Decking On Top of Benches

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MrGiggles

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Springfield, MO
I've got a 14' Alumacraft F7. It's 50" wide in the rear.

It's got 3 full benches and a front step. I would love to open up the floor, but removing the middle bench opens up a whole new can of worms as far as structure goes, and I don't want to dig into that.

I'm thinking about just laying a deck across the front two benches and step. This would give me quite a bit of storage, and the ability to add a livewell, which I cannot do now without making the boat impossible to walk through. It's already cluttered enough now with one storage bin, a cooler, the gas tank, and battery.

I think the carpeted wood would also add quite a bit of sound dampening, which is very desirable to me, since moving around in the boat now is next to impossible without making a racket.

I can't help but wonder about the stability. I've stood on top of the benches in the water and it feels pretty stable.

There is also the option of adding a floor that's a few inches lower than the top of the benches, but I'm not sure how well that would work. Anyone done this before?
 
i did it with aluminnum & loved it

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I've spent enough time in the boat now that I don't think going on top of the benches is going to be a good idea. It's just not stable enough, and I don't swim well.

I will probably do a floor that is 4-6 inches higher than the hull and fastened to the bottom of the benches, to make the boat easier to walk through and quieter.
 
Yup, 14 isn't big enough to deck up that high. My 14 Grizzly was stable but not that stable to where I would deck it. That and the extra weight wasn't going to be safe.
 
your call, i feel like the 1436 is already tippy whether i'm standing on the bench or the floor makes no difference, & that didn't change when i decked it.
 

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