# 12' Northwood boat



## soggybottom (Jul 14, 2012)

Howdy folks, first time poster, long time lurker. Recently bought a 12' Northwood boat with a 3.5hp suzuki motor and a decent trailer.

Didn't get any pictures when I first got it as I tend to forget all about the camera when I am excited. Boat has no leaks, motor ran nice, and trailer was in fine shape other than needing new lights. Sold the motor and bought this 69 evinrude 6hp to put on the boat. Didn't like having an obscure outboard with no parts availability.







Put new lights on the trailer and welded on some guides after fighting the current on the chippewa river the first few outings. The guides also make backing this tiny trailer down the ramp a lot easier.






I also added the eyes you see in the above picture for attaching the strap to the trailer.

The rusty bow eye for the winch I replaced with this stainless eye. You can see how I mounted it in the second picture.











Ignore the sharpy registration numbers, those will be replaced with less tacky ones soon.


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## soggybottom (Jul 14, 2012)

Got this nice mushroom anchor on sale






And bought this fishfinder off of craigslist for 20$






I decided not to mount the screen permanently until I've used it a few times and find out where it works best. So far I like it on the rear bench as pictured.

Here you can see how I mounted the transducer. It is mounted to pvc board that is bolted to the transom.






Here is my budget battery box. Please don't tell my wife where her Tupperware is.






I had the boat out maybe half a dozen times and really liked the 6hp evinrude, but I found a deal on a 97 mercury 8hp that I couldn't pass up. So here she is, the new motor











The thing is in immaculate condition, and I was grinning ear to ear the first time I took it out.

I also redid the transom with the same pvc board I used on the transducer mount


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## soggybottom (Jul 14, 2012)

I decided that with the weight of the new motor I would address a problem that had been concerning me. I don't know what these are called, but they have been cracked since I bought the boat. They are the braces on the rear corners of the stern. They appear to have cracked where a previous owner had drilled through them. Here is the worse of the two.






Here I had drilled out the rivets holding it in place. And below is the piece removed.






I then used a thick piece of aluminum tread plate to reinforce the corners.











My plans are to paint the interior and carpet the benches. Once that is done I will permanently mount the fishfinder. I might add a small storage space in the bow as well. This will probably wait til winter as I don't have much motivation to work on the boat when I can be out fishing in it. I plan on getting a picture of the whole boat tomorrow, and hope to post pictures as the project progresses. Sorry if this has been long winded. :wink:


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## fool4fish1226 (Jul 15, 2012)

:WELCOME: Nice rig you got there =D>


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## soggybottom (Jul 15, 2012)

Thanks, I am having a great time with it so far.

Got out and got a few pictures of the whole boat today.











I just wish the trailer tongue was a little longer so I wouldn't have to back in so far on these shallow landings.

Fishing was slow this morning, but that was just fine as I spent most of my time cruising around enjoying the new motor.






When I got home I added this tread to the trailer tongue for if I have to walk on it at a shallow landing.






Probably be replacing the rusty old winch soon.


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## Kismet (Jul 15, 2012)

You are putting together a very nice rig there.

Fun, isn't it?

Be safe.


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## soggybottom (Jul 17, 2012)

I've been meaning to make something for the front of the boat where my wife can sit. Saw they had aluminum on sale at the local hardware store tonight, and jumped right in. 

Here is the front layout as i bought it with no front bench.






The previous owner had removed the front bench and all that remained were the flimsy brackets it mounted to. I removed them and mounted these






This is how they are mounted to the hull. 2 stainless bolts and locknuts with caulk. They should be well over the waterline anyhow.






I then measured and installed, with rivets, a brace between the two brackets






To give this extra strength I added this support






I then added more brackets and braces to the bow 





















I'm thinking all I need now is some treated plywood and some carpet. My questions for you fine folks are as follows:

1: What thickness plywood would be best?

2: There is about 10 inches between the bracing. Do you think the plywood will sag too much here, or should I add more bracing? 

Oh also I added a new winch






Thanks


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## wihil (Jul 17, 2012)

Looks great so far!

Skip the treated plywood - it'll react with the aluminum and cause you no end of grief. Any exterior grade ply would be fine, just seal it up good.

I went with 3/4" on mine, in retrospect I'd probably have been fine with 5/8". Half inch was a little flexy for my tastes but could have been fixed with more bracing. I didn't want to up my brace count.

Less bracing, thicker floor. More bracing, thinner floor.


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## rickybobbybend (Jul 18, 2012)

wihil is right...I have found 5/8 inch ply to be very sturdy over a 12 inch span


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## gillhunter (Jul 18, 2012)

Good looking project. I noticed that your winch cable runs over the top of the bow stop on your trailer. You really want it running underneath, or at least put a safety cable going straight down to the tongue of your trailer. There is nothing to keep the boat from going forward on your trailer if you really have to brake hard. 

