New Guy, New Project (Lowe Jon boat) saying Hello

[wyattmulaw]

So I have been fishing for years but always from shore. I recently fell into a great deal on a project Lowe that had been sitting in a field for some time. It's not in the pictures but the boat came with a mercury 35 horse that is in really good shape, shouldn't take much to get it going. The real project is the boat and trailer. My plans are to refurb the trailer and major mods to the boat itself.

Unfortunately I'm going to have to jump through some hoops to get title to the boat and trailer but the guy I got it from does have the title to the motor. Shouldn't be too much of a hassle.

As for the boat, it's solid, just needs cosmetic help. I want to build a large platform on the front. I think I can handle that, I've looked at almost every mod thread on the site and have several ideas on what I want to do. I have a buddy who welds so I plan on tasking him with fabing me up a steering console. I would like a little storage as well.

Awesome site from what I've seen so far!

Boat is a Lowe, haven't measured but it's big, 18-20 foot would be my guess.

 

[wyattmulaw]

 

[Waterwings]

Nice rig, and I also like your choice of tow vehicle.

 

[wyattmulaw]

Nice rig, and I also like your choice of tow vehicle.

Thank You and Thank You. Just got the '11 FX4 and absolutely love it. It will come in very handy when I get this boat ready for the water.
Looking at some of the projects on here just overwhelms me to see what some of the members are capable of on customizing their rigs.

 

[mmf]

man, that is a nice boat! OK, it's time for you to get to work and depending on your location, it is going to be a hot job if you work outside! Find yourself a shade tree and good luck with your project!

 

[Jonboat Jerry]

Great to have another Lowe project going Wyatt, this is a great site for ideas and super people.
What are your plans for the Lowe, and where are you located?

 

[fender66]

Wyatt...welcome to TinBoats! Great to have you on board.

That is a very nice project. I'm sure it will catch a lot of fish and be great fun. Don't forget to take pictures of your build. We love pics.

 

[Waterwings]

Nice rig, and I also like your choice of tow vehicle.

Thank You and Thank You. Just got the '11 FX4 and absolutely love it. It will come in very handy when I get this boat ready for the water.
Looking at some of the projects on here just overwhelms me to see what some of the members are capable of on customizing their rigs.

Looking forward to your boat pics! I traded my 2001 4x4 SuperCrew in October 2009 for the 2010 FX4 SuperCrew. The full-size rear doors, seats, and lots of legroom comes in real handy when transporting adults and grandkids.

 

[wyattmulaw]

First thing is to get the motor mounted back on the boat and have my buddy check it out and freshen it up for duty. He doesn't think it's been heavily used from his initial visual observations. I'd really like to repaint the boat and trailer but I'm not sure where that is on my priority list. I really want to just get her in the water and catch some fish. I may wait a bit before painting.

I want to build a very large deck from the middle seat to the front of the boat, which is probably somewhere between 8-10 feet of fishing platform.
behind the middle seat I will build a console to mount steering wheel and a depth/fish finder. I'm also thinking I would frame up a driver seat with under seat storage. To the left of the driver will be storage and then a passenger seat. Finally, I'd like to close up the rear seat to transom area and hide the tank and batteries back there.

My mind is kinda just running wild with all the possibilities I'm seeing on the site so nothings for sure at this point.

I'm located in Mid-Missouri. 30 Minutes from Lake of the Ozarks, 30 Minutes from the Missouri River, and with-in an hour and a half of a couple other very nice lakes.

 

[z0mbie f1sherman]

that's a really nice platform to start with, looks to be in some great shape!

Good luck with it!

I've gotten so many great ideas from this site it's made me dizzy sometimes!

That's a HUGE bass in your pic too... nice!

 

[wyattmulaw]

Speaking to those who have previously modded boats, is there any certain order I should go in that makes the project go smoother? I'm referring to console build, motor re-mount, casting deck build, driver/passenger seat build, floor and side boards. Thanks in advance.

Also, just went and took some measurements. She's 18 foot long and measures 5 foot across at the transom and 4 foot across at the front seat.

