# Alumacraft 1236 Makeover- livewell pg 11 - update front deck



## russ010

Well, I finally found a boat and a trailer with trolling motor. I was looking for a 1448, but this will do for now. Picked this set-up up for $350 off Craigslist. The boat is in pretty decent shape, other than all the nicks and scratches, nothing a little elbow grease can't take care of. The trailer on the other hand is one of those from Harbor Freight. I don't like the short bunks, so I plan on extending it up to the A frame with 6' bunks. I sanded it down and primed it Friday, another coat of primer on Saturday, and today I put one coat of paint. I plan on putting atleast 2 more coats before I'm done with it. I picked up some LED tail lights to replace the mess wiring they had, plus the lights didn't work. Might as well pay more the first time and do it right, than to keep paying more in the long run. The trolling motor had some kind of jerry rigged contraption for the motor mount, but luckily I had one laying around that I took off an old trolling motor I had that no longer worked.

While the enamel was drying this evening, I decided to take all the stickers off the boat. Not something I want to do everyday.... I finally got most of the glue off with mineral spirits and some finger skin (literally). I'm going to sand it down and prime it with zinc chromate and then a few coats of Brightside. I think I'm going to paint the inside as well. I'm planning on putting floors in, as well as cutting out 2 holes in the middle seat for 2 batteries for my trolling motors. 

I'll try to post as I go along, but with the way work has been, it might be a slow process. Considering I've only worked about 10 hours so far, it might not take as long. I wanted the trailer to be right the first time with the paint, so I didn't skip too many steps. I painted what I could get to with the brush.... I even found a nest of angry wasps when I took the coupler off. Good thing their bites don't bother me, otherwise I'd be in a world of hurt. 14 stings! The only one that really hurts is the little [email protected]$% who found his way up my shorts leg....

Anyways, here's some pics. My bodyguard even found his way into a few of them - 80lbs and 8 months old.. and still growing.




































If you want to see more pics, you can see the album HERE


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## russ010

I do have a question... I have the 8" wheels/tires on here... but would it make any difference to put the 12" ones on there. I don't know what the advantages/disadvantages would be, and I don't see any reason I can't put them on there unless there's not enough clearance.


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## Waterwings

Nice rig and pics! 8)


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## Waterwings

russ010 said:


> I do have a question... I have the 8" wheels/tires on here... but would it make any difference to put the 12" ones on there. I don't know what the advantages/disadvantages would be, and I don't see any reason I can't put them on there unless there's not enough clearance.



I don't know of any reason why larger tires wouldn't work.


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## SlimeTime

Nice boat, congrats on finding it! And YES, step up to the 12" set-up (as long as they'll fit, less rotation = less wear on the wheel bearings.

ST


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## Tyler_W

What kind of paint did you use on your trailor and how did you prep it?


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## russ010

I sanded it down with 80 grit sandpaper on my mouse sander. I'm trying my best to conserve money where I can - so I used what I had laying around the house. You don't have to go out and buy what someone else uses because it works, try to improvise... I didn't care if it left some paint on, I really wanted to hit the rusted areas and the parts that were chipping. I just went to Home Depot and got the Rustoleum Rusty Surface Primer and Gloss Smoke Gray - both are for Metal surfaces. I have used these for trailers in the past and hold up well... I've noticed on different trailers I've painted, the more coats of primer I put on, the better the top coat looks.. I brushed the whole thing. I finished painting it 4 hours ago and just checked it.. it's still tacky, so thats a good sign that the first coat of top coat is on thick!


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## dedawg1149

congrats, nice rig,my buddy has a 14 foot boat on a trailer with 8inch tires been pulling it for 6 years without any troubles


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## phased

Good job on the trailer and nice rig. My 2 cents on changing to 12" wheels I would think that depends on how far you are going to pull the trailer. If it is not long distances I would think the 8" would be OK but if I were going to pull it 30 or more miles one way at highway speeds I would want to go with the larger diameter. The larger circumference will produce less friction on tires and bearings. More friction...more heat.


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## SVNET

Well, looking at your trailer at apart is giving some ideal for my inventions, but I need to further understand how your trailer works.






What holds those to bunks on the front end, or the only thing that supports them is the bracket at the rear end ?

If that is the case, which make sense, are they always facing down at the time of loading the boat ?

How about the very top corner of the bunk, never harm the bottom of the boat ? Maybe because of the rug...

Can someone explain to me how the real bunk of a boat works, it could help me on creating my own bunk.

Thank you.


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## russ010

Those bunks will actually sit straight.. my dog just went over and pushed them like that. When they go into the water they float back, and when the front of your boat hits the ends, they pivot and allow the boat to keep going foward. That bracket on the rear is the only one there for now. 

I plan on extending the front of the trailer, and I just ordered these bunks to replace them https://www.ultimatebunkboards.com.


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## SVNET

russ010 said:


> Those bunks will actually sit straight.. my dog just went over and pushed them like that. When they go into the water they float back, and when the front of your boat hits the ends, they pivot and allow the boat to keep going foward. That bracket on the rear is the only one there for now.
> 
> I plan on extending the front of the trailer, and I just ordered these bunks to replace them https://www.ultimatebunkboards.com.



How are those new bunks going to be any better ?

I gues I am just all confused about this whole things works.

I guess the magic happens when the trailer sink deep into the watter while the bow of the boat is till floading high enough, at that point the boat hits the bunks and misses the front frame of the trailer.

Looking at your picture here, that trailer has to be very deep in order for that boat to float straight into those bunks and still, I will be very worry about that boat hiting the corner/front of the bunks head on, it could plug a hole on the boat. I guess I will actuall have to take my boat and trailer to boat ramp to see how the whole thing works because at this point I am just all worry and full confusion...






Look at my situation, my trailer will have to be completely inside the water for that front bow not to hit the frame...


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## russ010

the trailer is completely submerged in the water when loading or unloading. It's not at all like your trailer, you have a utility trailer. There is a stop up at the front of the trailer that will not let the boat go any farther. I don't drive up on the trailer, I use a 15' rope which is attached to the bow and I pull it up by that onto the trailer, so I have full control over the boat.


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## russ010

OK so here's where we are today... I went to walmart and got a paint remover disc that fits into the end of my power drill (instead of buying an angle grinder) - worked nicely for only $5. I really worked on a few areas where there was a lot of dings to get the burrs off so I wouldn't nick myself while walking around the boat. 





Then I used this zinc chromate primer. I got an eye shock when I opened it up and it was colored school bus yellow. I started putting this stuff on with my paint brush... but it was not working well at all. I never even though about why this stuff was drying so fast - it's 12pm and the boat is sitting in full sun! Doh! ](*,) Well I went ahead and put it on pretty thick, I'll probably wait until this afternoon when it cools off a little bit after being in the shade and put another coat on it. 








I'll take better pics in a little while and post them tonight, my camera battery died and I took these with my cell phone.


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## dedawg1149

:LOL22: paint some drum sticks on it and call it the kicken chicken. :LMFAO: just kidding


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## russ010

now you might be on to a boat name... the kick'n chick'n.... then again, maybe not! 

Anyways, finally after 5 hours I got the trailer lights working. The previous owner had the wiring harness duck taped and electrical taped all the way down the sides of the trailer. I decided I could just drill a few holes and run the wire through the channels. That worked out once I found my fish tape. Well after 20 minutes of fishing lines and hooking up the lights, I turned them on to see just how bright they were and guess what... NOTHING! I checked the voltage at the harness on the truck and it was right on. Then I started thinking I screwed up with the heat shrink and must have melted some of the wires together. I came to that conclusion based on the fact that I was getting the same voltage at the trailer lights right before I made the connection. It ended up being no ground on the trailer - at all. I could get the lights to come on by touching the bumper with the ground, and by touching the coupler. So I decided to run a ground wire directly from the coupler to the road side light, and connect it on the stud of the light and the bumper, and put the ground wire from the light right on top of it. VOILA!! The lights work! 

Anyways... here the pre-drilling of chase holes and then the end result.... I'm also putting some more pics of the school boat. As always, to view more pics, click *HERE*.


















Here's the redo wiring I had to do with the grounds.. you'll also see that I scraped some of the paint away thinking that would help - but it made no difference.










and the school boat....


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## dedawg1149

nice lights looking good i was just joking about the yellow


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## russ010

1st coat of top paint on... Electric Blue - definitely electric! I don't know what I was thinking when I picked this color out. I wanted burgundy, but they didn't have it. Oh well, I'll make it work. Probably will put some custom lettering or something on it to make it blend in more. Doesn't look too bad sprayed either, not to mention it only took about 5 minutes.
















(forgot to fix the links when I moved them in Photobucket... here they are again)


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## dedawg1149

looks good


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## SVNET

So you painted this outdoors, under trees and a spray paint can....

You must be very good at painting....

Looks good.

Manny.


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## russ010

I used an automotive paint sprayer with air compressor to paint this. 






I wasn't about to do this in my garage... my wife would have killed me not to mention I don't want all of my stuff to have a blue tint to it. I did paint it outside, luckily in the 10 minutes I spent painting, the wind didn't blow once, so there was not much if any overspray. 




Can anybody tell me where I can find a couple of these types of bunk brackets? I can't find them anywhere.


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## Waterwings

Don't know where you'd find a bunk bracket like that, but if you have access to a "smoke wrench" (torch), a big vice, a big hammer, a drill, and some galvanized flat bar, you could manufacture some. Just a thought.


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## dedawg1149

they have one here not sure of the size part number 446100 https://www.sportsmantrailers.com/bunkbrackets.htm


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## bassboy1

EDIT Argh. Waterwings and dedawg beat me. Oh well.

I haven't seen any of that sort sold anywhere. What are the dimensions of the material? Looks to be what, 1 inch or 1 1/4, with an eighth inch thickness. Get you a piece of that from Home Depot or Lowes, clamp it in a vice, and bend it. May need a hammer to help, but it should work alright, and usually the alloy of steel that the big box stores sell are usually one that will cold bend fairly readily (I play with aluminum more, so I couldn't tell you the alloy). 

Now, seeing a picture of what you were describing on Saturday, I still stand by my idea of just bolting the bunks straight to the trailer. Lay them flat, and bolt down with a countersunk carriage bolt directly to the crossbar. With a flat bottom boat, it can't hit the crossbar, so you don't really need standoffs, and they just add more height which requires you to back in farther. 

Is a compressor that small capable of keeping up with a paint sprayer, or did you have to stop and let it fill up every now and then?


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## russ010

That's a 150psi compressor. I had the hose pressure set at 40... I started off painting in small sections and stopping, then I said to hell with it and just kept going. It didn't sputter on me at all, but it took a little adjusting on a piece of plywood before I hit the boat. I've got a few runs, but only because I didn't get all primer runs from yesterday wet sanded all the way down. (you're technically supposed to wait until the next day, but I don't always follow the rules. 

The guy at the boat store where I bought the paint told me it would take 2 quarts to paint this boat. I used 1 quart of primer and 1 quart of paint... and I"ve still got some left over. I thinned it out with medium reducer from O'Reilys. I wasn't paying the high prices for the same stuff at Boater's World. Mixed it at a ratio of 5:1 and that stuff went on great.

If you decide to paint your boat, you can borrow my gun if you want to bassboy. (That is, if you don't already have one.)

Bassboy - About those bunks and laying them flat.... can I still get by with just 2 bunks? I bought 2 6' bunks from https://www.ultimatebunkboards.com.


