Planning My First Boat! I Need Your Help and Ideas Come See!

[SasquatchBunny]

The boat I am planning to modify is the 2014 TRACKER® Topper 1542 LW Riveted Jon. My understanding is that a modified 15' Jon should still have a light enough footprint to operate in semi shallow river conditions. I am planning on building the casting deck frames, and rod storage frame out of aluminum riveted together. For carpet I plan on using marine grade for longevity and quality. There is already a nice livewell so that area is sorta done. I'm planning on getting a new or used foot controlled trolling motor and an outboard motor 9.9hp or less. Something that immediately strikes me in trolling motor decision making is the shaft length (already figure a 44lb thrust is the most I would need). I do not want it to be too long, but also want it to get traction. This boat will most likely encounter around 2 ft waters at times while trolling and it can get quite windy in the Midwest.

Like many personal projects, many special circumstances come into play when deciding what is right for the boat. So as a little backstory to maybe help your suggestions I can tell you the kind of fishing this boat would be considered: The Kankakee River IL, Lake Wisconsin, Lake Geneva IL, perhaps light harbor fishing in protected water on lake Michigan, Wisconsin River, Lake Delavan WI. I would like this boat to be able to fish anything in the waters it is suitable for. It is very likely we will see Musky landed in the boat (lots of great lakes around here).

Thanks for reading and even more thanks for any suggestions or feedback you may have. Feel free to be as blunt as you need to be. I'm here to learn :LOL2:

 

[SasquatchBunny]

Please. I need help

bump

 

[ccm]

you were wondering about shaft length. I wouldn't go over 45 in. in length for your flat bottom. I originally had an old Minnkota with a 48 in. shaft and it was to long ( mount was crappy & beat up too ) so I put an old MotorGuide Brute with a 42 in. shaft + a Gator II mount. I had & still have this on my 14ft shallow V Arkansas Traveler boat. For your boat with it's shallow draft I think somewhere between 40 & 45 inches would be just right. As far as thrust goes on trolling motors get the most powerful one that you can afford/fits in your budget along with the batteries. 44/45lbs of thrust sounds about right for your boat I run a 45lb thrust on my boat but I still want more power. I found myself in a situation last fall where a major cold front blew in earlier than expected ( darn weatherman was wrong :x ) and when 30mph down drafts hit the lake my trolling motor wouldn't pull me out of a small cove & I nearly got swamped. Trust me 3ft waves in a 14ft boat is scary but I made it back without even turning on the bilge pump. In my opinion you can never have to much power on the front of your boat; never know when your going to need it. I know you said that you were going to fish some rivers and a powerful trolling motor can mean the difference between making it home or spending the night on the river if your outboard motor fails/hit submerged object or you run out of gas ( hey crap happens no one is immune ). Sorry about the rant/story just trying to offer some insight to a situation/situations that can happen to anyone.

 

[typed by ben]

i like your layout and love that you have a plan. just know that once you get into the fabrication phase, the plan is likely to change. im building a boat right now, and its taken over a year working here and there and in maybe 1/3 done. i ran into some issues with the same things you want to install on your boat. if you want to have a look, click the link in my signature.

do you have experience with metal fabrication? any plan on what type of material and what thickness?

ever tried to pull a straight line on one of these types of boats? symmetry and geometry are not going to work in your favor because each aluminum boat is like a special snowflake on the inside.

1. front anchor storage compartment is going to be funny. it interferes partially with the little tiny deck they put in at the factory, and that area is extremely shallow to boot. it might work for a PFD or rope or a couple of plano trays or what have you.

2. you may want to kick that trolling motor mount over to one side or the other. that space up front gets eaten up quick, especially if you mount it at an angle.

3. the rod locker: great idea. the gunwales of aluminum boats have ever so slight compound curves, and that can be challenging for even an experienced sheet metal guy to match. you also are going to end up either cutting out or boring through the benches to get the full 8' length.

4. batteries. if youre using a trolling motor in the front but not ever the rear, you may want to consider mounting your batteries in the front. that keeps your wire runs shorter (cheaper!) and cuts down on voltage drop from a high amperage low voltage current application. it also helps distribute weight in the boat. if you put batteries, a tank of fuel, an outboard, and two guys in the back of a boat you may find it hard to get on plane.

ive had a TON of fun building my boat and i think you will too. excited to read updates about this one.

