my new to me grizzly tracker 1448

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Good Ol Sarge

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hi everyone,im brand new here. just wanted to show some pics of my first boat. i pieced it together over the long winter. everything i got was off craigslist.
first i picked up the 2007 grizzly tracker 1448 for about 1000 bucks. then i purchased a new trailer from a marina. my motor is a 2005 Johnson 15hp 2 stroke.the boat itself is in great shape, few scratches but nothing major. the guy i bought it from had installed a wood floor because the 2007 model didnt come with the aluminum floor. it was a little ruff, uneven and kind of high, it was partially covering the storage compartment under the front deck. plus i really didnt like the way the green turf rug looked! i replaced the floor with 4 smaller beams and a 3/4 pressure treated piece of plywood. now the floor sits just under the compartment and it looks pretty good with the new marine carpet i put down.i was actually thinking about replacing the wood beams with some sheets of foam insulation to cut back on some weight. does anyone have experience or advice for that? i thank everyone in advance for any input!IMG_0263.JPGIMG_0311.JPGIMG_0572.JPGIMG_0579.JPGIMG_0620.JPGIMG_0443.JPGIMG_0445.JPG
 
i also added new seats and a bow mount minn kota power drive v2 50lb thrust.
 

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here is the first fish caught in the new "yacht", an 18 inch brook trout
 

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just found out that pressure treated ply wood is not good for the aluminum, well im headed out to remove the pt floor. should i just use regular plywood or are there any cheap alternatives ? thanks!
 
I read your first post and it sounded like you took out the pressure treated lumber.
I would of mentioned not to use pressure treated...sorry.
Most people here use reg. plywood with some type of waterproofing painted on.
Nice brookie and boat.
 
Zum said:
I read your first post and it sounded like you took out the pressure treated lumber.
I would of mentioned not to use pressure treated...sorry.
Most people here use reg. plywood with some type of waterproofing painted on.
Nice brookie and boat.

thanks Zum, yea i just pulled it out, and i rinsed the floor of the boat out.do you think i need to do anything else to where the pt wood touched the aluminum? ill probably just do the regular ply wood and paint.
anybody recommend any certain paint i should use to coat the regular plywood?

thanks!
 
Sarge, I've replied previously on your other post in the conversion section, but I'll add addtional posts to the boat house post. Didn't mean to freak you out with the PT wood, you'll probably be fine if you leave it in. Over time though, PT will cause pitting in the aluminum. But, if you are going to replace, might as well put in some foam between the ribs. I've used the blue board foam and it has worked fine, does not hod water, adds strength between the ribs and quiets things down a bit. Very nice boat you have, bet it's plenty stable on the water.
 
Good Ol Sarge said:
any certain paint i should use to coat the regular plywood

Sarge, i just used the left over oil based paint that I used on my hull to paint mine, I also have coated some decks with spar urethane, both have worked fine.
 
Ictalurus said:
Sarge, I've replied previously on your other post in the conversion section, but I'll add addtional posts to the boat house post. Didn't mean to freak you out with the PT wood, you'll probably be fine if you leave it in. Over time though, PT will cause pitting in the aluminum. But, if you are going to replace, might as well put in some foam between the ribs. I've used the blue board foam and it has worked fine, does not hod water, adds strength between the ribs and quiets things down a bit. Very nice boat you have, bet it's plenty stable on the water.

yea i fugured i was in the wrong area with that first post, so i moved it here. im gonna remove that post shortly.
i looked up the pt wood and lots of people said no good. thanks for the heads up. i love that boat , perfect size and very stable. i just took the wood out.haha. ill replace and try the foam.
i want to prevent any headaches down the road. the old lady would kill me if i had to spend more money on boats!

thanks again
 
Does anybody know if there Is a certain type of foam I should look for to put under the wood floor? Home d has a thick pink and a green insulation foam. Are there any specific that doesn't absorb water? Or do they all act the same? Just want to get your guys input before I waste my money again like I did with the pressure treated wood in the aluminum boat. I'm new to all this boating stuff so any advice is greatly appreciated!
 
