Hey I'm new to the sight and thought I would come on here and ask advice about a boat build I am starting. I recently picked up a 1970's fiberglass ranger boat. It's 19 ft long and I am planning on putting a platform on the front with hps lights. My first question is whether or not I should make my platform out of steel or aluminum? I know aluminum is a lot lighter, but I already have all the steel I would need to make it. I also only have a mig welder so I would have to have someone else weld the aluminum. Would I really have to worry about the extra weight of steel on a fiberglass boat? My next question is regarding the lights. One of my friends hooked me up with 7, 400 watt hps lights and I was curious if I should just mount them all on the front of the boat or save 2 and put them on the back. My next question I feel like is an obvious one, but I figure I might as well ask. I have a generac iq 2000 watt generator and I have those 7, 400 watt lights. I feel like I'm going to have to get a second generator to run the rest of my lights, am I right about having to get another one or will my generator run all the lights fine?
Boat build questions???
Carpking3
1 - 11 of 11 Posts
Hey I'm new to the sight and thought I would come on here and ask advice about a boat build I am starting. I recently picked up a 1970's fiberglass ranger boat. It's 19 ft long and I am planning on putting a platform on the front with hps lights. My first question is whether or not I should make my platform out of steel or aluminum? I know aluminum is a lot lighter, but I already have all the steel I would need to make it. I also only have a mig welder so I would have to have someone else weld the aluminum. Would I really have to worry about the extra weight of steel on a fiberglass boat? My next question is regarding the lights. One of my friends hooked me up with 7, 400 watt hps lights and I was curious if I should just mount them all on the front of the boat or save 2 and put them on the back. My next question I feel like is an obvious one, but I figure I might as well ask. I have a generac iq 2000 watt generator and I have those 7, 400 watt lights. I feel like I'm going to have to get a second generator to run the rest of my lights, am I right about having to get another one or will my generator run all the lights fine?
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599 Posts
1 - this is your first boat, do what works and what you can afford. You will see people on here spending thousands upon thousands of dollars daily. If you are like me you will become jealous 
But bottom line is you don't need to have top of the line equipment to shoot fish and have a good time.
2 - You might be able to run 4 - 400's off the generac. If you can i would just stick with that. That is a lot of light! Before you mount them, wait till its dark out one night and adjust your lights to get the best light coverage out of them.
But bottom line is you don't need to have top of the line equipment to shoot fish and have a good time. 2 - You might be able to run 4 - 400's off the generac. If you can i would just stick with that. That is a lot of light! Before you mount them, wait till its dark out one night and adjust your lights to get the best light coverage out of them.
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6,054 Posts
first off welcome to the site there is more information you can cover in a lifetime here. to start with why would you need to build a deck on a bass boat? they are half deck already? guess you know it will need a lot of water to float it. a 2000 genny usually only has a 1600w continuous duty so save three of them fro something else. don't get caught up in building a structure on a fiberglass boat. just attach some lights so you can fish until you can get a good aluminum boat in the future. until then spending time and money on a fiberglass boat is money you could have put towards a better boat.
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1,718 Posts
^^^^ Great advice! Shoot off the factory deck with 4 400s. That is exactly how I started, and we killed a ton of fish that way. In the meantime, keep trolling this board and saving $ until you know what you want to build. If you do use steel, use it as sparingly as possible!!!
Welcome!
Welcome!
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1,718 Posts
Yea, to run all 4 you will likely need an electronic ballast.
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708 Posts
My first (and current) boat is a 16' Carolina skiff. At first I made about 12" raised deck and put my 500W halogen work lights under it. It was nice to have the lights out of the way, but my platform was plywood and 2x4's and was pretty heavy. Since then, I have gone to MH lights all around and just shoot off the flush deck. I shoot just as many fish now as I did when I had the raised deck. I will say that having the lights below your feet and a platform separating it makes a big difference in the bugs if you have issues with them where you are. That is the only thing I miss about my raised platform. We also built a steel platform for my buddy's 2072 grizzly tracker. Fairly thin tubing all around and sheet metal for the walking surface and it turned out just fine. Just make sure you paint it good or it will rust in the blink of an eye.
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I don't know how heavy your boat is, but my skiff will float just fine as long as the water is deep enough to cover the troller prop.
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Agree. We all fish different lakes obviously. But some guys on here act like they are fishing in a foot of water constantly. You will probably end up bashing your troller into something before you get stuck on the bottom.
My boat isn't a flat bottom and it drafts deeper than a true flat bottom would. The only time ive ever been hung up, that i can remember is when i had 4 guys and 1200 lbs of fish.
I think having a shallow draft is obviously a good thing. But unless your in an airboat or a fan, it seems like your going to ruin props and lower units before you worry to much about scraping bottom.
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