akbejeepin
Active member
I post some pics the other day of my in the mods/conversions forum and I am just getting around to asking this.
I started out with a Lowe 1436 and ran into a good bargain on this Topper 15 with galv trailer, so I bought it I noticed a pretty big difference between the way those boats were built...lowe appeared better. The area of concern I have is with the floor. The rivet floor braces the run sideways are only on the floor on my topper and do not turn up the side like most jon boats including the lowe. In addition the ribs are probably 1" high by 1" wide. Most other boats I have seen have 1.5" to 2" ribs.
I took the boat out this weekend on a relatively calm day and when I hit anything other than smooth water you could see the floor flex. My main concern is on the front at the welded seem between the floor and sides. This is where any chop would impact the boat. Since the ribs dont turn up the sides and are not riveted to the sides, all of the stress of the impact and flexing is taken up by the welds there. I did notice that the design changed in 2015 with the braces being riveted to the sides now.
Has anybody had an issue at that seem that you guys have heard of?
Anybody abused the same boat I am describing and have a report on the durability?
General thoughts and opinions?
I started out with a Lowe 1436 and ran into a good bargain on this Topper 15 with galv trailer, so I bought it I noticed a pretty big difference between the way those boats were built...lowe appeared better. The area of concern I have is with the floor. The rivet floor braces the run sideways are only on the floor on my topper and do not turn up the side like most jon boats including the lowe. In addition the ribs are probably 1" high by 1" wide. Most other boats I have seen have 1.5" to 2" ribs.
I took the boat out this weekend on a relatively calm day and when I hit anything other than smooth water you could see the floor flex. My main concern is on the front at the welded seem between the floor and sides. This is where any chop would impact the boat. Since the ribs dont turn up the sides and are not riveted to the sides, all of the stress of the impact and flexing is taken up by the welds there. I did notice that the design changed in 2015 with the braces being riveted to the sides now.
Has anybody had an issue at that seem that you guys have heard of?
Anybody abused the same boat I am describing and have a report on the durability?
General thoughts and opinions?