Starting my mod (14ft alumacraft) - new pics 5/27

[jkbirocz]

That looks awesome, great job :beer:

 

[alumacraftjoe]

That looks awesome, great job :beer:

Thanks!

 

[Old Bill]

Joe, you have certainly done a great job!

I rarely fish at night anymore...I'm doing good to see in the daylight, but, I really like your use of the blue water LED lights!

Outstanding work in all areas. =D> =D>

 

[phased]

I am following all the builds and gaining lots of ideas from you guys. Your boat is looking great. Hope to start mine soon.

 

[Jim]

Very nice man! The LED lights look killer! Tough choice on the motors, but you can easily sell either or. I have been following some other forums and craigslist, people always want small motors like those. Bigger is better in my opinion, but reliability and trouble freeness(Is that a word?) always come first.

 

[Tyler_W]

OUTSTANDING job! So what are you going to do with that other fish finder?

 

[alumacraftjoe]

OUTSTANDING job! So what are you going to do with that other fish finder?

The other fish finder is for the back deck. It has gps as well so I won't get lost... :lol:

 

[Waterwings]

Outstanding job, Joe! Everything looks great! 8)

 

[alumacraftjoe]

Outstanding job, Joe! Everything looks great! 8)

Thanks! Did all of you graduation stuff go o.k.?

 

[Waterwings]

yep, got to the school at 5:45pm and got the Color Guard ready, plus checked-in the 18 seniors from my homeroom that were graduationg. Graduation and the Project Graduation turned-out okay and the kids seemed to have a good time. I helped work check-in from 11pm-midnight, then went and found the food and coffee pot . Then I roamed around awhile looking at the activities they had available for the kids, and shot the breeze with them, teachers, and parents. I went to the front of the lobby to ask a parent watching the front doors if he needed a break. he said sure........and never came back :roll: . At 3:30 am I told the teacher running the event that I'd been up for 23 hours straight and I was headed home. Stopped at Kroger on the way home, bought a bag of dog food, got home, fed the dogs, and was in bed at 4am. Got up this afternoon at 3pm. Now I'm really off-schedule

 

[Preacher]

This conversion is absolutely awesom. I am still in the what do i do stage, but this conversion gives me some ideas. I have a 12 ft gamefisher that does not leak which is a great first step. I hope ya'll enjoy the great boat.

 

[seaarc]

Fine job =D> =D> Joe. I'll have some more pics on mine soon I hope. Trying to get it to a point to do a float and run test before I finish the carpeting.

Dave

 

[breachless]

Sorry to bring up an old thread, but I have pretty much the same boat (mine is a 1952 Alumacraft, but it looks identical to this boat) and I was wondering if you would be willing to answer a few questions:

-What is that PVC looking stuff that you have running along the rails of the boat and how is it attached? I like that idea as it would cut down on noise I would think...

-How much of an impact did all of that extra weight have on the boat? I have a mid-eighties 15 hp Johnson Seahorse that scoots that boat at about 30 mph in it's naked state with one person... Obviously it won't go that fast with a mod like this, but I am just curious as to how significant of an impact it really had...

-how stable is it sitting up in the bow running the trolling motor?

-did you do anything to compensate for the middle bench that was removed or does that bench not really offer much in terms of rigidity?

-how is it sitting up higher with the deck in the back when running the tiller?

-and finally, is there anything you would have done differently if you were to do it all over again?

 

[alumacraftjoe]

Sorry to bring up an old thread, but I have pretty much the same boat (mine is a 1952 Alumacraft, but it looks identical to this boat) and I was wondering if you would be willing to answer a few questions:

-What is that PVC looking stuff that you have running along the rails of the boat and how is it attached? I like that idea as it would cut down on noise I would think...

-How much of an impact did all of that extra weight have on the boat? I have a mid-eighties 15 hp Johnson Seahorse that scoots that boat at about 30 mph in it's naked state with one person... Obviously it won't go that fast with a mod like this, but I am just curious as to how significant of an impact it really had...

-how stable is it sitting up in the bow running the trolling motor?

-did you do anything to compensate for the middle bench that was removed or does that bench not really offer much in terms of rigidity?

-how is it sitting up higher with the deck in the back when running the tiller?

-and finally, is there anything you would have done differently if you were to do it all over again?

It is pvc and it is slit and jammed over the rail. It really does cut down on noise and also does not get hot. That was done by a previous owner so not sure how it is attached. It is super hard to get off so I just left it on and taped it off when I painted.

Not too sure as I modded before I added an outboard. I have an 8hp and I can get about 7mph. I am not in a hurry and comfort was more important than speed. It does not seem too heavy and is easy to load on the trailer even when I have to pull it on in electric only lakes. Before I had the 8hp motor running I rented a 9.9 from a marina one weekend and it moved it much better. Think I need a bigger motor lol.

It is very stable!!!! Much more so then I thought. Jim fished with me at Dale Hollow and can attest to the stability of the boat.

My middle bench sort of hung on the hangers and wasn't really providing any stability I could see. I do have a floor and the side storage lockers that are connected to the front and back benches and the floor which probably provided more stability than the bench did by itself.

When I run the outboard I take the pedestal off and stick the seat down in the the mount. When we stop to fish put the pedestal back in.

I'm not sure if I would do anything differently maybe one big storage area in the front instead of two, but I really like the way it turned out! Hope this helps.

 

[breachless]

Awesome. Thanks for answering my questions!

I think I am going to go for it here... Might wait until fall and make this a winter project, but I really like what you did with your boat, and I REALLY want a boat I can fish out of the bow from. I am sick of trying to work weedlines with the transom mounted trolling motor with the wind blowing me around like crazy. Having a light boat certainly has its advantages, but trying to stick on a spot is NOT one of them.

I would also like to be able to move around a bit without making a ton of noise.

This build-out looks to solve my two biggest problems.

I doubt it will look nearly as good as yours, but I am going to use this thread as a bit of a template for mine, and I hope you don't mind me copying you!

 

[alumacraftjoe]

Awesome. Thanks for answering my questions!

I think I am going to go for it here... Might wait until fall and make this a winter project, but I really like what you did with your boat, and I REALLY want a boat I can fish out of the bow from. I am sick of trying to work weedlines with the transom mounted trolling motor with the wind blowing me around like crazy. Having a light boat certainly has its advantages, but trying to stick on a spot is NOT one of them.

I would also like to be able to move around a bit without making a ton of noise.

This build-out looks to solve my two biggest problems.

I doubt it will look nearly as good as yours, but I am going to use this thread as a bit of a template for mine, and I hope you don't mind me copying you!

You'll love it. I waited till fall/winter to do mine. That way when I was done I could go fishing. I may not be the speediest boat on the water, but with the extra weight the wind isn't near as bad as it was before I did the modifications.