You can put some type of barrier between the PT wood and the boat. If your floor lays on top of your ribs you can just put something down on top to keep them from touching. It will be easier than replacing your floor decking.
 
Good Ol Sarge said:
Does anybody know if there Is a certain type of foam I should look for to put under the wood floor? Home d has a thick pink and a green insulation foam. Are there any specific that doesn't absorb water? Or do they all act the same? Just want to get your guys input before I waste my money again like I did with the pressure treated wood in the aluminum boat. I'm new to all this boating stuff so any advice is greatly appreciated!

Sarge, you want closed cell foam. I believe the pink and blue boards from HD or Lowes will do the trick, someone please chime in if this is untrue.
 
The pink stuff from HD is closed cell. If you can stack them 2 high between the ribs they should be just about even with the tops of the ribs. The foam will support wood, aluminum, or whatever you choose to use for flooring between the ribs. Plus it will keep the boat quiet and absorb vibration. I used 15/32nds Plywood and its just right. Not as thin as 1/4" and not as heavy and hard to work with as the 3/4". Just right!

Make sure to seal the plywood with spar urethane. I used the minwax "helmsman" spray cans. 3 coats, paying special attention to the edges and places where cuts were made. I then put one more coat on once everything was assembled. Then a couple coats of OD green paint.
 
Not sure if you are planning to secure the floor to the boat or not? Most guys dont bother with it because you don't really need to. But... I used industrial velcro from HD to hold mine down Just in case.

The velcro I used is 2" wide and came in 15 feet length its adhesive on both sides. I put a 2x4 strip on each rib about an inch inboard from the side of the boat. Then another strip on each rib in the center. Then I velcro'd the fuzzy side down to the sticky ones I stuck to the ribs. When I was ready to install the floor I peeled off the backing to expose the adhesive and layed the plywood floor on it.

Let me tell you its on there good! I had to pull up the front piece under my front deck to run some wire and I needed help to get it off. It secures it down really good and secure.

Best part of it is that its Cheap and you can always replace it, or add more if needed. If you pull up your floor for any reason you may pull up the velcro as well because the velcro is stronger than the adhesive is sometimes.

Most importantly you don't need to drill or screw anything into your hull. I did it just because in my experience with plywood it likes to curl up when it gets wet or sits in the sun. Not when its held down tight though.

I even used it to hold down my front deck. Its screwed into the floor in the rear of the front deck but up front where it rests on the front seat, Its held down with about 6 feet of 1" wide velcro on all surfaces that meet the front deck
IMG-20110206-00054.jpg
 
The velcro idea is brilliant.

I also think that the velcro and waterproof adhesive would make a barrier between your ribs and the floor decking allowing the use of pressure treated plywood.

Does the velcro hold securely enough for the foam under the floor deck to supply flotation or would it all just float away if the boat sinks?
 
I would say yes, it would be secure enough to keep the wood floor from floating away. and provide floatation in the event I got swamped. I also applied 4 small squares of velcro to the foam boards to stick them to the hull. The foam boards are stacked 2 high and are glued together with gorilla glue. My front floor is velcro'd down and the front deck is screwed to the floor using the galvanized angle attachment fasteners. The mid deck is done the same way and my side console is bolted to the side of the hull and screwed into the floor. The wood bench that my seats are mounted to is also screwed to the floor.

With all that velcro it aint going anywhere. I used to have a rear deck that was made of wood and was wedged under the rear corners of the boat and velcro'd down as well but it was too heavy so I removed it. here is the link to my build.

https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=17299&hilit=swamp+sled
 
thanks for the help guys! i checked out hd and they had the pink foam at 1.5 thickness, the same as the wooden beams i used before. so i think ill do that today or tomorrow.
 
Don't throw away the piece you already have carpet on, just put it on top of the new plywood you are putting down now, that's what I did. Just makes it less noisy and gives it a better ride also. Then you can velcro or screw it down to the other on the bottom, jus' sayin'
 

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