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nlester

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 17, 2012
Messages
372
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1
Location
North Central Texas


I go out with friends a lot but I wanted something to use to fish on my own. It had to fit in the garage with the car. I wound up with a 1986 10' Sear's Gamefisher, modifed V Hull. I did not want anything fancy so I only made changes for convience and functionality. It looks pretty crowded in the pictures but I don't take all this stuff with me all the time. I decide what I go for and load accordingly.



My trailer is a 12' galvinized Sportsman, made for a small jet ski or jon boat, $125. I had to do minor repairs add a support for the bow, plastic pads,on the bunks, guide ons, a spare tire and reflectors all around for additional visability when is parked in the dark.




I use slatted floor boards because the are light weight, quick to make or repair and I can remove them easily for cleaning. The battery is under the raised bow. Note: the shade is from my seat umbrella that rotates 360 degrees around the seat. I have a small beach umbrella that fits in the holder when the sun is really brutial. I use the raised bow for a foot rest when I am using the 10" seat post.



I have a seat with a short post that I use if I am going to fish from the stern or go a long distance or it is a little rougher than normal. A few days, I have steered home kneeling in the floor boards.



I fiberglassed the wood on my motor mount and transucer mount adding 3 coats of resin.

I cut wedges of rubber and glued them to my trolling motor to act as fillers so that I could clamp my trolling motor to my bow. I run my trolling motor on high most of the time and use a foot switch to get the maximum time from my battery.



The next thing I need to do is make a rudder that I can clamp on the stern when don't want to take the Mercury outboard. The boat crab walks sideway using the trolling motor without the outboard in the water to act as a rudder.

I have a 2 wheeled trolly for when I want to strip the boat down and take it across country as a plan old jon boat. Then I fasten the oars to the sides using eye bolts with bunge cords.

The handiest tip I have from all this is to customize your ratchet tiedown straps. Cut them to size. Put the ratchets where they are easy to use and sew them back together. Don't fight them because they are in an inconvient spot. Position the ratchs where you want them and they are easy to use.


 
I like how you put the oars outside of the boat. I have a 12' a lot like yours, and I am constantly trying to figure out how to maximize my space. That's what I call thinking outside the box. or should I say boat :)
 
I use my oars for backup if I am just taking the outboard without the trolling motor. Remember to pull your oars into the boat if you are tryhing to power load onto the trailer in a strong side wind.
 
That is a sweet setup...nice and small. What size motor is on it. It looks large for the boat. I assume its a 4 stroke is why its that big.
 
nlester said:


I go out with friends a lot but I wanted something to use to fish on my own. It had to fit in the garage with the car. I wound up with a 1986 10' Sear's Gamefisher, modifed V Hull. I did not want anything fancy so I only made changes for convience and functionality. It looks pretty crowded in the pictures but I don't take all this stuff with me all the time. I decide what I go for and load accordingly.



My trailer is a 12' galvinized Sportsman, made for a small jet ski or jon boat, $125. I had to do minor repairs add a support for the bow, plastic pads,on the bunks, guide ons, a spare tire and reflectors all around for additional visability when is parked in the dark.




I use slatted floor boards because the are light weight, quick to make or repair and I can remove them easily for cleaning. The battery is under the raised bow. Note: the shade is from my seat umbrella that rotates 360 degrees around the seat. I have a small beach umbrella that fits in the holder when the sun is really brutial. I use the raised bow for a foot rest when I am using the 10" seat post.



I have a seat with a short post that I use if I am going to fish from the stern or go a long distance or it is a little rougher than normal. A few days, I have steered home kneeling in the floor boards.



I fiberglassed the wood on my motor mount and transucer mount adding 3 coats of resin.

I cut wedges of rubber and glued them to my trolling motor to act as fillers so that I could clamp my trolling motor to my bow. I run my trolling motor on high most of the time and use a foot switch to get the maximum time from my battery.



The next thing I need to do is make a rudder that I can clamp on the stern when don't want to take the Mercury outboard. The boat crab walks sideway using the trolling motor without the outboard in the water to act as a rudder.

I have a 2 wheeled trolly for when I want to strip the boat down and take it across country as a plan old jon boat. Then I fasten the oars to the sides using eye bolts with bunge cords.

The handiest tip I have from all this is to customize your ratchet tiedown straps. Cut them to size. Put the ratchets where they are easy to use and sew them back together. Don't fight them because they are in an inconvient spot. Position the ratchs where you want them and they are easy to use.



