[A_White]

Got my first boat about a month ago. Old 1850 Lowe, 2002 Merc 25. Bought it off an old man who put the motor on there new and ran about 1/2 tank through it, then put it up in the garage after having back trouble. Boat is kinda rough in spots but pretty solid overall I think. Has a hydro jack plate built out of an old convertible top I'm told. The jack works but leaks around the shafts pretty bad.

Plan is to set it up to bowfish, fish, and possibly get to remote deer hunting spots. Want to use it on Wappapello and Clearwater lake, as well as some local rivers and maybe Missippippi backwaters if I can avoid the main channel.


Gonna post pics and questions here I guess because I'm pretty new with boats, and can use some advice. Been looking at other builds for a couple months now so I've got some ideas.

Anyway.

Pics from when I brought the ugly thing home. Paint is in the works.

 

[rum3002576]

what kind of tips? gar tips, carp tips?:grin:
i would strip all the wood and use aluminum, put a 12 inch raised deck on her and add some of the all water led's from American Airboats. just my 2 cents

 

[CPrice]

Nice boat
Keep a flush deck with light rail and use the 25hp outboard and your main and as a kicker

 

[A_White]

Been looking at buying a house so I'm gonna stay cheap. Using the wood deck that's already on there and maybe build a small deck on back to shoot silvers and have somewhere for your feet to rest when fishing. The troller that's on there seems to work good so I'm gonna run it for a while. I didn't know you can use the main/console motor as a kicker also. Gonna look into that.

Mainly looking for tips on setting up the jack plate, trim, and weight distribution. Messed with the jack a little and been doing research on motor height and trim.

So as of now plans are:
Stay light as possible
fix all the half ass wiring
12v led lights
flush deck front and rear
storage
paint

Maybe:
Move the console up and have a dedicated seat or stand up console.

 

[A_White]

Where I'm at now.

Got my boater safety license, tags, and stickers. Took it out a few times now and had fun fishing with my pops and bowfishing with a spotlight.

First trip out. I painted the nose so I could put my stickers on, and moved the fuel tank to where the battery was.

 

[A_White]

2nd Trip: I raised the motor some with the jack plate but it leaks soo much I couldn't adjust it after it sits for a couple hours. Just set it the first holes on the plate and put bolts in it to keep it from going all the way back down. The boat runs good, but struggles to get on plane on hard acceleration since I raised the motor. It was fine the first time out and ran right at 23 mph. Now it will beat the water to a froth if I hammer on it hard(Is that whats called Cavitation?). It will get on plane if I ease on it though.

Pics of the motor height, new smaller/lower side boards and the jack plate

 

[A_White]

Ordered 10 warm white, 30 watt LEds today from customfitz. Ready to get some work done on this thing.


Any suggestions on the motor height/angle? I'm thinking of taking off the jack plate to save some weight, and hassle of fixing the rams. Not sure if the benefits are worth it.

 

[DonArkie]

Nice size boat, I aint picking at it, simply giving suggestion what I would do to it if it was my own. 1st of all I would remove all that wood from the boat as possible. Next, looks like putty spots throught the hull, I would remove all the putty DIY fixed and weld up them areas (3rd to the last picture) next remove that ugly camo, (2nd picture from the bottom) remove that wood from jack plate and would boxed in that with aluminum. If you use wood for the floor treat it all side, definitely treat it with a non skid product, aluminum would be I deal choice . Number of lights would determan with deck size I would use another choice of supplier of light personally, SEELites, or American Air Boat, MoonshineXXX. Customfitz service stinks, Chad doesnt let you know when he'll ship the lights or how long it takes, he makes promises he doesnt keep. I know this cause I turned on 3 close friends and were treated like this exactly, plus I bought my lights from him. Thats all I say about Customfitz. Deck height? I would definitely go with flush mount deck since youe beam size is only 50". A raise platform will be a bit tippy. Max. weight capacity on your boat roughly 1400lbs consider this in your modifications this includes your motor in that weight. Go as light as possible with materials, little wood as possible more aluminum. Another is thing to remember is to Max. weight capacity after the boat is done "people & fish weight" keep that in mind in your modifications. Its easy to go overboard and forget "Max. weight capacity", another is untreaded wood is like a spounge it adds weight, holds in fish smell and rots. If you use wood, hull floor & deck floor treat it.
Good lkuck in your adventure

 

[A_White]

Nice size boat, I aint picking at it, simply giving suggestion what I would do to it if it was my own. 1st of all I would remove all that wood from the boat as possible. Next, looks like putty spots throught the hull, I would remove all the putty DIY fixed and weld up them areas (3rd to the last picture) next remove that ugly camo, (2nd picture from the bottom) remove that wood from jack plate and would boxed in that with aluminum. If you use wood for the floor treat it all side, definitely treat it with a non skid product, aluminum would be I deal choice . Number of lights would determan with deck size I would use another choice of supplier of light personally, SEELites, or American Air Boat, MoonshineXXX. Customfitz service stinks, Chad doesnt let you know when he'll ship the lights or how long it takes, he makes promises he doesnt keep. I know this cause I turned on 3 close friends and were treated like this exactly, plus I bought my lights from him. Thats all I say about Customfitz. Deck height? I would definitely go with flush mount deck since youe beam size is only 50". A raise platform will be a bit tippy. Max. weight capacity on your boat roughly 1400lbs consider this in your modifications this includes your motor in that weight. Go as light as possible with materials, little wood as possible more aluminum. Another is thing to remember is to Max. weight capacity after the boat is done "people & fish weight" keep that in mind in your modifications. Its easy to go overboard and forget "Max. weight capacity", another is untreaded wood is like a spounge it adds weight, holds in fish smell and rots. If you use wood, hull floor & deck floor treat it.
Good lkuck in your adventure

All good suggestions. Thanks I've looked at your boat plenty of times. Very clean and well built.

