10 ft jon boat conversion 2024

greatoutdoors reply :

Hi guys, new here. Been a shore bass fisherman for years, except at places where you could rent boats. I have a swamp area near my home that is loaded with nice largemouth and thought I'd pick up a small jon to scoot to the areas where I cant reach from shore. Well, it's turned into quite a project. Sanded, primered, painted, 50 lb thrust troller, front and rear carpeted decks from 5/8" plywood with 1x6 supports underneath, swivel seat mounted to back deck, and a 15" pedestal in front along with a fish finder. Also bought a small trailer for it. Went from a $75 boat to a $1000 piece of aluminum in my garage. I've been on 10 ft boats before, in small bodies of water and they seemed reasonably stable. My question is, since I've added around 110 lbs to the boat with the battery, motor, and wood, am I going to have a stability problem? I'm 210lbs, and my father in law is 215. I'm in back and he's in front on the pedestal seat. Would have bought a 14 ft'er if i knew i was going to do all this. I appreciate any experiences and feedback.

smallie.huntin reply :

Can't help with your stability question as I haven't fished out of a decked jon. Do you have any pictures of your boat? Sound like you have set yourself up with a nice bass rig.

greatoutdoors reply :

It's pretty cool. Just wish it was a little bigger. I hope we don't sink the f'er. I'll put some pictures up soon.

Sharkbite reply :

I'm having problems with my 12' now b/c the seats are to high. So I am going to take out the petastool.

Wayne P. reply :

I think with that much weight that you will feel and be safer with a lower center of gravity. Wear your life jackets, you will need them.

Sharkbite reply :

ok Thank you I will. I promised my best freind I will ware my life jaket

TopDog reply :

In my opinion a 10 footer is too small for a conversion like you mentioned? What is the weight capacity, I can bet your way over it as is with 2 guys and full equipment. Adding an additional 110....ouch.

Be careful.

Wayne P. reply :

The 10' Sears jon boat I just sold last year had a 250# rating. It had a 30" wide bottom.

jax reply :

On my 14' there is the max people weight and a max people plus equipment weight.

Max people weight is about 400lbs.

Max people weight plus equipment is 695 lbs.

Make sure when you check that you look at the people plus equipment weight.

Grey Wolf reply :

Dangerous , too small of a boat to do what you did. Expect problems.

done reply :

With my 1436 you would be at or above the weight rating for it with 2 200+ lb guys and the equipment you are talking about.

Course I take mine out in Lake Wylie, and I cannot get away with running it that close if I want to stay dry.

greatoutdoors reply :

I was going to do two pedestals but I decided to keep my seat in the back as low as possible for a better center of gravity. It is a pretty wide bottom for a 10 footer, around 34 inches. The weight capacity is 350lbs. Can't go back now, so we will see what happens. Wish me luck. We'll find out when the weather breaks here in PA.

Sharkbite reply :

Mine is a 12' and weight max is 500lb or 3 persons. I know I am nervous about adding extra weight. So I am just dropping the seats back to the bench. If the boat is nice and stabile I may put in a low floor were most jon boats have a ridge along the the walls to set the sides of the floors.

greatoutdoors reply :

Here are a few pictures of the boat. It's a little different than the $75 piece of crap I bought a few months ago. So, how long before I flip it?

Md reply :

The swamp you are fishing is in Coxton I presume?

NHfroggin reply :

the first boat i ever fished out of was a 10ft flat bottom with a deck and as long as your carefull you will be fine. i now use a old town canoe me(250lbs) and my buddy(290lbs) with all of our gear, a trolling motor, battery and we stand up to fish so as long as your are carefull and dont excesivly move around it should be good.

bassmaster6

greatoutdoors reply :

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The swamp you are fishing is in Coxton I presume?

Yes Sir, The picture near my name is of my wife fishing for the first time in her life at the swamp. She caught a 3lber on her 2nd or third cast and then that nice one in the pic. Probably close to 4lbs. I caught 4 or 5 that day and she had me in weight no problem. I've been fishing there for years and have they're patterns down pretty well. You ever fish it?

Md reply :

No, I haven't checked it out...but I drive by often. I used to wade the river in Falls all the time before I got a bass boat. Now I fish upstate NY mostly. I have heard there are some good ones in that swamp though.

greatoutdoors reply :

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No, I haven't checked it out...but I drive by often. I used to wade the river in Falls all the time before I got a bass boat. Now I fish upstate NY mostly. I have heard there are some good ones in that swamp though.

