Mirrorcraft 14 Deep Fisherman

[Fishinday&night]

bigwave » 27 Jun 2012, 08:23[/url]"]I will have to check my receipts, but I am guessing 15 8' pieces.....I paid more than I should have since I bought the tubing from home depot....I wish we had a salvage yard somewhere close...that is the way to buy the framing. The only thing I would have done different would be to run a piece of aluminum angle down the centerline of the boat to attach the vertical supports. This is an afterthought but the framing is already done. It is still solid as can be and when the decking goes on everything should really shore up.

What was the thickness of your square tube and did you use 1" tube?

 

[bigwave]

.125

 

[HD4Mark]

I would like to resurrect this if it is OK.

Newb here but owned a few boats and found this thread with a Google search.

We have an old Landau 14' that has been on our hoist for years only oar powered. That is fun for not long. We also have a 30HP Evinrude tiller that was on a 14' Zodiac we sold. It screamed with the 30 but needed glue work so often we sold it to some kids that didn't mind a complete tear down and re-glue.

So now we have the tin boat and a solid running outboard but like Bigwave the transom is too tall for the short shaft. I don't think the boat is worth as much as a long shaft conversion kit.

So my question is: I can figure out how much to cut to lower the outboard so the cavitation plate is in the water but how do you figure how wide to cut so the motor can turn freely? Unlike Bigwaves boat there are only two knee braces but they appear to be closer together. The transom does need work so this is the time to put it all together.

BTW I did read through all 22 pages of this and it was an amazing rebuild and upgrade. Way more than we are looking to do just to putt out on our fresh water lake and maybe catch a walleye or two. I can upload some photos as soon and we flip it over and get the hoist in. TIA Mark

 

[bigwave]

If you can afford it get a manual jack plate to raise the engine.....If I had to do it all over agian, I would have found a long shaft motor for mine. My boat runs fine, but the old yammy longshaft was a bit faster. Next boat will be bigger....probably a 16 or better.

 

[HD4Mark]

If you can afford it get a manual jack plate to raise the engine.....If I had to do it all over agian, I would have found a long shaft motor for mine. My boat runs fine, but the old yammy longshaft was a bit faster. Next boat will be bigger....probably a 16 or better.

How does a jack plate work with a tiller motor? Wouldn't it push the motor out enough to make the throttle too far back? I have only owned the one outboard with the inflatable and only the one 14' tin boat. All the rest have been I/O and PWCs.

Speed is not a concern either. We have a 23' go fast boat for that. It will be a toy to just drop in quick for a short ride or to act like we actually catch fish. Really don't want to tie up a lot of bucks in it.

 

[bigwave]

The jack plate will allow you to raise or lower the motor so that the cavitation plate will be at the proper level. I misunderstood what you were trying to do. You have a short shaft motor with a 20" transom? You will probably need to find a longshaft motor since you only have two knee braces and you will most likely not be able to cut the transom short enough without loosing structural integrity.

 

[HD4Mark]

The jack plate will allow you to raise or lower the motor so that the cavitation plate will be at the proper level. I misunderstood what you were trying to do. You have a short shaft motor with a 20" transom? You will probably need to find a longshaft motor since you only have two knee braces and you will most likely not be able to cut the transom short enough without loosing structural integrity.

What I was thinking is if the transom can be cut down and keep both knee braces intact, then maybe it will still have enough structural integrity. All the wood needs to be replaced anyway.

I need to do some measuring first. That is why I'm trying to find out about how wide the cut needs to be. To find how deep I'm thinking of just hanging the motor off the transom first then measure how far down the cavitation plate would nee to drop to be under the hull. Make sense?

 

[SnookSlayer239]

Noob here. Love the mod on this boat. I have an '81 Deep Fisherman and I plan on stealing your ideas for deck support. Mine will be welded in though since I have a friend who is willing and able. I'll be outfitting mine with LEDs as well as a Yami 40. Love the build and all the ideas.