# 1977 Fisher Marine 14ft Jon Boat...FRONT DECK BUILD



## baseball_guy_99 (Jun 25, 2010)

Hello guys of the Jon Boat world! My dad and I recently purchased this jon boat, trailer, and 1989 40hp Evinrude for $300. 

The motor was not running when we bought it, but a new fuel pump cap and a carb clean and she runs like a champ. 

The boat itself is in a little bit rough condition (it was used on the Ohio River for juggin). We had some of the rivets welded and one spot on the front where it had a small hole knocked in it. We took out the old transom because it was completly rotted and replaced it with sealed plywood. On the outside of the transom we used 3/4" rubber mine belt. We replaced all the old aluminum bolts with stainless steel bolts, nuts, and lock washers. For added precaution we put rubber washers around the head of the bolts.

The trailer was in fairly good conditon. Had to replace the tires and repaint the rims. Added a winch to the front because all they had was a rope. Added a jack stand as well. One of the welds on the right side brace was broke but we welded it back in place.

I used a scotch brite pad to clean the bottom of the boat (it had years of scum caked on it). I then used a heat gun and a scraper to get off all the old decals and stickers. I'm in the process of sanding it down to be repainted.

I plan to removed the front bench seat to have a more open floor plan as I will be using this boat for mainly duck hunting. I'm going to put down a floor using stuff called AlucaBond. A guy in my area is a dealer and he says this stuff works wonders in Jon Boats. (If anyone has used this please leave some feedback.). Then I'm going to carpet over it. I'm not sure if I want to cover the sidewalls and carpet them as well (I guess it just comes down to aesthetics).

Alright enough of me rambling...here are some pics.














This is right after we got it home.




Feel free to leave comments and or suggestions. I'm still in the designing phase so I'm open to anything.


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## baseball_guy_99 (Jun 25, 2010)

Before and after of the rims/tires.





Bottom of the boat before the cleaning.





Inside on the bottom is about 50" wide.





After the transom was rebuilt. You can see the mine belt on the back.


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## perchin (Jun 25, 2010)

:WELCOME: aboard!!!

Nice score on that beast. With a 50" floor width, you should be able to do just about anything ya want to it.


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## baseball_guy_99 (Jun 25, 2010)

Well like I said...it's going to be mainly a duck hunting boat. I will use it occasionlly for fishing on some of the smaller lakes that have a 10hp limit (I'm lookin to sell the 40hp to buy somethin smaller). My dad has a Ranger Bass boat that I do 90% of my bass fishing out of.


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## Howard (Jun 25, 2010)

Good find, you will love it!


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## Brine (Jun 25, 2010)

I'm using a product in my build that is the same thing. It's an ACM panel. In my case, I'm using 4mm thick material. If you're planning on attaching it directly to the ribs of the boat, you need to put some sheet foam the same height as your ribs underneath. It is not meant for load bearing applications.


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## lckstckn2smknbrls (Jun 25, 2010)

What kind of speed are you getting with the 40 on it?


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## baseball_guy_99 (Jun 26, 2010)

Brine, I planned on puttin foam underneat it. This stuff is about 1/8" thick. I'm thinkin of putting down some 1x2 furring strips perpindicular to the ribs. Would you reccomend this or just mount it straight to the ribs?


I have no idea what the boat will run with that 40hp. I have not had it out on the lake...I'm kind of scared to haha. My buddy has a boat similar to mine with a 25hp johnson and that thing will fly. So I don't know if I wanna take it out or not lol.

I'm on vacation out in Kansas City right now. So I'm unable to work on the boat. Will post some updated pics as work continues.


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## Brine (Jun 26, 2010)

baseball_guy_99 said:


> Brine, I planned on puttin foam underneat it. This stuff is about 1/8" thick. I'm thinkin of putting down some 1x2 furring strips perpindicular to the ribs. Would you reccomend this or just mount it straight to the ribs?



I'd put your foam in, put the sheet in, (Don't fasten anything) then walk around and see how you feel about it. Worse case, you take your foam back out and cut it for the the perpindicular support. 