I'm a very picky person and honestly I got this boat pretty cheap because its a little rough. But I bought it because the motor was basically new. I'm just gonna use it for a little while and get something else(welded, and wider) in the future. I don't wanna dump a ton of time and money in this hull. When I get the boat size and build I plan on keeping for a long time, I will go all aluminum and trick it out. I have learned a lot already about boats just in the month I've had this. I now know what I actually need and want for the next boat.



The "putty" is the silicon they gobbed over every bolt when the jack plate and transom was repaired. I'm gonna remove most all of it. The previous owner also put fiberglass over on the top rail where it had been cracked/welded, I've already sanded one side down to make it look a little better. Not sure which pic your referring to though.

I'm already in the process of painting over the ugly camo, and trailer. Built some sawhorses so I can fix the trailer boards and paint the rest of the boat in one shot.

Sucks about CustomFitz service, I placed the order yesterday. Had been txting him back and forth and he seemed alright. Said 4-7 days and I'll have the lights. I hope I'm not being lied to... I've read good and bad about him, but nowhere else is even close to the same price and replacement warranty.

 

[ILbowfisher15]

Like others have said I would pull the wood floor. This will also allow you to re-pound all the rivets, which isn't a bad idea on these older boats (you'll need a buddy to help ya do this). The floor in my boat is closed-cell foam laid between the ribs with 1/4" rubber mat laid over top. It's lightweight, won't absorb water, and is easily removable should repairs need to be made in future, plus it's cheap.

I also agree DonArkie about getting rid of the wood on the jack plate and replacing with aluminum. Since your gonna be using the boats for multiple purposes I would stay with a flush deck (this will also help with stability, being this is a narrower boat). I would also make a your light rail removable, due to the multiple uses you have planned.

 

[A_White]

I like the foam and rubber mat floor alot! Where did you get your materials to do it?

How do you guy suggest I replace the wood on the jack plate? I don't think you are talking 2 inch think aluiminum but I can't picture it boxed in with alum sheet either.

Really considering pulling the jackplate off all together. Not sure if the rams are rebuildable or cost effective to do it. I'm hoping some O-rings or universal seals will fix it, because I have no idea what car convertible to look up parts.

 

[ILbowfisher15]

I like the foam and rubber mat floor alot! Where did you get your materials to do it?

You can get the foam from Menards, Lowes, Home Depot, etc. I just bought a couple of different brands and tested them in a bucket of water overnight to make sure they wouldn't absorb water. I ended up using some that had aluminum flashing on the back. It sat submerged all night and didn't absorb any water so I figured it was good enough for the boat's floor. The rubber mat came from a farm supply store it is actually used to line the floor of horse trailers.

 

[A_White]

Ok cool. Those mats seem like they will hold up good. Maybe a little heavy, but not any more than wood probably.

 

[ILbowfisher15]

Ok cool. Those mats seem like they will hold up good. Maybe a little heavy, but not any more than wood probably.

They have held up great so far in my boat (be used for both duck hunting and bow fishing it gets some abuse). The rubber mat is a lot lighter than plywood, trust me. Plus it won't absorb or hold moisture like plywood will.

 

[A_White]

Finally got a little work done on the boat and trailer. Lots of sanding, but it looks much better green I think. I put new carpet on the runners, fixing odd and ends on the boards, rollers, winch, bow stop, new taillights, ect. Moved the axle back to get a little more weight on the tongue too.

Ignore the sketchy jack/jack stand combo, I had to dump the rain water out.

 

[A_White]

Adjusted the motor trim and height some.







My lights should be in tomorrow according to DHL. Needless to say I'm not impressed with customfitz communication.... But hopefully the lights are good.
Also might have scored a toolbox pretty cheap for storage and seating. (thanks ILbowfisher15 for the idea)

 

[A_White]

Slow going but I'm getting there. I work out of town and had been in Utah for training the last half of august, so there is not as much progress as I'd like.

Because I don't have a welder and after debating on a EMT light rail and adding up the costs/weight, I put a want add on craigslist for a old aluminum ladder to cut up. Scored a 32 footer pretty cheap, and I got it riveted all up and lights mounted this weekend. Built a stick steer for the troller with a bike cable/throttle too.(no pics) Still need to wire and finish the removable cup holders and switch panel on the seat pedestal post.

 

[A_White]

Not sure on how the lights will end up but I'm debating on these two. The first pic is the plan because I wanna keep everything low for shooting clearance but am afraid I wont have enough light up front and more than enough on the sides. May stack them up front and spread out the sides a little kinda like the second pic.

 

[Hunthard]

Looks good man. I like it. Personally I wouldn't stack em. It will get in the way for sure. Maybe not every time but it will get in the way sometimes and if you r like me it will be on the biggest fish

 

[A_White]

Looks good man. I like it. Personally I wouldn't stack em. It will get in the way for sure. Maybe not every time but it will get in the way sometimes and if you r like me it will be on the biggest fish

Thanks

That's what I'm afraid of. I may try and modify the brackets or make new ones and stack 2 inside the front hole if the opening is big enough. Will probably just run it like the 1st pic and see how the lights work as is.