New member with new boat. Long time lurker..

[rghering]

Hello forum,

Didn't want to cross-post so I deleted my post in the boat house to post here properly.

First off I need to thank everyone here I have been lurking the forums for awhile now and have gotten many great ideas from all your projects.
A few months ago i purchased this little boat ( My first boat in nearly 15 years ) and have done some patching on it as well as making some additions till
winter comes so I can take it to the shop and start a complete rebuild of the boat.

Notice the decking previous owner put in is plain plywood. I've since started ripping the front deck out this weekend. Will post pics of
that tomorrow. I also added the generic indoor/outdoor carpet ( pulled from my patio hehe ) for some foot comfort, its not permanent
but we took the boat out a week ago after I patched up a few leaks to see if it would hold water and to get a bit of fishing in.

The boat came with this little motor. Too bad you can't find parts for it.. Only thing wrong is I need a new water pump impeller and a
new starter ring, the teeth are shaved off.

So I picked up this 40lb thrust minn from cabelas on sale for 138 bucks. BTW it pushes the boat nicely in the water and according to my
cellphone gps, with 2 adults in the boat and all our gear were were doing about 6mph in 5th gear. It trolls at about 1/2mph in 1st gear.

BTW I fixed the leaks in the boat using a epoxy called COAT-IT. I've used steelflex before and this seemed to be abit easier to apply
and is sandable and paintable as well. We will see how it stands up to time and abuse. Ohh and good ole 5200 as well.

However I have a few questions to ask.

1. This boat has no tag. And I haven't gone in to get it registered yet. Previous owner tells me the State guys figured the details out for him
but he can't remember the details.
Anyone know what brand and year it might be?
2. The previous owners put that decking in and underneath the decking is a mix of foam sheet and spray foam.
When we had it on the water it tends to ride high and drift pretty badly. Would you take the foam out? if so would you build flotation boxes
in the boat to compensate?
3. What is the max motor you would put on this guy? Its a 14foot boat and I have the opertunity to trade for a 35hp johnson to put on it,
but I think that may be overkill.
4. Anyone on the forum besides myself in Colorado? Even better Northeastern Colorado. hehe.

Thanks for the forums and all this is a great community.

 

[Jim]

:WELCOME:

nice looking boat!
Hopefully it will be easy for you to register the boat without the paper work. Here in Mass, I wouldn't even attempt it. The loops you have to run through are just not worth it.

I would make sure there is some sort of flotation in the boat no matter what.
Decks are nice, but level floors are cool too.
35HP is probably overkill. Will that transom even hold the weight solidly?

 

[Waterwings]

Nice rig, and Welcome Aboard! 8)

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

I love doing trades. Go ahead and get the 35 if it any good and traded/sell it for a smaller newer motor.

 

[bobberboy]

If you look closely at the current license on the boat you might get some info from it. In MN the license has the manufacturer, year and length printed in tiny letters right on the license. They also do it on our auto licenses. I guess it's a way of insuring the tag has been put on the right vehicle. Anyway, if the boat is currently licensed the state should have this info on record. I got a boat from CO this spring but didn't have to deal with the license until I got it to MN. My partner's dad (Mike) looked into this stuff for me. If you need help, PM me and I'll see if Mike knows anything about it.

 

[rghering]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies.

I'm gona go ahead and trade for the motor, it runs good will toss it up on craigslist tomorrow as I'm picking it up today.

As for the registration papers, apparently in Colorado all you need is a bill of sale with the reg number on it and thats all that is needed
to transfer the boat.

As I stated last night, I did do some teardown of the front decking here are a few pics of of the project for ya.

Cleaned up a bit, need to get the shopvac out and vacuum it out once I remove that last deck board this afternoon.

A couple of pics of my homemade rod holders. I just didn't see anything out there I liked enough and 30 bucks in PVC makes for a
good imagination and alot of fun.

They all coming off to be sanded down , primed and painted today.

A few other misc shots.

And finally if your boats outa the water, you must at least be on the shore :LOL2:
This is North Sterling Reservoir is Sterling Colorado. Only thing I don't like about the lakes around here is the farmers
need the water, so our shorelines all get longer while the water level sinks.
This pic was last month and in 2 days they drained 17 foot outa the lake.

 

[bobberboy]

This is North Sterling Reservoir is Sterling Colorado. Only thing I don't like about the lakes around here is the farmers
need the water, so our shorelines all get longer while the water level sinks. This pic was last month and in 2 days they drained 17 foot outa the lake.

I've done a lot of reading about the history of the West and water is the single most important issue. Two things happened to spur the development of the large scale water projects in the West. First was the Mormon's proof that with irrigation the otherwise arid lands could be made to produce good crops. The second was California, specifically the Central Valley and Los Angeles. The amount of water that is sent into CA from the mountain states is amazing. It's hard for sportsmen and to understand sometimes, but the large lakes that resulted from damming the rivers exist to control floods and contain water, not to benefit boaters and fishermen. NE Colorado is pretty dry and without irrigation the farmers wouldn't survive. The fact that you have a lake to fish on is only a happy result of the need to store water. Lowering the level 17' in 2 days must be really hard on all the wildlife around there and you guys must have some pretty long docks or boat ramps to deal with fluctuations like that.

 

[Howard]

Glad to hear you used Coat-it. I looked hard for a alternative to steelflex and found coat-it the day after I ordered steelflx for my tin. I to will use it next time. Did you try and paint over coat-it yet?

 

[rghering]

I haven't painted over COAT-IT yet, but that will happen this fall/winter when I completely gut the boat and redo it.

My plans currently are limited by budget, I don't want to put too much cash into the boat but I do want it safe and functional.