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## bassboy1

You can still get by with 2. It will double the support, as it has double the width with the same two. With those, is it the same material all the way through? I didn't realize you had bought those. If the top is a different material than the rest, that idea is shot. Also, if you put those sideways, they will have tapers at each end, and if you cut it, you will have an unfinished end. Wouldn't matter functionally, but if you are anal retentive like me it just wouldn't work.


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## russ010

I might just wait until I get the bunks, then get you to come over and look at it... we can fish the ponds across the road I was tellling you about as well. I don't know when to expect to get those bunks - I did read somewhere where it said it takes 2 weeks from the time of ordering..


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## shadow

Looks good,not surprised,I wish I had half the talent as you guys on here


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## russ010

This is my first time as well shadow... seems like some of this stuff just comes natural though. I've always tinkered in things while growing up. We didn't have much when I was growing up, so we made do with what we had. Alot of the stuff I now own are pass-me-downs from my dad who doesn't do as much tinkering as he used to. It's amazing what you can do with a limited amount of tools. 

Wish I had been smart and painted that primer on with the spray gun instead of a brush... I didn't wet sand well enough and you can see the runs from the primer. OH well, it's a boat and it's gonna be in the water. Besides, the way I look at it is like this - The outside of the boat is for everybody else to look at, the inside is for YOU.. so that's where I'm about to start working. Might take a little while though, I think we are about to get some storms off that hurricane


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## russ010

I'm trying to figure out what trolling motor will best serve me, and what size shaft. I've got a bow mount 40# foot controlled, and I've got a 50# transom mount that has a 42" shaft. 

I tried on an old trolling motor that didn't work for practice, and I was able to shorten the shaft to whatever length I wanted. I don't really know the correct depth to set the trolling motor behind the boat, if it should be tilted or straight down, or what... any information or pictures of your setup would be very helpful.


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## ben2go

I like the blue.Looks good to me.Nice work.


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## russ010

can somebody tell me the best place to purchase the wheels/tires from? I've seen a lot of prices online, but I know somebody out there can probably do a better search than I can. I don't know if it's cheaper to buy online, or if there is a store that carries them.

I also have another question.... 

I plan on decking the inside, not up to the gunwhales, but to where it will still be stable enough for standing. Would it be better to use something like Herculiner, or just a flat paint? I was thinking of doing the Herculiner on the floor, then flat up near the edges. I have also thought about framing out off the walls about 1.5" so that I can make me some storage compartments with Plano boxes - then I would really only need to paint the top rail - I guess this would end up being the blue as well, then I wouldn't have to buy any more paint.

If you guys have any ideas for certain mods, please post them! I really want to cut down that center bench some and have a walk through straight to the front deck, but I'm still leery about cutting it out in fear of losing support. My floor is a 36", and the beam is 54".... I'm just trying to keep this thing relatively stable because I hate fishing sitting down. If you can think of anything that should be added that you wish you had, or if you have anything in mind - I'm open to all ideas!


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## Mossy535

russ010 said:


> can somebody tell me the best place to purchase the wheels/tires from? I've seen a lot of prices online, but I know somebody out there can probably do a better search than I can. I don't know if it's cheaper to buy online, or if there is a store that carries them.



I bought my tires and wheels from KMT Parts:

https://kmtparts.com

I got the tires and wheels from KMT cheaper that I could get the tires alone from other places I checked.

Mark


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## SVNET

russ010 said:


> That's a 150psi compressor. I had the hose pressure set at 40... I started off painting in small sections and stopping, then I said to hell with it and just kept going. It didn't sputter on me at all, but it took a little adjusting on a piece of plywood before I hit the boat. I've got a few runs, but only because I didn't get all primer runs from yesterday wet sanded all the way down. (you're technically supposed to wait until the next day, but I don't always follow the rules.
> 
> The guy at the boat store where I bought the paint told me it would take 2 quarts to paint this boat. I used 1 quart of primer and 1 quart of paint... and I"ve still got some left over. I thinned it out with medium reducer from O'Reilys. I wasn't paying the high prices for the same stuff at Boater's World. Mixed it at a ratio of 5:1 and that stuff went on great.
> 
> If you decide to paint your boat, you can borrow my gun if you want to bassboy. (That is, if you don't already have one.)
> 
> Bassboy - About those bunks and laying them flat.... can I still get by with just 2 bunks? I bought 2 6' bunks from https://www.ultimatebunkboards.com.




So you are to sand the boat to the metal.

Paint it with primer.

Sand the primer just a little ?

paint with color paint ?

Why sand the primer before the paint ?


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## russ010

I didn't take it all the way down to the metal. I bought a coarse sander that will fit in a regular drill from walmart and just ruffed up the coat of paint that was already on the boat, and take off the glue from the stickers.

I primed it, then I wet sanded the places where the paint had ran. When you wetsand with 200 grit paper, it just makes the paint that ran smooth to the touch with the rest of the paint. You don't have to sand the primer, I just didn't want those runs to bleed through.

I really put 2 coats of primer on, then 2 coats of paint. I did this because it makes it bond better (primer to the boat, paint to the primer). I sprayed it with a paint gun and compressor for 2 reasons: 1 - I already had a paint sprayer and compressor... 2 - it's cheaper to buy the paint in a quart size ($20 for quart of primer, $40 for quart of paint, $10 for spraying thinner), as opposed to buying I don't know how many rattle cans (spray paint cans). I painted a 14' jon once with rattle cans, and it took me almost 2 weeks to get the feeling back in my finger. If you figure spray cans are $5 a can, I figured I would have to use atleast 8 cans of each primer and paint to get what I was wanting. That comes out to $80. And when I painted this boat it only took me 10 minutes to put on each coat. The more thin coats you can put on, the better the results. 

Let me know if you need help with anything, all you gotta do is ask.


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## russ010

Mossy535 said:


> russ010 said:
> 
> 
> 
> can somebody tell me the best place to purchase the wheels/tires from? I've seen a lot of prices online, but I know somebody out there can probably do a better search than I can. I don't know if it's cheaper to buy online, or if there is a store that carries them.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I bought my tires and wheels from KMT Parts:
> 
> https://kmtparts.com
> 
> I got the tires and wheels from KMT cheaper that I could get the tires alone from other places I checked.
> 
> Mark
Click to expand...


I stopped by Tractor Supply on the way home tonight and they have those wheels for $45 each (4.80/8 with 4 lugs). That will probably be the best I can find since I don't have to pay shipping.

I'm still debating on the 12" wheels. I like the fact that with 8" wheels I won't have to back as far down into the water, and the farthest I travel to fish would be about 50 miles... so I'll probably stick with the 8" wheels.


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## Mossy535

russ010 said:


> I stopped by Tractor Supply on the way home tonight and they have those wheels for $45 each (4.80/8 with 4 lugs). That will probably be the best I can find since I don't have to pay shipping.
> 
> I'm still debating on the 12" wheels. I like the fact that with 8" wheels I won't have to back as far down into the water, and the farthest I travel to fish would be about 50 miles... so I'll probably stick with the 8" wheels.



KMT has the 4.80-8, load range C wheel and tire combo for $27.68:

https://kmtparts.com/catalog.asp?prodid=499973&showprevnext=1

or the 4.80-12, load range C combo for $45.32:

https://kmtparts.com/catalog.asp?prodid=569693&showprevnext=1

When I ordered a complete set of wheels and tires from them back in May the shipping was only $16.05

Mark


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## SlimeTime

Lowes, Home Depot, and Menards all carry tire & wheel combos. I'd check prices befor buying at TSC, they're usually alittle higher on most stuff. I'd still do the 12" wheels..... :wink: 

Another option....dad bought a set of 8" wheel/tires at a rummage sale, tires were like new...$5 each.

ST


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## Andy

Boat looks GREAT!

As for trolling motors. I'm usind a 34# Motorguide. And it'll scoot my boat around at a good clip (Sears 1232). 5 forward speeds and 2 reverse. It has an adjustable stop for setting the depth and it also tilts with several notches to lock it. I guess it's all personal preference and the depth of water your fishing in..


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## russ010

thats the same rolling motor I've got on my Fish Master 1232 and I like it.... but it just doesn't get me going as fast as as other. I put the 55# on the 1232, and it seemed like it seemed like it was sloiwer than the 34... thats why I was trying to figure out how far below the boat the prop should be, as well as what angle it should be


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## russ010

Well... after a week and 6+" of rain, I was finally able to get a little bit done today. 
I framed the back deck, and cut out the deck for the rear and the front, as well as the front seat. I was originally going to use aluminum angle to do all the bracing, but with money tight and really no need for it, I used what I had laying around the house. I used 2x2, and 3/8" NON pressure treated architectural plywood. 

I am not going to fasten anything down to the boat - In the rear, I made the frame to rest on the ribs, and then I'll attach that frame to the deck (not deck to the frame, attach from the rear side, so no screws will be going through the carpet. I decided to do it like this so that I can take the panels in and out if I want to.



















As for the front deck, I'm going to use angle as the rear brace across the back seat, then build up the brace again with 2x2. I might end up using aluminum, just haven't made up my mind yet. I want to be able to take it in and out as well. Only thing I've done so far is cut out the deck - it's opening weekend, and there are a few games I have to see!! If you can see in the second picture, the sides are accessible - this is where I can stick my plano boxes when fishing in the front. I hadn't planned doing that, but after screwing up my measurements somehow (maybe too much budweiser) it worked out to where they would fit perfectly in between the ribs.


















The plans for the seats are as follows - 7" fixed pedestal on the rear bench seat, vertical adjustable swivel seat on the front deck. I wanted to put the 3/4" removable seats, but the one I have pictured I bought new at a flea market for $15 (reg $55 at BPS) and the removable set up would have cost me more than $60 for the setup I wanted. I do most of my fishing standing anyways, but fishing in the front I'll have to stay seated... I can take the seat off and sand over the mount - but I'd end up in the water tripping over it. The seat is not yet mounted, just sitting there... One pic is seat in the down position, the next all the way up - I like it that it can be set anywhere between those 2 heights.










I had big plans of doing all types of storage and stuff like that, but I changed my mind since this is only a 1236 and I am just going to save the money for all of that stuff until I can get me a 14'er.... then I'll fix it the way I want it. I also had to start thinking about weight, my truck is getting a little sluggish, and the last thing I need right now is a burnt clutch... so when a new truck comes, so does the search of another boat.

I've got some solid Decking Stain that I'm going to paint these, then maybe I can go out and get some carpet tomorrow from Lowe's and finish it up.


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## SlimeTime

Looks great! You got a heck of a deal on the seats, and I've used them before too & they're pretty comfortable.

ST


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## russ010

oh about those seat... those are the Wise brand (not Action like you get at Wally World)... Those I actually paid $30 for at Bass Pro Shops - FYI - if you're military you get 10% discount on the 15-22 of everymonth... Anyways, the front pedestal is what I got for such a cheap price. The guy wanted $45, but I traded him $15 and a $2 knife that I got at a stand a few spots down from his... hated to be a cheap skate, but then again - that's what flea markets are for!


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## dedawg1149

looks good =D>


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## bassboy1

> ....this is where I can stick my plano boxes when fishing in the front. I hadn't planned doing that....



Don't ever put in your project that you hadn't planned on doing something that turned out good.... :lol: :lol: That way, you can actually take credit for the good idea...   


Also, if you go dumping out the big box like you did in my boat, you may have a problem...... :shock: :shock:


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## Waterwings

Nice work, and I like that seat pedestal ! 8)


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## russ010

bassboy1 said:


> ....Also, if you go dumping out the big box like you did in my boat, you may have a problem...... :shock: :shock:
Click to expand...


you know...... I usually only take that box with me, and set out the 2 colors of worms I use, and only open the top - so I never spill it.... unfortunately, I wasn't that lucky when we went out


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## russ010

I finally got my bunks in last night that I ordered from https://www.ultimatebunkboards.com/... I will take pics of them when I get home tonight. They said they were composite, but it looks like a 2x4 with some type of rubberized coating on them.