Good luck on your project!


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## shawnfish (Jul 18, 2012)

you having any problems with the readings on your sonar? your transducer looks like its mounted to high...the bottom of the transducer should be level with the bottom of the hull...


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## soggybottom (Jul 18, 2012)

I think I will be going with 5/8 plywood. If there is too much flex i will just add more bracing.

I've been meaning to do something about the winch but just haven't gotten to it. Honestly with as light as the boat is I think between the rear strap, and the winch pulling down on the bow, there is very little chance for movement.

As for the transducer being so high, I only have a problem when cruising at full throttle. At about half or below it reads well. I tested a few locations and decided on this one to reduce the chance of it being ripped off when I beach the boat.

Probably picking up the plywood tonight. I will try and get some pictures of it going in at some point.

Thanks everybody


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## soggybottom (Jul 18, 2012)

Well tonight I bought the plywood for the deck. Ended up getting the 3/4". Probably overkill, but the boat could use a little more weight in the front anyhow.

Here is the cardboard template I made






And here is the plywood cut to shape






I used an orbital sander to smooth all the rough edges on the plywood, and then applied a coat of spar urethane






Probably do 3 or 4 coats and call it good. Not sure If I want to leave the space under the deck open, or close it up. I kind of like being able to just throw the anchor under there. I guess I will give it some time and see how I like it as is. I bought some grey outdoor carpet and some carpet glue. Hopefully I will be able to start carpeting in the next few days. I will be sure to post pictures when I do.


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## shawnfish (Jul 19, 2012)

soggybottom said:


> I think I will be going with 5/8 plywood. If there is too much flex i will just add more bracing.
> 
> I've been meaning to do something about the winch but just haven't gotten to it. Honestly with as light as the boat is I think between the rear strap, and the winch pulling down on the bow, there is very little chance for movement.
> 
> ...



your ducer locale is good then, most older sonars dont get good readings at WOT....

and this is just my opinion but i would have stayed away from the particle board and got regular exterior ply but to each his own...

btww the boats coming together nice! i like the clean layout....


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## soggybottom (Jul 19, 2012)

Got the carpet on today after work. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I will hopefully be mounting it in the boat tomorrow. 

Here it is






Eventually, I want to carpet the tops of the benches as well. I figure I will see how I like the carpet on this front platform and go from there.


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## soggybottom (Jul 26, 2012)

Got the front deck mounted and took it out for a test run tonight. It worked out just as I hoped and is very stable to sit on. I like the added weight in the front of the boat too. Makes it sit a little more level in the water when I am sitting in back at the motor.






Caught a few fish as well. A couple walleye and this crappie. 






The true test comes when my wife tries it this weekend. But I am happy with the way it turned out.


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## soggybottom (Jul 27, 2012)

I've grown tired of climbing over the middle bench to get to the front of the boat. After much thought I came up with this remedy.

Here is the middle bench, never to be the same again.






And here is the bench after some measuring and time with the sawzall.






I decided to leave the ends of it in as counter space and perhaps somewhere to put a cupholder. They should also prevent the sides from flexing too much when I am done.

After getting everything relatively square with the world, I riveted a piece of aluminum across the ribs on the bottom of the boat, and then began making supports for the remainder of the bench.






This shows the simple way I framed it.






This is both sides done






I then used another piece of aluminum angle to cap the sharp edges where I cut the bench.






Here is the finished product











I need to do something with the bracket in the center that supported the old bench. I will probably just carefully grind it down as far as I can. While I am at it I will round off all of the sharp edges on the aluminum angle.

Eventually, I plan on filling these with foam and enclosing it all with aluminum. Then maybe I will cover the top with carpet, but for today I think I have had enough. Let me know what you think.


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## trophybass13 (Jul 27, 2012)

Boat is really coming along nicely. i did something similar with the bench in the center to my 14' flat bottom. the only thing i did differently is i used plywood to reinforce the sides of the bench, threw some carpet down, and added some orange lights for night fishing. here are some pics of my center bench after some modifications:


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## soggybottom (Jul 28, 2012)

Thanks trophybass. I really like how you closed your bench up and carpeted it. I will probably do that eventually. The lights are something I need to do eventually too. 

Took the boat out today to test everything. With my wife, our dog, and myself in the boat we were able to get 19mph on the gps on calm water. I am very pleased with how the boat handles 2 people. My wife loved the front platform, and I am really liking not having to stumble over the middle bench anymore.


