jon boat design help

[whiskerfrisker]

Hey yall! New to the forum and jon boats. Just recently aquired an alumacraft 1436 and had some questions about interior design and flotation. So here are my ideas; add 4lb foam isulation to the flooring and secure it down with red cedar (low density and good weather resistance) coated with tompsons water seal, add small back deck for gas tank/battery storage and small forward deck for dry storage NOT CASTING DECK, but will probably have short seat installed. I will be using this boat on rivers and resivoirs when the water is calmer. I also had an idea of some outrigger floats for added stability, however I'm used to canoeing rivers and have pretty sturdy sea-legs. My questions are, would the added foam and cedar add any bouyancy benifits (if swamped), would the outriggers work and does anyone have any ideas, and how would yall design the interior for maximum catfishing benifits? I am looking at an evinrude 8horse to push it with and I will be fishing either alone or with my girlfriend (together we are about 350 max, I'm 215). Any thoughts ideas warning or the like would be great!!

 

[Ranchero50]

I would suggest running the hull naked for a while before doing much work to it. 1436's don't lend themselves well to most modifications, they just don't have the reserve buoyancy or stability to load down heavy.

Advice is to keep it simple, keep it light and keep the load spread equally throughout the hull.

 

[BigTerp]

I concur with the above. I had all sorts of ideas with what I wanted to do with mine when I first got it. Only thing I did at first was replace the transom. Ran it bare bones for 8 or so months before I started the heavy mods. Some of my orginal ideas stuck, but many changed after being out on the water and realizing exactly what I wanted.

 

[PSG-1]

Here's a 14 ft War Eagle my girlfriend used to have, we installed a floor like what you're talking about:








These were 1x4 pine boards, secured to the ribs with SS self-tappers, countersunk, and plugged with wood plugs. Then sealed with tung oil. We didn't put foam board under the floors, though. I would recommend doing so, to give some added flotation, and to fill the void between the hull and your inner deck, as per ABYC regulations.


I used to own a Duracraft 1436 that I modified by installing an inner floor like my jetboat. On this modification, I did add 1 1/2 inch foamboard under the flooring, as well as along the gunwales. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of photos to show a lot of detail of this boat, this was about the only thing I could dig up that shows some of it:



Gigging a spot tail bass. The elevated wooden deck was a removable deck used for gigging. But you can see the diamondplate floor, as well as the panels of the gunwale. This was built in the same manner as the one in my jetboat, welded up as a one-piece 'tray' then the foam placed in between all the ribs, and the tray riveted in place. This was probably the best little johnboat I have ever owned, very easy to keep clean, and lots of room to work in.

And it would carry some weight. One time, a friend and I were both working out of that boat, commercial oyster harvesting. We filled the boat with 22 bushels of oysters, at 60 lb/bushel, not to mention the weight of 2 people, motor, fuel and battery. Needless to say, the bow was only an inch or two from going under, but this goes to show how much weight a johnboat can actually carry.

 

[MOE]

Welcome aboard wisker. I have an old 1436 with a great running 8hp evinrude. Hull is lates 70's and outboard is late 80's or early 90's. By myself at 165 lbs with just a few gals of gass I can do 21-23 mph. With another person about the same size and fishing gear, ice chest, and battery I run 15-16 mph. My hull is probably about the lightest there is and doesn't really have any mods.

 

[whiskerfrisker]

Thanks for the info and tips guys! And really like that flooring PSG!!

 

[erictetterton]

Yea PSG that looks great. Do u have any more pics of that war eagle?

 

[Scott06z71]

I'm curious what is the purpose of putting foam board under the added flooring? I'm getting ready to add flooring to my 14 x 36 too so I was wanting to know should I consider this too?

 

[Ranchero50]

Scott06z71 » 9 minutes ago[/url]"]I'm curious what is the purpose of putting foam board under the added flooring? I'm getting ready to add flooring to my 14 x 36 too so I was wanting to know should I consider this too?

Makes it quieter and adds stiffness if you run thinner aluminum. Downside is you run the risk of it getting saturated if you have a gas leak or of the hull turning turtle if you have most of your flotation down low and it swamps.

 

[PSG-1]

Ranchero50 » 19 minutes ago[/url]"]

Scott06z71 » 9 minutes ago[/url]"]I'm curious what is the purpose of putting foam board under the added flooring? I'm getting ready to add flooring to my 14 x 36 too so I was wanting to know should I consider this too?

Makes it quieter and adds stiffness if you run thinner aluminum. Downside is you run the risk of it getting saturated if you have a gas leak or of the hull turning turtle if you have most of your flotation down low and it swamps.

It also provides additional flotation in the event of being swamped. And it definitely adds stiffness to thin aluminum floor, in my 14' durcraft, and my 16' duracraft jetboat, I'm using .062" for my flooring, and it is very stout with the foam underneath.

ABYC mfg. standards specify that any void in the hull, such as the area between a false bottom and the hull, must be filled with flotation foam.

 

[PSG-1]

erictetterton » Today, 20:55[/url]"]Yea PSG that looks great. Do u have any more pics of that war eagle?

Got a few more. Here ya go:




These show the wood plugs that cover the self-tappers. Also, the small void along the gunwales was filled by using some 1/4 round molding.








Bear in mind these are just plain 1x4 white pine boards from home depot, nothing fancy, just stain and several coats of tung oil to seal it. Doesn't really add a lot of weight, either.





Yeah, around that console was a little bit of a PITA, but I was able to get some tight fits, and I'm not even a carpenter! Just a little work with my bandsaw for notching, and occasionally having to use my belt grinder to put a bevel on boards to make them fit neatly against the gunwales.

I did not caulk the seams between the boards, just along the gunwales, the rear bench seat and front platform. And for that, I used Dap clear elastomeric caulk, which is similar to 'Goop' Even though I did not caulk the seams, my fits were so tight that if any water got on the deck, it wouldn't drain, so, we did have to cut a hole at the rear center and install a stainless drain so water would go to the bilge area.


Anyhow, I'm a big fan of inner decks/false bottoms in johnboats, no ribs to trip over, easy to keep clean, and when you install foam, it's a quieter ride, and some additional foam for flotation.

 

[BigTerp]

PSG-1, those floors might be the nicest I've seen on any jon boat!!!

 

[Country Dave]

BigTerp » 34 minutes ago[/url]"]PSG-1, those floors might be the nicest I've seen on any jon boat!!!

X2 on that,

Very cool look.......................... =D>

 

[PSG-1]

Yeah, I have to say, if I build another jetboat for myself, I may just have to 'pimp my ride' with some nice wood floors like this! :mrgreen:

 

[DrNip]

What was used on the border trim to seal around it?

 

[PSG-1]

Dap clear elastomeric caulk:



Very good product. Remains flexible, yet tough. Almost reminds me of "goop", in fact, that's about what it smells like, but it has a little more flexibility than goop when dry.