I am going to take the rollers off the trailer, and lay these flat - there is like an extra layer of rubber stuff on the horizontal part that supposedly make it grip more when it's dry, then makes it slicker than shat when it's wet... I did wet it a little last night and when I stepped on it, I couldn't keep my footing.. maybe this stuff works like they state.


Anybody ever used these things before?


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## bassboy1

I haven't used those, but I have used the slicks that go on top of wood. (walmart cutting board is the same material for a cheaper price). Aside from the fact that the bunk design was a bad one for the boat in question, they did work real well. I have a feeling that they will be going on the Yazoo trailer, as the carpet isn't doing well at all.


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## russ010

I put the bunks on last night, but was unable to post the pictures.... 

I've got a question though - 

One of the bunks (I placed them laying flat) is resting right under one of the ribs of the boat, and it doesn't sit flat on that side... should I move the bunk more to the middle of the trailer so that the boat will rest flat on it and not the rib - I'll move the bunk over about 2 inches?

I use a strap across the back - from one side of the trailer to the other to hold the boat down, and it doesn't move. I also don't plan on driving the boat up onto the bunks, those things are slick as crap and I won't be able to hold it steady and try to crank myself in at the same time. I'm going to use my rope to pull it up on the trailer, attach the winch strap, then pull it on out and strap it down on the ramp.


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## russ010

I've been working a little bit the past few nights, and I've got a pretty good bit accomplished.

I decided to go ahead and cut out the middle bench seat and make places on the sides to put 2 batteries, then use the center section as a large storage bin for all of my soft plastics... I have a TON!






























I plan on having 3 comparments - I still have to cut/paint that board that's over the bench. 2 will open from the rear of the boat to the back (thats really the only way to put the batteries in and out)... the middle will open left to right or vise versa... I plan on putting some hooks in the lid to hold jigs and spinnerbaits. I'll have to figure out how to rig that one without them going everywhere when I open it.

I don't have pics yet, but I finished framing the front deck. I'll post pics of that tomorrow as long as it's not raining and I'm not fishing!


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## dedawg1149

=D> doing real good job


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## ben2go

That's a great idea.I may keep my seats now and just cut them open.You can get auto door edge protectors, and put around the opening, to keep from cutting your hands and arms on the sharp edges.Most any chain auto store has it.It's pretty thin so it won't close up the opening.Just an idea.


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## SlimeTime

Looks good! That'll make a nice spot for the batteries. Have you considered making something more along the lines of a drawer for your baits? One that could pull-out the side of the seat, as opposed to the top? It'd keep your baits in the same position & might eliminate some problems.

Nice job :wink: 
ST


----------



## Waterwings

Progress looks good! Can you fit a battery tray in there so the batts don't slide around? Checkout the link for some tackle storage ideas: https://www.cooksgoto.com/, and here's their photo gallery with lots of pics of their systems mounted: https://www.cooksgoto.com/Photo_Gallery.cfm 8)


----------



## bassboy1

russ010 said:


> One of the bunks (I placed them laying flat) is resting right under one of the ribs of the boat, and it doesn't sit flat on that side... should I move the bunk more to the middle of the trailer so that the boat will rest flat on it and not the rib - I'll move the bunk over about 2 inches?


Yes, you don't want the boat on the rib. Measure from the center of the boat, to the center of where you want the bunk to touch the boat (usually directly between 2 chines). Then, measure from the centerpoint of the trailer, and mark that spot. That is where you should center your bunks.


----------



## russ010

SlimeTime said:


> Looks good! That'll make a nice spot for the batteries. Have you considered making something more along the lines of a drawer for your baits? One that could pull-out the side of the seat, as opposed to the top? It'd keep your baits in the same position & might eliminate some problems.
> 
> Nice job :wink:
> ST


 
I thought about that, but I raised the floors, so I would only have access to about 4-5 inches... and since I have a ton of plastics, I would rather just sort through the bench because I keep them sorted in a way that I know where everything is.

Off to do some carpeting... 

bassboy - give me a call if you wanna get out tomorrow. My boat won't be ready, but I'll be free if you want to go.


----------



## SlimeTime

Waterwings said:


> Progress looks good! Can you fit a battery tray in there so the batts don't slide around? Checkout the link for some tackle storage ideas: https://www.cooksgoto.com/, and here's their photo gallery with lots of pics of their systems mounted: https://www.cooksgoto.com/Photo_Gallery.cfm 8)


I thought about that too, but he could screw a couple vertical pieces (either wood strips or aluminum angle) on each side of the insides of the seats, and the batteries could just slide down into them. That would prevent any movement, and still make them easy to remove.

ST


----------



## Waterwings

SlimeTime said:


> Waterwings said:
> 
> 
> 
> Progress looks good! Can you fit a battery tray in there so the batts don't slide around? Checkout the link for some tackle storage ideas: https://www.cooksgoto.com/, and here's their photo gallery with lots of pics of their systems mounted: https://www.cooksgoto.com/Photo_Gallery.cfm 8)
> 
> 
> 
> I thought about that too, but he _could screw a couple vertical pieces (either wood strips or aluminum angle) on each side of the insides of the seats, and the batteries could just slide down into them._ That would prevent any movement, and still make them easy to remove.ST
Click to expand...



That's a good idea also!


----------



## russ010

SlimeTime said:


> Waterwings said:
> 
> 
> 
> Progress looks good! Can you fit a battery tray in there so the batts don't slide around? Checkout the link for some tackle storage ideas: https://www.cooksgoto.com/, and here's their photo gallery with lots of pics of their systems mounted: https://www.cooksgoto.com/Photo_Gallery.cfm 8)
> 
> 
> 
> I thought about that too, but he could screw a couple vertical pieces (either wood strips or aluminum angle) on each side of the insides of the seats, and the batteries could just slide down into them. That would prevent any movement, and still make them easy to remove.
> 
> ST
Click to expand...



That is what my plan is... I'm not buying special pieces just for batteries to sit in.. I've got some rubber mat that I'm going to place under the batteries, then I'm going to enclose the middle compartment for all of my baits.


----------



## bassboy1

I don't know if you noticed, but my boat has battery boxes in it. The reason for this is not to hold the battery in place, but to save the boat if the battery leaks. If a battery splits, or if for some reason the water fill lid comes off, it doesn't take much acid to burn a nice hole in an aluminum hull. Now, I think you said your boat will spend all its time in electric only, so it won't take the pounding that mine has, and is less likely to pop a battery case, but in any case, it may be something worth pondering. If you ever split a case, you will be glad you spent the money. 

If that were mine, I may not put a battery tray in it, but I would probably find some sort of plastic tray or plastic container around the house to put the battery under. 

Just my 2 pennies worth.


----------



## russ010

Well I got the decks carpeted.. then it started raining a little, so I said to heck with it and went fishing in my ponds... not in the boat though.

Here are the pics of the front deck framing. These decks are 5/8", and under the main deck I screwed in 2 more scrap pieces of 5/8" boards to strengthen it up even more. I'm trying to keep everything light weight, so with the 2x2 bracing down the sides, and the scrap pieces in the middle, it's pretty strong. I got on it and jumped up and down just to make sure. I'd rather fall out of the boat before I get it in the water and find out the hard way. 























I think Kodiak has decided he is going to go with me too. I had to put the boat off for a few days while I built a fence in my backyard... he's getting too big to keep in the house. Not to mention we're going on a cruise week after next and he can't stay locked up inside.














As always, I don't post all of the pictures, so you can click *HERE* to see all of them.


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## ben2go

Good werk!I can't figure and cut angles to save my life.Anyone care to come teach me? :mrgreen:


----------



## russ010

Waterwings said:


> Progress looks good! Can you fit a battery tray in there so the batts don't slide around? Checkout the link for some tackle storage ideas: https://www.cooksgoto.com/, and here's their photo gallery with lots of pics of their systems mounted: https://www.cooksgoto.com/Photo_Gallery.cfm 8)



Thanks for sending those links... Now I know how to jerry rig the middle bench lid to hold my plastics... I'll probably take a piece of 3/4" or 1" pvc, cut it down the middle and drill small holes through it. The holes will have to be close enough to allow those cheap shower curtain hangers to pass though... I think that should work.


----------



## russ010

ben2go said:


> Good werk!I can't figure and cut angles to save my life.Anyone care to come teach me? :mrgreen:



If you're talking about the angles of the braces, all I did was make the top brace level from the front of the middle bench seat, and then the part of the 2x2 nearest the front of the boat rests on the floor. The way I got the angles was to use small scraps of the 2x2, place it beside the top brace and run my pencil to show what the angle needed to be cut. I've got a chop saw, so it makes it a little bit easier - and cleaner. 

If what I just said makes no sense, let me know and I'll take a picture explaining how I actually did it tomorrow


----------



## ben2go

russ010 said:


> Waterwings said:
> 
> 
> 
> Progress looks good! Can you fit a battery tray in there so the batts don't slide around? Checkout the link for some tackle storage ideas: https://www.cooksgoto.com/, and here's their photo gallery with lots of pics of their systems mounted: https://www.cooksgoto.com/Photo_Gallery.cfm 8)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for sending those links... Now I know how to jerry rig the middle bench lid to hold my plastics... I'll probably take a piece of 3/4" or 1" pvc, cut it down the middle and drill small holes through it. The holes will have to be close enough to allow those cheap shower curtain hangers to pass though... I think that should work.
Click to expand...


Russ0101,I don't quite follow what you described.Could you do a write up on it?If have done one, do you have a link?


Sorry for the thread jack.


----------



## ben2go

russ010 said:


> ben2go said:
> 
> 
> 
> Good werk!I can't figure and cut angles to save my life.Anyone care to come teach me? :mrgreen:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If you're talking about the angles of the braces, all I did was make the top brace level from the front of the middle bench seat, and then the part of the 2x2 nearest the front of the boat rests on the floor. The way I got the angles was to use small scraps of the 2x2, place it beside the top brace and run my pencil to show what the angle needed to be cut. I've got a chop saw, so it makes it a little bit easier - and cleaner.
> 
> If what I just said makes no sense, let me know and I'll take a picture explaining how I actually did it tomorrow
Click to expand...


Yea it does.I just have problems with making the deck supports for the front where the bottom curves up to the bow.I may make cardboard templates on my up coming project.


----------



## russ010

well... once I make the mark with the pencil and cut it out... when I go to attach it to the brace, I turn it upside down - so the angle cut is sitting on the floor. Then I move it up and down the brace to figure out exactly where it's best fit is. Worked pretty good for this - it only took me about 20 min to frame the front using this method.


----------



## Waterwings

russ010 said:


> Waterwings said:
> 
> 
> 
> Progress looks good! Can you fit a battery tray in there so the batts don't slide around? Checkout the link for some tackle storage ideas: https://www.cooksgoto.com/, and here's their photo gallery with lots of pics of their systems mounted: https://www.cooksgoto.com/Photo_Gallery.cfm 8)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for sending those links... Now I know how to jerry rig the middle bench lid to hold my plastics... I'll probably take a piece of 3/4" or 1" pvc, cut it down the middle and drill small holes through it. The holes will have to be close enough to allow those cheap shower curtain hangers to pass though... I think that should work.
Click to expand...


No problem!


