Gas tank and battery location and tiedown?

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zuren

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I have a 14', 1974 Smokercraft with a 9.9 Merc 2-stroke (tiller) that I recently acquired from my father. Over the years, he tried different approaches to secure the battery and gas tank in the space between the rear bench seat and the transom but nothing lasted long.

I'm 175 lbs. and will typically be fishing by myself until my boys are older. In the interest of better weight distribution to get on plane quicker, would I be wise to consider moving the battery and maybe the fuel tank forward? I would be interested in seeing people's setups for a 14' boat.

If I'm better off leaving everything behind the back seat, what solutions have others come up with to keep the tank and battery from bouncing and sliding? My dad did something with wood before; it was quickly beat to smithereens and tossed. I was considering something with aluminum angle that is either riveted or brazed together.

Thanks!
 
BATTERY - I took some angle aluminum & riveted it to the ribs in the port-side rear stern. I then took a piece of $8 plastic cutting board from Walmart and made a simple tray to hold the battery in a battery box. Note it also helped ‘equalize the trim’ somewhat, with me sitting on the starboard side of the boat.

FUEL - Even though a 40hp, I switched it to be 3/8” Lines and fittings and used a long enough fuel line that I could put the fuel tank all the way up towards the bow when running alone. See the pictures attached, even though this shows my 16’ mods. But I place the battery in the same place on all the skiffs I may outfit.

I never ended up removing the middle seat as my plan shows. And in the real picture of the boat, the tank was moved back to the port-side because we had the fishing cooler way up the bow. Being able to move your fuel tank around to help ‘set or adjust trim’, is a blessing IMHO.

I will say on most 14’ and smaller skiffs without any power trim, I always ran a fin or foil off the outboard lower unit. The SE Sport SE 200 is about the best you can buy. It stopped all porpoising, helps the boat plane faster, stays on plane at slower speed and greatly improves tracking & safety! Richg99 on here, has had great luck with Smart Tabs. But I personally wouldn’t use them on any boat with tides or heavy currents
 

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zuren said:
I have a 14', 1974 Smokercraft with a 9.9 Merc 2-stroke (tiller) that I recently acquired from my father. Over the years, he tried different approaches to secure the battery and gas tank in the space between the rear bench seat and the transom but nothing lasted long.

I'm 175 lbs. and will typically be fishing by myself until my boys are older. In the interest of better weight distribution to get on plane quicker, would I be wise to consider moving the battery and maybe the fuel tank forward? I would be interested in seeing people's setups for a 14' boat.

If I'm better off leaving everything behind the back seat, what solutions have others come up with to keep the tank and battery from bouncing and sliding? My dad did something with wood before; it was quickly beat to smithereens and tossed. I was considering something with aluminum angle that is either riveted or brazed together.

Thanks!

If you have the original floor showing in your boat you could try what I did. My boat has ribs along the bottom with an opening at either side and I took a ratchet strap and wrapped the battery and snugged it up against the seat and secured the ratchet strap hooks to each side of the floor rib. (I'll try and find a picture). It holds the battery perfectly in place and that way you have the option to try different locations in the boat in case you don't like your first choice.
 

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