My ribs are 1 1/2" tall with 1 1/2" foam. Mine feels good with ribs about 13" oc and no longitudinal support. If used as an upper deck, I would want support under it every 6-7" I think. I'll let you know if I beat you to it. I'm currently framing out my upper decks.


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## hyzerbomber (Jun 27, 2010)

Have a similar boat [ Fisher Marine 15' ] will be watching this thread for sure! Great idea on the AlucaBond for the floor, will have to inquire at a local sign shop to see avail, $, etc...


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## baseball_guy_99 (Jun 27, 2010)

Brine...you will most likely beat me to gettin you floor in. I have not had much time to work on the boat lately. I'm not putting an upper deck, its just going to be on the floor since it will mainly be a hunting boat. I think I'm going to notch it out so it fits around the side ribs.


The dealer in my area charges abut $3 a sq. foot. The only bad thing is he does not have full big sheets. I need about 5x10. He said he would probably have to do 2- 5x5's or a 4x5 and a 6x5. Depending on the spacing of my ribs. I'm going to draw up a picture of the boat with all the measurements on it and take it to him to see what he thinks will work best.


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## Brine (Jun 27, 2010)

I'm paying $2/sq.ft. Sheet size was 6' x 16'. 

Apparently, normal retail is $7/sq. ft. on the product I got.

I'll need 1 more sheet to get the boat done.


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## baseball_guy_99 (Jun 28, 2010)

Inside of the transom after it was done. Forgot to get pics while we were redoing it.







Outside of the transom. That is the mine belt I was talking about. It's almost as rigid as a sheet of plywood. but it will never rot.


I think the painting is going to be done tomorrow. Bought the paint today. Went with an olive drab color and I'm going to stencil over it one day haha.


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## hyzerbomber (Jun 28, 2010)

Did you replace all the wood behind the textured sheet metal on the transom?
Was the bar on the bottom a strip of the same ply? or different?
Have the same exact on my FM-15'...[just one brace]. Just got it home so haven't take it apart to look yet.


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## baseball_guy_99 (Jun 28, 2010)

What we took out was a 1" sheet of plywood and a 2x2 piece of wood on the bottom that sticks out.

We put back in a piece of that mine belt, 3/8" plywood, and a 2x4 ripped down to the same size as the 2x2 that we took out.

We had to drill out the rivets on the braces to get the textured piece of metal out. We replaced them with i think 3/8" SS stove bolts with lock washers and lock nuts. We also put a rubber washer between the head and the boat for added precaution.


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## hyzerbomber (Jun 29, 2010)

Thanks, that helps a ton. Can't wait to see the rest of your mod


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## baseball_guy_99 (Jun 29, 2010)

Well we could not get around to painting today. Got home too late today. So I took the opportunity to snap some more pics.












Bottom is much cleaner now than when we got it.






What we had to have welded.











The winch and jack stand we added. Jack stand has to be moved to the other side. It's too close to the handle of the winch.






Mine belt we added to the front. All that was there before was a bar and thats what was causing all the damage in the front.





Primer...the reducer/activator is on top of the can.






The paint I will be using. Olive Drab color. My bro-in-law used this on an older truck he had and it looked great. 



Hopefully we will be able to spray some paint this weekend.


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## Howard (Jun 29, 2010)

What is that around the rivets?


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## baseball_guy_99 (Jun 29, 2010)

That's where we cleaned around the rivets before and after they were welded.


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## baseball_guy_99 (Jul 5, 2010)

Whew been a little busy with work. Finally got to work on the boat a little bit more on saturday morning.

As stated above I was going to take out the front bench seat. Well when we flipped the boat over to primer it...it just fell out haha. So that saved us a few minutes of grinding.

We got the boat primered with no problems. Did the whole outside of the boat with about 1/2 quart of each primer and activator. So I'll have plenty left over to do the inside.