----------



## SlimeTime

Looks good. I'd add diagonal bracing to the taller 2X2 legs for additional support, maybe one on the outside & a horizontal between the legs? And maybe some large flat washers under the nuts on the seat base.

lol, and I believe you're right about your dog, he's ready to go.

ST


----------



## Waterwings

> ...And maybe some large flat washers under the nuts on the seat base.



ST beat me to it, lol! Was gonna recommend the same thing after looking at the pics again 8)


----------



## russ010

I've got lock washers underneath those nuts - and those nuts are self locking. 

Slimetime - Thanks for the idea about the diagonal bracing - it never crossed my mind, but it makes perfect sense and I should have done that to start off with. I was contemplating taking the 2x2 off, and replacing with 2x4... the 2x2 -- well, you can only put so many screws in for attachment, and I used my pocket hole jig.


----------



## Waterwings

> I've got lock washers underneath those nuts - and those nuts are self locking.




The large flat washers would be more so that the existing nuts, and lock washers, don't wobble-out and pull through the wood. Not that it could happen considering the amount of bolts around the perimeter of the seat base, however, better safe than sorry. Probably wouldn't need a large washer for every bolt, maybe a minimum of 4 spaced across from each other. The large flat washers are sometimes referered to as "Fender Washers".


----------



## ben2go

Waterwings said:


> I've got lock washers underneath those nuts - and those nuts are self locking.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The large flat washers would be more so that the existing nuts, and lock washers, don't wobble-out and pull through the wood. Not that it could happen considering the amount of bolts around the perimeter of the seat base, however, better safe than sorry. Probably wouldn't need a large washer for every bolt, maybe a minimum of 4 spaced across from each other. The large flat washers are sometimes referered to as "Fender Washers".
Click to expand...


This maybe overkill but on pontoons we put aluminum plates under the wood.We rounded the corners and edges so the plates wouldn't dig thru the wood.I worked for an auto an marine upholster, so everything had to be just so, or it was redone. :roll:


----------



## Waterwings

> ...I worked for an auto an marine upholster, so _everything had to be just so, or it was redone_.




That used to be called _quality_ workmanship and pride in a job well done :wink: . Hard to find these days.


----------



## ben2go

Waterwings said:


> ...I worked for an auto an marine upholster, so _everything had to be just so, or it was redone_.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That used to be called _quality_ workmanship and pride in a job well done :wink: . Hard to find these days.
Click to expand...



I completely agree and we stayed covered up in work.But some stuff was just grossly over done.I believe in doing quality work hands down.


----------



## Waterwings




----------



## russ010

Well... it's been a while. Last month was H E Double Hockey Sticks!

1 - full week of jury duty
2 - second week was vaction which was awesome - but while I was cruising the Caribbean, I happend to turn on the news to see AIG was in trouble (remember I'm an underwriter... well here's the great company I work for...) So for 6 days I was pooping bricking wondering if I was going to have a job when I got back home. And I do still have the job, and will have for some time - we are now becoming the backbone for AIG
3 - brokers going nuts asking tons of questions for their insureds, and us having to go through all the details of how it was the parent company in trouble, not my division which is pretty much financially set
4 - my wonderful 80lb 9 month old German Shepherd must have got hungry because he ate.. and I mean ATE my wiring harness on the trailer (don't ask how I know he actually ate it... it wasn't pretty, but he sure had a bright tail light when he hit the brakes).. anyways, he left me 1/2" to connect a new harness to... needless to say I wasn't happy

anyways, enough bickering.... on to the good stuff!

I am now about 3/4 of the way finished with my boat. I still need to paint the insides and move the bunks on the trailer. But after the shotty month I've had, I needed to get it in the water for the maiden voyage. I got to the ramp at 8 (when the gate opens) and left at 5 (when gate closes). All in all it was a good day, but I did see a few things that would have to be fixed. 

No leaks (thank God) and it is very stable - much more stable on the water than it was on the trailer with me walking around trying it out.

1 - on the way to the gate, I get on the interstate and right when I get up to 55mph, I happen to look in the rear view to see my middle bench seat doors fly up - I had 3 EXPENSIVE rod/reels laying across them... luckily they only lifted up with the door, but I still bout busted a nut trying to get on the shoulder. I fixed it for the rest of the trip with a long tie strap I had behind the seat. So the first thing I gotta do is rig a bungee cord from one side to the other to hold the seats down. You'll notice in the pictures that they open front to back. I did it like this because I didn't want them to open to the front seat, I wanted to be able to sit there and get into the middle console to change baits. I also mounted a center console I got from WalMart for $3... that was great. I wasn't looking for my scissors, needle nose pliers, cell phone, scents, camera... and most of all my Mountain Dew!
















And here is everything that fits in it... that's almost all of my tackle, line, 2 batteries... Awesome storage - and it's functional






2. Batteries

I only decided to go fishing yesterday, so I had to run power lines - at 11pm there's not too many places that are open, but luckily WalMart had 6' 4ga wire (10bucks) with connections on both ends. I couldn't find any type of junction box, so I just attached the trolling motor wires directly to the 4ga. I had both batteries charged, but I didn't run them in parallel like I plan on doing. I figured that I would carry both, and if one battery ran out, then I could just switch places with them. Turns out - that walmart battery ran me ALL day, and I mean ALL day. No anchor, and it was windy. I hooked it up when I got home, and it still had 75% remaining. I'll be buying another so that both batteries hooked in parallel will be the same.

3. Front Stop... ok, I don't know what it's called

This was my biggest problem on the whole stinking boat. The handle on the winch was too long, so I could only make a half turn to let the strap out, or bring it back in. I moved the bracket down, fabricated a piece of steel to fit between the bracket, then screwed 4 - 3" screws into a 4x4 block of wood that I carpeted. It only took me about 15 million ideas before I came up with that one. Works pretty good too - it just needs to be about 5" longer.










4. Stickers

OK, so I finally got around to putting my new stickers on (check out https://www.namemyboat.com.. they have a ton of different fonts and other variations you can create... not to mention cheap prices. While I was putting them on, my wife (who wasn't helping, but was reading the directions to tell me what I was doing wrong) told me that they aren't supposed to get wet for a couple of days after putting it on. I hope that only means washing it - I don't think it got that wet while it was in the water. Either way, these went on better than any I have ever done before... and I've done a lot (I used to tint windows, so when vinyl stickers for the windshield were popular, I was the one doing them)














Well... I guess that's about it. I've still got to paint the inside. A friend of mine gave me some Herculiner, but I'm still undecided if I want to use it. This boat makes almost no noise which I found odd, but not I'm fussing. I'll try to update some more later this week.


----------



## russ010

almost forgot... for more pics, click *HERE*


----------



## FishingBuds

Awsome, your ideas are cool

1. I like how the battery's turned out.
2. I would've never thought about the car console thingy-sweet  
3. The sticker decals makes me want to do that too :wink: 

It turned out great, it looks it from here but was everything comfy and easy to get too?

Oh, cool on still haven a job there =D> Guess we kinda need them :lol: 

Is your dog OK? wonder if he passed the wire harness, that could get bad for him  they will eat anything #-o


----------



## russ010

Fishinbuds, the center console is awesome. I made 3 separate doors for the middle bench. 2 battery, 1 "bait box"... I purposefully made it with the piano hinge so that they would only open a little past 90 degrees instead of all the way open so that I wouldn't have to rest it on my legs or incase I had something sitting on the floor behind it. I stand to fish, so I just reached over and pulled out whatever box I needed, set it on one of the battery doors, then put it back. I've never had such a clean boat - bait thrown everywhere, line tangled up in the floor, battery in my way - and the best part with the batteries in the middle is the weight dispersement.... my front is no longer sitting up in the air.

Kodiak (my german shepherd) passed it... I knew something was wrong with him by the way he was acting. He didn't poop for a day and was acting like he needed to, but was afraid to let me see him do it. At this point I didn't know he had eaten the wiring and he knew I'd be upset when I found out, so I think he tried to hold it and then he would hide it later. I check his stool pretty often since he had worms as a pup, but what I thought was a worm turned out to be the ground wire of the harness. somehow he managed to swallow the connector with about 4 inches of 5 lines attached to it. He jumped about 4' in the air when it came out. That was about 2 weeks ago, and he's back to normal again. 

As far as AIG goes, I'm glad I still have a job, but I'm glad they were knocked back down to their knees thinking they couldn't be touched. A little humility is needed every once in a while. I'm just waiting for my work email address to change from @aig.com to aig.gov since the government pretty much owns us now, and still will even after the 85billion is paid off.


----------



## SlimeTime

I wondered where ya been, haven't seen you post in a while. Boat's lookin' great, you've done a nice job & should be proud of it. You might look into some cabinet latches, either magnetic or click-ins. Locks would be another option if you'd want some added security (I just added a few myself). Hopefully things will get back to normal for ya :wink: 

ST


----------



## russ010

ST - you are awesome... I just looked at your post about the locks and it never crossed my mind about doing it to mine.

I'm going to have to look into that.. didnt think about the magnets either... but I'd hate to be going down the road all my gear start flying out. I think the locks would be the best option


----------



## russ010

I've done a little more work this week. 

I never painted the inside before doing any of internal mods (this was a mistake, I should have done all of the painting before I did the building)... I taped off the outside right under the lip of the gunwhales and just spray painted it flat black. I wanted to do it tan, but I had 7 cans of good flat black spray paint not being used, and I really don't have any extra money to be going into this boat... so I'll just use that as a primer for now, then when the money situation gets better I'll repaint it. I'm also painting the entire interior with the same paint. I forgot about overspray, so some of my carpet now has this black tinge to it - it wouldn't be so noticeable if I had of cleared out all of the stuff I had laying around. When I picked up the stuff is when I saw the mistake I had made. No worries though, I'll get in there and scrub it good with some Spray 9.

I don't have any pics of it yet, but they'll be coming soon.


----------



## dedawg1149

dang man that sounds like my luck hopefully you can get the overspray out :shock:


----------



## bassboy1

dedawg1149 said:


> dang man that sounds like my luck hopefully you can get the overspray out :shock:


Nah, just take all the stuff out, run the sprayer lightly over it again, so the whole carpet will have overspray. Then, it will just look like slightly darker carpet.


----------



## russ010

I just found a Humminbird 727 on ebay for $99 - no transducer. Found a Trolling Motor mounted transducer for $50. For $170 (includes shipping) I just got a $280 FF. I couldn't pass it up. There will be NO more buying of anything for me for a while.

It will be a little while before pics get posted of it on my boat... I'm having it sent to my parents house so that my wife ( [-X ) doesn't find out I bought something else....


----------



## dedawg1149

bassboy1 said:


> dedawg1149 said:
> 
> 
> 
> dang man that sounds like my luck hopefully you can get the overspray out :shock:
> 
> 
> 
> Nah, just take all the stuff out, run the sprayer lightly over it again, so the whole carpet will have over spray. Then, it will just look like slightly darker carpet.
Click to expand...

 bass boy who pulled you chain i was quoting Russ and then you want to say something like that.


----------



## russ010

Finally... I have pictures!!! They aren't the best because I waited until it was dark to take them, and it's in the garage... so I'll have to get some better ones up during the daylight.

I ended up using paint left over for the inside. 3 cans of Rustoleum Metallic (Black Night) on the sides, then Plastic Cote on the floor. I don't remember why I bought this stuff, but I found it and decided to use it. I've got some Herculiner, but I really don't feel like getting the stuff out and rolling it everywhere on the floor. I'm going to see how this rubbery stuff holds up first and if I don't like it, I'll redo it.


----------



## russ010

Thank goodness I have a can of that plastic cote left over.... those spots I missed (I didn't know I missed some until I saw the pics above).. that's what I get for painting outside under a security light!


