Making a one-man jon removing center seat

Hi Folks,
I want to make a one man jon boat.
I have a 1448 Lowe on a trailer already that I use for bigger water. Now I want a boat just for pond fishing with electric motor only. I am looking at Alumacraft 1036. I am thinking about removing the center seat and putting in a pedistal seat just ahead of the back bench seat for better balance while fishing by myself. Anybody had any experience doing this themselves? A friend suggested I should just get a bass hunter pontoon style boat then I can move seat where ever I want for balance, but I have always been a jon boat man. Any suggestions? Will removing seat mess up the integrity of the hull? Anybody done something like this and have pictures? Thanks

If the ribs don't go up the sides of the hull don't remove the seat.

No pics, but I cut the middle bench out of Grumman 1437 with no integrity issues. This is with a Johnson 25 HP pushing it about 30 MPH. Kept it this way for almost 20 years.


Wait, found some:

I don't think there's much doubt that it will be weaker without the middle seat, but I'm guessing your concern is will it be "too" weak. If you were going to be pushing it with a 15-20 horse motor there might be a bit of risk, but since you only plan on pushing it with electric, I don't think you will notice any structural issues. My boat is a 15/38 and it has no bench seats in it. It came with 2 pedestal seats (1 front/1 rear, and a small front deck). And the only side bracing it had was some small (about 10-12" long) braces that tied the bottom to the sides. During the rebuild I once ran the boat up the river with nothing but a gutted bare hull. And by bare, I mean not even the side braces were in it and I was sitting on a 5 gal bucket to drive. Under full power (75 model 20hp merc at the time) I could see the sides flex slightly at times (high winds n heavy chop), but that's the only time I've ever seen any strength issues.