Customizing a 16ft. Jon Boat?

[justfishin]

on the bigger holes buy some sheet metal and cover the inside of the hole weld in place then if you are worried about the bottoms appearance fill it in and grind and sand smooth a good marine enamel will work for paint. I do not know how much access you have to cheap metal if there is such a thing now days but it will be hard to stay away from wood completly if there are any lose rivits be sure to spot weld those as well to save time in the future. watch your boat weight as you build a friend of mine built his own dream boat with every thing he thought he wanted only to launch it and it set with just 6 inches above the water line. be sure to leave drainage channels to the plugs it is going to take on water sooner or later so they need to be there. good luck.

[Chubminnow]

Since this is a general discussion about how to modify a jonboat I would like to add another question to the topic...I have a 19' Lowe Jonboat (big ol' wide and deep outfit) with a 70 horse Evinrude...anyway, the trailer this boat sits on is homemade and I'm hoping to purchase a new trailer for it this winter. My question(s) are:

a. What is the difference (besides the money) between a good trailer verses not so good of a trailer?

b. The trailer I have now has bunks instead of rollers, do most large jonboat trailers have bunks or rollers?

c. Tandem or single axle? The boat is pretty good size with a 70 horse Evinrude plus the inside of been totally decked out with carpet, rod storage etc...I'm not sure how much it weighs but what kind of trailers do you guys usually see a larger jonboat sitting on, tandem or single axle?

c. Can anyone recommend a dealer to call on? I live in the Louisville area and have checked out some prices from two different dealers nearby (one in Louisville and one in Indiana), it's looking like it's going to cost around 1000.00 to 1100.00 bucks. One of the dealers I talked with I had met when I was at the Jim Strader show last winter so I guess he's reputable...

Anyone help/advice anyone can share would be much appreciated, thanks!

[justfishin]

check around marinas and lake bait shops for trailers for sale you may run up on a deal I found a single axel trailer at a yard sale and got it for 20 bucks had to do the wiring again it cost about 30 bucks lights and all. Look at the tires of the trailer your buying is the wear the same are the axels straight, if you buy used be carefull

[kreyfish]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Oct-26-05 AT 01:47PM (EST)[/font][p][font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Oct-26-05 AT 01:47*PM (EST)[/font]

Try this site http://www.myjonboat.com/aboutboat.htm

It might give you a few ideas on what you can do. A friend just "reconditioned" my jon but we didn't do anything fancy to it. Just paint and a new transom. I did buy new swivle seats that clamp on the the bench style seats, bought a new motor for it and some other stuff.

As far as the holes in the hull...I know that they make a puddy like substance that hardens like steel. You mash the two different compounds together and fill the hole, mold it...and it hardens...like steel. I believe though, you'll have to seal it somehow to make it water proof.

I'm just thinking off the top of my head...hope it works out.

ps...be sure to check out the "Converted jon boats" link on the left side of the page. Some great ideas.