----------



## dedawg1149

it looks good i like the black do you think with it being black that it is going to get hot


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## ben2go

It looks real good.I ain't to fur above ya and this southern sun gets real hot.Look for the soles of your shoes to melt.


----------



## russ010

I'm not too worried with the sun beating down on the black... only because it's getting into the cooler months. I only used the black because I didn't have to buy it right now, it's what I had laying around my shop.

As far as burning my feet... I made the floors removable, and I do fish barefoot, but the only thing that should get hot is the carpet, and I haven't had the carpet get hot in any boat yet. 

Ben2go - I'm from SC. Originally I'm from Lancaster County (Kershaw is the closest city to where I live)... then I moved to Taylors/Greer to go to school. I just moved to Atlanta back in 2004 for an internship during my last year of college, then as I was trying to get out of this asphalt hell - I met my now wife... I'm never getting out of this place! I live 26 miles from work, and it takes me on average 1.5-2 hours to go that far 1 way to work. The things I do to stay out of the city, but I think the city keeps expanding because now they're building a mall 2 miles from my house.


----------



## ben2go

Sweet.I used to live off Gap Creek Road in Greer.I lived at the 4 way stop to Hwy 357 and Gap Creek Road.I have now moved back to Inman and into my house.It'd take quite a sum of money for me to move to Atlanta.I don't think love would be enough to keep me there. :lol:


----------



## bassboy1

dedawg1149 said:


> bassboy1 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> dedawg1149 said:
> 
> 
> 
> dang man that sounds like my luck hopefully you can get the overspray out :shock:
> 
> 
> 
> Nah, just take all the stuff out, run the sprayer lightly over it again, so the whole carpet will have over spray. Then, it will just look like slightly darker carpet.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> bass boy who pulled you chain i was quoting Russ and then you want to say something like that.
Click to expand...

Oh sorry. I shoulda put a smiley at the end, so it would be taken like the pointless joke it was.....  :shock: :shock: :lol: 

Sorry for the post hijack....  #-o #-o


----------



## dedawg1149

that is alright i didn't know if you was joking or not


----------



## russ010

ben2go said:


> Sweet.I used to live off Gap Creek Road in Greer.I lived at the 4 way stop to Hwy 357 and Gap Creek Road.I have now moved back to Inman and into my house.It'd take quite a sum of money for me to move to Atlanta.I don't think love would be enough to keep me there. :lol:




I think I know where you used to live.. it's amazing how I've forgotton road numbers since I've moved down here. I lived near North Greenville College (University now) up near Tigerville.

I didn't think love could keep me in ATL either... boy was I wrong! Atleast she lets me go fish and do whatever else I want to.. I think she knows I'm miserable so she cuts me some slack.


----------



## Victor Coar

great lookin boat!


----------



## russ010

Victor Coar said:


> great lookin boat!



Thanks!


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## russ010

well... I'm pretty much done now. Finally figured out the best way to mount the front trolling motor while keeping all of my leg room. I wish I had set the seat further back towards the middle bench so that I would not be cramping my foot to work the trolling motor, but oh well - these jon boats are an ongoing process so I'm sure I'll figure something out. All of this work only took about 1 hour, and I was surprised myself to cut it, carpet it, mount the trolling motor... then another hour to mount the fish finder and transducer. I don't like how the wires are ran for the transducer, but until I figure out how to do it right, it friggin works! ENJOY!

I put the piece of wood up to see how I wanted to cut it... it was here that I found out this little piece of tin is NOT square.. so I used 2x4s to level it so that the trolling motor mount sat level on the deck. I also decided to bevel the edges with a router so that the sharp edges wouldn't wear out the carpet as fast because I DO NOT want to recarpet this thing as long as I own it.














































All of the wood is attached together by 3" pocket screws (2x4 into 3/4" decking), then the deck is attached to the boat by 1 4" metal pocket screw into the front bench. Then there are 6 - 1/4" x 2" stainless self tapping screws into the rim of the boat. Very sturdy and I hope I don't ever have to take it off... what a pain that would be.


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## dedawg1149

looks good,question why didn't you angle the trolling motor were it would be center of the boat do you like it to one side


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## Waterwings

Looks good! 8)


----------



## russ010

dedawg1149 said:


> looks good,question why didn't you angle the trolling motor were it would be center of the boat do you like it to one side



3 reasons:

1 - I like to have the center more open because I can drop anchor off the front there
2 - I can use the center to put drinks, baits, or whatever else I set up there to get out of the way (more room)
3- when I pull the trolling motor up, I don't want the head of the TM to be hanging off the side of the boat or hitting the side rail; the way I have it mounted, it sets just insdie the rail and it doesn't hit anything when travelling down the road. It's also easier to pull it up and let it down. 

It doesn't throw me off course at all with it being on the side, it still tracks true


----------



## Cheeseball

How are you going to finish off the inside face of your deck? 

I saw on another website where this guy used that area to store Plano boxes. He just stretched bungie cords across the front to hold them in.


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## russ010

the face is finished.. I was going to carpet the 2x4, but I figured what the hay and let it go. I'm using the space underneath to store my reel line spooler, a couple of packs of worms, pliers, etc... nothing slides out even going down the road. I was going to put plano boxes in, but I figured I would put whatever the "worm of the day" I would be using, then another pack of backup.


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## russ010

OK.. I know a few of you have been waiting for this.. and it actually works (tried it out today)

So first things first... I bought a 500 GPH bilge to serve as my aerator AND bilge for the livewell. So after I got this, I went to Home Depot to buy some plumbing supplies. I had an idea of what I wanted it to do, but I didn't know what all I would have to have because I forgot to look at the diameter sizes of the bilge, so I call bassboy1 from HD and he gives me all the details as I knew he would. I should mention, this is actually his design - I just kind of tweaked it a little bit.

I'm pretty sure the hose size that I bought is 3/4" OD (outside diameter) and the ID (inside diameter) is 5/8". Either way, the hose clamps snugs it up securely and it's in the livewell underwater so I'm not worried about leaking. That hose runs from the bilge pump to the first 45 pvc. I got 1/2" threaded elbows, and the gray pvc is actually a 12" riser which is used for sprinkler systems. I would have used regular pvc, but this was only .99 cents and I wouldn't have to buy a full stick of 10' since they won't sell in pieces. 












On the top of the riser, I put a 1/2" - 3/4 Side Outlet 90. The side coming up from the riser is threaded 1/2" fips (female threaded) and the 90 is 3/4". The pump is not fastened to the bottom of the livewell. There are 2 pvc clamps that are attached to the aerator pipe - this keeps the whole thing in the same position.






One side at a time...... *The aerator side first*.

Coming out the right side is 3/4" pvc into a 3/4" PVC Ball check valve. The next piece is about 18" of 3/4" pvc which has holes drilled in various places. I didn't care if I had a straight line of holes, I actually offset them one after the other so water would hit all over the livewell. In the very end is a 3/4" cap.











*Bilge Side....*

This side has a bout an 1.5" of 3/4" pvc that goes into a reducer. I took this from 3/4" down to 1/2" because I didn't want to buy more hose. I bought a 10' section and it was expensive because I got all they had in that one spot. They do have cheaper and I would suggest getting that. This 10' roll was about $18, ridiculous...

Anyways, the reducer is male threaded on the 1/2" side, and it screws directly into the 1/2" ball check valve. The fitting coming out of the check valve is a slip barbed adapter, which will let the hose slide right up on and then a hose clamp to hold it in in place. The hose is about 40" long and I drilled a hole dead even on the tub so that it can run straight out the front of the livewell and can be hung over the side when I'm ready to empty the livewell. When it's not hanging over the side, I can fold it up out of the way to the side.





















*Wiring...*

Wiring is a little tricky. I wanted this to serve multiple purposes, so I installed a 12v power source for the livewell to plug in to. I wired the cigarette lighter first so I would know how much wire I needed to add to my livewell pump depending on its' location.

I started at 12v power source. I plugged a few different adpaters into it so that I could make sure that no matter where I installed it, everything with a 12v power adapter could plug into it. So, right in front of the rear bench, next to the side wall is where it was placed. It also made running wires to the battery easy because I could just run them down the side wall channel.











With that in, I need to get power from the battery. I found an old Minn Kota battery connector and fabricated it to work for me. This allows me to simply unplug the power source to the connector. Now this connector has 10ga wire, and I'm running 14ga. To make 14ga fit in a 10ga connector, strip off a little more line and bend it back over itself... then you can just crimp it down.






Here's what I have at the battery. This is one battery that is ran in parallel to another battery on the other side of the bench. The main terminals with the large connectors is my front trolling motor. On the studs, there is the trolling motor connector which powers the 12v power source, and the other is the 4ga cable ends running to the other battery.






The livewell is next to wire. First, I ran the bilge pump positive wire (brown) up the riser and down the bilge side of the livewell.. this is how I determined where to place my toggle switch. I placed waterproof connectors on this, and ran an additional power line (red) back to the 12v adapter (plug-in). 
















If you follow the wires to the corner, you'll see where I drilled a 3/16" hole to run out. I have about 36" of positive and negative wire so that I can move the livewell around a little bit if needed.











*Filling up the Livewell...*

I didn't want to carry extra stuff with me to fill the livewell with, so I got this 800GPH aerator pump from walmart on clearance for $10.. but I think it was mismarked. They didn't look, and I didn't tell at the register. Gotta love self check out!

Anyways, I had longer hose to draw water up with, but that didn't work. While out on the water today I took my knife and cut the hose to about 3". I don't know if it's even needed.. I ended up dumping the hole thing in the water and water started pouring in! I did attach alligator clips to power this - so no switch. I only wanted this to be temporary since I won't be using it but a few times throughout the day.






*Pricelist...*

Keep in mind a few things.. the braided hose I used is expensive stuff, and you don't need to use this kind. This was all I could find on the aisle I was on (I built this thing in my head while in the store). 

Rubbermaid Tub, 22gal - $5 @ Wal-Mart
500 GPH Bilge Pump - $20 approx
PVC Fittings - $15 (the check valves are like $4-5 each)
10' 3/4" pvc pipe - $2
3/4" OD braided hose - $18 (get the cheaper stuff, but this stuff will last forever - atleast it better for that price)
Toggle Switch - $10
2 - 25' power wire rolls - $5
12v power source/plug-in - $6
Total Price - $85 roughly... You might have this stuff laying around like I did. I just priced it to help out with this post. 

You don't have to put the bilge side in the livewell, but it sure does make it easy to drain. I put about 18 gallons of water in there today, and when I tried to pick it up... well, lets just say that water wasn't going to be poured out by me that easily.


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## Waterwings

Looks good, and nice work using the diverter valves for overboard discharge/drainage! 8)


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## ben2go

Nice werk.The little projects are the most fun for me.


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## baptistpreach

Wow, Very impressive idea.... I'd like to see / know more! Also, will you just have to turn it off to keep it from overfilling?


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## bassboy1

baptistpreach said:


> Wow, Very impressive idea.... I'd like to see / know more! Also, will you just have to turn it off to keep it from overfilling?


That particular pump doesn't fill the tub. He has another pump, connected to a length of flexible hose, that fills the tub. Then, when it is full, he puts that pump away. Then, the pump seen inside the tub is for aerating and emptying only. When the valve to the flex hose is closed, and the other is open, the water goes to the horizontal piece of PVC. This has holes in it, so the water rushes out of these at a pretty high pressure. This water mixes with air in the tank, and that is what gets fresh oxygen to the fish. The more bubbles you see in the tank when the spray bar is on, the better. 

