Little Jon Build

[Still Afloat]

That's exactly what I was thinking.

I thought about using this one that’s on Facebook for $500 but, I think it would cost too much to get it running.

 

[thill]

Wow.... I wonder how the farmer came across that? Fell out of the sky?

 

[Still Afloat]

Wow.... I wonder how the farmer came across that? Fell out of the sky?

Hard to say but, the guy looks like a junk collector.

 

[FuzzyGrub]

I wonder what farm implement he was planning to power with it?

 

[Still Afloat]

Tractor pull event at the state fair.

 

[Crazyboat]

I thought about using this one that’s on Facebook for $500 but, I think it would cost too much to get it running.

View attachment 119566

View attachment 119565

It's only missing a thingamajiggy and a duhicky

 

[Muffdvr]

Hi,
Looks great. I'm about to start my adventures on a Jon build myself and have been lurking around trying to get some idea's of how I want to lay out my aluminum's. I have a couple of Q's.

1st Q: I see that you are using C-channel. Are you able to get a rivet gun into the channel to hold the framing down or is this something that you are making easily removable? I have a couple of rivet guns and see no way to get inside the channel properly to get a rivet in straight. Your thought's... Maybe I'm missing something here.

2nd Q: I watched a video on spot welding aluminum angle, I'm sure a few of us have seen this vid. I've never done this and was questioning if anyone has thought about doing what they can spot welding rather than rivet or using this practice and riveting only what is needed. Welding aluminum is probably the best you can do for strength. Your welds look good for this being you first time as you stated.

I look forward to seeing more pics as you progress along.

 

[Still Afloat]

Hi,
Looks great. I'm about to start my adventures on a Jon build myself and have been lurking around trying to get some idea's of how I want to lay out my aluminum's. I have a couple of Q's.

1st Q: I see that you are using C-channel. Are you able to get a rivet gun into the channel to hold the framing down or is this something that you are making easily removable? I have a couple of rivet guns and see no way to get inside the channel properly to get a rivet in straight. Your thought's... Maybe I'm missing something here.

2nd Q: I watched a video on spot welding aluminum angle, I'm sure a few of us have seen this vid. I've never done this and was questioning if anyone has thought about doing what they can spot welding rather than rivet or using this practice and riveting only what is needed. Welding aluminum is probably the best you can do for strength. Your welds look good for this being you first time as you stated.

I look forward to seeing more pics as you progress along.

Sorry falling behind on pics, got held up last weekend with chores like road repair from all the rain and splitting firewood. Plus the miter saw didn’t arrive until Monday. Did get a little work done on the battery and fuel tray.

The channel spanning over the ribs is architectural 6063 0.125” 2x1” (1” sides.) It fits over the ribs (open side down) and it’s riveted to the ribs from the sides. Also ran some straps between the channel and the ribs to tie everything together and stiffen up the channel.

I’ll try to post a few pics tomorrow. Just came in from the shop and having dinner at 10PM. Time to call it a day.

 

[Still Afloat]

Ok, here’s a short update with a couple of photos.

This crooked photo is showing how it’s tied into the ribs.


And this is the beginning of the battery and fuel trays. The square in the middle is the sides of the fuel tray. Everything will set as low as possible without being on the hull.

 

[nooshe]

So I bought a new Lowe 1448M about a year ago with the intent of building a small jet Jon. Between work, life, working on the house, mowing ten acres, etc, etc it’s taken a year to get started on this project. In the meantime the gears in the head have been turning and I think there is a reasonable design floating around in the cobwebs between my ears. I don’t claim be an expert by any means. If anyone is interested feel free to follow along. I’m a few weekends into the build and I’ll post updates as time allows.

I did a few test runs last year with the bare hull and three different outboards.

The first was a tiller F25 EFI Jet. It’s a 200 pound beast and boat was dangerously tail heavy. I managed to get in some test runs without crashing or sinking and it was apparent that the weight (batteries, fuel, etc.) needed to be as far forward as practical. That led me to some estimated center of bouyancy and center of balance calculations. It wasn’t working out so I tossed pods into the equation and it seemed feasible at that point.

The second outboard was a Suzuki 9.9 that’s been modified to a 20hp. That’s a great pairing with this 14’ bare hull. It’s still light agile and it would quickly launch out of the hole and top out at about 27 mph at wot. If I didn’t want a bow mount trolling motor and the batteries that go with it I would have just stopped right there. (Maybe later I’ll wish that I would have stopped there.) I’m interested to see how this motor performs with the fully rigged out boat. Unfortunately, this snappy little motor will likely spend most of its life as a kicker on my bigger boat. What a shame.

The third motor that I tried is a Suzuki 25 EFI. It was propped too low and things got busy with summer projects and I never came back to it but, it was still pushing the bare hull around at 27mph at 1800 to 2000 rpm short. Weight wise, this motor is around 175 pound so it’s between the heavy Merc and the 100 pound 9.9/20. The Zuki 25 is the only one of the three outboards that has power tilt/trim. Ideally, I want to be able to swap between the Zuki 25 and Merc Jet with minimal changes in balance and trim.