Now the paint...this is where the problems started haha. The wind started to blow pretty hard..10-15mph. But we decided we would chance it anyways. Got the paint nice and mixed up, poured it in the gun and it wouldn't spray. We dumped the paint back into the mixing cup and thinned it out with some thinner (5-1 mixture). Put it back in the gun and still wouldnt spray. So we took the gun apart and put in a bigger nozzle with a smaller needle. Still wouldnt spray. So we put the paint back into the mixing cup and put some more thinner in it...still wouldn't spray. So my dad got way to frustrated and said he was done and didn't want to take a chance of having the paint blow onto neighbors houses. My bro-in-law has a Wagner Power Painter that he used to spray the paint when he used it. So I think thats what we are going to have to do.


Anyways snapped some pictures of what I could.





Inside after the seat fell out.




















As you can see after all the trouble...that's how much paint we got out.


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## baseball_guy_99 (Jul 8, 2010)

Well still been really busy with work. So I have been trying to find a smaller motor. My dad is going to attempt to paint the inside of the boat on saturday.

We did get some good news this morning...my uncle has an older johnson motor that has been sitting in his garage for a few years...but he said if we wanted it to come and get it.


Will post updates as the mods continue.


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## CrewCabMax (Jul 9, 2010)

Deffinitly keeping an eye on this one! I've got a 1470 Grumman that i'm currently working on. I've got some pictures and getting them setup and going to be starting a thread on it here soon. I'll keep a close eye on this one as well, as my intended use is for a duck boat as well. Great job so far! Keep us posted!


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## baseball_guy_99 (Jul 13, 2010)

So I went to my uncles house last night to pick up the motor. It turned out to be a 1976 9.9 Johnson. Cosmetically the motor looks great. It has been sitting for about 5yrs. So me and dad are going to gut the thing and clean it all up. I think we are going to try to score a 15hp carb for this bad boy. 

My uncle also had a 1975? 20hp Mercury 200 that he said we could have if we wanted. It was once converted to a remote steer. So if anyone in the Southern Illinois area is interested I would give the motor up for $100. It would be a good parts motor or maybe someone could fix it up.


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## hyzerbomber (Jul 16, 2010)

I noticed in your last image of the outboard you had one of the sliding seats removed. I have almost the exact same boat FM Netter 15, and excited to start into the mod but noticed that there is almost no way for me to access the nuts on the on the bottom of the slider track. How did you get the seat out? Did you twist it free from the track or where you able to get to the hardware?




On the side panels a previous mod was made to hold foam panels and this does not leave room to get to the nylock nuts....


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## baseball_guy_99 (Jul 18, 2010)

Well mine was as easy as flipping the boat over to paint it...and the sucker fell out. But we just got lucky haha.

We tried to use a wrench and a screwdriver...but as you stated there was no room to get to the nut. We were just going to grind the top of the bolt down and just punch it out.


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## hyzerbomber (Jul 20, 2010)

Hey thanks for the reply. Prob do the same


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## baseball_guy_99 (Jul 21, 2010)

Well I have good news and bad news...

The good news 1st. I sold the 40hp that came with the boat. Got $500 out of it. 

Also scored a cheap piece of 2" foam. So I started cuttin it up to fit in the floor.


The bad news...We started tearing into the 9.9 that my uncle gave us. Some pieces on the carb were completely broken off so it will have to be replaced. One of the fuel hoses was hard as a rock and cracked. But on a side note it did have a new water pump, impeller, and housing.


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## baseball_guy_99 (Jul 23, 2010)

So I got fed up on waiting for a good enough day to use a gun to paint the boat. So last night after work I picked up some rollers and a paint brush.

I called my buddy this morning to help me get the boat flipped over and in the garage because my dad was not home.

And we went to town...


I will give it another coat on monday.


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## Howard (Jul 23, 2010)

looks good rolled on =D>


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## baseball_guy_99 (Jul 27, 2010)

Put another coat on Monday morning...Do ya guys think I should roll another coat on or maybe spray 1 or 2 coats on? Or will 2 coats be enough?




















These are the SS Stove bolts we used to replace the rivets for the transom support.


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## russ010 (Jul 27, 2010)

if you have the ability to spray it, I would spray on 2 more thin coats... it will be that much more stronger and last that much longer.

