It's A New Experience- Not Good

[Been There]

For over thirty years I owned a 18' Skeeter Bass Boat with 150 hp engine, and it was safe to walk around the deck and not fall out of the boat. Well: I sold that boat rig several years past and this winter got the fishing urge again. So, in February I found this old 1957 AlumaCraft 14 ft. aluminum boat and a 1957 Moody trailer rig. It had no motor, or any other equipment. For $450 I decided I would convert it to a bass boat interior...like a casting deck and enclosed compartments. I also bought a 2004 Minn Kota Endura 55 lb. thrust 36" shaft trolling motor for $50.00. It was like new. I made all the modification to the casting deck, and compartments, plus made me a bracket to the bow for the transom trolling motor to be use up front. I thought of everything and was pleased that it work like a miniature Skeeter rig.

Yesterday, I made a short trip to a 75 acre local state lake to test and fish for a short time. Launching the aluminum Aluma Craft wasn't a problem, but, when I went to get in the boat I found out very fast it wasn't "steady" to get into. I almost took a dive into the lake as the boat tilted like it was going to capsize. The boat has three seats that housed the flotation devices. It's the narrow 42" beam and the V- bottom design that appears to be the problem.

So, I'm back to the drawing board for now. I'm going to switch back to having a tramson trolling motor and install the deep cycle battery up front and see if that helps.

 

[Bondo]

It's the narrow 42" beam and the V- bottom design that appears to be the problem.

Ayuh,..... 'n yer castin' platform raises the center of gravity,......

Most open fishin' boats are made to be sat in, not to stand, 'n walk around,.....

 

[Been There]

Yes, that would be the reason...only added about 11" in height rom the front bench, but, that 11" sure put fear in the overall balancing act.

The rear bench seat appears to be about 5" lower, and from there I will add a seat base plus the seat.
Putting a 63 lb. battery up front may balance the situation.

 

[DeepCMark58A]

Yeah that is not going to work. even pedestal seats add to the issue.

 

[tramsdell]

You can only get away with the mini bass boat with a flat bottom.

 

[Scott Danforth]

if you want a bass boat, buy a bass boat

you cant take a small utility or run-about hull and make a bass boat out of it for the reasons you found out.

that alumacraft was never intended to be a bass boat with a casting rig.

remove the extra weight you added, and sit on the seats

 

[Chris1956]

Outriggers?