wood!!

i was wondering what kinda wood most of you guys use for your decks on your jon boat mods "i would like to use something light but sturdy" i am gettin a lowe big jon in 3 weeks and would like to have everything ready for the boat when it gets here..thanks ahead of time..

3/4 inch plywood.Don't used treated plywood.It causes galvanic corrosion because of the chemicals.Most use 2x2 for bracing.

well thank you for the quick reply i see that you help alot of people on here even though i just joined minutes ago ive been doing alot of reading and just thought hey might as well sign up and make some friends cause im sure i will need help.... THANKS ALOT!!

You're welcome.I try to help were I can.

Wood = weight and future rot. About the only thing you can do is treat the wood to delay the rot. Marine plywood is best due to the fact that it is glued and pressed with waterproof glue, and usually has a quality wood used in the manufacturing of it. That said, Marine plywood is also very expensive. If you buy a decent 3/4" BC plywood and treat it to seal as good as possible, it should give you years of service. Especially if you keep a cover over your boat, or keep it garaged when not in use. If at all possible, try to use aluminum for any interior support bracing. It's lighter, and does not rot. 2 x 2's, 2 x 4's will work just fine, but will add a lot of weight which will slow down your rig. It's a matter of budget, tools and knowledge that should make your decision. Either will work fine. Make sure you use all weather type fasteners when putting it all together.

I used 3/4" exterior non treated plywood as well... you can get by with 5/8, but it really depends on your weight... I think it would be safest and most beneficial to go with 3/4" and seal it with a few coats of whatever you use - I had some deck stain (sealing and waterproof) left over from my decks that I used to coat my wood

I did a lot of research on wood when beginning to build an 11ft runabout. I see many people use 2x4's or aluminum and I am sure they both work well especially the aluminum. But if you can find white ash it is strong,light, fairly cheap, rot resistent and nice to work with. If you have access to a planer you can get it rough cut really cheap. This is a link to a site that can answer almost any question you may have about wood.

https://www.glen-l.com/wood-plywood/wp-index.html

For simplicities sake, you may as well use spruce 2 by 4s. I would see if you could use .5 or .625 plywood as opposed to .75 if you can, for weight reasons.

The thing about marine plywood is really of no benefit to boat decks. Yes, it is made of better quality wood, yada yada, and has better glues....

But, the main advantage of it is that it has no interior voids. On most big box stores better plywood, the voids on the outer layers have footballs. In marine wood, all the voids are filled. This advantage is for building hulls where the pounding of the waves would cave in the void. Not worth it for decks. Price it and you will see what I mean.

I used regular old 2x3's and 1/2" plywood because it was what was available in my area at the time of the build. I treated it with thompson's water seal and put it together.

not trying to hijack this thread, how much weight do you suppose aluminum square tubing could support as compared to 2x4s.
im not the smallest guy on the block(380 lbs). i will use 2x4s if i need to, but would rather use square aluminum tubing. i wouldnt be opposed to using 2x2s, but im not sure they are strong enough.

stew6371 said:

not trying to hijack this thread, how much weight do you suppose aluminum square tubing could support as compared to 2x4s.
im not the smallest guy on the block(380 lbs). i will use 2x4s if i need to, but would rather use square aluminum tubing. i wouldnt be opposed to using 2x2s, but im not sure they are strong enough.

Click to expand...

That is all relative. Look at the number of sizes of square tubing, and the number of wall thicknesses etc. Strength per pound - aluminum. Strength per dimension (comparing a 2 x 4 to a 2 x 4 piece of tubing) - depends on wall thickness, by my money is on wall thickness.

i was thinking 2x2 aluminum. probably 1/8th in thick or so. so you are saying that the aluminum is stronger and lighter? you have to bare with me about this stuff.

stone4140 said:

I did a lot of research on wood when beginning to build an 11ft runabout. I see many people use 2x4's or aluminum and I am sure they both work well especially the aluminum. But if you can find white ash it is strong,light, fairly cheap, rot resistent and nice to work with. If you have access to a planer you can get it rough cut really cheap. This is a link to a site that can answer almost any question you may have about wood.

https://www.glen-l.com/wood-plywood/wp-index.html

Click to expand...

Very interesting - I just had hardwood floors installed in my house and I have a pile of White Ash left over - already the right size and strength


Thanks for the tips

I don't know if this will help, but this is a site contains info I am using to do my design work and budgeting for lumber etc. https://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NSX/is_/ai_100736197

I also have this info:
The easiest way to determine an honest weight of a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood?
20-25 pounds per 1/4" of thickness. 3 pounds per square foot per inch of thickness according to APA Plywood Design Specification.
(source https://wiki.answers.com/Q/Weight_of_Plywood )

The first site include 2x4, 2x6 etc. The second one is good to estimate the actual weight of the added material to the boat and where center of gravity will end up being located.

Hope this is useful. It's probably something a lot of folks could use. Took a bit of searching to find some of it.