Boat Modifications

[mnfish]

A friend of mine picked up a 14' Alumacraft for dirt cheap and would like to make some modifications to the boat to make it more user friendly while on the lake. He is thinking about decking out the front, possibly building a control panel (similar to the Lund tillers), adding pedistal seats, possibly a livewell, ect.

Does anyone know of a good HSOforum, or have pictues of modifications that you have done to your own boats. Although the boat is his, he has little to no "handy" skills, so I will do a majority of the work.

Also, how much structural support do the benches in these boats provide. I am thinking that we should remove the center bench, but if the integrity of the boat is seriously jeopardized, that idea won't work.

Thanks

mnfish

[bwtrout]

Mnfish, here is a mod a fellow FMer did on his 14'

http://www.fishingminnesota.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=531057&page=&view=&sb=5&o=&fpart=1&vc=1

[BobT]

One thing to keep in mind is that as you add material, what are you doing to the load rating of the boat? Should you be adding floatation in the event of submersion? Will you, after the alterations, need to derate the HP or maximum number of persons? Etc.

Don't want to go through all the work only to find out your boat is now unsafe to use.

Bob

[bgmny]

MNFISH, I had a 14 foot Alumacraft, but it already had the floor, pedestal seats, livewell, etc. Mine had a carpeted bench seat in the back which was nice to sit on while driving the boat and using the trolling motor. I mounted my locator and I put in conrol panel for the lights, bilge pump, and aerator pump near the back so I could reach anything from the bench seat in the back. The middle of the boat was wide open so I didn't have any structrual support there either. The front was another carpeted bench seat with storage underneath. Having the flat floor would be nice to walk around on.

[Slyster]

Here's a little slideshow from a day out.. shows my boat mod. I did a LOT to the crappy old boat and I love it now!

Even have the trolling battery and fishfinder battery inside my bench.. and now installed a lure locker in the bench in front of me to keep the floor clean. Plus repainted it since these pix.. it looks new!

Scroll DOWN the the bottom to see the whole boat shots. I have another slide show doing the mods if you want.

http://www.slyster.com/temp/boat/page_01.htm

[Steve Bakken]

Check out some of the other threads on this subject. There are some good do's and don'ts in there. If you want to look at some pictures you can see some at our shop's HSOforum at www.bakkensboatshop.com

[mnfish]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. Keep em' coming. A question on the bow platforms and people riding in pedistal seats. If I do not co with a full platform, rather just install a flat floor with a pedistal seat I should be OK, correct?

[Northlander]

I would be carefull putting a floor/platform in such a boat. It can be done but dont go to high with it. I see a lot of people do this and the boats get tipsy with the weight being up higher. They will rock and roll a lot more so take care doing so. Myself I would leave the benches and just put a flat floor inbetween the benches, only raising the floor about 3-5" or so. Just enough to make walking around a bit easier.

[Slyster]

If you look at my pix the deck is over the benches.. and I agree.. I don't feel safe standing up there.. but on calm days it's no problem! But is just nice to have it to lay down! I usually stand on the remaining floor in front of the rear bench.. which is now carpeted for quiet. Still very stable whilst sitting.

[Fishin4Life]

Quote:

---

But is just nice to have it to lay down!

---

Which is nice for Sly's mid day naps. LOL

[Slyster]

My back gets really sore after a while so it is nice to lay down.. take a little siesta.. also what's GREAT about a deck (even if you can't stand on it) is the kids use it all the time for lego's and coloring etc.. they are 4 and 6.. so too young to fish too long on a long day... and under the deck I store a boatload (pun) of toys for them.

[Jager]

I have a Lund 14 ft Deluxe and had some modifications done to it by a guy that used to work ffor Lund in New York Mills.

Went off on his own.

I was very pleased with the work he did.

So if you are looking for some work done professionally, e-mail me at [email protected].