# here's my boat... sears 14' jon...



## acabtp

Hi there. I recently bought this jon boat. The info plate says that it's a Sears model 61114 and the serial number starts with MA04J, but I cannot find any information on a Sears of that model that is a flat bottom jon. It has fully welded seams. 13'10" long, 32" wide at the bottom, 48" wide at gunwales. It is rated for a 10 HP motor, 3 persons, and 545 lbs total payload.

It came from PA, but when I tried to register it in NJ, they gave me trouble because the PA reg listed the year as "1111". I ended up having to take it to the state police marine division for an inspection and records check before they let me register it as a 1970. That was just what we agreed was about the correct vintage... they could not determine the age either since its serial number is not a HIN.

Anyway, pictures:

















replacement transom at the top of the to-do list


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## Captain Ahab

:WELCOME: :WELCOME:


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## Jim

:WELCOME:

Can you get a close up of that sears plate?


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## acabtp

Jim said:


> :WELCOME:
> 
> Can you get a close up of that sears plate?


Thanks.

Here is the plate:


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## acabtp

So I took the boat out on Saturday to Lake Wawayanda for a float test. Happily, it passed with flying colors, so I loaded up my trolling motor and did some fishing.




Less happily, the fish decided to not cooperate with the venture. It was pretty rough fishing conditions anyway... water temp was 37°, air temp upper 20°s... I had to keep picking the ice off my guides.

Anyway, now that I was sure it was not taking on water, it was time to make the boat ready to hang an outboard on. So that meant replacing the old worn out transom.

I don't know if this was the original transom or not. The model plate has been remounted at least once, so I am guessing it was replaced at some point. Then again, the hardware seemed to match the rest of the boat, so maybe not. I haven't been able to find any more information on this type of boat to know for sure if this was the original design. It was constructed of a strip of 3/4" x 6" plywood with an additional layer of 1/2" plywood for mounting the motor. It was held to the boat with 5 rivets.




The motor mounting strip is just held in place with 4 brads. I have no idea how this little thing was rated for a 10 HP motor.




After the 5 rivets were drilled out, I was able to remove the old transom and see that it was rotted on the back side. Good riddance!





After doing a lot of reading on this website and whatever else I could find on google, I decided that I was going to use solid hardwood to rebuild the transom. I came to this conclusion because I could build the main part of the transom from a single piece and not have to deal with lamination or big areas of open grain to seal against water intrusion. At the lumber yard, I selected a 5/4" x 8" white oak board (actual measurements slightly smaller).

Using the old transom as a template, I cut my board to size. The new transom is 2" deeper and about 1/3" thicker than what it is replacing. It is immensely stronger. Because it is larger, I had to notch the back side of the transom in order to clear the aluminum transom to floor bracket.




I put a scrap wood block on the outside of the transom and then used clamps to pull the aluminum back in line with the transom where it should be. While held in place with clamps, I drilled holes at the location of the original 5 rivets and installed stainless bolts. I then added two additional bolts along the new bottom edge of the transom.

The rear grab handles had just been riveted to the sheet metal originally, so I went ahead and drilled and bolted them through the transom as well. Now the boat doesn't want to bend when you lift it and I have 4 more bolts strengthening the transom. I don't know why they didn't do it this way at the factory.

So, the 5 little rivets are now replaced with 11 stainless bolts and the transom is nice and *strong*. I put the motor on it and see how things sat.




This is a piece of 1x1 wood clamped to the cavitation plate to make it easy to see where things sit with relation to the bottom of the boat.




Cav plate is sitting 3" below the bottom of the boat. "Crap" I think to myself, that is too low. I'm pretty new to boats, but again research here and elsewhere seemed to indicate that I would be better off with the cavitation plate about 1-2" below the boat.

So, I built a small transom extension from a 10 1/2" length piece of my oak board.




