12' Alumacraft upgrades worth it?

[Ihateclevernames]

So, believe it or not, I may have found myself in the middle of working on two projects at once.

Next to the other boat that i got burned on.......which many of y'all have been helping me with in another thread........I have a 12' Alumacraft standard Jon boat that I am going to tweak a bit so that my son and I can do some fishing this summer with my son whilst working on the other pile of junk.

The boat isnt in the greatest shape, but its good enough to enjoy and doesn't have any holes. It is a 1987 Alumacraft that I am working on painting. Now that being said, I am merely just painting over the other rattle can jobs that have previously been done. I sanded down then inside and have tried to at least smooth it out, but its never going to be perfect. I am really more concerned with function.

So with that being said.

How much work does it really take to turn something like what I have, into something like what is below?

I have a great little 9.9 Horse Yamaha for is, and would like to get a trolling motor on the front eventually if I can find a way to make it a little more stable in the front.

Thanks in advance!

 

[64osby]

Not trying to kill the moment here, but take a look at your capacity plate on the 12'er. If it is like most it will be less then 500 pounds.

Add up the total weight of you, your son, gear, gas, anchor, cooler, live well, trolling motor, battery, and whatever else you might need.

I would bet you will be very close if not over the capacity before adding any deck or seats.

The boat you used for an example is a 14'er. I would expect the capacity of that to be closer to 700 pounds which would allow for a deck and seats to be added.

My .05

 

[Ihateclevernames]

Not trying to kill the moment here, but take a look at your capacity plate on the 12'er. If it is like most it will be less then 500 pounds.

Add up the total weight of you, your son, gear, gas, anchor, cooler, live well, trolling motor, battery, and whatever else you might need.

I would bet you will be very close if not over the capacity before adding any deck or seats.

The boat you used for an example is a 14'er. I would expect the capacity.

Yep. The cap is 500 with motor and 380 without.


Granted.........my son is only 4, so he is only 40 lbs or so.

So by coming back down to reality, what options do I have in order to make things a little more functional?

 

[DeepCMark58A]

Swivel padded seats.

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

Flat floor.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Yep. The cap is 500 with motor and 380 without.


Granted.........my son is only 4, so he is only 40 lbs or so.

So by coming back down to reality, what options do I have in order to make things a little more functional?

I would propose you use it as is. Focus on spending time with your son. I have fished for years out of a 14' boat with a 12hp tiller, bench seats and a small trolling motor. A 12' boat is intended to be light and get you on the water. With a 500# max capacity, every ounce you add takes away from what you can bring aboard

 

[jbcurt00]

Plus you'll have a boat thats water ready NOW while you work on the 16ftr.

I spend lots more time using my 12ft Sylvan open bench seat fishing boat then I do working on the multiple boat projects I have going.

Not that I dont enjoy boat work, I just enjoy using a boat and the time w my dad or the Admiral on the water more.

 

[TruckDrivingFool]

First boat I owned was a 12' Sea King (V hull) with a 5hp Johnny. Great little boat that the wife and I had three great summers fishing in but it was only moderately less tippy than a canoe. Granted that's a flat bottom and should be a touch more stable but anything you do that increases the center of gravity is going to exasperate it.

That said put me with Scott, I'd fish it as is while you work on your other boat.

Some small boat comforts for not a lot of weight -

Inexpensive fishing seats are more comfortable than sitting on the bench.
Oar locks and oars instead of a trolling motor.
Fish finder run off a small SLA battery.

I'd also check you cap plate for max hp as I'd bet that even a 9.9 is overpowering it.

 

[fhhuber]

My friend's solution to making the floor a little more use friendly was to make up removable wood slat flooring.

Add a couple of swivel seats bolted in (But NOT the seat you steer from DO NOT make that swivel!)

Call it good.

 

[Ihateclevernames]

First boat I owned was a 12' Sea King (V hull) with a 5hp Johnny. Great little boat that the wife and I had three great summers fishing in but it was only moderately less tippy than a canoe. Granted that's a flat bottom and should be a touch more stable but anything you do that increases the center of gravity is going to exasperate it.

That said put me with Scott, I'd fish it as is while you work on your other boat.

Some small boat comforts for not a lot of weight -

Inexpensive fishing seats are more comfortable than sitting on the bench.
Oar locks and oars instead of a trolling motor.
Fish finder run off a small SLA battery.

I'd also check you cap plate for max hp as I'd bet that even a 9.9 is overpowering it.

Cap plate puts it at 15hp.

In regards to the floor, today at work I found something epic.

foldable, rigid, plastic structural plastic. It is used for tent floors I believe in refugee tents. It weighs less than half of that of 1/2" plywood. I am going to try and glue some carpet onto it this weekend, and then drop some rigid closed cell insulation foam between the ribs in order to level up the floor and then drop the plastic on top of that. The plan is to then secure the foam to the plastic flooring so that it is removable during storage time frames. All in all, I think I could accomplish putting a floor in for the cost of about 15 - 20 lbs.

More to follow, and I will post some pictures during the fabrication. It will be primitive, but hey............it will get me on the water this year.

 

[64osby]

I once saw a guy that used bread trays to create a level floor in a small modified V hull. He loved it.

Your idea sounds promising for a lightweight option.

 

[TruckDrivingFool]

Cap plate puts it at 15hp.

Cool wouldn't of thought that.

Floor idea sounds interesting, definitely keep us posted on it.