Reed's 1542 Alumacraft Swamp Sled.

[reedjj]

I got my trolling motor battery and the Minnkota powercenter today. Also got the hatch to put on the middle seat.

The tm batt and the power center its in is mounted just under the front deck.

 

[reedjj]

I also finally got the nerve to cut a hole in my center bench to mount the cranking battery. The box had a template on the inside to trace a line to cut the hole. I drilled the inside of the four corners of the traced line and used a jugsaw to cut the alum. It cut it very easily. Alot easier than plywood. The foam in the seat does not affect the cutting at all.

Once I cut the alum then the real work started. I had to dig out the foam. WHAT A MESS. I used a small shovel and then a filet knife (which I broke). I also carved out a tunnel for the wires. Then I dropped the battery box in the hole and put the batt in. Next I put a bead of marine silicone around the hole and pressed the hatch onto it, and srewed it into place. I also ran a bead of silicone around the outside of it once it was installed. I think its a pretty good job. Tomorrow I need to drive to the car wash and vacume all the little pieces of styrofoam I couldn't get out by had.

 

[Specknreds]

Man!! Did you bring back memories. When I took the foam out of my seat the wind was blowing hard. It looked like it snowed in my whole acre back yard. My wife was ticked when she seen it. :roll:

If anyone else is removing foam, A sheetrock saw works great. Just messy.

 

[sbarcewski]

Build looks good!
Another great tool for cutting foam is an electric carving knife. (Just don't let the wife see you swiping it from the cabinet!)

 

[flatboat]

nice lookin rig , trailering will hook the bottom if the bunks don't support the transom

 

[reedjj]

The wife took this one today while I went to get the car to pull out after 4 hours on the creek. Only 1 boat at a time on the little ramp in Middleburg Fl. Everyone beaches thier boats while waiting thier turn to load up. Or while waiting for someone to park the truck and get back to the boat after putting in. It was sunny and in the low 80's today so there was a lot of "scenery" on the creek today.

We went out yesterday too and after the rain we got all last week the water was up over a foot more than usual. I was able to get up the creek into the forest all the way to a spring head. 72 degree water was just boiling out of a giant rock in the middle of the creek. I was not able to get the boat over the rock. It was only about 2 inches deep. I will post a couple pics of the run into the forest tomorrow.

 

[reedjj]

Oh yea.... I was running on plane at 1/2 throttle and came up on a newer RED Tracker Pro Team 175 with a 40hp 4 stroke Merc also running on plane with 1 dude, probably around 250 and his ole lady probably around 200, and a thier small kid probably about 7-8 years old.

I crossed his wake came up around him, when I was even with him he looked at me, and I looked at him, we both smiled and he cracked his throttle to what I assumed was not quite full. I went to 3/4 throttle and caught back up.....He just stayed right there! With my wife giving me hell and what looked like his wife giving him the same , I opened her up and off we went pulling away from him. I was gigglin like a schooboy and smilin from ear to ear. Wife still yellin at me for racing hahahaha. Later, up the creek we were in a no wake zone and they caught back up to us. I got questioned about my boat and motor and we talked for a bit. When he found out I just had a jon boat from Academy sports with a 1999 $750. 25hp outboard I could almost see his heartbreaking! IT WAS GREAT!

Thank you to all of you who posted on my build and gave me advice and encouragement. And thanks to all of you who have posted your own builds. I looked at a million of them before and during my build. I love this site!

We had a great 2 days on the water this weekend.

 

[alanbird_87]

Great looking boat! Its amazing how fast these little boats will go with a 25 hp motor on them! 8)

 

[reedjj]

Today I picked up a throw cushion on sale for $9.00 that fits between the seats and a steering wheel cover Just for the heck of it.

One of the guys at work has a jeep and recently bought a winch for it and he gave me his comealong. Now I can get over any long, timber, sandbar, or rock thats in my way.

 

[rusty.hook]

I don't know what state your in, but in Texas, with a closed compartment with gas in it you had better have a fire extingusher on board, or else ya get the ol ticket.

 

[reedjj]

I Wouldn't call it a closed compartment. Its just a piece of plywood painted green with velcro to hold it down. Plenty of room for the stearing controls and fuel lines to be run in and out. plus about a 6 inch gap for any fumes to escape.
I do have a fire extinguisher on board. It's the law here. Not in the fuel compartment though.

I live in Fl. FWC (Florida fish and wildlife conservation commission) does not play and niether do the Sherrifs office. There is even a show on the NatGeo channel called "Operation Wild" about the FWC. I got inspected Sunday at the boat ramp by the Clay County Sherriffs patrol boat. Passed with flying colors. I didnt have a throw cushion or throw life preserver. On a boat less than 16' With 2 passengers on board you only have to have life jackets for each passenger. With 3 or more you have to have life jackets for each passenger and a throwable life preserver (a cushion meets this req.). They thought I was over 16 feet and even after they did thier insp and saw the coast guard placard that said 15 feet they still measured me. I was a little worried that with the added length of the motor they would say that I was over 16 but I was good. Anyway I got a cushion today anyway. I don't want to give them any reason on mess with me.

