# my 1986 lowe 1436 jon boat



## jsharp (Sep 21, 2009)

hello all im new to this forum but so far i love it it gives me lots of ideas to do for my boat i recently bought a 1986 lowe 1436 for 450 boat motor and trailer and want to put a front deck on it and some other mods to it nothing major any ideas on how i thought about removing the front seat and building the deck all the way also have thought about removing the middel seat well any ideas just wanted to say great site thanks


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## bird dogg (Sep 21, 2009)

nice  
should be a good build 8)


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## cyberflexx (Sep 22, 2009)

Make sure you take plenty of pictures of your build and post them in the forum so we all can see your progress..

You'll have alot of blood sweat and tears while doing the build, but it will be worth it in the long run!..

Welcome to the site!


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## jsharp (Sep 22, 2009)

ok guys i have been looking at the site and looking at all the diffrent ideas and now i cant decide what to i have a few questions first off what do yall use for suport for your decking i have some angle iron its free is this to heavy its a bed frame and how do yall mount it to your boat i want some storage was thinking of doing a full deck from the front to the middle seat but still want it stable id like to put a bow mount trolling motor on it and be able to use it i bass fish and crappie fish and catfish so need a versatile boat any ideas on what to i have never done any thing like this before and want to keep it as cheap but still look good i have a small budget well thanks for any advice you can give me


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## Captain Ahab (Sep 22, 2009)

Do not use steel or iron - it will react with the aluminum and actually cut holes in your boat

Most guys use wood or aluminum angle or both - take a look at some of the mods - search for "deck support" or "deck bracing"


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## huntinfool (Sep 22, 2009)

First off welcome to the site. Take a bunch of pictures to show the before and after pics and take several pics during the mod. 

I would not use steel in your boat as stated above. You could run 2x2's along the ribs and place your floor on top of the fron and middle seats. That would be easy. 

You could take the middle seat out and fab a new rear brace and then build your deck off of that, however you will lose some strength and floatation. Now if you tie your rear brace to the ribs it will make it strong again and should keep it from flexing. Keep us updated and good luck with the build.


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## jsharp (Sep 22, 2009)

thanks guys if i build a deck on my front and rear seat will that make it too tall and unstable if you take the front seat out will you lose stablitiy in the boat i have never done nothing like this before so this is all new to me


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## cyberflexx (Sep 22, 2009)

look at my build pics. They are in the mods section under the 1988 Alumacraft build..I used 1 inch angle and pop rivets it in with supports.


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## Waterwings (Sep 22, 2009)

Welcome Aboard! 8)


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## jsharp (Sep 24, 2009)

ok after much looking on this board and diffrent ideas i found several i like i did some more mesuring and my boat floor is 36 inches so i dont think it will be very stable with a big deck, so here is my plan i want to cut out the middle seat and build a low deck and have a open floor space as you can see in the pic the red is where i want to take out the black is what im leaving in i want to put my battery on the left side of the boat and make the other side a tackle box holder build a small front deck for a trolling motor and anchor and add a floor to the back here is the pic of my paln does any one see any thing wrong with this am i taking any thing away from my boat stability or anything like that thanks alot the other pic is buffords where i got the idea thats how i want it to look


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## jsharp (Oct 4, 2009)

well just an update i started my mod this last week. I decided to just leave the middle bench seat in and cut out the top and remove the foam inside and put lids on it for my battery and tackle boxes go it all cut out and now waiting on the funds to get the ply wood for the lids What size plywood do yal use want to keep this as lite as possible would post pics but some #$%@ stole my camera out of the wifes car right in our driveway waht the world coming to.


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## 1436delta (Oct 4, 2009)

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK !!!!!!!!!!


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## Anonymous (Oct 5, 2009)

More motivation.

Good job!


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## danmyersmn (Oct 5, 2009)

jsharp said:


> well just an update i started my mod this last week. I decided to just leave the middle bench seat in and cut out the top and remove the foam inside and put lids on it for my battery and tackle boxes go it all cut out and now waiting on the funds to get the ply wood for the lids What size plywood do yal use want to keep this as lite as possible would post pics but some #$%@ stole my camera out of the wifes car right in our driveway waht the world coming to.



3/4" exterior grade will give you a rock solid deck. Depending on how large your lids are you may be able to get by with 1/2" if supported correctly. My buddy did his deck in 1/2" and he has a few soft spots where the structural support was not adequate so you will need to plan accordingly.


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## huntinfool (Oct 5, 2009)

1/2 covered in fiberglass is very strong, but pricey. I would go with 3/4 and then you don't have to do anything except maybe paint or something like Thompson's water seal to keep it from rotting. I like Skid no more on the top to give it some texture. Let me know if you want to come by and look at my boat sometime for ideas.


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## jsharp (Oct 12, 2009)

huntinfool said:


> 1/2 covered in fiberglass is very strong, but pricey. I would go with 3/4 and then you don't have to do anything except maybe paint or something like Thompson's water seal to keep it from rotting. I like Skid no more on the top to give it some texture. Let me know if you want to come by and look at my boat sometime for ideas.



I may need to come by and look at your boat i can't figure out how to build the deck on mine where it will work does any one hve any ideas do i go low deck or medium deck or high deck help i also have a bow mount trolling motor i want to mount on it, so need front deck to do this help her is pics of the front of the boat not the best but thats all i got right now i have looked all throught this website and cant find any body that has a boat like mine for some reason everyone has the flat front mines kinds v shaped thanks for all yalls help


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## bassboy1 (Oct 12, 2009)

3/4 is overkill, and way to heavy. Try to design it where half is usable, or at the very least, split the difference, and use 5/8.


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## jsharp (Nov 9, 2009)

well its been a while since ive posted and still cant get pics of the boat but will post them soon but got the rear floor cut out yesterday and treated with water seal got the lids cut out for my storage under the middle bench seat going to get the carpet this weekend and but the floor and lids in palce then going to start on the front deck i used 15/32 plywood for the floor and treated it with thompson water seal and then painted after words so should be good to go any boday where i can get aluminum at around the houston area


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## RBuffordTJ (Nov 10, 2009)

Well considering that is my boat you posted a pic of I think it is a great idea! :LOL2: 

Seriously though, I love the way it worked for me and would love to have a couple more feet of boat like you got, mine is a 12' but it is very comfortable to fish from with me, my cousin and one of our kids with us. I like the low deck it is very stable.

Oh, and it is always cool to see someone point to my boat and go "yeah, like this one". Glad you like.

Bufford in Orlando


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## jsharp (Nov 29, 2009)

here r some pics of the progress of my boat can some one help me with the front deck any advice is great


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## jsharp (Jan 12, 2010)

ok guys i have gotten alot more don since i last posted i put a floor in the rear and added the rear seat and put the lids on the middle bence for storage got the switch box in and now im working on the front deck still not sure how to build this since i dont know if i can go high or low deck on the front and still be stable any advice on this 

on bow mount trolling motor on my its a mod v does it need to be torward the middle or can it be off to the side thanks


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## dyeguy1212 (Jan 12, 2010)

Ideally your TM would be towards the middle, but with a smaller boat, I really don't think you'll see much of a performance difference.


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