What you've done so far looks great!


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## baseball_guy_99 (Aug 6, 2010)

Still been really busy with work, helping my dad remodel the house, and moving. Have not had time to do anything else with the boat. 

Although I did finally get a 15hp carb for the '76 Johnson. Now we just got to find time to get the motor put back together.

I did stop by the other day to check on the paint on the boat. It has been on for almost 2 weeks and it seems to be getting a little harder. I talked to my bro-in-law and he said it took almost a month for the paint to get fully cured and setup when he used it.


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## baseball_guy_99 (Aug 8, 2010)

Had a little time to go to my parents house this morning to work on the boat. 

We ended up working on the motor instead. Got the 15hp carb installed with surprisingly no problems. Pumped up the ball and gave it a tug. 1st pull.....nothing. Little choke, 2nd pull....fired right up.

Let it run for about 15seconds before my dad shut the motor off and started cussing. There was no water coming out the "pee hole". So we took the lower unit off, took the water pump apart and inspected the impeller a 2nd time (pulled it apart after we 1st got the motor). It looked fine. We put it all back together and did a little looking. We could find no blockages or anything. so we put the lower unit back on. Dad said maybe he didn't get it on correctly the 1st time so he took extra precaution to get it back on right. 

Started the motor back up and still no water coming out the "pee hole". Though there was water coming out the exhaust and around the prop. So we just figured on buying a whole new water pump kit and putting it in. Well with the knowledge of one of the fellow board members I did some research and found that 74-76 does not use the "pee hole" just the exhaust. We were really relieved to find that out.


Now on to even better news...My uncle had an older Minn Kota 36lb Thrust All Terrain Trolling motor laying around in his garage. He told us if we wanted it to come get it. We went and got it, hooked it up to the batter and pushed the button...nothing. Switched it over to continuous and it worked just fine. My dad just happened to have a switch that fit that trolling motor so we put it on and it worked just wonderfully.


Sorry for the rambling...not sure when we will get to work on it again but I'll keep this updated as we go.


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## baseball_guy_99 (Aug 19, 2010)

Finally got all moved in to the new house and found time to get over to my parents house to work on the boat.

1st we put a new fuel pump kit in...luckily we decided to do this because whoever worked on the motor before us did not put the fuel pump back together right. The motor runs awesome now...just one more part to replace and it will be ready to go.

We finally got to get the inside painted. I have been waiting on this day to come like a child waits on Christmas day to come. One more coat of paint on the inside and I will be able to start my mods 





Primer going on...






We had to move the boat down to my house to continue painting it because the wind pcked up and my dad didnt want paint to blow onto the neighbors house/cars.




After the 1st coat


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## hyzerbomber (Aug 20, 2010)

do you plan to integrate the sliding seats into your mod? I see they are still in as you are painting the inside. I noticed that on mine the thickness of the paint on the inside of the track rail made it difficult to slide the seat where the paint was built up.


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## baseball_guy_99 (Aug 20, 2010)

The front seat is permantly removed for a more open layout. As this boat will mainly be for duck hunting. the back seat will be covered with plywood as well as the back portion of the boat. So the batteries and gas tank will be hidden. 

I plan on puttin some screws through the back seat to keep it stationary.

Put a 2nd coat of paint on it today. Will get some more pics up later.


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## Tettle07 (Aug 20, 2010)

Boats Looking good!!! wish mine was 50 wide (only got a 36......sigh....) Kuddos on the duck hunting part... I just built a blind for mine, I know you are just starting your mods, but here's the link to check out a pretty cheap blind... I think I'll have about maybe $85 total in it..... could be something to incorporate into your overall rebuild.

https://www.txwaterfowler.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=20485 

Here's the original design I got my idea from (he used Bimini hinges, they were a little to pricey for me)
https://mudmotortalk.com/mmt_v2/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3347


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## baseball_guy_99 (Aug 22, 2010)

Got the 2nd coat of paint put on Friday morning. Didn't have any time to work on the boat this weekend...had to help the G/F move yesterday and spent the day with her today. I did pick up some 1x3's and some MinWax Helmsman Spar Urethane to level out the floor before putting the AlucoBond Down. 

