my new boat 2025

chaz reply :

Just bought 14 ft alumacraft 45 inches wide with trailer, 200 bucks. Has anyone ever decked something this small and or do you know how sturdy it would be.

May 7 2008 spencerville in

firefightn15 reply :

Check the width again. Measure up by the front bench seat. Looks to be more than 3ft. I'm thinking that it may be a little tippy when you add the deck because of the higher center of gravity that you will end up with. Not knocking your boat, just the way I see it. Put it in the water the way it is and (carefully) stand up and move around, see what you think. That should give you some idea. If you do deck it use marine grade plywood or ground contact plywood, and amarine grade outdoor carpet. Not much, but all I got. And welcome to the forums!!!!!!!!

rondef reply :

I can't offer any help but good luck on your project and to the forum.

smokepole reply :

I have a 14 ft memphis bell I put a small deck in the front about 2 in under the benchs so I have a place to install a seat. i can stand up in mine and it is very stable and I'm 6ft6in and weigh about 280. Hope this helps

dickenscpa reply :

I got a 14' 1973 glass boat that I put a casting deck up front. It was right at 50" wide. I actually replaced that boat last night, but haven't sold the old one yet, but I'll start a new thread about my excitement there.

One thing I would suggest. I'm an accountant but have an extensive construction background and I weigh 230#'s. A big mistake I made that wasted time and money was I built the deck as if I was framing a floor in a house. Way too heavy, boat wouldn't plane and made it porpoise bad. A casting deck must support your weight, not your weight sitting on a couch or playing a grand piano.

After you build your deck, take it to familiar water, stay close to the dock (read shallow water) and be in a strict mindset of test mode/safety first. Walk around and test it and go past the point you probably would in reality. Do EVERYTHING you can to make sure that it will be safe. When you get out in deeper water reeling in a biggun, your mind won't be on that.

chaz reply :

Thanks for the input.

xboxfisherman reply :

I'm doing a similar boat to the original poster, mine is 42 inch wide and fiberglass. I didn't have any problem with the original bench height decks I bought mine with. I'm currently redoing mine.

Sorry for the hijack.

What do you mean you floored it too heavy? I'm using 1x2's about 12" on center. Just curious what you meant.

rich64 reply :

Live in Spencerville,Indiana? Small world.It should be big enough for a smal deck,watch your center of gravity or you may do more swimming than fishing.Some other guy in Spencerville just did one,did an excelent job maybe he could give some advice.

dickenscpa reply :

Quote
What do you mean you floored it too heavy? I'm using 1x2's about 12" on center. Just curious what you meant.

Like a dumb butt I floored it with 2X4's and 2X6's and then used 3/4" plywood for the decking more like you would the floor joists in a house. I thought since I was about 230 I'd need the support. My Dad enlightened me and told me the floors in a house were built that way to support your weight and a couch and other heavy furniture. I just had one of those brain freezes during the planning stages.

With all my gear and TM battery stored in my newly created storage area it was way too much weight up front and the boat wouldn't plane and porpoised a bit too under speed. Another drawback was when I was sitting up front fishing, other boats wakes would cause a little slosh to come over the sides. The boat sat noticeably lower in the front, so I ripped it all out and went back all naturale.

chaz reply :

More pic's

chaz reply :

pic#3

Look, it even has aluminum oars.

Went fishing saturday and the only thing we caught was a buzz. Had a friend and my son with me and the boat handled well. We had a good day on, Big Turkey Lake, in Stroh Indiana. Decided to go ahead and deck her.

Am installing 3/4" x 26" x 7' plywood on floor to help add stability for the deck.

Thinking about adding storage along the side for tackle, dry clothes ect., maybe a place to stow my poles.

nashkcn reply :

nice buy for 200. you goung o put a motor on it, nevermind i didnt see your last pic

rich64 reply :

Are you gonna carpet the deck? BTW I might hit big turkey saturday...Did you try my spot?

chaz reply :

Wasnt nothing there, went on and caught some little ones, mostly Rob and Josh. I hit a bass but was'nt anything to speak of. Probably just hit the river, going to try for tomarrow, if nothing else just cruise.

Want to try out deck anyway.

MA1232 reply :

Great deal!

The trailer alone is worth $200. You got a FREE boat! can't beat that price.

Good luck and post picture of your mod,

chaz reply :

Well, I spent 2 days and 2 nights, most of it in the rain,looking at and thinking of what to do with my project. When I say days and nights, I mean all day and all night. I'm still wondering if it was just stupidity, standing in the rain, or the excitement I was going to experiance as I began a journey of which I new nothing about.