Plans include:
Full boat teardown to the ribs.
Rewelding of aft and bottom seams. ( they are what caused me to epoxy the hull to begin with.
Fitting of new structural reinforcements. ( The boat give a bit in the center more than I like. I also have access to spare box channel aluminum free.)
Fitting of new decking and flotation foam and sealing the new decking to be water tight.
Building some storage in the boat.
Getting new motor.
Strip the outside of the hull to the bare metal.
re-COAT-IT to the lower hull
paint the entire boat.

GO FISHING..

I've already ordered most the materials I need, just need to get the shop cleaned out for winter.

As for progress there won't be any today lol we got 30 to 50mph winds today and the office's shop doesn't have room yet for the boat.
So I'm not working in the wind..

As for the waters here in Colorado, I'm from the farm community and yes its hard for anglers and wildlife. One Lake south of me by an hour or so
is Bonny Reservoir this summer they drained it nearly to the bottom. But thankfully we had some massive rains down there and it filled itself back up
literally overnight so its now a nice place to fish and boat once again.


Thanks again..

Ryan

 

[rghering]

So yea sorry I haven't updated with any pics in the last dew days, I haven't got much to update, I ordered all the materials as I said the other day for the boat.

My plans appear to have been pushed up a bit, a few buddies what to take a fishing caravan trip in 6 weeks just before the cold sets in here in Colorado.
All together if my boat is ready for water again it will end up being 17 boats and 31 people. They do this every year and its a blast.
This years trip is to Lake Granby https://www.fishexplorer.com/lakedet.asp?lid=2118

As for the boat its coming off the trailer tonight so that I can replace the bunks over the next few days as well as do a few other odds and ends like rewire the trailer.

My motor trade didn't happen, I am still thinking on it. Problem with the trade is the motor is a 1956 Johnson 35 no tiller. No prop. No tank lines.
Just not sure what that motor is worth to trade or sell.

I hope to have some pics tonight to post..

Ryan

 

[Froggy]

Got a nice rig there, good luck.

 

[rghering]

Small update for now. I was supposed to go on a fishing trip this weekend so i didn't bother working on the boat as I needed it water ready. HOWEVER
10 miles outa town the right side hub on the trailer locked up. No damage to the boat or anything but it was hard to get the boat home lol.

New bearing and hubs are ordered. needless to say.

And as side note.. This boat stripped out is still heavy as heck. Its at least a 3 man job to move it safely.

As for the boat since I didn't get to leave yesterday I got up early this morning and proceeded to finish tearing out the boat. I'll have some pics up later
once I get it cleaned up.

Thanks..

Ryan

 

[rghering]

Well the boats stripped of all its baggage other than paint and some odd sealer the previous owner used on the lower decking.

Although I do have a few questions now that its down the the hull only.

As you can see in the pic below the boat is in pretty good shape.

However there are a few things that bother me.
Below is a snap of an area just a few inches from the transom that seems to have been repaired but done badly
you can see the opposite of the repair from the backside of the hull below as well.
What I'd like to know is how would you clean this up.

Also in the images below it looks like I'll need to break out the torch and patch rods and has a few problems in the hull.

Thankfully I've got plenty experience in gas welding aluminum or this would be going to someone else's shop.

The rest of the hull isn't bad just needs some TLC. Yup it looks like I get to put to use those bodyshop class's I took 16 years ago

One last question. Since this boat does not have any ribs how you you strengthen the floor? its awfully flimsy as there is no support.
I was thinking 1 inch box aluminum or 2x2's on the floor staggered to match the existing lines in the bottom.

I'll have a "blueprint" of sorts in a few hours of how I'd like the layout to be once finished.

Thanks again..
Ryan

 

[Howard]

What type of torch and patch rods do you have success with, propane or Mapp maybe?

 

[rghering]

Neither I've used cutting torches since I was a kid, I recently (bout a year ago) picked up one of these.

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200413934_200413934

Its been a life saver for alot of simple uses as its small enough that I don't have to store huge tanks.

I use simple aluminum patch rods plus flux. for welding. Its made out to be very hard but I can tell you from experience from building
everything from race cars to little buggies for my kids its not easy it does take patience and care however you just gota watch your heat and
practice and weld on..

 

[Howard]

Kind of thought you had something other then what I mentioned, oxygen steps it up a notch. I worked at a welding manufacture called ESAB. They had 6 foot hand held torches, not for the light hearted, good luck with your mod!

 

[Ranchero50]

So what are you going to do with it? Sadly it's one of those beer can thin hulls without any ribs from the '50-'70's that work great in ponds with oars but isn't built strong enough to run rivers or chop under much power without falling apart, much less graze a sharp rock...

I honestly don't know if I would spend much money on building it vs. dropping another $1000 for a newer '80's and up hull that can take a decent engine and some decking.

Jamie

 

[rghering]

I agree that its a thin hull, but the wife wants to fish and its the only boat I have so far So I'm gona do a bit of work on it,
so that Its useful for my local ponds, but your right I'm not gona put a ton of cash into it.
I have an idea for some simple ribs that will help out and I'll put the flooring back into it. I already have the materials, and that's worth it to me
to stay on the water. At least I got a nice trailer with the deal.

My neighbor has a nice 16 foot jon that I'm trying to talk him out of its got a center console and all that good stuff.

All else fails save my bucks and hit craigslist.

 

[Ranchero50]

That's really cool, I hate to sounds like a downer. Even using silicone to glue wood ribs in to support a deck would help stiffen it alot.

Jamie

 

[rghering]

Speaking of Craigslist I just looked locally and this was just listed.

https://fortcollins.craigslist.org/boa/1925384006.html

So I just called and will be taking a half day of work tomorrow to go check it out and I might bring it home.

Ryan