Now, if you turn off the valve to the spray bar, and open the other one, that is how he drains it. That flex hose is just thrown over the side. 

I probably should post pictures of mine. It is a little simpler than his, as I had a tourney in about 3 days, and needed something functional, that would still work on my budget of about 15 bucks. Joy of being a teenager. No real disposable income to speak of. So, mine used mostly pieces I already had. Thereby, it only has the pump going up to the spray bar, and I fill/empty it with an aluminum bucket. Mine seemed to do a fine job keeping fish alive though. Just a bit more work at the beginning/end of the day, or in the summer when I would want to change the water out every few hours. 

Another way to do it, that leaves the valves out, is just to use the same pump/hose that he fills it with to empty it. Just put the pump in the well, and throw the hose overboard. Little cheaper than the valve trick.


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## CrappieReaper

Russ, you've done a nice clean rework of your boat. I've always been a fan of creating storage under the benches. Your boat will catch ten times the amount of fish that most guys with their 30k rigs will. Looks great!


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## russ010

bassboy is right about using the same pump for filling and emptying at the same time.. the only reason I did it like this is because I want to pump water in and out at the same time while fish are in there, therefore 2 separate pumps..

I'll try to work on it some this week after work and take more pictures. I've been on vacation for the last week and a half, and now I have 3 days to work and then it's back to South Carolina for a 4-day military exercise. I promise I'll have this done within the month baptistpreach!


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## baptistpreach

Thanks Russ! I'm making some good progress on my boat, I'd be done with the carpet but the wife's been sick. I've got a 22 gallon tub that I'm hoping to turn into a livewell with your help!


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## russ010

I promised I'd get pictures of the front deck redo I have done... I added this pedestal type seat as opposed the one that took up a lot of space. With this I can stand without taking out the seat, or I can take the whole pedestal off and set it in the rear of the boat out of the way. 

I like the fact that I can face either side of the boat to fish and still have foot/leg room without having to put my legs on the edge of the boat. That will probably make the most difference this summer since I fish barefoot and the rails are painted flat black..






You can see in this picture where the mount was... I'm not going to worry with how this looks






In this picture is where I usually leave the foot control while I'm driving... also notice the foot switch that controls the rear trolling motor - I can finally turn the switch on and off with my large boots on. Before I had it mounted too close to the front and I couldn't pull it back unless I did it by hand.


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## fishsalot

man the boat looks great nice work


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## fishinchef

Russ I like the way the seat came out it definatly takes up less room. By the way how do you like those seats (other than the back problems)? Do they handle leaning back in them or will they crack easier/quicker than other styles?


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## russ010

These seats are actually pretty comfortable... But, when you lean back (you can do it a little, but you can't stretch out in it with all your weight pushing the back) the screws holding the mounting plate to the plastic base of the seat will pull the screws out. I've had one screw strip out, but I fixed it with a toothpick put in on each side in the hole and then put the screw in and then tightened it down - no problems out of it anymore.


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## fishsalot

how/where are your wires for trolling motor/ lights i seen where you got the baterys really like that,just wondering how you runing your wires
:?


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## RStewart

sweet boat.


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## russ010

fishsalot said:


> how/where are your wires for trolling motor/ lights i seen where you got the baterys really like that,just wondering how you runing your wires
> :?



For the front trolling motor, you can see the wires running along the left side inside the ribs. These go into the middle bench section where I have the 2 batteries running in parallel. Those wires are running along the lip that forms the top of the bench seat. I just have some self tapping screws holding them in place since there was nothing to attach wire ties to. I'll take more pics of it tonight when I get home and post it here.
The rear trolling motor now has it's own battery in the rear. I do have the option of hooking it up to the 2 batteries in the bench - for that I ran 2 4ga wires down the same side thru the ribs from the bench to the rear.

As far as lights - well, I haven't ran any yet, but I'll put them in the plastic corrugated wire sleeves and run them down the side of the boat opposite the power lines. I don't plan on fishing where I need lights, so what I'll probably do is just buy the removable battery operated bow light and stern light.


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## Big Buck

It looks really good. How do you like the offset seat pedastool. I bought one of those my self, and was curious how you like yours.


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## russ010

That pedestal takes some getting used to... the only thing I don't like is when I turn the seat around the rubber on the top of the pedestal squeaks really loud against the coils on the seat mount... but I'll get over that.

That pedestal defintely gives me more room and I can sit in a ton of different positions.. My back was not as stiff this weekend as it was before withthe previous mount I had on there.


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## rcgreat

Russ, I have a question about your livewell, How are you securing your pump to the container? I have a cooler that I am using now with a bait saver pump and I found that I had to glue the pump down to keep it from floating up. Thanks in advance.

Gary


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## bassboy1

russ010 said:


> the only thing I don't like is when I turn the seat around the rubber on the top of the pedestal squeaks really loud against the coils on the seat mount... but I'll get over that.


I have noticed the same with mine, which are the straight version that of what he has. I am going to be welding a .75 washer to the bottom of the spring to see if that will quiet it down some. 

Next time you are in my boat, bring that pedestal, and see if you like it better for the stern deck on my rig. If so, I will see about getting one of those to keep back there instead of the straight one I currently have. 

We need to get out to Lake Acworth again. Or Allatoona even. This rain has certainly done something for Allatoona, from the reports I am reading, and I am willing to bet that Acworth has benefitted from it too, possibly more than Allatoona. I would love to be able to crappie fish Weiss right now, but that doesn't look like it will happen.


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## baptistpreach

Did you finish your livewell yet??


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## russ010

rcgreat said:


> Russ, I have a question about your livewell, How are you securing your pump to the container? I have a cooler that I am using now with a bait saver pump and I found that I had to glue the pump down to keep it from floating up. Thanks in advance.
> 
> Gary



I haven't got that far yet... but what I plan on doing is gluing a 2" strip of velcro to the bottom, then do the same on the bottom of the pump. I've used velcro for underwater stuff before and it held up pretty well. I'll use a few dabs of 3M 5200 on the bottom side. Then I can just pull off the pump by the velcro, or I can turn it still attached and take just the pump off the bottom holder


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## russ010

bassboy1 said:


> We need to get out to Lake Acworth again. Or Allatoona even. This rain has certainly done something for Allatoona, from the reports I am reading, and I am willing to bet that Acworth has benefitted from it too, possibly more than Allatoona. I would love to be able to crappie fish Weiss right now, but that doesn't look like it will happen.



I'm free this weekend Sat - Monday... just give me a call or shoot me an email. I plan on getting out some this weekend


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## russ010

baptistpreach said:


> Did you finish your livewell yet??



Dude, this has been a hectic year for me already. I have worked a total of 6 days at my real job so far and I'm backed up something fierce. I worked 2.5 days last week, then left Wed night for military and that lasted til Sunday. I'm working all this week, then off this weekend and Monday, then I'm going to Nashville Tuesday and Wednesday next week for some client meetings. I'm going to try and work on it during the nights this weekend as long as my wife doesn't have something lined up for me that I don't already know about


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## baptistpreach

Umm..... Sorry I asked?! Hope it slows down or that in good time you get a chance to finish the livewell, believe me, I know there are more important things in life :roll:


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## russ010

baptistpreach said:


> Umm..... Sorry I asked?! Hope it slows down or that in good time you get a chance to finish the livewell, believe me, I know there are more important things in life :roll:



I'm glad work is busy - that's job security for me! I really don't have that much to do so it shouldn't be a problem getting it done. I've already got it dry fitted, just need to glue it all together and test it out


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## rcgreat

Russ, I understand what your saying about being busy I have a Ten year old and a 1 year old seems like something is always going on especially with the ten year old and girl scouts (anyone want any cookies :lol. This livewell has been driving me crazy, I just wanted to make sure I was not over analyzing it. That is a brillant idea with the velcro, the company I work for uses whats called snap tape which is like velcro on steroids and is plastic backed instead of fabric based. I think that will be perfect for the pump. Thank You again.


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## russ010

rcgreat said:


> Russ, I understand what your saying about being busy I have a Ten year old and a 1 year old seems like something is always going on especially with the ten year old and girl scouts (anyone want any cookies :lol. This livewell has been driving me crazy, I just wanted to make sure I was not over analyzing it. That is a brillant idea with the velcro, the company I work for uses whats called snap tape which is like velcro on steroids and is plastic backed instead of fabric based. I think that will be perfect for the pump. Thank You again.



those girl scout cookies sound pretty good right now....


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## rcgreat

How many boxes would you like?


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## clarker2000

Your boat looks great. In fact I just posted a subject about this exact boat. Couple of questions for you:

1. I have noticed the same problem with the trailer and winch and boat all getting in the way of each other. Im not a metal fabricator by any means but would you have any other ideas on how to eliminate this problem? Could a metal shop do this for me? Or could I make this piece out of parts from home depot? I dont understand why they would make a trailer that has that problem???

2. You removed the center seat/floatation area? Have you had any floatation problems? 

3. Im curiuos about the paint? Could you elaborate on all the products used and where to get them? I was looking to use spray paint only, is that possible?

Thanks


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## russ010

clarker2000 said:


> Your boat looks great. In fact I just posted a subject about this exact boat. Couple of questions for you:
> 
> 1. I have noticed the same problem with the trailer and winch and boat all getting in the way of each other. Im not a metal fabricator by any means but would you have any other ideas on how to eliminate this problem? Could a metal shop do this for me? Or could I make this piece out of parts from home depot? I dont understand why they would make a trailer that has that problem???
> 
> 2. You removed the center seat/floatation area? Have you had any floatation problems?
> 
> 3. Im curiuos about the paint? Could you elaborate on all the products used and where to get them? I was looking to use spray paint only, is that possible?
> 
> Thanks



I'll answer your questions below..

1. I have come up with a way to make it better. I had my dad weld me some new parts, and I left them at his house in South Carolina (I'm in GA), but I did figure out how to fix it. I'll take pics of the part that I have and explain how to do it better later tonight.

2. The flotation foam is not for the boat to float while you're in it - it's there to keep the boat from sinking should you capsize or flip over. I don't plan on that happening because I won't be in any rough water. I've had no issues with it floating. Actually, by removing the foam you are reducing weight of the hull, and you can pick up a little more speed as well as being able to put more stuff in it. I have 4 - 60lb deep cycle batteries in there right now, plus me at 180lbs, and the current wood in there weighs maybe 75lbs. I have a trolling motor in the front, and 1 in the back - but there's about to be 2 back there. I also made a removable 22gal livewell. I had all of this in there 2 weeks ago, with the livewell full and had no problems. Don't be afraid of removing the foam!

3. I got this stuff at Boater's World, and the primer I used was on clearance, so I don't remember the actual price. But here's a rough break down of the whole process.

Preparation for Painting:
a. 2 - wire sand discs for power drill ($5 at Walmart)
b. denatured alcohol (clean boat with this after sanding to remove all dust)
c. lintless cloths (use to wipe boat down before, during and after painting)

Start with sanding the boat, you don't have to go all the way down to the metal - just make the surface smooth to the touch. Once you are finished sanding, wipe the boat down with denatured alcohol to remove all dust and paint particles.

Primer:
a. Zinc Chromate (I got this at Boater's World on clearance for $10. I'm not sure of the actual cost or brand name... but it's yellow.
b. Brush, roller, or air compressed paint sprayer (whatever your preference is)
c. automotive paint thinner (O'Reillys has this for about $10 per bottle)
d. Paint ratio mixer - (O'Reillys, just a plastic cup that gives you the right ratio for mixing the thinner and paint)
e. 220 grit sandpaper - for sanding between coats

I used a brush to put the primer on. It was thick as molasses... I messed up by not thinning it out. 1 quart gave me 1 thick covering, so I was ok. I would recommend thinning it out and putting atleast 2 coats on. After the first coat, you can wetsand the overruns or blemishes with the 220grit paper. Just sand it down to where it is smooth and inline with the rest of the primer. Always remember that your outer paint job will only look as good as the coats underneath!