Also picked up a 3'x3' anti-fatigue mat that will get cut up and fitted in the back where the gas tank and batteries will sit.


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## Howard (Aug 22, 2010)

Paint looks good, have you thought about fixing the top rail on the bow?


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## baseball_guy_99 (Aug 22, 2010)

Nope, figured it would just be extra money. It doesn't really bother me either.


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## baseball_guy_99 (Aug 24, 2010)

Got the mat cut up and fit in. Just have to do a few minor adjustments to get the bolts on the braces to match up. 

Took it out on its maiden voyage today. Forgot to bring along my gps...but with me/my buddy/motor/gas tank, I would guess somewhere between 13-15mph. Only had problems with 2 rivets. And they just barely got wet around the flat part inside the boat. So we are going to try to rebuck them tomorrow.

Managed to get a short video out on the water...crappy quality because it was taken on my cell phone.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nk3RDv5MzPw

Here are a few pics I snapped...


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## hyzerbomber (Aug 24, 2010)

Fully loaded with your hunting gear, do you feel your carb'd up 15 is going to do the trick? Have been thinking of doing the same thing. For some reason 15's are hard to come by, and not cheap!
Really like the simple idea of the rubber mat for the back section too.

Look-n good!


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## baseball_guy_99 (Aug 25, 2010)

I think it will suffice for me. Not going to win any races. The main reason I did the 9.9 with 15hp carb is because when I do decided to fish, the lakes I will fish have 10hp limit. If I want to fish the bigger lakes I'll just steal my dads Ranger.

Got some more work done on the boat yesterday. Finally got the jack switched around to the other side, got 3 coats of urethane on the 1x's, and got the foam all cut up and fitted in.


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## baseball_guy_99 (Aug 31, 2010)

Finally got started on the wiring. I'm going to be running a 36lb Thrust Minn Kota All Terrain that was given to me. Used 6ga wire to run from the front to the back where it will run through a Minn Kota In-Line Circuit Breaker. Got the plug all wired up and plugged it in...nothing. So we fiddled with it and finally took the plug back apart. My buddy had wired it up wrong so we fixed it up right and it works like a charm. Now I just have to build a mounting block for the TM on the front.

While cleaning out my buddy's garage last week we came across a set of nice halogen fog lights that will go very nicely on the front. Also I will be wiring in 2-12v plug ins in the front as well.

Got the front navigation light wired up and ran the rest of the wires to the back of the boat and ran out of time. I just used a flat-4 bonded trailer wire for the nav lights and will also be using it for the fog lights and 12v plug ins.

Will get some more work and updates done tomorrow.


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## baseball_guy_99 (Sep 1, 2010)

Got quite a bit of work done today due to the rain. 

I have never hated wiring so much in my life! It seems like it will never end...


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## BaitCaster (Sep 2, 2010)

You're making good progress.


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## baseball_guy_99 (Sep 2, 2010)

Got a lot of stuff accomplished over the last few days...mainly wiring. Miraculously everything works!

I have to finish mounting the switch plate. I cut the hole a little to big so I have to figure out a way to get it mounted.

I have a few more wires to clean up and get covered, run the batteries in series, make a mount and mount the trolling motor, put a floor in, and get seats. Then I will be pretty much finished with the project! 

Eventually I would like to build/buy a blind for it. But that will probably not happen until next year.

Here are several pics that I snapped throughout the evening. Sorry for the bad quality I only have my phone to take pics with.


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## baseball_guy_99 (Sep 10, 2010)

Welp I hate to say it...but my project is done for this year. 

I have depleted all the funds I had saved up to do this project...so unless I come across some extra money I'm done for this year.

All I had left to do was floor/seats/blind.

So for now I'm going to throw down some plywood on the floor so I can still use it to get to and from spots when I'm duck hunting.


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## baseball_guy_99 (Oct 15, 2010)

Been a while since I have updated the boat...Have fished out of it a few times and I do believe its going to be just what I wanted. Now just for duck season to get here so I can hunt out of it.

