A new project

[Cyklops86]

Hello everyone. There is some great stuff here, I've been reading off and on for a while now and today after some wheeling and dealing I brought home my new project. It is a 1976 16 ft 52in wide jon boat. The boat was pretty much completely gutted when I bought it, but I want to completely redo the layout anyway so that's actually a bonus. I have been fishing out of my dads 1236 forever so this boat seems huge in comparison.



The motor is a 35 horse johnson seahorse, havent run the serial yet to see what year. I'm not sure if I will be using this motor or getting another because I havent done any kind of testing on it other that making sure it wasn't frozen up. My main worry assuming its good is it is a short shaft motor so I'm thinking I will need to either cut down the transom or else get a long shaft motor.

My current plan (always subject to change) is to add front and rear decks, a side console, 8' rod locker, and lots of other storage. I will have to do some research to figure out if I will be using aluminum or wood for the decks. I would love to use aluminum to keep the weight down but it will depend on price. This will be a fishing boat, it will never be pretty but I want it to be solid and dependable.

The first step will be getting the motor off and stripping the boat and trailer down and repainting them. I have found 1 spot I am kind of leery of, it looks like it got banged up and there is some sealer of some kind so I have no idea what I will find there.



I have to move the boat forward on the trailer also, right now it has absolutely no tongue weight. If I move the 2 seats from the front of the boat it will actually lift the front in the air.

 

[Cyklops86]

I am starting to second guess myself about the big decks I was thinking of, now I am wondering if I should maybe go with a smaller front deck and leave the rest mainly open. I will primarily be using the boat for catfishing, but also will use it for castnetting shrimp and some inshore saltwater fishing. My 2 kids will be fishing with me so I need seats for at least 3 people. How would yall go about setting up a catfish boat with a decent sized front deck? I am also debating if I should add a livewell, I could always use a removable one but then again it could be nice having it built in. So many options... help me make up my mind please

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

Your trailer has an adjustable axle. If the placement of the boat on the trailer / bunks is good move the axle forward one or two holes to get the proper tongue weight.

 

[fool4fish1226]

:beer: Nice bones and :WELCOME:

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

Your trailer has an adjustable axle. If the placement of the boat on the trailer / bunks is good move the axle forward one or two holes to get the proper tongue weight.

I made a mistake you will need to move the axle to the rear to increase the tongue weight.

 

[Cyklops86]

Right now I'm not going to put any effort into the trailer, it is too short, and it just makes sense to go ahead and get a good galvanized trailer instead of a trailer that will rust away in no time in salt water. Today I'm going to get the motor off and start stripping paint on the boat.

 

[Cyklops86]

Well this is frustrating. Got the motor off and tried to move the boat over to the sawhorses, I figured out one thing quick, this boat is a lot heavier than that 1236 I'm used to lol. Since I dont know of anyone else that has mondays off I'm at a standstill until I can get an extra set of hands to get my old truck moved so I can get the boat to the sawhorses and then get it flipped and raised. I guess I'm going to make a run for some wood to build an engine stand with and try to see what I've got there. I took a closer look at how the motor sits on the boat and think I may be ok using this one, the cav plate sits about an inch higher than the bottom of the boat, close enough?

 

[Cyklops86]

Ok last night I got the boat where I wanted it and flipped over. Even with 2 people it was pretty heavy so I just flipped it on the ground. This morning I started doing some stripping and found where a lot of the weight is coming from. The bottom of the boat is covered in bondo.



I started out with these wheels and they worked great but wore out too fast. Then I switched over to a wire wheel and it worked great. I tried to focus on the areas with the most damage or anywhere I saw the bondo and found a few cracks and tears in the hull. I am going to get it all stripped and get a price on welding them up but if its too expensive I may just use marine tex to fill them and call it good. If you haven't tried it that stuff works great. My dads boat had a huge dent in the bottom and when we started pounding it out the seam split between the bottom and side of the boat for about a foot. We hammered it as close together as we could and put marinetex on both sides, it has held up great even in fairly choppy water for about a year now.

