16 lund front platform and Remove middle seat flooring

[Got A Byte?]

I am thinking about doing some customizations to my 16 lund boat. There are lots of good pictures and ideas here, but I am looking for how people build the structure underneath.

Does anyone have good pictures of how they build the floor and front platform from a structural perspective.

I have seen both alumnium and wood used. alum angle seems the way to go, but would like to learn more.

[jwmiller33]

here is what i did

BEFORE:

AFTER:

[jwmiller33]

does that help? you have any questions on how i did anything?

my boat is the same as yours... 16 ft lund... they are really fun to play around with and customize.. lots of different ways you can go with it.

[Got A Byte?]

thanks for the info and time spend uploading the pics. Now I just need to start planning

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Aluminum is lighter, but wood is easier to get. There are places that sell aluminum like Discount Steel & Metal Supermarket. Since I own a machine shop, I would opt for aluminum if it were me doing it.

[RuKiddingMe]

When I did mine I used some aluminum "T" bar instead of wood, nice and light very sturdy. I have no idea where to find it though, my old man had a ton of it laying around from some project he did.

RU

[jwmiller33]

Aluminum is lighter

yes alum is lighter... but you have to consider weight distribution in your boat when adding on customizations like the front deck.. for me, i had a lot of weight in the back of the boat, i.e. motor, trolling motor, deep cycle, gas tank, ME, plus the 5/8" 4x8 sheet of plywood floor i added, so that was a lot of weight in the back of the boat. riding by myself, i was scared of the lack of weight in the front of the boat, and if i caught a big wave on a windy day at the right angle, i could have ended up in a bad situation.. thats the way it is for some of those older aluminum lund style boats... most of the weight in the boat is in the back.. so when i built the front deck, i actually WANTED the additional weight of the wood as opposed to the alum because that wood was in the perfect place in the boat to add weight to the nose and give the boat added stability. as a result of this, my boat rides much smoother and planes out better...

just an idea to consider the weight distribution in your boat before you go ahead and build

[no bait nate]

very good call JWmiller33, weight distribution is key, especially when riding by yourself, currently doing a rehab on a 14' alumacraft and need to beef up the front end (casting deck) heavy for the same reasons (safety). good luck with the boat!

[soldoncass]

I just remodeled the interior of my older MR. PIKE 16, to gain more floor space. I used aluminum I have "rescued" from some other projects ( one of the best was an old throwaway organ). Keep your eyes open for oportunities like that, aluminum can be a little spendy if you have to buy it special. That said, I would highly recommend al. over regular 2x4's etc. The way I look at it is: the lighter the better, equal or better strength,won't rot, and less space required. If you need more weight in certain areas, for stability, it is easy to redistribute things, or add a battery, or anchor etc. where you need it. I had one piece of floor up, so I could see the floatation underneath. I saw a lot of "space", so I added more foam to increase safety. That is one area that should be thought about for sure....DO NOT take out floatation (like under seats) without adding at least that much somewhere else. I was at a resort last spring when an out-of- stater, with a bassboat, SUNK IT in some moderate waves. Apparently NO floatation and it SUNK, good thing they were only in 5 ft of water. The resort owner wasn't too happy having to rescue them and the boat.

Sorry I don't have any pics of my remodel process to show you. Have fun.