I mounted the trolling motor. Just used a 2x6 for now until I can fab up an aluminum mount for it. A local boat place sells one for this purpose but they want $100 for it. I think I can live with the 2x6.

I really wish I could afford the Alucobond for my flooring purposes but its just not in my budget right now. So I picked up a few pieces of damaged 1/2 plywood from work for $5 a sheet. This is really in my budget haha! So I have been working on gettin it cut to fit around the ribs. I used a box from a fridge to get a template for the plywood. I'm going to completely seal it with some Spar urethane and then cover it with carpet. It's not the greatest and the carpet will have to cover some of my mistakes  I have always been told..."The difference between a good carpenter and a bad carpenter is the good carpenter can cover up his mistakes"





























Oh yeah and I finally figured out a solution to mounting my switch plate...GORILLA GLUE! That $h1+ is amazing!


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## hschne17 (Nov 23, 2010)

Would you be willing to sell the removable benches out of your boat? I have a 77 fisher marine 15' just like yours and I only have 1 bench I use at the stern. I now have 5 grandboys who always want to fish out of what they call our little boat because its more fun.


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## baseball_guy_99 (Nov 23, 2010)

Sent ya a pm back.



I have not worked on the boat in awhile now because hunting season is here. I was hoping to have the boat done by duck season which opens up thursday. But that will not happen haha. So I have been helpin my buddy get his boat ready...


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## baseball_guy_99 (Jan 13, 2011)

Well I have saved up a little bit of money and decided to go ahead and get the AlucoBond panels.

I'm also still toying with the idea of building a back deck...any ideas? This is what I have to work with.


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## baseball_guy_99 (Jan 19, 2011)

Started deconstruction of the boat this evening. Took the lights off, the trolling motor off, the outboard off, and everything else that would hinder the ability of the boat to be stored against the garage while I work on the trailer...


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## baseball_guy_99 (Feb 1, 2011)

Well I talked with the guy that had the AlucaBond panels and he told me he would call me back when he was able to get to his shop to see what sizes he had. He never called me back and I left him a few voicemails with no returned calls. 

So a few piece of BC 15/32 plywood came up damaged at work and I picked them up for $5 a sheet. I got them cut out and started putting the Helmsman Spar Urethane on 'em. Each side got 4 coats and the edges got like 10 coats lol.

Now I'm working on fitting in some 2x3's for support and to give me something to mount the seat bases to.


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## russ010 (Feb 1, 2011)

Lookin Good!!


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## baseball_guy_99 (Feb 1, 2011)

Thanks Russ! I was hoping the ice would hit us here sooner so I could call into work and get some more done today! But it looks like its not coming til later so I will just have to keep on doing stuff little by little.

Going to try to get a few more of the 2x3's cut and fitted this morning so I can start getting the urethane on them.


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## baseball_guy_99 (Feb 1, 2011)

Got a little more done this morning. Got almost all the 2x3's mocked up in place. Some still need to be trimmed down to fit and I have to get 1 more 2x3 to finish up.

The spacing on the ones with only 3-2x3's are about 17". I'm using 15/32 plywood. Do you think that will be enough support or should I shorten the spacing and add another 2x3 in there?


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## Ictalurus (Feb 1, 2011)

Nice looking boat. I used 15/32 on my floor with 13" rib spacing. I put blue board foam down between ribs and have had no problem with anything yet.


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## baseball_guy_99 (Feb 2, 2011)

Got all the 2x3's cut down fitted in and removed for the urethane (to those of you who do this in future builds...urethane the whole board before you cut it down so then you just have to seal the ends because doing it the way I did is a pain in the @$$!)


I set the 2 back pieces of plywood in to see how well they would fit together after the urethane went on them. They fit together very snug.


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## Flat Bottom (Feb 3, 2011)

Lookin good, someday maybe my boat will be ready for interior work haha... nice progress man.


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## baseball_guy_99 (Feb 25, 2011)

I got alot of work done over the last few days. Finally got some nice weather and some time off work.