3 more bolts hold this on there, bringing the total to 14. Overkill? Perhaps... but after seeing how bent up the transom got with the old set up (towards the back, from the weight of the outboard), I just don't want to have to do it again.




Using my table saw, I notched about 1/3" thickness off of the top 2 1/2" of the board in order to provide clearance for the motor clamps.




Then I sliced some spacers from my oak board until I got the outside of the extension to line up with the aluminum transom rail.





Sears boat gets a Sears motor, it is only right. My Gamefisher looks a bit happier at its new higher perch.





Now the plate sits exactly 1" below the boat at the most reasonable trim hole setting. Idea achieved.





I was anxious to see how my new transom and extension worked before waterproofing them in case modification was required. It was pretty cold and windy today, but I decided to get the boat on the water headed over to Lake Hopatcong this afternoon. Here's my little boat at the dock of the Lake Hopatcong State Park boat ramp.




She sits pretty well in the water with just the motor, 5 gallons of gas and some safety gear aboard. Sits not quite as nicely in the water when I am on the driver's bench, but not so bad. I need to get some longer hoses and some straps to mount the gas tank all the way in the bow.

So, on to performance... I have to say that I found the results to be "scary fast"!! :shock:   :twisted: At least for me who has not done very much power boating it was quite amusing. Getting on a plane from standstill was easy, and took between 3 and 4 seconds. Wide open I was doing about 24 mph. The boat sure was bouncing and rattling around though because there was about a 1' chop on the lake today with 15 mph sustained winds and higher gusts. Things could get a little squirrely when a gust changed direction real quick. I am thinking that on a day with better weather I should be able to hit 26 maybe 27 mph.

At the trim setting I though would be good (3rd hole out from transom of 4 on motor bracket) I was getting some porpoising at speed. Moving to the 2nd hole seemed to reduce this somewhat, but at the expense of some directional authority and turn stability... she power slid through turns. I want to go back on a day with calmer winds to see if that was part of the issue.

When I am happy with it, I am going to pull it out and bond all the parts together and laminate a sheet of aluminum the size of the extension in the middle of the stack. Then seal it up with a couple coats of fiberglass resin and bolt it back in with some 5200 on the bolt shafts and heads.

Any thoughts? Suggestions for improvement?

Tom


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## lckstckn2smknbrls

Looks good so far. I'm thinking you could raise the motor so it's even with the bottom hull.


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## jellio5

First off great job on getting it up and running. I'd be nervous with that wood jack plate...I would for sure get an aluminum one made up for it. Might be spendy but so would losing your motor...in the mean time I'd put a chain or something on there in case it breaks. Also remember you don't have to go full throttle with the boat if you don't feel comfortable. IMO it's better to have the motor farther in the water than the other way around. I'd rather be an inch or two low than high.


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## LeviStevenson

That's awesome and scary at 25 isn't it!? I have that boats little brother an appleby 1232 (they made sears boats) with a 7.5 evinrude and I get 26 mph on gps...scary fun. Powerslides on glass conditions...those boats don't have much for chines...and flats just don't turn that well. Two people and gear brings it down to 16 mph but I have since added a battery, trolling motor, aluminum cross braces along the floor along with an aluminum floor (eliminated that feeling of blowing out all rivits on choppy water) also aluminum framing for deck support and aluminum decking. Haven't gpsd it yet but still feels every bit of 20 mph...though much safer and waaay quieter. I'll be following this build. As soon as I have the chance I will post my very extensive build.


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## BaitCaster

Great looking boat - nice and clean. What are in all the crates you had in the bow? Looks like one of them is set up like a kayak fishing crate. I agree with Jellio's concerns on the wooden jack plate. You shuold splurge on a proper metal jack plate or get a metal one fabricated.


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## fragdemon

great looking job so far! I would definitely recommend getting the mini-jacker plate from TH Marine and use it instead of the current wood.


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## benjineer

Keep an eye on that board, especially where you did the sharp notch at the top. That creates a stress concentration. Rounding it out with a router bit would help or using a thinner board. Adding some aluminum to both sides would sure make me feel better.