There are some good ones. Biggest I got out of there was around six. It's very consistent with 2, 3, 4 lber's. If you ever decide to give it a shot, send me a yell and I could tell ya where the hot spots are. There are also 2 reservoirs on the top of Campbell's ledge that are awesome. Need av ATV for those. A fish every five minutes up there, nothing huge from there yet, 3 max, but tons of fun. Enormous bluegill occasionally on spinner while going for bass.

baboosicbass08 reply :

Thats a sweet looking 10 footer ya got there

Nick B reply :

I have a front deck on my 14 ft jon, with bow mounted TM, I usually fish alone so I put all the batts in the back of the boat to balance the weight. The boat is very stable.

greatoutdoors reply :

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Thats a sweet looking 10 footer ya got there

thank you.

bass buster g0 reply :

you have inspired me to mod my 10 ftr!

XcoM274 reply :

If you ask me fishing in that boat is going to be like fishing on a 2x4, but I've been wrong before. There's a huge difference between a 10 footer and a 14 footer, just saying.

OH-bass614 reply :

if your carefull i think you will be fine but im no expert....if i were you i would make sure u dont have all the weight on one side and fish sitting down b.c. i can almost guarantee it wont be very stable and wear ur life jacket but aside from that you did a helluva job in my opinion it looks really clean

FordNFishinLover reply :

Looks very nice.

Im not sure about a 10 footer, but ive been in 12-14 footers with up to 4 people and been fine. Just be alittle careful on what your doing and you should be fine!

sweet rig!

Wilson reply :

I started off with a 10 foot jon. didn t have it have enough to deck it or else it would have been. If I was you id cut a door inthat front deck for storage. The only problems I had with the 10 footer was storage I have way too much stuff in such a small boat. I ended up, upgrading toa 1436 tracker jon which is now moded. started off stock, then front deck and small low deck in the middle for a sturdy platform, now front and back deck, had it fully decked for 2 days.

I stood in my 10 foot jon many times and had 3 and 4 people out in it we swam out of it and climbed back in with out any troubles.

greatoutdoors reply :

Thanks for all the compliments and advice guys. The little boat turned out much better than I expected it to. It was a hunk of junk for $75 bucks when I bought it. It's not that bad to fish out of, like you guys said you just have to be careful. Painted the trailer gloss black and chromed the little rims since the last pictures and it just makes the whole thing look a little cleaner.

MA1232 reply :

Nice job on the mod!

Is that 34 inches on the bottom or on the top? I have a 12 footer and 32 inches on the bottom, 40 inches top.

It is all about your sea legs ( balance ).

greatoutdoors reply :

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Nice job on the mod!
Is that 34 inches on the bottom or on the top? I have a 12 footer and 32 inches on the bottom, 40 inches top.

It is all about your sea legs ( balance ).

It's 34 on bottom and 42 on top.

ezell reply :

nice job on the boat inspiring

ikefan reply :

let us know how it goes when you get it on the water. i have a 1032 jon and let me tell you..it is not stable at all. i'm 200 lbs and really have to be careful. but, two inches across the bottom is alot and 34 will be noticeably better. good luck.

AZ Birddog reply :

I'm new to boating and I just got a '71 1032 Lowe, pretty much like yours. It felt very stable out on a local lake (pond) over the weekend. Now since I see yours I am going to put in a floor just so I don't have to stand on the hull since it is almost 40 years old.

greatoutdoors reply :

Well guys, I decided to sell the little jon. I bought it for $75 and sold it for $700 and still have the trailer. Not bad! I picked up a 1958 Aqualine semi-v hull on a Cox trailer with a 1954 15 horse Evinrude Fastwin that runs amazing. All for only $500. I am in love with that old motor. Sanded the boat today. I'll take some before and after pictures and post 'em. I think it's going to turn out pretty cool. It's much bigger, I'll tell ya that.

OneBadFisherman reply :

just wanted to say i was thinking of getting a 10ft jon boat, so i googled 10ft jon boats and found this thread, decided to join the sit to see the pics you posted. very impressed. think i am going to get one now, it's only me that goes fishing so the weight shouldn't be an issue, as i am 200(and slimind down), then the battery and trolling motor, with a floor. probably won't do a deck right away. just want something to get out on the water and the cheapest price since i just got a new baby( she's expensive). thanks for the thread, hope mine turns out as nice as yours.

bassmanET reply :

Hi Guys

I also just bought a 10' ft sears gamefisher jon boat. I usally fish alone or with my 13 year old son. I'm 185lbs he is 95lbs. The plate said 1 person or 245#. Took it out for fist time 2 weeks ago and it worked out OK. It didn't sit as low in the water as I thought. But, that was with just me and my son. I would like to add a trolling motor & 2 seats but that would put me way above weight limit.