Got all the 2x3's cut, urethaned, and put into place. I then cut the foam down to fit in between the supports. I got my holes drilled for the seat bases and got them mounted in. I got the floor laid in and fastened down. I'm going to wait for a little warmer weather before I try to lay the carpet. So I broke out the cover that my parents bought me for my birthday and put it on so I could set the boat outside and get the trailer back in the garage to finish it up.

The cover fits very well, but is about 6" to long for my boat (overall I am very pleased with it). I will have to fashion some sort of supports so the water will drain off of it.


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## Ictalurus (Feb 25, 2011)

Looks good man, I like the layout.


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## baseball_guy_99 (Apr 5, 2011)

Been a while...

I have the boat about 99% done. I need to have a support rewelded on the trailer and put some carpet on the 2x6 under the trolling motor.

Took quite a few pictures on Friday. Also took a video. Will get it on here after I upload it to YouTube.


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## baseball_guy_99 (Apr 5, 2011)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRa3Hh_-6iQ


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## jasper60103 (Apr 5, 2011)

Looks like she rides real nice. Good job!


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## dc3232 (Apr 5, 2011)

I like what you've done to it. It looks good. I'm thinking about doing my floors the same way, now that I've seen yours. I still want some type of storage though. Got any Ideas? Just send me a PM if you do. 8)


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## baseball_guy_99 (Jun 7, 2011)

Long time since an update! Have not done anything to the boat since I got the interior done.

I'm thinkin about adding some rod holders along the side so I can keep my rods off the floor.

I'm also still toying with the idea of building a back deck for easier fishing 2 guys. but that just might wait til I decided to tear it all down and rebuild everything using aluminum.

I fixed up the 20hp merc that my uncle gave me. Put $150 into it and sold it last week for $600.

I got a different trolling motor. A 43lb thrus motor guide that is a whole lot more quiet that my old one. My next upgrade will be a new battery...I think mine is about done for.


Me and my buddy have fished out of it a few times now and the only thing I think it needs is a back deck.


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## baseball_guy_99 (Jun 7, 2011)

Forgot to mention the trailer rebuild.

I put new rollers, cut off the side supports so they would stop scratching the paint, put new LED lights on, ran new wiring, and gave it a new paint job.


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## baseball_guy_99 (Jun 17, 2011)

Upgraded my trolling motor to a 56lb thrust 12/24v motor guide. So I had to put my 2nd battery back in the boat. Took it out for a spin and noticed it was not pushing as well as I thought it should be.

Low and behold my batteries were about shot...only reading 20v. So I went to Wal Mart and got 2 new batteries and ran the extra wiring for the 12/24 setup. Got it all wired back up and now I'm just waiting on a time to get out to the lake to try it out.


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## baseball_guy_99 (Apr 5, 2012)

Dang! It has been awhile since an update.

Have not changed much except got a 25hp motor now and gave the boat a new paint job.


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## baseball_guy_99 (May 24, 2012)

Well after a long debate, I decided it was time for a front deck for easier bass fishing. So I went to Lowe's and picked up some aluminum and some rivets.

I bought 2 pcs of 1/16"x1"x8' Tubing, 2 pcs of 1/8"x1"x8' Angle, and 1pc of 1/8"x1 1/4"x6' angle.

I brought the stuff home and then I sat there and stared at the font of the boat for like 2hrs trying to figure ou what I wanted to do. It finally hit me and I got to work.

Here is the rear supports...



Here is the rear support with one of the supports that runs forward...



Here is the framing. I'm thinking of adding 2 more pcs running towards the front for more support. I will be using 1/2" plywood on top. The space is about 21" right now.



And here is my fat butt standing on it!





Any questions...feel free to ask!


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## baseball_guy_99 (Jul 25, 2012)

Welp, the front deck is about 90% complete. Got the trolling motor mounted, the wires redone, and the plywood secured down.

Now I just have to figure out what I want to do to close up the bottom. I want it to be hinged because that will be my storage area. 

Any suggestions?

Here are some more pics...


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