My 2nd boat project - 14ft Alumacraft Semi-V

[murphy67]

Wolves,
Thanks! There is about 3 feet of space in the back area near the driver seat, and slightly less in front of the middle seat (about 32in).

I hear ya on the bow mount trolling motor...however, if I was going to get a trolling motor, it would go on my main boat (the 1986 Alumacraft in signature) and as of right now, that is an expense I do not have room for yet even for my "good" boat . Lol.

Where this boat (and even my other boat are used 99% of the time), we also have a newer/larger Alumacraft with a bow mount trolling motor and all the "bells and whistles" so when we are really going to fish, we normally take that out, etc....and also I needed to keep this build a bit more open and roomy for some 19-13 year olds who will use it up at the cabin for tooling around the lake, not really for fishing.

Thanks for the replies!

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Oh I can just see two couples sitting face to face going across the lake....... :wink:


To be young again.


Then again, they all might be texting each other.

Thanks for the info on the space. It looks roomy and makes me rethink if I need the 44-48" I was looking for in mine.

How wide are the lockers?

 

[murphy67]

Lol...too funny!

As for the lockers...i cant measure at the moment as the boat made it up north today. I will be up there tomorrow morning for the week and will get some measurements. If i had to guess...i think they were about 10 - 12 inches at the widest part...but moving forward the space reduced a bit as the bow slants inward.

Really looking forward to trying the new boat out tomorrow!

I will share some pics from the lake when I return as well.

 

[Jim]

Added to the master list and thrown all over facebook! :LOL2: :beer:

Thanks for posting your project, I truly appreciate it!
Jim

 

[1960 yellowboat]

Not to degrade your workman ship, it looks really good.
But [there's always a but]

Mounting those seats up high on pedastles changes the center of gravity to the point that a sharp high speed turn may throw the operator out of the boat.';
You did say that teens will mostly be using the boat for cruising. I trust they will operate the boat slowly and safely.
Just my 2 cents
The boat does look nice tho

 

[murphy67]

yellowboat,
I always welcome any comments or 2 cents. If you were specifically talking about the center seat being a bit higher, I did actually switch that seat post for a few inch shorter one I had left over from my 86 Alumacraft, but even with the taller one, it was very stable. If you meant the driver and front seat, I knew going into this build that those seats were going to be sitting almost exactly (maybe 1-2 inches higher) than when we had seats just bracket'd to the bench seats themselves and we used the boat for a few years with 4 seats and the same motor, etc.

Knowing all that, I still did add bunch of grab handles which are great if things get a bit bumpy, etc to further help with safety and a nice handle for the driver as well. (I'll get pics posted a bit later showing the additions)

Thanks for the reply!

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Im getting ready to put a floor in my boat and with the seat pedestals Im using my seat will be 3-4" above the gunnel when fully collapsed. They go from 15" to 20" when raised fully, and even raised all the way my only concern would be for the added stress placed on the pedestal by my 300lb frame.

These are helm rated pedestals though.

The boat leans into the turn anyway so I really dont see an issue here.

 

[murphy67]

Well, I apparently didn't get any good pictures of the cup holders and additional grab handles during my week up north....but I put flexible kayak carry handles on each side of the middle and front seats and a few along the bench seats as well, which worked great when going full speed and things were a bit choppy and I do have a pic showing the drivers handle (which really was a nice addition during operation of the motor) and the bilge in operation and some shots launching and such:









I will get a long weekend over labor day and maybe a few days in October, but that will be it for the season on this build. Possible changes next year might be to add a stereo and some speakers for the kids, but we'll see

 

[LDUBS]

Wow, your boat looks great on the water. Judging from the trim shown in the middle photo it looks like it sits in the water nicely too.

The grab handles sound like a good idea in general.

Enjoy!

 

[murphy67]

Dubs,
I was really surprised how well the boat sat in the water with the new additions and how well it handled and operated loaded. We had combo's of 3x adults (525lbs), 2 adults and 2 kids (450lbs), 1x 19yr old and 3 kids (500lbs), etc...and never did it feel unsafe or overloaded. I tried to set about a max 500 lb limit and feel around there is a good spot where the boat still planes and isnt loaded into the water too low. Plus, its still a 14ft boat and can only comfortably fit so many, weight or not

Thanks for the reply!

 

[bassnbrain]

wow nice work man!!