Nice setup. Can you tell us more about the slatted floor? What type and thickness of wood, how you built it, sealed it, etc. Thanks.
 
Thanks - it is usually a lot plainer than it looks here because I don't have everything on it at one time. I pick and choose what I need for the day. One thing I did was get rid of the 7" seat post in the front. I did not realize how unstabile little semi-v s were at the bow.

This winter, I would like to add floatation to the bow and get rid of the center bench seat to make it easier to move from the stern to the center seat. I would also like to clean up the seating in the stern but that is a maybe. Most of the rest, I will improve as it rots out but I will try to keep it simple. I like having everything removeable except the foam. I have seen some good ideas here.

One of the best changes that I have made is to keep the oars at home and use a yak paddle from the center seat for positioning when I just have the outboard and leave the electric at home.

I really do like the simplicy of the following boat mod. I would keep most my ideas but I like how he took out the center seat and rearranged the rear seating.

https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=26991
 
I really like the layout. With everything on it, it resembles a one man band: kind of busy looking, but everything has a purpose and a place. Looks like a fun little boat.
 
nlester said:
Thanks - it is usually a lot plainer than it looks here because I don't have everything on it at one time. I pick and choose what I need for the day. One thing I did was get rid of the 7" seat post in the front. I did not realize how unstabile little semi-v s were at the bow.

This winter, I would like to add floatation to the bow and get rid of the center bench seat to make it easier to move from the stern to the center seat. I would also like to clean up the seating in the stern but that is a maybe. Most of the rest, I will improve as it rots out but I will try to keep it simple. I like having everything removeable except the foam. I have seen some good ideas here.

One of the best changes that I have made is to keep the oars at home and use a yak paddle from the center seat for positioning when I just have the outboard and leave the electric at home.

nlester, can you tell us about the slat flooring? What type of wood, thickness, how you built it, etc? Thanks
 
Hi Andy, don't you have the 12' version of the same boat. I took a bunch of pictures and I thought that I had responded to you when you ask originally. I got tired of my gear getting wet in the bottom of the boat so I knock the floor and shelf out in about 2 hours. Next time I will do better. The pictures are still on Photobucket and you know I always respond in overkill so here is a description first.

I cut a bunch of wooden slates from a 2x6 , 1 1/2" wide and 3/8" thick. I wanted to keep the floor as low as possible, so I cut card board patterns to follow the bottom of the boat and then cut wooden stringers that would follow the coutour of the boat bottom. The ends of the slats rest on the sides of the boat so I cut the stringers so that I could run a slat across the boat and the ends would rest on the sides of the boat while the centers rested on the stringers that sat on the bottom of the boat simuliar to floor joist. The stringers ran from 3/4" thick to about 1 1/4" thick. I cut the slats for length and stapled them to the stringers. I left them rough cut for traction.

I also buit a wooden deck for the bow. The back of the deck fits into a groove along the side of the boat while the front has a grove that goes under the front seat of the boat. It is held in place by bunge cords. I have stood on the deck when necessary.

The photos are in Photobucket so if you click on them they will enlarge.
It looks really flimsy here but the ends of the slats will rest on the metal boat floor and the stringers rest on the bottom of the boat. There is no give to the floor when you are standing on it.



I did not try to get fancy, I just cut the slats so that the ends were tight against the floor of the boat and on top of the stringers were resting on the floor. The whole floor is removeable.



I did the same thing for a floor in the bow and again at the transom. I did not floor under the seats. Note the bungee cord hooks coming up from under the front of the front seat. The wooden notch that you see exposed would normally hook under the aluminum front seat.



The bungee cords hook on the front of the bow seat and tension holds the whole thing together.



The front of the bow shelf has a grove that goes around the bottom of the back of the front seat and locks the front of the shelf in place.



The board under the back of the shelf is cut to fit the side of the boat.



The bottom of the support board on the back of the shelf has a little tab that fits into the grove of the boat.



The shelf is strong enough that I fell confortable using it as a step to get on the dock. I would not use it to step into the boat because preassure toward the back of the shelf could stretch the bungee cords and the shelf would drop. I use the shelf for my sonar, tackle and a foot stool when I am fishing.

I like the removeable floors and shelf so that I can strip them out to lighten the boat when necessary.
 

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