 

[Dragonman]

Hi Wyatt,

Looks like you got yourself a nice boat. Listen to these guys on here, they know there stuff. Dont rush and if you have a question im sure someone on here will be able to help you out. No matter what problems you run into, Some one else has already been there and done that. With that being sad, Get R Dun!!!

 

[fender66]

Wyatt,

The order in which you do your mods depends a lot on if you want to use her while you're modding. Some people have done their mods in baby steps so they can still take it out on the water without it being in pieces. Others, do such an extensive mod (remove everything and start over) that they really need to put a lot of work into the mod before it's water ready.

Some things that I considered when I did my first mod (previous boat) were:

• Motor, throttle cable stuff was done before I started the mod so I could fish her a bit first and figure out what I actually needed/wanted to do to her.
  Wires and electronics.....so any floors, sides, decks can be build over it and I don't have problems with routing wires after I've installed floors, sides, decks, etc..
  Floor next so I can mount my console on top of it and not have to cut around the console to put floor in.
  Front deck before rear deck so I can still take her out and not worry about NOT having a place in front to fish.

These are just my thoughts and how I did my first mod. Others have done differently I'm sure.

 

[reedjj]

Speaking to those who have previously modded boats, is there any certain order I should go in that makes the project go smoother? I'm referring to console build, motor re-mount, casting deck build, driver/passenger seat build, floor and side boards. Thanks in advance.

Also, just went and took some measurements. She's 18 foot long and measures 5 foot across at the transom and 4 foot across at the front seat.

If it were me.....I would put the floor in between the rear bench and the center bench first, install the side console, then get the motor going. it will be drivable and fishable at that point.

After that you can worry about building the front deck, painting it, and extending the rear deck and installing compartments. plus you will get an idea of what you need once you are out on the water.

What you are talking about doing is similar to what I did with my Alumacraft 1542. I used wood and it works great, but If I had a friend that could fab up stuff I would definately go with aluminum. There is a walkaround video I just added the other day, the link to it is on the second to last post of my build.

Here is my build....https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=17299

I really like the bench I built for the driver and pasenger seats to mount to. I think having the seating a little more foreward of the rear bench and a little lower than bench height really helps with the balance and handling of the boat. The storage really comes in handy too. I have seen smaller jons with the console mounted so that you sit on the rear bench and they seem to ride a little low in the back and high in the front. Plus once you mount a seat on top of the aluminum bench you are sitting about 4 inches above the rails. I prefer to be "in a boat" and not "on a boat". And it keeps it more stable with your center of Gravity lower.

Great boat! Cant wait to see what you do with it!

 

[wyattmulaw]

Speaking to those who have previously modded boats, is there any certain order I should go in that makes the project go smoother? I'm referring to console build, motor re-mount, casting deck build, driver/passenger seat build, floor and side boards. Thanks in advance.

Also, just went and took some measurements. She's 18 foot long and measures 5 foot across at the transom and 4 foot across at the front seat.

If it were me.....I would put the floor in between the rear bench and the center bench first, install the side console, then get the motor going. it will be drivable and fishable at that point.

After that you can worry about building the front deck, painting it, and extending the rear deck and installing compartments. plus you will get an idea of what you need once you are out on the water.

What you are talking about doing is similar to what I did with my Alumacraft 1542. I used wood and it works great, but If I had a friend that could fab up stuff I would definately go with aluminum. There is a walkaround video I just added the other day, the link to it is on the second to last post of my build.

Here is my build....https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=17299

I really like the bench I built for the driver and pasenger seats to mount to. I think having the seating a little more foreward of the rear bench and a little lower than bench height really helps with the balance and handling of the boat. The storage really comes in handy too. I have seen smaller jons with the console mounted so that you sit on the rear bench and they seem to ride a little low in the back and high in the front. Plus once you mount a seat on top of the aluminum bench you are sitting about 4 inches above the rails. I prefer to be "in a boat" and not "on a boat". And it keeps it more stable with your center of Gravity lower.

Great boat! Cant wait to see what you do with it!

Thanks for the words of wisdom. I checked out your build thread and watched your vid. That is VERY close to what I'm wanting. Love the driver/passenger set-up with storage. Seems like the lower frame on those works out perfect. What size boards did you use for the frame? 2x10? I too will use wood to do everything except the console.