First time moding a boat....looking for help.

1542 Tracker build.....And I'm just gonna wing it.

Hey guys, I've really been enjoying your forum for the last few months. I'm new to aluminum boats and I now have two to play around with (12 & 15).

I have been fishing in the 1542 at least once a week and I'm ready to make some upgrades in comfort and fishability.

Step one is putting in a floor and decking over my rear seat, to give me a flat surface and a screw in seat mount.

So here are my questions...

1) Do I really need to add foam under the floor, between the ribs?

2) What's the best way to attach the floor

3) I'm thinking of just going with 1/2 exterior plywood (Not marine) what is everyone using to seal it with?

4) What kind of carpet is everyone using?

Thanks in advance for all of your help.

Okay, I went with ridged foam between the ribs, 3/4 inch sanded plywood for the floor with 2 coats of Ploy on each side.

Next question....

Should I screw the floor into the ribs?

If so what kind of screws, sheet metal?

R,

you can get a box of 100 self-tapping stainless screws from a mail order company
such as McMaster-Carr, MSC, Grainger, E-Bay, etc or at your Big Box Stores.
get the correct size to go through the plywood into the braces - but be very careful not to penetrate the hull.
some auto upholstery supply companies also carry them.




.

I got it cut, polyed and carpeted. It fits in there snug.

is there any draw back to keeping it removable?

Have you ever done that or do you always screw it in?

R,

If you leave the plywood loose it won't hold the foam in. The plywood and foam will float away if you swamp the boat.

I have a friend with an old Jon boat. It had a wooden floor screwed to the ribs. Some of the ribs cracked where the screws were that held the flooring in place. Not sure why. The Tracker ribs are not very tall, as compared to say an Alumacraft, so you must be careful not to drill thru the hull. There are depth stops, think of a collar with a set screw that can be put on the drill bit to control depth. I think that rather than drilling the ribs, put a piece of aluminum angle on each end of the plywood with the vertical side of the angle facing up. Then screw this into the seats vertical surface at the bottom. This is doable, since the tracker seats go all the way to the hull bottom, are riveted to the floor and form another rib of sorts. This way, no new holes in ribs or hull.

Agreed with Ipaddle. I am planning on doing it that way in my boat, benches can have all kinds of holes without creating any other issues.

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