Paint
a. Pettit EasyPoxy Polyurethane - 1 quart gave me 3 thin coats on a 1236 jonboat
b. Brush, roller, or air compressed paint sprayer (whatever your preference is)
c. automotive paint thinner (O'Reillys has this for about $10 per bottle)
d. Paint ratio mixer - (O'Reillys, just a plastic cup that gives you the right ratio for mixing the thinner and paint)
e. 220 grit sandpaper - for sanding between coats

I painted 3 light coats, wetsanding between each coat to take out any blemishes or runs. 

I used a paint spray gun I bought at Home Depot some time ago to paint with. I think it cost me like $70 when I bought it, so I don't know current prices on it now. I would suggest getting a Gravity Fed paint sprayer like this one (CLICK HERE. This is the exact one I have, and it worked great. One coat per can full. Just make sure you do the ratio right (the guys at O'Reillys or wherever you get your paint from and tell you the mixing amounts, I think I actually posted it in this thread somewhere, but I don't remember it off the top of my head). Overlap the sprays a little, and make sure to stay away from the boat atleast 6-8" per stroke, otherwise you'll have some vicious runs to sand out. Wait atleast 24 hours between painting, allowing each coat to cure. 

If you have any more questions, let me know - I'll help out anyway I can. Good luck and post lots of pics of your mod!


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## clarker2000

Thanks for the help Russ. I appreciate it!! =D> I have a 17 ft grizzly that is decked with a 60 volt electric motor on the back. Its one giant deck from front to back with tons of storage. I will post some pics. I can get it to about 8mph with 2 people and a full load. Im working on getting a newly designed german battery that is a 24 volt battery but it lasts a ton longer then regular deep cycles and its half the weight. It turned out very nicely if I may say so.

I am building the same boat you have for my buddy. Im going to slightly alter what you have done but keep the same general concept. We are trying to keep weight to a minimum only because of using electric only power. If you could get me more details on the front winch/block thing that would be awesome. I noticed one guy that had the winch on the bottom and the block above it. Very different but it works I guess? Still dont understand what he guy was thinking when he designed that? This boat will have a 24 volt motorguide up front and a 36 volt 109 Minnkota in the back with 2 depth finders. My main idea is to have one big deck with 2 pedestal seats and tons of storage. Keeping ths in mind I would be adding in a Torqueedo electric motor next year and getting rid of the 109. The torqueedo is pretty cool. 24 volts 165 lbs thrust and runs on those light german batteries. I think it would really move that boat along well.


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## bassboy1

clarker2000 said:


> I noticed one guy that had the winch on the bottom and the block above it. Very different but it works I guess? Still dont understand what he guy was thinking when he designed that?


Safety. 


That is what he was thinking. You see, if the winch fails, and you hit the brakes, your boat is going to try real hard to end up in the back of your tow vehicle. If the block is above the bow eye/winch, there is a better chance of the bow eye getting hung up on it, and you will not find the bow of the boat breathing down on your neck.


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## clarker2000

Bassboy
Maybe my post came across wrong but I was not referring to the guy that posted on the site with the winch below the roller. I was referring to the guy who made my personal trailer. That was what the last several posts were about. The design for my trailer and russ' trailer is all f-ed up. You cant crank the winch because you end up hitting the boat on every crank. I actually like the post on this site with the winch below the roller, it solves my problem with no extra $$$$. Sorry for any confusion.


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## russ010

I wasn't able to get pics... my camera batteries died, but they are on charge and I'll get some. If I could figure out how to draw better I would... but this gets the idea across.







Basically I welded 2" plates to the end of the main piece which is 2" steel square tube, I don't know what angle that is - that's the piece I left in SC. It attached to the trailer with 2 U-Bolts - this allows me to move it back and forth on the trailer.

The piece that has the winch on it, I think it's 18" long, but I'm not certain. It's also steel and it's 1/4" thich by 2" wide. I can drill 2 holes into it and bold the winch directly to that. On the end there is thin pieces of sheet metal formed in the shape of a U. I drilled a hole through the center of each side and inside rests one of those bow stops like you get at BPS for Vee boats. This I have, but don't have a pic of yet. I rounded out the corners of the U so that the black rubber stop will swivel just a little bit to lay flat against the boat. This attached to the main tube by a 2" wide piece of metal that is welded - similar to the bottom that attaches to the trailer beam. It also attaches with U-bolts so that I can slide it up and down the tube for the best fit.

Once I can take some pictures, this should make more sense... but I think it should work well once I get it all put together.


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## bassboy1

clarker2000 said:


> Bassboy
> Maybe my post came across wrong but I was not referring to the guy that posted on the site with the winch below the roller.


Oh, that is what I get for opening my big mouth without reading all the posts (I skimmed if that counts for something :wink: ).

Open mouth... Insert foot..... #-o #-o


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## minicuda

you have done a great job on your boat. excellent use of space looks like a super fishy set up!


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## Basshole

Thanks for all of the comments on the paint, clarkster and I will be starting the boat in the next two weeks...and the trailer and demo will start first. So if you can get the pics up of the winch you designed that would be awesome. I had no idea you could take out the foam and it would not affect flotation of the craft...very interesting. Really like the forward storage area you built too. Great posts and thanks for all of the answers too.

Shawn P
Baltimore Angler and Connoisseur or Fine American Women


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## russ010

no prob man... it's almost like I live on this site so if you ever have any questions shoot them to me.. I can generally respond pretty quickly - except for weekends where I spend my time on the water! 

I'll take pics of the bow stop that I made up and get part of it posted tonight


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## BloodStone

I know this really isn't relevant to your project but, I gotta say, that is one beautiful German Shepard you have there! 
P.S. The boat looks great too.


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## russ010

BloodStone said:


> I know this really isn't relevant to your project but, I gotta say, that is one beautiful German Shepard you have there!
> P.S. The boat looks great too.



Thanks for the kudos on Kodiak... I need to take some more pics of him too... he's put on a little more weight and is one fierce looking GSD now.. He's still a little scaredy cat sometimes though, hope he grows out of that as he gets older. Maybe Hoist-N-Hawgs could chime in on how to help that... When I pull the lawnmower out, he hits the trail running.

This New Years I lit a fire cracker to see what he would do... my big yellow lab tried to eat it as the fuse was burning, and once it popped, Kodiak turned the corner of the house and I have no idea where he went. I ran to see him running off, and he was long gone..


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## clarker2000

Thats too funny. I have a 200 lb great dane that looks and sounds intimidating but he a sissy as well. If you had the kahunnas to actually break in from hearing his bark and seeing him, you would be home free. He might even help you carry out the loot. Dogs are funny, he may grow out of it but it just may be his personality. Great looking dog though.


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## russ010

ok... so I'm going even further with mods... 

This time I've added a 3-way outdoor speaker and a radio that will play off an Sandisk card or a thumb drive... luckily for me one of my cheap mp3 players is like a thumb drive, so I can just plug and play... I don't like where I have the radio mounted, but it is really the only place out of the way.. the next boat will have it in the rear, or in the rear bench. I've got a remote that can control it from all over the boat as long as I can point at it. I checked how much voltage it pulled off of just one battery... it went from 13.62 to 13.57... while on the water it will have 2 batteries in parallel going to it - but also running off of those batteries is the front 40# TM, cig lighter which runs the livewell, and the fish finder. I'm more than likely going to add another battery if I get another boat to run all of the electronics off of.






















I also got a new seat. It says Duracraft on it, so I don't really know who it is made by. I thought it was used since there were no tags on it (it was on the shelf).. when I asked the guy about it, he said it wasn't used, but that they didn't sell Duracraft boats anymore and it was leftover. He told me he would cut me a deal... so the actual price on it was $100, and he sold it to me for $45. I couldn't pass that up. I sat on it, and it will take some getting used to. It's not as wide as the cheap Wise seats I have, so I'm going to have to be careful not to fall out. There's been a lot of discussion as to how much I like the offset pedestal.. well, hopefully these pics will show that you don't sit at a 90* angle.. it actually sets you back pretty good and I sat in it for about 45min playing with the radio and I have to say I was very impressed.

Now I'm taking this picture from the side of the boat, and if it were on a straight pedestal, it would be more upright


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## clarker2000

Hey Russ 
Any chance you could post pics of your trailer set up? Not rushing you, just curious so I can get started on my friends boat.


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## Waterwings

Cool radio! I'm still thinking about those Attwood Centrix seats we talked about in another thread. The wants/needs I have are far greater than the tax return amount we're getting back, lol.


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## poolie

clarker2000 said:


> Thats too funny. I have a 200 lb great dane that looks and sounds intimidating but he a sissy as well. If you had the kahunnas to actually break in from hearing his bark and seeing him, you would be home free. He might even help you carry out the loot. Dogs are funny, he may grow out of it but it just may be his personality. Great looking dog though.



I've got three retired racing greyhounds and neighbors think they are big mean dogs which is great from a security standpoint because nothing could be further from the truth. Two of them are brindle colored and sometimes people think they are pit bulls. The only thing they would fight you for in the house is the treat jar.


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## russ010

jirwin6985 said:


> Nice job man that looks great. I have a cd player to put in my boat too but couldnt figuare out a way to mount it but that mount you have there would work great im gonna look into that.
> Joe



This is what I got... and where I got it from. You might be able to find it cheaper, but I got the radio, speakers and this housing unit all off of Amazon - mainly because I got the free shipping.. I should have shopped over the net, but I figured I made out pretty good - one guy at the ramp asked me if it was some kind of new graph.. you can't see the radio because the housing is blacked out. It's a pretty good unit too... even if it is a Pyle (something I would never buy for my autos... I only use Alpine for that if it's aftermarket). 

That booger is a biatch to hookup. You hook up all of the internal wires to the radio wires. Me and my smart self decided to just start hooking up the colors like I used to do in my cars since there were no written instructions. Well.. I get to looking and some things just didn't seem write. I finally flipped the case over and they had the wires coming out of the back of the housing labeled. I had to start all over. The only wires coming out of the back are power, ground (which is a yellow/green wire :doh, speaker outputs and an rca jack. You can plug the antenna straight into the back. I'm not going to put an antenna on it... just pop in SD cards and thumbdrives since I can then listen to whatever I want.



Clarker2000 -- sorry man, but this is all I've got since the other piece is over 5 hours from my house. This is the basic concept of it though. That piece where the winch (dog bowl) is, should probably be about 4" shorter. The best thing to do would be to weld the bow stop part on, then measure how far back it needs to be with the winch kind of set in place.. I didn't have any of that stuff with me, nor the boat, when I was building this in my head. I'm probably going to have to cut it down because my tongue is not that long...

The pieces will be attached with U-Bolts... that will allow me to slide the bow stop up and down the mounting bracket, as well as slide the mounting bracket to and fro on the tongue...





















In the last picture, the bottom 2x4 represents the tongue of the trailer.. the other 2x4 is the mounting bracket. It will have one of those smaller pieces welded to it as well, with little notches drilled out the on edges for the U-Bolts to fit into so that they don't slide around.


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## Big Buck

Russ,

If you don't mind me asking, what did you use to mount your seat pedastol, and what is it mounted to. Did you just use 6 lag bolts, screws, etc and do you just have 1/2 or 3/4 plywood that they are screwed into. I am putting one like that on my bench seat and I am not sure how to mount them so they will be real sturdy. 

