Tracker 17-TX Questions

My new project boat is a 1990 Tracker TX-17 Tournament boat with a 50 HP Evinrude outboard, and a galvanized EZ Loader trailer. The previous owner bought it and discovered that the plywood was soft, so he pulled it out. But everything seems to be there, so I'm happy.

Here are pictures:




I have read a number of TX rebuild threads, including Derek's, BYOB's, Cooter's and MMF's.

After reading these four from start to finish, I have a few things I need to figure out before starting...

Decking
1. Do I go with Ecolife treated wood that is rated for direct contact with aluminum, including wet locations?
2. Do I use untreated plywood and soak it down with many layers of urethane or other protectant?
3. Do I install the carpet to the plywood before screwing it down, or after?
4. How much is aluminum sheeting? Can I afford it?

Layout
1. Do I keep the original front layout, with the rod tubes?
2. Or do I change the front layout completely, adding storage?
3. Should I add hatches to the front section, which currently has DRY original foam. (which seems rare)

Right now, I'm unsure of everything. But in the back of my mind, I'm thinking, "worst-case, I'll slap in two pieces of Ecolife ply, put it back together quickly, and install carpet and call it a day.

Does anyone have any thoughts, suggestions or opinions?

I am all ears, and will listen to anything you have to say.

Thanks!

-Tony

It looks like you got a good boat to start with. As far as the layout, those things can only be answered by you, as you will be in it, and accessing the storage areas more than anyone, so conform it to what you think will do you the best.

I like the layout of the current setup. It seems like theynused most of the areas, while keeping other areas unaccessable for safety.

Good luck on the project. Spring is coming, and the fish will be biting soon.

Thanks for the reply, Ketchup. Yes, reading all the rebuild threads has me thinking.

From what I'm seeing on other TX builds, buying 1 or 2 waterproof hatches makes use of the front area which is totally sealed off, besides the rod tubes. That makes sense to me, as that is a lot of potential storage that is not being used:



So I think I have my plan, now. I plan to rebuild it as it was originally, and then add a hatch later. After doing the research, I bought the 3/4 Ecolife plywood and new carpet today. I plan to get this done quickly, hopefully, within 2 weeks, but we will have to see how that works out!

Thanks again.

-TH

That's a nice boat for a project. Personally I don't like rug because it holds water and is harder to clean. I like as much room down in the boat as I can get so I have a small deck in back and no ply deck in front. I notice the foam in your whip doesn't fill the cavity so you could shrink that space and add foam to what's left to make up the floatation. Depends on what you want.
Rug does make a quieter boat as aluminum is fairly noisy.
My rear deck is 3/8" BCX ply with green poxy. If I did it again I'd use polyester resin.

Rabbit,
I've decided to just go back with the original design. I bought two sheets of the EcoLife ply, rated for contact with aluminum, and have cut and installed it. Here is a pic from earlier today, after I screwed down all the new ply:



See full details in the mod forum.

-TH