...right area? How to make a built in livewell...and wire it....

[Saskatoon2005]

Hello All,

I would like to install a built in live well into a revamped 14' fiberglass hull. It presently has a closed bow and I am going to open it up so as to have a fishing platform on it as well as a livewell for caught fish. Please give me some direction and if you have photos of jobs you have done, I would love to see links..looking forward to your help and input, it is always appreciated.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: ...right area? How to make a built in livewell...and wire it....

First of all, if you remove the bow cover, you need to reinforce the hull so it won't collapse. Think of the Vee hull as two sides of a triangle. The covered bow is the third side of the triangle. You need to figure out some sort of bracing.

Now, as to the livewell. I think you should either buy a pre-made plastic one, or make your own out of foam and fiberglass. If you can get urethane foam sheets, you can construct the livewell out of polyester resin and cloth. If you use styrafoam (think cheap ice chest), you need to use epoxy resin and glass.

My boat has a thru-hull bronze fitting to pick up seawater, and a bilge pump to pump it into the livewell. An overflow pipe lets the water drain overboard. Wire it to a switch on the dashboard, and make sure you have sufficient battery power to run it while you fish with the motor off.

 

[Saskatoon2005]

Re: ...right area? How to make a built in livewell...and wire it....

Hey Chris1956,

I agree about the bow cover, I was thinking of putting a raised platform in about 6 inches lower than where the bow cover was. I was hoping to cut off half of the console because it is the old one with the one pane of plexi-glass for a windscreen. I am removing the windscreen as it won't allow me to get to the platform that I make up front. I will install a single console windscreen later. I will use wood products for everything and glass it all in to secure it and make sure it is well braced. Here is a picture of what my boat kinda looks like...any more ideas would be great...

 

[kalla man]

Re: ...right area? How to make a built in livewell...and wire it....

hey Chris

does epoxy resin bond good with styrafoam?
I know from experience that polly resin completely
destroys styrafoam. i always assumed that epoxy
would do the same thing..~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE PROJECT.......
s99.photobucket.com/albums/l309/kallaman/

 

[iwombat]

Re: ...right area? How to make a built in livewell...and wire it....

Yes, epoxy will bond with polystyrene.

Just ask a surfer.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: ...right area? How to make a built in livewell...and wire it....

Sask, How about this? Run your jigsaw around the blue fiberglass from port to starboard, leaving about 2 inches of the front deck remaining. Stuff a two inch by six inch thick piece of urethane board (foil faced cyanurate from any Home Despot) under the remaining blue FG. Now cut a piece of dry pressure treated 1/2 plywood to fit under the urethane board, and touch the hull. Use some polyester resin and cloth and maybe some cleats as well, (under the plywood) to secure the plywood to the hull, and cover the top of the plywood with cloth and resin, and run the cloth up the urethane board to the remains of the old deck. You can color the resin, but a bit of paint would be much easier. You might like to brace the plywood deck to the keel for those 200 pound friends of yours who like to cast in the bow. You can use the area under the new deck for storage or foam it for strength and safety.

 

[Saskatoon2005]

Re: ...right area? How to make a built in livewell...and wire it....

Sounds like a pretty cool idea...what do you mean by urethane board? Do you mean that plexi-glass stuff at Home Depot?

 

[sbklf]

Re: ...right area? How to make a built in livewell...and wire it....

The fish or bait will take a pounding in the front of the boat and water will splash everywhere. Most live wells are in the back of the boat.

If you want to be able to bring in fresh water from the lake or bay, you will need a pump mounted so it and its intake are below the water line and its discharge into the livewell above the water line with an overflow like Chris said. Then to circulate/aerate add another pump with its intake at the borrom and its discharge so it splashes back into the well.

To drain you will either need yet another pump, a drain hole or a valve that will redirect the circulating pump discharge out of the boat.

Home Depot sells a 4X8 FRP sheet used for tub surrounds for about $30 that is pretty easy to build with. It will work with epoxy or poly.

