***NOTICE***
All original pictures of the build were lost in a horrific photobucket accident. For pictures of the final outcome please see final page.
Ok, I am heading out to Home Depot Tomorrow to get the lumber and carpet for my conversion. I hope to get the decks done in between tomorrow and Saturday, I will be updating with pics to show progress as I go along.
The Plan:
I do not want to deck to the tops of the seats because of my son being on baord with me at different times, my wife likes the high gunwales to keep him high and dry. So, with that in mind as well as fishability I am planning a front and rear deck to the bench tops. I am going to do something similar to Joey Bag o Donuts on the front, only difference I am going to add some bracing beneath and split it with a hinge so I can store stuff underneath with easy access.
I am going to add a rear deck from the transom to the front of the rear bench seat for another place to flip, pitch, and work topwaters on lakes. I am going to leave the mid section around the motor open for ventilation and access to safety equipment etc.
For the mid section of the boat I am going to leave the benches as they are, and build up a floor in between them making for a flat stable surface to walk on and have storage underneath. If I am drift fishing this will also allow better manuverability making the benches easier to step over if needed. These floors will be framed out using 2x3's for joists footed to vertical boards from the floor to the bottom of the joists and screwed into the existing benches. The floor will come up just a tad higher than the middle seat support bracket as seem in the pictures. I am thinking because of the 2x3's as braces I will be able to get away with thinner plywood. I am leaning toward 1/2".
I plan on taking the existing swivel seats out for now, and seeing what I can come up with as time goes by. Spring fishing usually means mobility more than comfort. I can tackle that challenge come the warmer, longer days of summer. After the decking, I plan on installing a bilge pump, livewell, and the fish finder wiring everything into a nice neat switchboard. Any ideas, feedback, and or criticism are certainly appreciated.
Any guesses on weight I will be adding with this project? I have to push it by hand up a slight incline for storage, so if I am going to be adding too much weight I will have to rethink some things to make the decks removable. I have some ideas for that too.
All original pictures of the build were lost in a horrific photobucket accident. For pictures of the final outcome please see final page.
Ok, I am heading out to Home Depot Tomorrow to get the lumber and carpet for my conversion. I hope to get the decks done in between tomorrow and Saturday, I will be updating with pics to show progress as I go along.
The Plan:
I do not want to deck to the tops of the seats because of my son being on baord with me at different times, my wife likes the high gunwales to keep him high and dry. So, with that in mind as well as fishability I am planning a front and rear deck to the bench tops. I am going to do something similar to Joey Bag o Donuts on the front, only difference I am going to add some bracing beneath and split it with a hinge so I can store stuff underneath with easy access.
I am going to add a rear deck from the transom to the front of the rear bench seat for another place to flip, pitch, and work topwaters on lakes. I am going to leave the mid section around the motor open for ventilation and access to safety equipment etc.
For the mid section of the boat I am going to leave the benches as they are, and build up a floor in between them making for a flat stable surface to walk on and have storage underneath. If I am drift fishing this will also allow better manuverability making the benches easier to step over if needed. These floors will be framed out using 2x3's for joists footed to vertical boards from the floor to the bottom of the joists and screwed into the existing benches. The floor will come up just a tad higher than the middle seat support bracket as seem in the pictures. I am thinking because of the 2x3's as braces I will be able to get away with thinner plywood. I am leaning toward 1/2".
I plan on taking the existing swivel seats out for now, and seeing what I can come up with as time goes by. Spring fishing usually means mobility more than comfort. I can tackle that challenge come the warmer, longer days of summer. After the decking, I plan on installing a bilge pump, livewell, and the fish finder wiring everything into a nice neat switchboard. Any ideas, feedback, and or criticism are certainly appreciated.
Any guesses on weight I will be adding with this project? I have to push it by hand up a slight incline for storage, so if I am going to be adding too much weight I will have to rethink some things to make the decks removable. I have some ideas for that too.