Thought I would share with ya'll the modifications I am making to my 14 foot jon boat. This will be a great boat for everything from ponds to mid size lakes.

Much better option then putting a full sized bass rig on a 2-10 acre pond too.

http://jackspirko.com/theboatproject.php

What do you guys think? Anyone else done stuff like this with a jon boat?

That's pretty hard core, Jack.

Jack, Do you have extension poles to raise you swivel chairs up?

Tim I plan to get one for the front if I start to actually fish with a partner with any frequency, 9 times out of 10 I am alone.

The issue is stability, with weight low in the boat it is very stable, with it high you loose a lot of stability.

The front passanger can stand on the deck if desired. Seated to the rear facing the back passanger there is plenty of room, lots of stability and great leg room.

From the rear I don't have any need to elevate the seat. The mid deck is where I would stand. The boat was really built with the intent of one person (me) fishing. For instance I would have used thinner ply for the front deck if I always had a partner but used 3/4 to compensate for the rear weight (again me).

I plan to keep the trolling motor at the rear for now and see how that works out.

That's impressive. It's like a mini-book. I'm putting this in my favorites for later reference.

Thanks, Jack.

I'll keep updating it too Bruce until the project is complete. Thanks for the kind words,

Jack, One of my friends did somewhat the same thing to a skinny john boat and his gripe was stability to. He fixed it with 2 small I guess you call them out riggers. He somehow mounted them to the sides, they hung out only about 2 feet on each side and the floats were some kind of metal cylinder all of 9 inches round and 4 feet long. I fished off the boat and I tell ya, it was stable and the outrigger didnt get in the way as much as you think, the trick is to set them the right distance. G/L

Jack, I have done similar thing with an old 14ft jon boat which I sold 7-8 years ago. Then I did a similar thing with an old 16ft tri-hull bass boat which I still keep out at the pond. If it were me I would mount the trolling motor up front and make a rudder for the back, you would be suprised how much better the boat will handle with a rudder, fishing out of the front will be much easier too. I made the homemade rudder out of an old trolling motor I found at a garage sale, I will see about getting a picture and posting it to give you some ideas.

One other thing you can do with the plywood is to seal the edges so it does not delaminate due to water exposure over time. You can mix a two part epoxy and then thin it down with laquer thinner, then use and old brush to aply it to the edges of the plywood. The thinned epoxy mixture will then soak into the edges for a very nice seal that will last a very long time.

DOH! The wood is exterior grade and I did "seal" it but that would have been a better way to go about it. Of course now the carpeting is all done, so for this round it is what it is.

I would really like to see what you did with a rudder.

I am considering a few things on the trolling motor. I do like having the ability to control it all from the rear, I also do know for a fact things are easier in the front. Now I am not a "bass guy" and I don't cruise weed lines much so it is not as important to me as it would be for some. Still the front is damn sure easier even for hanging over humps and jigging spoons.

So the plan right now is to leave it in the rear and try the new boat and see how it works out. Then I will decide to either,

1. Just move the troller to the front. This is pretty easy to do and less then 30 minutes of work to accomplish.

2. Add a motor to the front, with two guys on both ends of a boat fishing docks for crappie can be awesome. You can easily hold the boat parallel to the docks and shoot baits up under it. Plus two motors would just be more flexibility over all and the cost is minimal to do it.

3. If it works well just leave it as is.

Right now option 2 is the most likely. I won't really know till I finish up the work and get it on the water for a test though.

Thanks for the suggestions,

Jack,

Nice job on the boat. I want to do something like that to a pontoon boat one of these days. I want to find an old one in total need or rebuilding for almost nothing and do a total rebuild. One of those multi year projects. hahhaha

Thanks for the link, I really enjoyed it.

Eddie

Eddie,

I would think there are a lot of em out there if you dig around for em. Deck all rotted nothing much left but the pontoons. Yea I could really have a BLAST with something like that!

I saw a project a guy did one time, practically a mini house boat for lack of a better term. Can't find it now of course did not book mark it.

Anyway dude went on ebay found two beat up old 14' jons bout like I have. Filled them with foam and made them pontoons! Built a massive deck on top of them and put two old 25s on the rear.

He had a place on a pretty big lake and kept it in a slip. It may sound "redneck" but it was very nicely done. I would hate to try to put something like that on a trailer!

On your search for an old pontoon the biggest thing is most really old useless stuff is with out a title. NEVER buy a boat with out a title, you have to about give up a testicle to get it fixed unless you are the original owner.

Nice job Jack. Consider something like this for your storage compartment pulls...prety cheap, like 6 bucks...

I get cabinet hardware from Knobs 4 less alla time...

Jack, here is the boat rudder I made for my 12' jon boat, it's a little fancier than the one I made for my 14' jon boat years ago, and yes, the motor does work.