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## JRyno10 (Jul 28, 2012)

I'm sure your loving not having to climb over that middle bench anymore! Nice job. If you dont mind me asking, I see that you only used that 6hp a few times, but how did you like it? Any idea on how fast it pushed you? The reason I ask is because i just bought a 1968 Evinrude 6hp and curious on how others have performed for them.


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## soggybottom (Jul 29, 2012)

I really liked the 6 horse evinrude. It trolled down really slow, and had decent top speed. It wouldn't plane the boat out if I sat on the rear bench, but I found that if I sat forward a little ways and used a tiller extension that it would plane the boat out. I never clocked it with the gps but I would guess it was close to 15mph with just me in the boat. I wouldn't have sold it if it weren't for the deal I got on the newer motor.


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## JRyno10 (Jul 29, 2012)

Thanks for the info, thats good to hear. Do you think you will do any more mods to your tin this summer or you just going to hold off til winter?


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## soggybottom (Jul 29, 2012)

Right now the plan is to fish with the boat the way it is for a while and see how I like the setup. If I am happy with everything I will probably cover the benches with carpet, and do a few other small things like cupholders and lights. That will probably wait till the lakes freeze over though.


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## soggybottom (Jul 29, 2012)

Got out today in the rain and took a few pictures of the whole boat. 












So far I am loving the open layout.


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## soggybottom (Jul 30, 2012)

A few days ago I ordered some cheap cupholders off of ebay. I think I paid about 6$ for the pair. They arrived today so I broke out the jig saw and installed them.











I decided to go with these rather than the fold up ones, because I have had bad luck with the fold up ones breaking. Pretty hard to beat these for the price.


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## soggybottom (Aug 11, 2012)

I've been toying with the idea of electric power for a while due to the number of electric only lakes around where I live. I was going to just buy a trolling motor, but that would have been too easy. I decided to try converting a small gas outboard to electric.

The electric motor was the easy part. I get them free where I work ranging from 1/3hp small motors to 1hp commercial motors. I happened to grab a 1/2 horse motor, so that is what I am using. Maybe I will go bigger, it depends how this one performs.

The outboard I got from craigslist for next to nothing. It is a 1947 montgomery ward sea king. First thing I did when I got it home was remove the gas engine.






Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures during the process of mounting the motor. But here is the motor mounted.











I tested it in a tank full of water, and am pretty impressed with the power it has. I plan on taking it out on the water to test it today sometime. I will let you all know how it goes.


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## Zum (Aug 11, 2012)

Pretty cool..can you vary the speed or is it wide open all the time.
How about battery(s)as good as a regular trolling motor?
Be cool to se a video.


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## soggybottom (Aug 12, 2012)

Right now it has no speed control. Eventually I will worry about things like speed control and reverse, but for now I just want to see if I can get the performance I want. 

I took it out with the electric motor this evening. Overall I was pretty unimpressed with the performance. It seems about as fast as a trolling motor would be. Maybe a little slower. I was hoping for a little more speed. I will probably try it with a larger motor and higher RPMS. This motor is rated at 1500 RPM. I will try to get a 1 horse 1800 RPM motor from work and give it another go. Back to the drawing board I guess.


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## Zum (Aug 12, 2012)

I imagine the prop,on that old outboard isn't helping your situation out either,to much pitch.


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## soggybottom (Aug 26, 2012)

Finally got the boat out with the gps to see how fast the gas motor pushes it. With just me and my fishing gear in the boat on relatively flat water it tops out at 21mph. The motor also trolls down nicely to 1-2mph. I am more than happy with that.


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## soggybottom (Aug 31, 2012)

I still haven't given up on the electric outboard motor. I got a free 3/4hp continuous duty motor that turns at 1800 rpm. Had to redo the motor mounts because this motor is about twice the size of the last one. Hopefully this one will have the power that I am looking for. 


I tested it for about 15 min. in a barrel of water and it looks promising. Should be taking it out tomorrow morning. I will let you all know how it goes.


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## Zum (Sep 1, 2012)

Hope it works fine for you.
I still think reworking that prop or another one might help the situation.


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## scsdiver (Sep 4, 2012)

boat looks good and i really like the E-Motor that is a awesome mod!!! Good luck and deff cant wait to see after you test.


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## soggybottom (Sep 9, 2012)

Well I have thrown in the towel on the electric outboard. It does work, and pushes the boat pretty well, but it drains the battery too fast. I could probably get more battery, but I don't want so much weight in such a small 12' boat. I think I will just cave and buy a trolling motor over the winter. Oh well, it was a fun project.


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## bikerider (Dec 13, 2018)

I have enjoyed reading through your build thread. Are there any updates on the boat?


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