Thanks to my fishing buddy, Rich who gave me the idea and motivation to do this, and introducing me to this great website, here is my project boat I'm going to call " A Blaze of Glory ".

The day before yesterday I started out by making a cardboard pattern of the front deck. I had an old reel that waveguide came off of and it was just as strong as strong can be. It was 3/4 in thick and by using this it eliminated my need for bracing. That new deck will now go on top of the existing two front benches. I cut out a hatch and added peices underneath so the hatch has a place to rest. also I made a floor underneath the hatch to keep the stuff dry that will go there.

I coated everything with deck sealer both sides and paid extra attention to the edges. Then a freind gave me a gallon of Rustoleum industrial and commercial primer, Battleship grey. I coated everything again with that. 2 coats on the top of the deck, 2 coats on all sides of the floor. Everything else just got 1 coat sealer, 1 coat primer.

Don't have money for carpet so paint will have to do for now.

chaz reply :

deck top veiw

chaz reply :

boat floor and seat sides

chaz reply :

battery floor an other stuff

chaz reply :

I installed a peice of pvc pipe and ran through it an old pair of jumper cables for power up front. Mike saw what i was doing and being an electrican told me he had a better idea. Knowing him like I do I let him have at it. He had a peice of electrical cable that had 4 wires in it, Ithink he said it was 6 gauge wire. It had come off a tower and was used as the electrical cable that ran all the lights, Beacons and side lights that are on all towers over 200 ft tall. The longer electricity travels through a wire, the bigger the wire you must have to get correct amperage at the other end. I should have no problem with this wire. Also he fixed me up with a pair of jumpers to connect both batteries together making it way easier to charge them. They came from an Amish man, their gel batteries they use to run there lights with. They are very heavy but last forever with a full charge. $ 50.00 apeice.

chaz reply :

Battery cable donated by Mike

chaz reply :

front power from 2 batteries

chaz reply :

top veiw

chaz reply :

both batteries connected

chaz reply :

The floor is 3/4 in plywood and I know your probably asking why. My theory is that due to the weight of the deck and the boat only 45 in wide, the extra weight in the bottom will hopefully compensate for the top heavyness. I might be wrong but I'll find out hopefully this afternoon

chaz reply :

deck

chaz reply :

Access for storage also serves for a place to put my feet

chaz reply :

I could'nt take it any longer so had to put away the working tools and get out the fishing tools. Besides, I wanted to try the deck before I went any further with my build in case I didnt like it.

Right away I had the motor up front and mounted to the side about a foot away from the front. I did'nt like it, it seemed as if the boat was dogtracking and it just didn't seem to be acting quite right. I returned it to the back of the boat where it worked just fine.

Going to the front of the boat was a bit of a challenge too. On a boat of this size it is imperitive that all you have with you has it's own place and it had better be in that place for easy manuverabilty arond the boat.

The seat up front is definatley not going to work there. The boat is only 45 in wide and that does'nt leave you much room to get by as your going front to back or vice versa. With the seat moved to the back I see no problem with the deck that a little practice won't fix.

I stood and moved freely after I found everythings place. A little rocking but the extra weight of the 3/4 in plywood I think made it a little more stable than it would have without it. Could just be me.

I usually do my fishing in the St. Joe river in norteast indiana, this boat is going to give me a lot of pleasure as I fish from it this summer. Will continue to update as work goes on untill end of project. Thanks for your interest in my project "A Blaze of Glory".

firefightn15 reply :

Looks like you have a pretty good jump on your boat. Nice thing about building from scratch, you can keep after it until you get whqt you want.

Maybe if you had a livewell to on side between the front and middle bench off to one side, you could offset the front seat alittle and counter balance by filling the livewell??

chaz reply :

Finally have her done, for now.

chaz reply :

more pics

chaz reply :

Nice little spot for tackle

chaz reply :

Front electrical connection

chaz reply :

pic

chaz reply :

front veiw

Black Bass reply :

Nice job! Nice price!

firefightn15 reply :

Chaz, looks like your boat project turned out pretty good! Brian

bowtech_182 reply :

If you are open to suggestions I would suggest that you at least put a rubber boot over you positive electrical connection. It would not be good to drop a pair of needlenose, etc and short the two posts together. Your build looks great.

no.4shot reply :

looks awsome. You did a great job.

rondef reply :

Good job, the boat came out nice.

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my new boat 2025

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