 

[Honky Tonkin]

I just wanted to say that i love your boat and the things you have done with it. I think I am going to do something pretty similar next year. i love the bass boat feel of it so low on the water like that!

 

[reedjj]

Thank you very much Honky Tonkin! Im pretty proud of her. Its just a little jon boat but it sure does what I wanna do. Get me back up in the shallow water where no one else can go.

Today I finally downloaded the GPS app from my phone. We have some friends from out of town staying with us and we took them for a ride on the creek. The good news is that with my 210lbs my friends 250lbs and both our wives which add up to probably 300lbs put together. 760 lbs (10 lbs over the safety sticker) just in people. plus the wood decking probably about 100lbs worth and then the motor that weighs in at 120lbs and 6 gallons of gas I was still able to run 25mph at WOT and able to get on plane no problem. I was thinking I might hit 20 if I was lucky with 4 adults and full tank of gas plus a cooler. 25mph @ WOT is way better than expected. I was able to stay on plane and cruise at 16 mph very nicely.

Now I just need to see what she will do with me alone in the boat.

 

[reedjj]

I just wanted to say that i love your boat and the things you have done with it. I think I am going to do something pretty similar next year. i love the bass boat feel of it so low on the water like that!

One thing I would do differently and will on my next build......... I would have either got the 1442 NCS (no center seat) Alumacraft https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://www.boatreviews.org/images/product/729/600/cf91a0b5.jpg&imgrefurl=https://www.boatreviews.org/t/Alumacraft-Boat-Reviews/e/Alumacraft-1442-NCS-Boat-Reviews/&usg=__4QRBk7xPeSXsoJp0yumxOP_gbns=&h=254&w=400&sz=89&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=WCT3nx3PaGrbHM:&tbnh=104&tbnw=163&ei=BICeTcW4EIGftwew7amEAw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dalumacraft%2B1442%2Bncs%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26biw%3D1259%26bih%3D567%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=328&oei=BICeTcW4EIGftwew7amEAw&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:8,s:0&tx=112&ty=31. And done the exact same build but without the extended front wooden deck. The 1442 NCS already has a front deck. And it would really fly with either a 25hp prop or a 25/18 Jet.

What I really want to do next is build up an Alumacraft 1648 NCS mod Vhttps://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://www.boatreviews.org/images/product/728/600/5fb96742.jpg&imgrefurl=https://www.boatreviews.org/t/Alumacraft-Boat-Reviews/e/Alumacraft-MV-1648-NCS-Boat-Reviews/&usg=__nT9FQQpx1H1gFmgQSwefGd4W8_s=&h=254&w=400&sz=98&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=W87f4TtwSDn2ZM:&tbnh=109&tbnw=172&ei=x3-eTae5DpO2tgfq2eGNAw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dalumacraft%2B1648%2Bncs%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1259%26bih%3D567%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=658&vpy=277&dur=1281&hovh=179&hovw=282&tx=131&ty=95&oei=x3-eTae5DpO2tgfq2eGNAw&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:15,s:0 with a center console and a Tohatsu md35 (50/35)Jet. Or an OMC 50/35jet.

I love the 1542 but I wish it was just a little wider. 1448 is just to short. Alweld makes a 1552 that would be perfect but the price of the alweld compared to the alumacraft 1648 mod V NCS riveted is about $3000. difference.

 

[cmatthews_jm]

I also carved out a tunnel for the wires.

I think I'm just having a hard time understanding but did you go through the foam to the sides? If you could get a picture of it I'm sure that would help.

 

[reedjj]

After I cut the hole in the seat and hollowed out the foam for the battery box to fit in there. I had to find a way to get the wires into the compartment. I ran the wires under the ribs along the side of the boat and fished them between the side of the boat and where the bench meets the side of the boat. Because the entire bench seat is filled with foam I cut a hole or tunnel in the foam big enough to feed the pos and negative wires through to reach the battery compartment.

I am going to go take a few pics now. Be back in 10 min.

 

[reedjj]

Hope this helps illustrate it a little better.

 

[cmatthews_jm]

Yeah I mean I kind of understood what you were explaining I just couldn't really get it because your pictures didn't show it. But that was a dang good idea for that. I thought you would have gone through the bottom of that center bench but you definitely came up with a cleaner alternative than what I was thinking. I might try something like that with a gas tank and fuel lines but I'm not sure how that would react with the foam. :/

 

[Troutman3000]

Took it out today for the first time alone (kinda). Very easy to launch and recover. I got deeper in the woods than I have ever been. I got about 2 miles past where I got hung up last time. I saw some wild turkeys and about a million turtles and 1 Manatee! Im not from Fl so seeing the manatee was a first for me.

Only hit a few logs at idle speed that barely kicked my motor up, and I only ran aground once lol. My best friend and spotter up front wasn't doing his job!

Be carefull I dented my hull because the bunks were too short. Best thing is to extend them past the hull so you wont hurt your baby.

 

[reedjj]

I really didn't want to drill another hole in the bench if I didn't have to. As it turns out that little pocket made a perfect entry point to the interior of the bench. I just had to get through the foam to the compartment.

I know about my trailer bunks! I am going to replace them very soon! And they will be longer. I guess I will go all the way to the end of the boat.