casting deck and battery question

[scruffy]

hey. i am putting a trolling motor (electric) on my lund 16S, and am wondering which type of battery is needed (size and type). will be for a 40-50 lb thrust motor.

also, this winter i plan on installing a casting deck up front. anyone done this? i am wondering of going over the seats will be stable enough? its a 16 foot aluminum boat. would save alot of work removing a seat. not sure if removing a seat is even legal?

thanks in advance for any help.

[196thDLR]

Scruffy: I put a casting deck and a MX765 MinnKota Bowmount on my S-16 Deluxe Lund 10 or 12 years ago. Here is what I did.

I purchased a piece of 3/4" pressure treated plywood, two 8' 2X4s', one 10' 2X2 and a very durable carpet remnant from a local flooring store. 2" and 2-1/2" high quality flat head Torx drive decking screws.

I measured length and width of the area I wanted to deck in.

On the width, I cut the deck 1/4" short on each side to accomodate the thickness of the carpet. I put two coats of a high quality polyeurathane on the deck and then covered the deck with the carpet and attached the carpet to the underside of the deck with carpet glue and 1/2" staples.

The frame was made from the 2X4's and the 2X2. I made the frame the same height as the little triangle seat in the bow and the first full seat in the main body of the boat. Once the frame was built I put two coats of poly on the assembled frame. The frame included a beefed up section for the attachment of a in floor aluminum seat base. The frame was only attached to the front wall of the first full seat, otherwise, there were no other areas of the frame that were fastened .

Then, remove the screws from seat braces and bend them up far enough to allow the deck to slip underneath the braces and on top of the seats. Attach the deck to the frame and seats with the decking screws, reattach the seat braces and you now have an enclossed bow and casting deck.

Up in the bow of the boat I built a battery storeage compartment that doubled as the area to attach my bowmount trolling moter.

If you need any more information e-mail me at [email protected] and I'll try and answer them.

GOOD LUCK.

[minneman]

Scruffy, I have one made for my WS16 that is removeable, if you would like to trace it for a patern your welcome to it. mine goes over the 2 front seats, not sure if it will fit your (S) tho...? im not too far from you.

[scruffy]

thanks guys for the replies. will keep your ideas in mind when i start cuttin' wood. one question though: how is the stability when you are out on the water? that is my main concern.

also, was thinking about adding a door in the deck that would be a stow spot for gear. i've seen those premade doors/hinges in cabelas that look pretty sweet. did you guys do anything like that?

thanks for your info...

[196thDLR]

Scruffy: No I did not because I was running on a very tight budget. In 1998 I sold the boat to a Nephew and he put one in. I saw the boat last summer and it looked good. Stability wise, I never had a problem with it. Good Luck.

[moby1]

Scruffy

I am iin the process of doing the same thing to my older S14 console. I traced a template for the platform out of a huge piece of cardboard. I then traced it out on a thin piece of luan to do the fine tuning fit before I cut into my plywood. For the deck I have plywood that I coated with industrial urethane parking deck coating with silica sand broadcast and rolled into the wet coating. It helps that I work at a chemical company that manufactures industrial coatings. t will be easier to clean than carpet. Hopefully this weekend I will get the front deck cut out. I have been trying to decide how to support it. IVe considered using joice (SP?) hangers among optons. I may hold off on making storage compartments until next year.

Good luck

[scruffy]

thanks for the input guys.

good luck to you too, moby...