Starting first boat mod

Hello everyone, new member here. I have been lookin for a jon boat on a cheap budget. After 2 years and not saving...I found a 1973 Seaking 1432 and a home made trailer for $425.00. I figured this is a good starter boat. I wish I could of found something wider than a 32 for the floor, but from what I have seen they are all at least a grand or more. My father is giving me a 15 hp Eska motor, which I'm thinking may be too heavy for this boat. I have a pond a block from here to do some experimenting. If I find that it's too heavy I'l see if I can trade it for something lighter. I'l post some pics of soon. For now I'm gonna start sanding it down and thinking of a color to paint it. My main concern is having a niCe comfy deck up front. Mostly my 5 year old son and I will be on it. Any ideas would be great. thanks..

Welcome! Look forward to seeing your boat in progress! 15 HP should be fine for your boat. Any boat that gets you on the water (safely) is a good boat. You can always upgrade later on.

ST

Welcome Aboard, and looking forward to seeing your rig! 8)

Well I just took some pics a few minutes ago. I'm pretty pumped!

Nice rig! What are the holders mounted to the front side of the seats? Gonna make a great project boat!

those four things screwed to the seat are cup holders. The previous owner's wife put those on. ehehe. I can't stop talkin about doin this boat. My g/f is callin me a nerd. So joking I told her I should make a docking station on the boat for my laptop and load up some gps ehehe. Yea I just hope a 15 hp motor isn't too heavy for this boat. I am also wondering about the transom being strong enough. Any suggestions?

A docking station! Cool!, lol. Check the transom wood for any rot. Quite a few of the members here have replaced the transom wood, so lots of tips/ideas to assist you there. Not sure about the weight of the motor. Is there a placard/label anywhere on the boat (on the interior of the boat) that states max weight/hp, etc. ?

Thats the issue I'm having. I asked the guy I bought it from and he said he didn't know. He only used an electronic trolling motor on it. And I have looked that boat up and down and I don't see a max hp rating on it. It looks as if the boat has been repainted or painted over. I have tons of brochures on jon boats from tracker, g3 etc...and if you look at the sizes in 14 foot jon boats they offer, there is a huge gap in the max hp rating. tracker says one max hp and g3 says a totally lower max hp on the same length and width boat...

Unfortunately I don't have an answer concerning just how much weight/hp the boat will take, however, there are some "guru's" on here that will assist you the best they can.

A 15 might be to big for that boat, but not that 15. I think you would be alright even with a more powerful 15.

welcome nice boat

Nice boat. Keep us posted on the mod's.


A.C.

I'l keep everyone posted on the progress for sure. Gonna stop and get supplies on the way home from work tomorrow.

Thanks for the info. I'l measure my transom again. I do think it's about 15 but I'l check

As it has registration numbers you should be able to get the manufaturer's name and HIN from the state and then you could look up the HP rating. Just a thought.

jawsh569 said:

I'l keep everyone posted on the progress for sure. Gonna stop and get supplies on the way home from work tomorrow.

Click to expand...

Very good job.That thing would catch flounder here in NC.

A little narrow for my taste for floundering. When we flounder from a boat we are gigging and there are usually 2 people standing up in the bow with 10' gigs.

well I'l tell ya, I have been keeping my eye out for a wider boat. I'm set on a 14 foot boat, I just want one that is wider than 32" . I look at boats every day, and people are awful proud of their boats around here. I saw a 14 ft jon that was in sad shape goin for 1200. For that amount of money I could buy a brand new plain jon at that price..