Introduction. A few questions about my boat

Hello everyone,

I am from Louisiana, Gonzales, La. to be exact which is just south of Baton Rouge. I have just accquired my fathers 14' by 38"(+/-2 in..off the top of my head probably closer to 36") Delhi jon boat with a 9.9 johnson seahorse 1979 (soon to be replaced). I am an avid saltwater fisherman and this boat is perfect for the skinny water I love to fish. Nothing better than sight casting to big 'ole tailing reds with a flyrod.

So to my questions:

I want to replace the motor with either a Mercury 4-stroke short shaft 9.9 or the yamaha 2-stroke short shaft 9.9. I understand the differences in the motor types(too many control-line precision aerobatics airplanes running everything. but thats another hobby of many)

The Mercury dry weight is 84 lbs(38 kg). The Yamaha is 79 lbs. Not a big difference will there be much gain in buying a 4-stroke over a 2-stroke in the smaller HP range.

My little Delhi jon boat is rated for a 10 HP max. And no I am not putting a 15 on it. It cruises just fine with me and my gear(I am light 160 lbs. LOL) Which leads into this.
1) If the Mercury is rated at 5500-6500 RPM and the yamaha is 5000-6000 is there much speed difference?
2) Isn't torque the main reason for a 4-stoke vs a 2-stroke?

Now on to the serious stuff:

I am going to be painting, decking, tricking out this thing to be able to push pole the marsh. Yes I know. I have stability issues. Being it is a small boat. I plan to solve that. Probably some kind of retractable pontoons. I have ideas. Call me crazy but the most that can happen is I fall out sink up to my neck in marsh goo..haha. Hope not. Might me getting ambitious we all do when we get going.

The boat at one time had a front deck on it made of 2x4s and 3/4" ply with carpet. Caused the boat to run like syrup going up hill on a cold day. My plan is to use aluminim uni-strut which is used in my line of work and i have a source for small quanties. The stuff is strong and light.

One other question:

Which is lighter.. Wood decks or fiberglass decks. I know fiberglass is a pain. I have built small fiberglass things such as speaker boxes, etc. They always seem very light. I guess what I am trying to really ask is: Could use use thinner plywood and glass it to save on wieght?

Sorry the post got winded.'

Thanks for reading,

RedPhysher

I'm not to far from you up here in Hattiesburg, MS. Ive got a 14ft jon Im fixing to start redoing and its already got an aluminum framed deck on the front - Im hopefully going to leave the frame and just redo the top with either aluminum or fresh plywood with carpet. I have toyed with the idea of a rear poling platform for flats fishing myself but was unsure of how to really execute that on a jon boat. Im very new to this whole boat mod thing.

The aluminum framed decks seemed to be the choice for lighter weight and longevity, but they tend to cost more which is why the wooden framed decks seemed to be the more popular choice from what I have seen.

I'm even closer. Probably not more than 10-15 minutes away. My brother and I are in the process of adding a floor, decks and sides to a Duracraft 1542. So far, I have the transom rebuilt and will start on the decks and floor in the next week or two. We purchased the 1/8" aluminum plate from a salvage yard in Port Allen for $.50 per pound. We purchased 1.5" x 1/8" square aluminum tubing and 1.5" angle from Samuel and Son's off of Tom Dr. They were the cheapest source that I could find in town. The salvage yard didn't have any square tubing. So far we have about $200 in aluminum. I think I may need one more section of square tubing, but I won't know for sure until I start working on the decks. Today, I purchased 2 sizes of solid rivets and a box of countersink rivets and the appropriate countersink from Grainger. I want to use the countersink rivets to attach the plate to the support frame so that the rivets do not stick up above the aluminum. I purchased hydroturf for the decks and floors and need a smooth surface. The solid rivets will be used to fill the holes where the side steering assembly was removed. We have a tiller motor, so no need for side steering. I'll post pictures later once the project gets underway.

I fly fish the marsh too, but out of a canoe. Once I get the above boat in the water, I'll be fishing out of both.

Kurt