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## acabtp

LeviStevenson said:


> That's awesome and scary at 25 isn't it!?


Indeed it is... very fun.



BaitCaster said:


> Great looking boat - nice and clean. What are in all the crates you had in the bow? Looks like one of them is set up like a kayak fishing crate. I agree with Jellio's concerns on the wooden jack plate. You shuold splurge on a proper metal jack plate or get a metal one fabricated.


Thanks. I am planning on keeping it simple... You are right about the milk crate, it is what usually goes on my kayak or canoe for fishing. I have some thoughts rolling around in my head for some rod holders and a mount for my fish finder on the jon boat, but I am not going to deck it or anything.



fragdemon said:


> great looking job so far! I would definitely recommend getting the mini-jacker plate from TH Marine and use it instead of the current wood.


Thanks. I looked at the mini jacker, but it is a lot bigger than I need... I don't want to offset the motor any further back, just up. The 4" offset to that the mini jacker has would put more twisting stress on the transom from the weight of the outboard as well as moving the weight distribution of the boat even further towards the stern. I am going to bond aluminum in with the jack plate, it will be plenty strong when complete.

Any other thoughts on the cav plate depth / porpoising issue before I finish this thing up?


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## acabtp

Little video of my tin yacht on Lake Hopatcong in HD on youtube
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRA7eb4IgZM[/youtube]

Also, while I am still planning on beefing it up, here is an anecdotal note as to the strength of the oak jackplate... I hit a submerged rock at WOT (oops) and popped the outboard up out of the water and then back in. No damage to anything except the skeg.

I did not have any more problems with bouncing around this time, so I think it was just the wind and not having anything up front in the boat last time. So, I will be making my transom setup permanent and beefing up the jackplate this week.


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## mtnwkr

Do y'all leave your outboards unlatched when running so they will just "pop up" if you hit something? I never really thought about that, not much to hit where I fish. 
Great looking job so far! Nice and clean. I sometimes wish a Jon would work for my fishing as i like all the usable space Vs. a V hull.


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## crazymanme2

I always leave my motor unlatched.

As far as how high to put your motor,I would have it even or a little above.


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## flatboat

do you leave the motor attatched or remove it ?
might want to bolt it thru the transom , just in case ya take a good wack 
bet that thing flys empty . stainless prop and a little cup that might be scarrry


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## acabtp

mtnwkr said:


> Do y'all leave your outboards unlatched when running so they will just "pop up" if you hit something? I never really thought about that, not much to hit where I fish.
> Great looking job so far! Nice and clean. I sometimes wish a Jon would work for my fishing as i like all the usable space Vs. a V hull.


Thanks. It was latched down, but popped up anyway when I hit the rock.



crazymanme2 said:


> As far as how high to put your motor,I would have it even or a little above.


I'll move it up an inch and try it out.



flatboat said:


> do you leave the motor attatched or remove it ?
> might want to bolt it thru the transom , just in case ya take a good wack
> bet that thing flys empty . stainless prop and a little cup that might be scarrry


Yeah, I would like to be able to bolt it, but I need to remove the motor very often, and I don't know how I would seal the holes doing that. It hadn't even occurred to me to change the prop... I'll have to look into that at some point.


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## acabtp

I took the boat out again with the motor raised even higher, so that the cav plate sat level with the bottom of the hull. At that height the boat was no faster, but was very much louder as the exhaust relief ports were now out of the water. So, it seems like the 1" under the hull that the jack plate I made is set up for is indeed the best bet for me. Time to beef it up and waterproof everything.

I started by letting the transom and jack plate dry out for a few days off the boat before doing anything. Then I started with a good sanding.





I applied a coat of polyester fiberglass resin to the entire transom. I also began covering the jack plate I made with fiberglass.