 

[Saskatoon2005]

Re: ...right area? How to make a built in livewell...and wire it....

Do I build the livewell out of that FRP material? A 4X8 sheet seems pretty large, but then I could build two of them I guess.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: ...right area? How to make a built in livewell...and wire it....

You can get a normal plastic cooler and just get a live well kit for it, easy and cheap. Coolers come in any shape, size and color you may want and will cost much less than the materials to build one.

 

[Saskatoon2005]

Re: ...right area? How to make a built in livewell...and wire it....

I know but then I have a cooler sitting on the deck of the boat taking up room.....LOL! Unless I can find a way to get the cooler built into the deck....Hmmmmmmmm

 

[ondarvr]

Re: ...right area? How to make a built in livewell...and wire it....

Yes, you just get one that fits the space below the deck or seating area you want it to fit into. Since you're changing the layout, you should have no problem building a space for it and it will be removable. The space can then be used for other things when you don't need a live well.

 

[hard-3]

Re: ...right area? How to make a built in livewell...and wire it....

I just got the new cabelas summer catalog in the mail, They have just what you need in there. They have a plastic liner for adding a livewell to any deck. It has a hatch with a sealing gasket, and the liners come in different sizes to match the hatch lids. A little pricey ,but its a cut a hole and screw it down thing. I currently am making a cooler to go under the bench seats i built from sheet aluminum and great stuff foam . I could not find a liner or rubbermaid tub the size i needed. If you are using a tub you should think about insulating it to maintain the water temp to not overheat the fish. Spray foam or sheet poly-isocyanate glued around it should help.
Jeff

 

[Saskatoon2005]

Re: ...right area? How to make a built in livewell...and wire it....

I ordered the catalog but it has not arrived yet, do they have it online? I will check and see if it is plausible.....LOL! Thanks for the insight.

 

[Saskatoon2005]

Re: ...right area? How to make a built in livewell...and wire it....

It sounds like so much work to install all the plumbing and I don't feel too comfortable making thru-bow holes to mount fill / drain pipes. Can I just install a liner and then fill it with a bucket and then use a portable cooler aerator to keep the fish fresh? Would that work or do I need to do all that plumbing work?

 

[Chris1956]

Re: ...right area? How to make a built in livewell...and wire it....

Sask, You could recirculate the water. It will keep it fresher, than no recirculation. You will however, have water that gets warm due to the sun, and dirty due to the bait poop.

 

[Saskatoon2005]

Re: ...right area? How to make a built in livewell...and wire it....

I don't use live bait, so I would just use it for keep my catch fresh, how big should one be...and is it hard to get them out if you don't have a drain for the water first? Never had one and am curious...

 

[Chris1956]

Re: ...right area? How to make a built in livewell...and wire it....

Sask, Obviously the live well needs to be long enough for your catch to stretch out. They do not need to swim. You can also toss some ice in the well to cool 'em off in the summer. Live Bait is much more difficult to keep fresh.

 

[Saskatoon2005]

Re: ...right area? How to make a built in livewell...and wire it....

Thanks Chris for you input, noted and thankfully accepted.

 

[kalla man]

Re: ...right area? How to make a built in livewell...and wire it....

I just got done with my livewells/coolers. I used insulation board, aluminum tape, polyester resin, and fiberglass mat. It was a very easy project, working with the foam board is a breeze. first I assembled the foam then I glassed it to the stringers. three layers of mat, nice and sturdy!

<img src = "http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l309/kallaman/DSC03540.jpg?t=1171595148">

<img src = "http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l309/kallaman/DSC03535.jpg?t=1171595208">

<img src = "http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l309/kallaman/DSC03530.jpg?t=1171595236">

<img src = "http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l309/kallaman/DSC03528.jpg?t=1171595285">

<img src = "http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l309/kallaman/DSC03526.jpg?t=1171595317">

the drain hole will go by the depression in the top left corner of the last pic. just hit the foam with a hammer before i glassed it to make the depression


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.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE PROJECT.......
s99.photobucket.com/albums/l309/kallaman/