 

[SasquatchBunny]

ccm » 04 Apr 2014, 00:32[/url]"]you were wondering about shaft length. I wouldn't go over 45 in. in length for your flat bottom. I originally had an old Minnkota with a 48 in. shaft and it was to long ( mount was crappy & beat up too ) so I put an old MotorGuide Brute with a 42 in. shaft + a Gator II mount. I had & still have this on my 14ft shallow V Arkansas Traveler boat. For your boat with it's shallow draft I think somewhere between 40 & 45 inches would be just right. As far as thrust goes on trolling motors get the most powerful one that you can afford/fits in your budget along with the batteries. 44/45lbs of thrust sounds about right for your boat I run a 45lb thrust on my boat but I still want more power. I found myself in a situation last fall where a major cold front blew in earlier than expected ( darn weatherman was wrong :x ) and when 30mph down drafts hit the lake my trolling motor wouldn't pull me out of a small cove & I nearly got swamped. Trust me 3ft waves in a 14ft boat is scary but I made it back without even turning on the bilge pump. In my opinion you can never have to much power on the front of your boat; never know when your going to need it. I know you said that you were going to fish some rivers and a powerful trolling motor can mean the difference between making it home or spending the night on the river if your outboard motor fails/hit submerged object or you run out of gas ( hey crap happens no one is immune ). Sorry about the rant/story just trying to offer some insight to a situation/situations that can happen to anyone.

excellent suggestions! I will check into those trolling motors

 

[SasquatchBunny]

typed by ben » 04 Apr 2014, 10:29[/url]"]i like your layout and love that you have a plan. just know that once you get into the fabrication phase, the plan is likely to change. im building a boat right now, and its taken over a year working here and there and in maybe 1/3 done. i ran into some issues with the same things you want to install on your boat. if you want to have a look, click the link in my signature.

do you have experience with metal fabrication? any plan on what type of material and what thickness?

ever tried to pull a straight line on one of these types of boats? symmetry and geometry are not going to work in your favor because each aluminum boat is like a special snowflake on the inside.

1. front anchor storage compartment is going to be funny. it interferes partially with the little tiny deck they put in at the factory, and that area is extremely shallow to boot. it might work for a PFD or rope or a couple of plano trays or what have you.

2. you may want to kick that trolling motor mount over to one side or the other. that space up front gets eaten up quick, especially if you mount it at an angle.

3. the rod locker: great idea. the gunwales of aluminum boats have ever so slight compound curves, and that can be challenging for even an experienced sheet metal guy to match. you also are going to end up either cutting out or boring through the benches to get the full 8' length.

4. batteries. if youre using a trolling motor in the front but not ever the rear, you may want to consider mounting your batteries in the front. that keeps your wire runs shorter (cheaper!) and cuts down on voltage drop from a high amperage low voltage current application. it also helps distribute weight in the boat. if you put batteries, a tank of fuel, an outboard, and two guys in the back of a boat you may find it hard to get on plane.

ive had a TON of fun building my boat and i think you will too. excited to read updates about this one.

Thankyou for your suggestions! I have very little experience admittedly, but I plan to build the frame out of aluminum. As for the specs on aluminum I plan on using, I think the materials you used in your build are the same I will use. As far as tools go what should I need aside from the normal tools every household has. You seem to have quite a bit of skill and know how. I don't want to build a creaky piece of junk

 

[typed by ben]

SasquatchBunny » Yesterday, 21:26[/url]"]


Thankyou for your suggestions! I have very little experience admittedly, but I plan to build the frame out of aluminum. As for the specs on aluminum I plan on using, I think the materials you used in your build are the same I will use. As far as tools go what should I need aside from the normal tools every household has. You seem to have quite a bit of skill and know how. I don't want to build a creaky piece of junk

i picked what i used because it was easily available. if i had to go back i would without a doubt bump my tube wall thickness up to .125, even though its considerably more expensive. you wont want to use anything thinner than that if youre riveting/bolting. if you use the .050 wall tubing you will crush it when you tighten your fasteners!