So, I go down to West Marine and start talking to sales man. He tells me that I can fill under the bench seats with marine foam 7 this will greatly increase the weight capacity. I'm not looking to make a casting deck. Just 2 seats, trolling motor & battery.

Has anyone ever tried this? Does it really work? The foam I found says 2 quarts equals 100-120# of boyancy?

Grey Wolf reply :

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Hi Guys
I also just bought a 10' ft sears gamefisher jon boat. I usally fish alone or with my 13 year old son. I'm 185lbs he is 95lbs. The plate said 1 person or 245#. Took it out for fist time 2 weeks ago and it worked out OK. It didn't sit as low in the water as I thought. But, that was with just me and my son. I would like to add a trolling motor & 2 seats but that would put me way above weight limit.

So, I go down to West Marine and start talking to sales man. He tells me that I can fill under the bench seats with marine foam 7 this will greatly increase the weight capacity. I'm not looking to make a casting deck. Just 2 seats, trolling motor & battery.

Has anyone ever tried this? Does it really work? The foam I found says 2 quarts equals 100-120# of boyancy?

It is no safer just because you add foam , it'll just float better when you capsize it. Please have your life jackets on at all times when you and your son are out on the water. It's too small for two people.

bassmanET reply :

yeah, i got the same responce from another forum.

thanks

Anybody want a 10' jon boat?

$200 obo

Rebel Angler reply :

would definitely be intested but your a lil to far away

bassman018 reply :

Wow Beautiful Boat there, Not sure about the weight capacity, How did it work out? I love the paint! The one thing I would have done differently is put some storage hatches in the front casting deck. And can't you put something like that in the bed of a pickup? just wondering....

ArcticCat500 reply :

Thats a very nice job you did, I'd hate to be the bubble breaker, but, you will run into serious weight issues, if you and your fishing partner are both over 200lbs, well you just overloaded that lil rig right there, let alone a battery, tm, seats, and all the decking and carpet you added.

Most 10's are rated for about #275lbs. That front deck is way to high for a 10ftr, you dont have the stability, then add the high rise seat puts more weight above the gunwales and creates even less stability.

Like I said, its a great job, just way to much for this little boat. What makes me think Im a know it all, I did the same thing to the same boat, that lil 10ftr, wasnt made for that.

But if you do decide to fish from it, Please wear your PFD's, you may not go over the first time, but they'll be a time when before you know it, oh sh*$, over you go, gear and all.

Been there and done that, it sux.

Be Safe

10ft bass reply :

man i just bought a 10ft jon and went out thismorning for the first time and it is unstable as all hell..

it is 48' at the top and 41' at the bottom and i was just sitting on stock bench seats.

what can i do to make it better.

i bought it wanting to do a similar custom that u have done only with front casting deck lower but after all the rocking thismorning i think i might be better selling it

Grey Wolf reply :

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man i just bought a 10ft jon and went out thismorning for the first time and it is unstable as all hell..
it is 48' at the top and 41' at the bottom and i was just sitting on stock bench seats.

what can i do to make it better.

i bought it wanting to do a similar custom that u have done only with front casting deck lower but after all the rocking thismorning i think i might be better selling it

You answered your own question. SELL IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You need a boat with at least a 48 " bottom width.

10ft bass reply :

real helpfull bass-brat

SoFlaBassAddict reply :

Contrary to what Bass-Brat says, you do not need a boat with a 48" or larger bottom. You can do just fine with a 36" wide. The 32's are a little sketchy. Now, obviously the wider the better, but to say you "need" the larger size is a little silly. I've got a 36" that I use on my small lake and have absolutely no problems at all standing in the boat. You've just got to have common sense with the stuff you add onto it. The smartest thing you can do is to be safe with the size watercraft you have.

If you think you MUST have that decked out to the top of the gunwale Jon, then you better get the widest possible. But to add a floor down on the bottom of a 32/36 to make it a bit more comfortable is no problem at all. Just remember that it's a Jon boat, not a full sized bass boat.

Check out tinboats.net and look at the projects that have been done before. You'll get a ridiculous amount of ideas from the forums there.

Grey Wolf reply :

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real helpfull bass-brat

ANY TIME

ScottR reply :

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Check out tinboats.net and look at the projects that have been done before. You'll get a ridiculous amount of ideas from the forums there.

Its a Very Good site!!!

Ive built a 12 ft and a 14 ft jon and got alot of great info from that site!. I now am in the process of redoing an aluminum fltbtm 1978 MonArk 1644p with a 35 hp evinrude.

Theres a lot of resources on decking and the safety issues that arise. It Definitely a site anyone that owns a boat could use!!

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10 ft jon boat conversion 2024

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