'm pretty much done as of today! There are a few little things I'll be doing, but I could hit the water tomorrow if I wasn't working.

Here's a summary of what I did this weekend to finish up. First thing yesterday morning, I took the boat to a local welder, and he sealed off the hole that goes to the small livewell that I won't be using. That gives me a lot of peace of mind that I had it done right instead of using some type of band-aid method. The livewell is under my deck and not being used, and I hated the idea of something failing and not knowing about it.

There wasn't all that much else, but as usual things took longer than expected. I took a lot of time to run my trolling motor wiring, drill the hole and mount the trolling motor plug, secure the trolling motor bracket, and run the transducer. I used zip ties to run the transducer on the trolling motor, with electrical tape underneath each one, and then I used electrical tape to secure it to the trolling motor cable. After this stuff, I carefully measured and drilled the holes for my pedestal seat base, and thankfully all 6 holes went through both wood and the aluminum frame underneath the deck, so the pedestal base is VERY secure. Then I screwed the decks and floor to the boat, added a rod strap, and really that was about it.

All I really want to do is replace the inline fuse I installed for the trolling motor with a Bussmann manual reset circuit breaker, as recommended by some of the folks on this forum. I hate the fuse holder I have, it's very obviously not a good choice for this application. Also I plan to get an outboard sometime in the next couple of months, the boat is rated for 15hp but I think I'll be happy with a 9.9hp.

This has been a very fun and educational project. I know I will do another in the next few years, maybe sooner. My next boat will be at least an all welded 1448, and actually I'd love to get a 16-17 footer. I don't regret going away from my original idea which was adding compartments and other bells and whistles. I scaled the project back to be what I felt was reasonable based on my ability and experience (or lack thereof). I'm sure my next one will be different/more elaborate, but by then I will have spent a lot of time fishing out of a tin boat. I have bass fished for many years, but all of my experience to date has been out of big glass boats (my first boat was 18' with a 150hp). In this economy, I am thankful to have a tin boat versus a big rig. I think I can catch just as many fish and have just as much fun, if not more. Will this boat be too tippy with the way I've built it? I can't say. I did fish while standing on the front bench and it was fine, and I figure if I have a butt seat to lean against while standing, that can only help. Will there be enough room? 90% of the time it will be just me and my dog, so yeah- there's plenty of room.

I will post some more pictures once I get her out of the garage during daylight, which may not be until around Christmas. Sorry that these pics look almost just like my last update/mock up pics.

Also I'm attaching a "before" pic so you can see the difference between now and almost 3 months ago when I started.

 

[Brine]

Great work man. Just add fish!

Think you may fish with any of the jon boat clubs in NC?

 

[Waterwings]

Lookin' good! Go catch some fish! 8)

 

[Hydrilla]

Thanks guys! Brine, I may fish a jon boat club, if I can find one that isn't electric only. I'm sure that's fun, but I plan on using an outboard, and would want to fish a club that uses them, at least on the lakes that allow it. If there isn't one, maybe I could start one.

 

[Brine]

Here are the ones I know of, although I'm sure some if not all are electric only.

Bassbusters out of Sanford with 30 members
JBFC of Raleigh with 15 members
Shallow River of Robbins with 15 members

The guys in GA have been trying to setup a regional jon boat tournament between AL,NC, and GA. It would be hard to get me off these electric only lakes. I've gotten spoiled not dealing with pleasure boaters, and jet skis the past 2 years. Then again, we fish a few State Parks that allow less than 10hp outboards, and now those lakes feel like "big water". LOL

 

[Hydrilla]

Thanks for the club info, I'll check them out! No doubt I love our local electric only lakes, and I'm sure I'll spend a lot of time on them during the peak jetski season. I just like the idea of a 9.9 club like they have in Northern VA where I used to live.

 

[Hydrilla]

I took my boat out today for the first time since finishing the build. I think my expectations were as they should be, and I was not disappointed. First of all it floats, with no leaks- the total water taken in after 4 hours of fishing was about 1/2 a teaspoon, maybe less, just weeping around the plug hole. The trolling motor and sonar worked as they should. My biggest concern of course was standing on the front deck and running the trolling motor/fishing. I can tell that the boat is going to work out fine for me, if I use some common sense. Having a flat floor with no ribs is a big help, and walking from that to the front deck, as long as I move fairly slowly, is no big deal. Once I'm up there and running the trolling motor, it's stable enough that I forget that I'm on a small jon boat and am able to concentrate on fishing, which is what I hoped would be the case.

The Prowler 45 is plenty of TM for this boat. It's 45 lbs of thrust and only 12v but again, it's plenty. I would say it moves close to as fast as my last Skeeter that had a 109 lb 36v Motorguide. The Eagle Fishmark 480 is just fine too, it tells me plenty.

So again to summarize, if you are thinking about a 1436 because that is the most boat you can afford, I think it can be a good boat for you, depending on your size, balance, type of water you fish, etc. I think it will help once I get a pedestal pole and butt seat, so I have something to lean on in case I lose my balance.

Here is an 'on the water' pic at Lake Mackintosh where I fished today. No fish caught yet (44 degree muddy water), but I'm sure it won't take long 8)

 

[1436delta]

HEY MAN IT REALLY LOOKS GOOD IN THE WATER =D>

 

[Waterwings]

Boat looks good! 8) . That pic would make a nice screensaver!

 

[FishingBuds]

Yea it turned out great! nice job

 

[1436delta]

WHERE IS THE BIG OUTBOARD ON THAT RIG :wink:

 

[Hydrilla]

Thanks guys! Yeah, I hope to have an outboard on there soon. I have a 200hp Yammie that I'm gonna hang off the back, I just need to beef up the transom a little bit and get a good jackplate :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

WHERE IS THE BIG OUTBOARD ON THAT RIG :wink:

 

[albright1695]

The boat looks great.Bad time to take it out for maiden voyage though.I thought about heading to Mac saturday myself to crappie fish but I talked myself out of it.But anyway the boat looks great,Iwill get up with ya soon sbout possibly forming a club.Later!!