If I may brag about my deck just a bit :-)

I thought it came out really good. It was kind of an interesting build, as the deck was 52 inches from the front tip, to the back edge, and 52 inches wide, also. So the first obstacle, was how to get this from a 48" X 96" sheet of plywood, and appear, as one solid piece.

The next thing was, I wanted a nice, big hatch, that my fat arse would likely be jumping around on top of, for many years to come ! So it had to be really strong.

Finally, I knew I was going to mount a pedastal seat on it (well the base anyway, the seat and post are easily removable... or swappable from the back where I steer from, to the front where I often fish from)

So then, I came up with, what I thought, was a great idea ! I cut a seperate, single piece of the same high grade, 3/4" plywood, into a fairly intricate shape. I laminated {with both wood glue, and lots of drywall screws} this piece underneath the deck, where it 1) ties the front triangle piece of the deck, to the rear major portion, 2) since it is cut out about an inch smaller all the way around, than the cut out for the hatch in the deck, it gives the hatch a very strong, level lip to land on, and 3) this piece extends back behind the hatch, effectively doubling the plywood thickness to 1 1/2" through which my pedastal mount is bolted to.

Results: One very strong, zero flex deck, that looks like it was made from one piece of wood.... especially after I put marine carpet over it

Oh, I also sealed the heck out of the whole thing.... both sides double coated, and triple on the edges, with outdoor wood sealent primer.

Anyway, the deck is secured firmly across the only bench my boat ever had (so now I don't have any benches at all I love it !) and also, I have a strut system, which transfers some of the weight of the front deck, directly down to the stringers of the hull itself. I'm telling you, even after two years of hardcore use, the whole thing is about as solid as the sub flooring in a quality built home !

Enough rambling..... This photo should help:
Note, you are looking at the underside of the deck here.


Isn't she purty ;-)


Thank you for allowing me to show her off just a bit

Hopefully this might give some of you an idea or two for future mods on your own tin boats.

Peace,
Fish

Very nice work! Good idea on doubling the thickness for added support.

Good job chris!

Very Nice Mr. Fish Chris, I'd be proud of that myself

I'm jealous of your boat. :shock:

I like it. I went another way, to minimize weight! Our club fishes electric only boats, and there used to be a launch we had to port the boats. It only took 8 grown men to get mine, but that place is not accessible anymore, unfortunately, have to use the ramp. The less weight also helped with boat leveling when alone, without a partner, the rear would lift so high (with the batteries back there, too!) that even a small wave would wash over.

I've been promising Jimmy a how to on how I did mine, but apparently I'm a liar, as I've not done it Hard to do once it's all done, though, unfortunately.

Thank you

This is the only "before" shot I have. I wish I would have taken a few more from the front of the boat. This shot is a bit misleading, as the space in front of the bench is cavernous ! Of course it goes down much further than the flat floor behind the bench.



Peace,
Fish

Very sweet job

The front fishing deck (I put a 1/2" sheet over the rear lower floor too, for carpeting, and to give me something to mount to for the rear pedastal base) I guess the 1 sheet of 3/4" high grade ply, plus primer sealer, carpet / glue, piano hinge, pedastal base (hope I'm not forgetting anything) was about $100 ?

Now, as for the boat, I'm not really supposed to say, as it was a sponsership deal..... Of course if I did tell you, it still wouldn't help you (but it might make you want to sink it, or something ;-)

I think this boat, minus engine is going for about $4000.

Peace,
Fish

man that boat must haul 25 horse i have a little 14 ft with a 9.9 and it goes about 24 mph that boat must go at least 45 full throttle

I bet you'd be very surprised. I think my boat only goes about 26 or 27 on a good day...... which is plenty fast enough for me, but my point is HP's on a boat are a strange thing.

If you have a boat like mine rated for a 25 hp motor, and it goes 26 mph, you could probably double the HP's to a 50 hp (if you weren't worried about way over doing the boats rating... not recommended) and it might only boost it to 29 or 30 mph.

Now check this out..... I have a buddy with my exact same 25hp Yamaha 4 stroker, but he has it pushing a MUCH bigger 17 ft, heavier guage aluminum (I bet that boat ways twice the weight of my boat, and then some) and amazingly, it will still go 26 mph ! I know this doesn't seem to make any since at all, its just the fact of the matter. Water physics and outboard HP's are very strange indeed.

Peace,
Fish

I know what you mean, I got a lowe stinger 16W, with a 9.9 Yamaha 4 stroke and on a good day I go 11-12 mph, boat weighs close to a thousand lbs. Point A to point B in record time I dont think so!but I get there

Nice!!!

So just how did you attach the deck to the edges? I don't see any lip or ledge it could screw to. Did you drill through the hull?

As far as HP and boat speed goes, the hull design pretty much dictates the boats top speed. My Tracker PT190TX has hit 44.6 on GPS with a 90 and it is only rated for 48-51 MPH with the 135hp. 45 more horses and only 6 more MPH.