Anyway, on to what I found



This is what was hiding under the spot I was worried about in my previous post. I found a couple of other places that had cracks all the way thru and a couple of gouges.




Once I get the damaged areas stripped I will use paint stripper to get the rest then flip the boat and do the inside. After that I will start trying to straighten the worst of the dents and see about getting a price on the welding. If any welders want to give me an estimate of what I should expect to pay that would be great.

This is how it sits now while I break for lunch and go pick up the kids from school.

 

[Cyklops86]

ok at this point I have all the rough spots sanded back to metal, found 1 more place with a crack on the bottom but whats a little more welding at this point. All the rivets on the bottom have something dabbed around them, same stuff that I have been sanding on all day. I plan on sealing the boat pretty good whether with bedliner or steelflex or something similar. Should I clean all the rivets down to metal or should I just smooth it all out and make sure it doesn't flake off? Here is a pic of what just about every rivet looks like



I want to do this to last but at the same time I don't want to spend time that is not needed. Like I said above, this is a fishing boat and I dont care about pretty. Pretty doesn't catch fish but I want it to last.

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

Is that silicone? If it is you will want to remove it. If it's 3M 5200 it will be fine.
Look for a product called Gluvit. It's a 2 part sealer that you apply on the inside of the boat on the rivets and seams.

 

[Cyklops86]

I'm not sure what it is, it sands and smells kind of like bondo or body filler. Its definately not silicone but I have no idea what it is

 

[Cyklops86]

I got a little more sanding done last night after work. Tonight I have to go to my sisters birthday dinner so no time for boat work
I have been doing some thinking about what motor I want to put on it, and how much motor it could handle. Could yall please double check my math? 16 ft long, 6 ft across at the top of the transom, 20+ in transom
So 16x6= 96
96x2=192
192-90= 102, leaving the rating as being 100 hp. That seems like a lot of motor for this boat but hey what do I know. If this boat could really handle that much I know I wouldn't be happy with that 35. My dad has a 50 I could put on but I really don't want to use his motor if I can help it.

 

[Cyklops86]

Anyone have thoughts on what size motor I should look for? The math says up to 100 would be fine but that seems a little high to me. One of these days I want to do some catfish tournaments so it will need to push 2-3 people and a heavy livewell. I don't want anything scary fast but I don't want a dog either

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

I hate using that formula if you don't put the numbers in just right you get the wrong HP.
I would think 40 to 50ish would be good.

 

[onthewater102]

https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2002-title33-vol2/pdf/CFR-2002-title33-vol2-sec183-43.pdf


Assuming you're keeping the remote steering your calculation is correct.

Notice how this guide in no-way takes into account the strength of the transom (building materials, design etc.) The thickness & alloy of the aluminum, buttress braces etc. all factor into how much load the transom can safely support and is totally independent of the max HP rating.

Be careful.

 

[HeavyHook]

I would imagine only having a 30-35hp on that boat would be more than enough if you ask me. I have a 25hp on a 14ft and it hauls.

Side note: A 100hp motor would be insane. Insanely fun that is.

 

[Cyklops86]

Decided to get this trailer usable until I get a better one. Started stripping it down yesterday,then added 4 ft to the front of the trailer so it should be plenty long enough now. Today I finished up the welding, which went more like start a bead, blow a hole, cuss a little, patch the hole, grind it down and start again. It looks like crap and isnt the straightest in the world but it will work and thats good enough for now. I probably should have dug out the mig but it was buried in the back of the shop so I just fired up the stick welder. I do pretty good on mig but suck at stick welding. Anyhow, got it welded up and got most of the frame wire wheeled down ready for primer. Tomorrow is back to work but I hope to have time after work to finish up the prep so my next day off I can prime and paint.

 

[Cyklops86]

Just about have the trailer all painted, should finish it up tomorrow and be ready to start bolting things back together after a few days for the paint to cure. Progress is slow right now but shouldn't be long before things start happening. Can't wait till I get the boat back on the trailer and start laying things out.