Before fiberglassing, I had radiused the set back area of the jack plate for additional strength and to allow the fiberglass to more easily comply with the profile.





I applied several more layers of fiberglass to the jackplate. It is important to make sure there are no pockets of air or excessive resin. I used a roller I made out of a piece of PVC conduit that I waxed to make sure that I had a tight lamination. I think I put 6 layers of mat.





Once the resin was cured, I used my jigsaw to cut the fiberglass around the plate, and then sanded flush.





I then cut some pieces of aluminum plate to provide more strength as well as an area for the outboard motor's clamps to tighten without damaging the wood or fiberglass. The side of the metal which was to be glued was scuffed with sandpaper in order to provide a better surface. Since I was working with a hard wood (white oak), the wood area being glued was moistened per Gorilla Glue directions.





Gorilla Glue is tough stuff... Metal plates glued.





Next, I sized the pieces which I was using to build up the rest of the jack plate...





And glued them in place. Again, using plenty of moistening of the wood prior to gluing and clamping pressure after.





Here you can see the piece after everything is bonded together. I also added another aluminum plate to the outside clamping surface.





After a good sanding to make all the wood, metal and glue layers flush, I masked off the aluminum clamp plates and applied resin to waterproof.





Scuffed that up and prepped for a 2nd layer.





Finished outboard jack plate.









Next, I turned my attention to the original knee brace in the boat. At some point in the past, it and the tiny original transom wood had flexed so much that the outboard on the boat punched into the bottom of the transom. I deemed it totally unsatisfactory, so I built some replacements out of 2" wide 1/8" thick aluminum angle. The new ones extend all the way to the bottom of the new transom and mount to the hull farther forward than the original.









Here you can see how the transom looks after the final of its 3 coats of resin. Everything was mounted back into the boat with 1/4" stainless carriage bolts, fender washers to spread the load, and liberal amounts of 3M 5200 sealant. Between the new transom, jack plate and knee braces, I now have a rock solid mount for my outboard.









Then trout season finally opened here in New Jersey on 4/9. Had to go out and catch some trout. Just had to.
First of the season.








Ok, limit reached, 6 brookies in the sink including a 17" breeder... back to work.

Next up was the trailer. It was too short and the rear of the boat hung off a couple feet. I didn't want to cup the hull any trailering it w/ the motor on like that, so I decided to extend the tongue of the trailer a few feet.

Started by cutting off the tired old coupler.




No going back now...





I picked up a 2x2" 1/8" wall cutoff at a local metal shop for a good deal. To make sure that everything was straight, I started by welding on some plates to the original tongue. I used these to hold things in place while I fine tuned alignment with a jackstand and some shims.





3.5' extension all welded up and coupler welded on as well. Gave myself a welders sunburn on by my elbows between where my welding gauntlets ended and shirt sleeves were pushed up to... oops!





When I pulled off the old bearing caps, a bunch of water poured out... so I put in new bearings, races and some bearing buddies.





Added bunks from some deck lumber scraps I had and pulled the boat up to add the rest of the hardware.





I mounted the original vertical member further forward on the tongue and moved the winch to the front side. Then I welded up a bow stop and mounted a 2x4 to it.









Transom is nice and supported now. Just to be safe for while trailering, I whipped up a quick transom saver as well. Works great.





Pulled the boat on the trailer about 500 miles round trip to Vermont this weekend, everything was solid. I wish I could say the same about the fishing...
I am now waiting for a few days of sun so I can sand it down and give a fresh coat of paint and carpet the bunks and bow stop. Weather has just not been cooperating though.

Tom


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## lbursell

=D> =D> =D> I like what you're doing. Keep it going.


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## jellio5

Looking good......I was fishing the rivers/shore here daily for Steelhead/Loopers until I put the boat in the garage on Saturday...haven't picked up a rod since then. The darn boat is cutting into my fishing time. Keep it going!!!


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## acabtp

thanks guys. more to come as time/budget/weather permit.


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