Thanks

Buck


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## russ010

which pedestal are you talking about? well... I'll just reference all of them.

Rear Bench - 3/4" plywood which is fastened to the aluminum bench with 3" SS self tapping bolts (I can get sizes when I get home for you). The pedestal was put down with 4 of the same bolts.

Front - I've had 2 seperate pedestals up there.. .the most current one (which I think you're referring to) is the pin pedestal which I can take out at anytime. I don't remember the exact dimensions of the wood, but I do have it doubled up in that spot where the pedestal is. I've got 1/2" for the whole floor, then there is another 1/2" sheet of ply that is about 15"x15" underneath. What is in there right now is just 3" wood screws.. I would have used SS machine bolts with large washers and nuts on the bottom, but I have my front deck kind of screwed into place, and I didn't want to take them back up. 

Let me know if that helps you out... I'll check this again when I get home and respond again if needed - i'm just now about to leave work


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## Big Buck

No I think that pretty much answers what I needed. Thanks for getting back to me.


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## Hanr3

Hey Big Buck,

i have been watching your remodel project. =D> 
I am real close to starting my, and I too have an old Alumacraft shallow V boat, in fact it looks almost identical to yours. 

When are you going to post up some more progress?


And now we switch back to your regular program. Thanks for the interuption. :mrgreen:


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## clarker2000

Hey Russ
Just wanted throw a big thanks your way for your assistance with some of our boat/trailer mods. I am co-building the sea nymph with basshole. Its almost complete and looks great. We are hoping to get the trailer this week. Its been in for major welding and overhaul. Overall the boat looks awesome. Thanks again!!!!


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## CowboyHokie

Awesome rig. Question - I have the 14" Alumacraft and will begin my mods this weekend. Back on page 5, I see your rear seat mount and was wondering what hardware and method you used. I assume your rear is just thin alum and the inside is foam like mine. I will have a 1/2 plywood with carpet over the rear and will attempt to use screws through into the alum, but I'm not sure if this will be solid enough......


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## russ010

I actually used 3/4" plywood on top of the benches... I felt that I needed more umph to attach the seats to because the last thing I wanted was to rear back with a fish and the seat keep on going back.

I used 3" stainless steel self tapping lag screws. I can't remember what size they are, but I think they are about 1/4" thick.

I carpeted the ply, then used those screws to connect it to the bench. I did the same for the seat base - 3" screws everywhere.

You could also use toggle bolts to attach the wood to the bench.. just drill a big enough hole to get the toggle down into the bench, then tighten it up. That should have been how I did it, but I didn't want to because I knew that I was going to make a storage section or something out of that bench later on down the road.


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## wdmccall

Russ, what kind of saw did you use to cut out the bench seat? By the way, great looking boat..

Wd


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## dyeguy1212

I did the same thing with the bench and I used a sawzall. If you dont have one, tin snips can get the job done


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## cathunter21

i drilled holes in the corners to start then used a jigsaw to do mine.


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## russ010

wdmccall said:


> Russ, what kind of saw did you use to cut out the bench seat? By the way, great looking boat..
> 
> Wd



like the other guys said, I drilled 3/8" holes in the corners, then used my jig saw to cut it out. To take out the styrofoam, I used a hack saw blade and cut out the big square in the middle, then the rest of it fell out. It was actually 2 separate pieces of styrofoam - they were in layers.

I sold the boat recently, but I can still answer any questions about it - I spent enough time on it so I remember pretty much everything I did to it


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## Bugpac

Russ, I know this is old and long gone, But were did you get these totes with the yellow handle?


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## russ010

I know you already asked me about totes at the last tourney... bu those came from Home Depot. I don't know if they still have them or not, that was the last one they had back when I bought it


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## drhayes

Hey Bugpac, I also like the yellow handled totes. Saw this thread and went to home depot today. They still carry them at the Jasper(Pickens Co) Home Depot. 12.97 each and they come with the boxes! Hope this helps.


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## russ010

yep, they still have them at the one in Canton too - I checked yesterday. They also have some orange ones that they put behind the yellow ones.


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## traven

Hello everyone, new, to this site. Awsome site with alot of talanted and creative folks here. My question is I am planning on doing the same style of storage with the bench seat but I want to add the pin type pedistal base to the rear seat. Do you think this is possibe and how would I go about doing this. I plan on using the 3/4 ply over the top of the seat. Thanks


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## Brine

traven said:


> Hello everyone, new, to this site. Awsome site with alot of talanted and creative folks here. My question is I am planning on doing the same style of storage with the bench seat but I want to add the pin type pedistal base to the rear seat. Do you think this is possibe and how would I go about doing this. I plan on using the 3/4 ply over the top of the seat. Thanks



Welcome aboard traven.

I would post this question in a new thread and post some pics of your boat if you can. Lot's of folks here would be glad to help, but probably best we don't start a discussion about modding your boat in someone else's thread.

Brine


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## jp078

hi everyone i am new to this i am working on 14 ft jon flat bottom. i plan on putting decking usin alum frame. any info on cutting the decking would be helpful. thanks jp


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## taterosu

Hey Russ. Im doing a similar build project of my own. Out of all the builds i like your paint scheme the best. I hope you dont mind me borrowing your idea on the paint. How has the black interior worked out for you? Thanks for the ideas and great job on the build. Hope mine turns out at least half as sharp!


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## russ010

taterosu said:


> Hey Russ. Im doing a similar build project of my own. Out of all the builds i like your paint scheme the best. I hope you dont mind me borrowing your idea on the paint. How has the black interior worked out for you? Thanks for the ideas and great job on the build. Hope mine turns out at least half as sharp!



sorry it's taken me months to reply - life's been busy.

The black has actually held up well (I don't have this boat anymore, but it still looks like it did when I painted it years ago).


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## zeedogg

long time reader, first time poster... Hello 

I recently obtained a 10' sears gamefisher. it's a flatbottom jon boat. very thin, maybe 36"


Would anyone *NOT* recommend modding this boat, in the style that Russ has? I would really like to have a more comfortable fishing experience, and frankly it's terrible on my knees and my back currently. maybe I could get some pictures on here, to show you where I am coming from. But I think the majority of the population on this thread knows what I am talking about.

Thanks for keeping my interests and I hope to become a contributor very soon.


~ Erik


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## Jim

zeedogg said:


> long time reader, first time poster... Hello
> 
> I recently obtained a 10' sears gamefisher. it's a flatbottom jon boat. very thin, maybe 36"
> 
> 
> Would anyone *NOT* recommend modding this boat, in the style that Russ has? I would really like to have a more comfortable fishing experience, and frankly it's terrible on my knees and my back currently. maybe I could get some pictures on here, to show you where I am coming from. But I think the majority of the population on this thread knows what I am talking about.
> 
> Thanks for keeping my interests and I hope to become a contributor very soon.
> 
> 
> ~ Erik



Erik,
Welcome!

I would not mod it. I would add a seat with back support if you do not have that already.

Post pics anyway, you might get a different opinion.


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## russ010

zeedogg said:


> long time reader, first time poster... Hello
> 
> I recently obtained a 10' sears gamefisher. it's a flatbottom jon boat. very thin, maybe 36"
> 
> 
> Would anyone *NOT* recommend modding this boat, in the style that Russ has? I would really like to have a more comfortable fishing experience, and frankly it's terrible on my knees and my back currently. maybe I could get some pictures on here, to show you where I am coming from. But I think the majority of the population on this thread knows what I am talking about.
> 
> Thanks for keeping my interests and I hope to become a contributor very soon.
> 
> 
> ~ Erik



Erik,

You can mod it - but you have to keep your center of gravity low. I personally wouldn't mod a 10' boat, because if you are sitting up on a seat with a pedestal, when you set the hook, you are liable to keep going back and over in your boat because the boat is not wide enough to handle your hookset. I've seen 1232's done the way mine is, and they have a hard time keeping the boat stable.

On the other hand, I've seen guys take 1432s and deck them all the way up as far as they can. They get used to it, while the guy in the front stands the whole time, while the guy in the back has a high pedestal. They just have to talk to each other before they set the hook so the other guy doesn't end up in the water.


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## Gators5220

Hey man you a gator fan, or just happen upon the orange and blue color scheme? Either way nice job on the boat super clean... =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D>


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## russ010

Gators5220 said:


> Hey man you a gator fan, or just happen upon the orange and blue color scheme? Either way nice job on the boat super clean... =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D>



I am NOT a Gator fan in any shape, form or fashion... but my father-in-law is... 

I'm actually a Clemson fan - but those are my favorite colors and turned out very well.


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## fragdemon

russ010 said:


> Gators5220 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hey man you a gator fan, or just happen upon the orange and blue color scheme? Either way nice job on the boat super clean... =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm actually a Clemson fan - but those are my favorite colors and turned out very well.
Click to expand...

Just had to post this!


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## russ010

fragdemon said:


> russ010 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Gators5220 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hey man you a gator fan, or just happen upon the orange and blue color scheme? Either way nice job on the boat super clean... =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm actually a Clemson fan - but those are my favorite colors and turned out very well.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Just had to post this!
Click to expand...



lol... actually, cocky is working the fries - along with the nuggets


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## Gators5220

It's cool no worries, I thought y'all had Florida State earlier this year, you guys and us are in the same position this year, having great seasons but one key lose. Sucks, but what are you gonna do? You think you guys have the old ball coach this year?


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## russ010

Gators5220 said:


> It's cool no worries, I thought y'all had Florida State earlier this year, you guys and us are in the same position this year, having great seasons but one key lose. Sucks, but what are you gonna do? You think you guys have the old ball coach this year?



Ya know.. I dunno. 

The players love Dabo because he wears his heart on his sleeve. He rejoices with them, and he commiserates with them at the same time - and he places blame on no one when things go wrong. He's a good guy, and an awesome recruiter. 

And I hear ya about that that one key loss... FSU upset us - but frankly I'm glad it was an ACC team (and especially FSU) that knocked us down. We just need to be able to play a whole freaking game. These 62-42 scoring games drive me crazy and I lose interest when they run the score up and let the other team come back and almost take it


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## Gators5220

I hear ya, o well y'all should go to a good bowl gotta love that, nothing wrong with a one loss season at this day and age of college football.


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## CaliBass

russ010 said:


> OK so here's where we are today... I went to walmart and got a paint remover disc that fits into the end of my power drill (instead of buying an angle grinder) - worked nicely for only $5. I really worked on a few areas where there was a lot of dings to get the burrs off so I wouldn't nick myself while walking around the boat.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Then I used this zinc chromate primer. I got an eye shock when I opened it up and it was colored school bus yellow. I started putting this stuff on with my paint brush... but it was not working well at all. I never even though about why this stuff was drying so fast - it's 12pm and the boat is sitting in full sun! Doh! ](*,) Well I went ahead and put it on pretty thick, I'll probably wait until this afternoon when it cools off a little bit after being in the shade and put another coat on it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> whats the chromate for?
> I'll take better pics in a little while and post them tonight, my camera battery died and I took these with my cell phone.


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## russ010

the zinc chromate is a corrosion resistant primer... 5 years later and this boat still looks like it was just painted.


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## Maxamillion

So for the trolling motor mount front deck.you simply screwed through the wood into thin sheet aluminum? How does that possibly hold without a nut on the other side?


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## tcampbell011

Not sure if you're still checking this thread... but I have the exact same boat. Thanks for being so thorough!

What I'm thinking is almost exactly the same as your setup. 

Wondering if you still have the boat? Is it working well for you? anything you would do differently?


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