 

[akboats]

Got more done over the weekend:

Got the wood pieces cut from my cardboard and laid them in for rough fitting:

20190701_195503.jpg

20190701_195513.jpg

Back piece cut, and motor cut out done. (i still plan to cut out a hatch to keep battery/wirinig/gas tank somewhat covered from the elements):

20190701_195517.jpg

Also re-cut my small bow seat wood and used the old piece to make that veritcal piece to close the bow off:

20190701_195532.jpg

And here is a wide shot of the full boat as of last night:

20190701_200209.jpg

This week I still need to make a floor frame for the battery/gas tank area, and a mount for my switch panel so I can begin the wiring....and then fit carpet and wood...make final trimmings, seal wood, re-carpet, secure it all down.

That looks really nice with just the sealed wood. and the finished product is nice too

 

[adambriner]

Amazing build! I'd like to do something similar to my 16' Alumacraft. But I remember reading that removing that middle bench severely reduces the strength of the boat. And after a while will destroy the boat. Some other builds I've seen use some kind of extra support or structural aluminum.
Is that overkill?
Is the boat just fine without the middle bench?
Thanks for any replies!

 

[MrGiggles]

Amazing build! I'd like to do something similar to my 16' Alumacraft. But I remember reading that removing that middle bench severely reduces the strength of the boat. And after a while will destroy the boat. Some other builds I've seen use some kind of extra support or structural aluminum.
Is that overkill?
Is the boat just fine without the middle bench?
Thanks for any replies!

Depending on the design of the boat, removing that bench can alter the rigidity. Some boats have ribs that run side-to-side from the gunnels down, on those boats you can remove the benches without much of an issue. On others, without the middle bench there is little support to keep the gunnels from bowing outward and folding the boat up like a soda can.

Usually if a raised floor is installed, attaching the sides/gunnels to it will provide enough support and keep things rigid.

 

[adambriner]

Are the ribs on my boat the same as you are talking about? Could I remove my middle bench without worrying?

 

[murphy67]

Adambriner,
I def have also seen concern from others with removing one or all bench seats and causing the boat to become unstable, etc...however I do feel after riding in it multiple times after finishing it, that the boat itself feels like it is more sturdy than it was before. Or at least the same I also have seen people take all benches out and they seem to say things are fine after all is built and ran in the water.

I did leave little nubs of the bench on each side and basically everything is tied together in one way or another which i think helped.

I would prob not want to remove more than just the 1 bench though personally, unless I was planning to really add some re-enforcement's....but again, I am not an expert for sure....AND, I knew that this boat will be used exclusively on smaller inland lakes in Northern WI, which even at their roughest, are not that bad. (but also, if things were that rough, prob would just take one of the bigger boats out if needed, etc...) and the boat will only get about a week or two usage each season, so I feel it should last quite a bit..but only time will tell.

As for your 16 footer, from what I can see in that pic, it seems the ribs are similar to mine. You should be able to see the ribs in some of my previous pics when doing the floor frame and such and can compare.

Thanks for the kind words on my build as well...it was fun and being honest, was pretty happy with the work put in and the outcome from that. Such a different project than my 1st build, which was more a refurb, as the floor already had framing, etc...but def a learning/fun experience for both!

Best of luck with your build, you def are at the right place for help, tips, suggestions, etc...this forum is awesome!!!

 

[adambriner]

Thanks murphy!

I guess I need to start looking more seriously into what I'm going to do. My son (7) just got his first bass the past weekend and doesn't care much for panfish anymore. Next time we go out I'll have to take notes knowing that middle bench could be removed.

 

[Pector55]

I love what you did with it and you definitely gave me some ideas for my build. Thank you for sharing!

 

[murphy67]

adambriner,
One of the best changes to having the middle seat removed is, you dont have to crawl over a bench to go from driver to front seat, and it just opens things up alot more. Also having a solid/flat floor makes all movement in a smaller boat a bit more stable as well, which always helps.

Congrats on the bass...my 5 year old also just caught his first over labor day, he was pretty pumped!

Again, you are in the right place for ideas on whatever you chose to do with your boat!


Pector,
Thanks for the kind words, and glad to have possibly shared some additional ideas back to this community!

One thing I will share as a "maybe i would do things different next time tip": Somewhere on this forum I found a thread where someone was trying to save money, etc when doing his build and ended up using a dual hung? aluminum ladder for his flooring. When I saw this I was already done with my floor frame, but had to laugh as I felt this idea was perfect and I literally have the exact old aluminum ladder in my garage the guy used, which would have possibly saved me a bunch of time and even money. lol. I tell everyone if i did another 14ft build, I would seriously consider the ladder for a frame, as it would be strong enough and wouldn't need the same care/sealing as wood, and would reduce weight a bit too. So maybe take a look through the "Completed list of mods thread" and maybe you will come across it as well.


Other than that, I did finally get back up north and uncovered the boat to get a few quick pics of the handles and cup holders:

 

[Joemac4445]

Your boat is a Model T 14 S I have that identical boat 1985