Anyway this intro is dragging too long so we’ll get into the build.

The plan is a lower deck and an upper casting deck that will cover the batteries, fuel, etc. All aluminum, no stinking wood on this boat!
That box and hard hat on the toolbox is a dummy passenger. I’ll probably fish this boat alone most of the time but, you never know.

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The seat pedestal on the 2x4s is telescopic. It will extend to a comfortable seated position or squat down to out of the way or allow a passenger to ride up front at speed with a lower center of gravity. The. actual upper deck is about six inches lower than the temp seat placement.

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What are you running for a prop on your 25 Zuke?

 

[Still Afloat]

It has a 10.5 x 11 on it which is too much pitch. Will drop down to a 10.5 x 10.

We’ll see how everything works out but, I might turn the Zuki 25 up a notch to 30hp at some point. Will save that 11” prop for another day.

 

[Still Afloat]

Had to spend time on other things this weekend but, I did get the battery tray frames cut out and welded. Here they are mocked up for fit prior to welding.



Will cut out the plates for these trays and then move on to the upper deck support structure.

 

[Bear0214]

Nice work! Spring is almost here, though we are set to get another winter blast in the next few days.

I dig your spool gun, does it use just argon for a shielding gas?

Keep up the good work and keep posting progress pics.

 

[Still Afloat]

Nice work! Spring is almost here, though we are set to get another winter blast in the next few days.

I dig your spool gun, does it use just argon for a shielding gas?

Keep up the good work and keep posting progress pics.

Hi Bear,
Thanks for the complement. Spring is here for sure. The ice went off one of my favorite lakes on Monday. Had to divert from the Little Jon (LJ) for few days to tend to spring chores and some work on the Mariner. Still working on LJ and should have more pics early next week. I got the Thermodyne plasma cutter set-up yesterday evening as it will be needed soon.

The Spoolmate 150 works very well. The only negatives are:
1. Loading the wire is pain in the arse. (Miller needs to fix this.)
2. The size and weight of a spool gun compared to a MiG gun.

The size makes it difficult for tight spots so I’m tempted to load the 211 up with 0.35” aluminum wire and try it for tight spots. The guy at Airgass said it will work if the hose is kept pretty straight.

Unfortunately, Miller doesn’t make Teflon liner for this series so it sounds like a crap shoot. I’m tempted to give it a try but, cleaning up birds nests in the feeder, wire jams in the hose and bad welds with a die grinder are not my idea of fun.

The shielding gas is 100% argon.

 

[Bear0214]

Cool!
Do you plasma cut aluminum? I cut mine with a Milwaukee M18 saw, the thing is awesome and it cuts aluminum like butter, I also have a chop saw for angle, strap, etc. I TIG all my stuff, but I have always been interested is a spool gun.

Talk to you later, John

 

[Still Afloat]

Yes, the plasma torch cuts aluminum. I did about a four foot cut on 1/8” 6061 today. The M18 is probably cleaner and quicker for straight lines.

I’m on the Dewalt bandwagon and don’t want to start buying other batteries but, that blade could be useful. I was actually looking for a smaller metal cutting blade a week or so ago. Thanks for sharing.

Picked up a Dewalt DWS780 for the miter cuts on tubing and angle stock. The thing is a beast. It’s overkill for this project but, it will come in handy for some deck rebuilding on the house.

 

[Still Afloat]

So I got out to the shop about 5:30 this evening and the phone immediately started pinging. Ended up back in the office for another hour and twenty minutes. Anyway, found time to get the plates cut for the battery and fuel trays.

Bear was asking about the plasma cutter so here’s a photo part way through a cut. The Hypertherm 30 has fine and regular consumables for the torch. This is the regular setup. It cuts about as smooth as the operator can pull it. The right speed and constant speed is important. Plus a strong compressor, water/oil separators, filters and a regulator. I’m not that smooth anymore but, the cut cleans up real easy with a flap sander.



Here’s a shot of the trays with the plates in place. The plate on the center fuel tray will be welded so it doubles as a catch basin in case of any spillage. The supporting framework and battery plates will be riveted to allow changes down the road or access to the hull, if needed.



Each of the battery plates will eventually have mounting for two 100 A/hr minis, one 50 A/hr or two 50 A/hr. This allows flexible configuration for balance or maybe the bigger batteries for longer outings. These batteries also will power my portable ham station when they aren’t in the boat so easy removal and installation is important.

Here are two 50’s for the TM and one 50 for the house battery.



And two 100’s for the TM and a 50 for the house battery. The fuse box will mount in the open space on the single battery side. I may skip installing an onboard charger due to weight.



The fuel tank is from Boyd Welding (fueltankparts.com). It’s a 5 gallon which should be fine 90% of the time. I’ll toss a couple gallon plastic can behind the seat when I think it’s needed.