casting deck

[tav]

ok i've done my removable floors on my 14' seanymph and that went pretty smooth just have to put some carpet on them, now the casting deck . what i have is a 4x8 pc. of 1/8" of fiber board and gonna fit it to my deck area then trace it to my 4x8 plywood, now when everything is in place (plywood) and experiencing sagging form the 1st seat to the bow seat how and what would be the best way to sercure the deck so it doesn't sag. should i use 2or 3 2x4's going across or somthing going from the deck to the bottom. just trying to do this the right way. been reading this forum and sounds like there alot of people very experienced in this field, if you can help ....thank you .....glenn

 

[tav]

Re: casting deck

bump

 

[mountainmariner]

Re: casting deck

Ahoy!
can You post some photos? There are many folks that will help, but a little more insight would be great!
good luck,
J

 

[redfury]

Re: casting deck

Unless you are using 3/4 inch plywood, you are going to get some flexing if you are spanning a distance larger than 12 inches. You need to support the floor of that deck with either wood spanning the distance and secured to the plywood or you need to build some bracing that goes from the bottom of the boat to the bottom of the plywood to support it. If you are using the area underneath the deck between the two bench seats in the boat for storage, than you will need to add some kind of support to the bottom of the ply wood, like lengths of angled aluminum or something along those lines to stiffen up the plywood so it can't flex.

The best solutions are going to be suggested if we know what is going on underneath the wood deck.

 

[tav]

Re: casting deck

ok i found the photobucket site and ran a couple test pics and it seem to work ,the pics are on the big side tho. i'll take some pics today and show you what i'm talking about on the deck ......thank

 

[tav]

Re: casting deck ** pics **

Re: casting deck ** pics **

ok heres a few pics of the bow that i'm planning to put in a deck just need some help in how to secure it so it doesn't sag when installed. i'm useing 4x8x3/4" TOP OF THE LINE PLYWOOD(EXTERNAL)sorry for the caps. any suggestion would help.

the area for deck is 35" for seat to seat and 46 1/2" from side to side.

 

[John_S]

Re: casting deck

When I added a casting deck to our starcraft, used 5/8" ext plywood, horizontal aluminum bracing, and 2x4 verticle uprights. It is important to keep the weight down. Also, when cutting the plywood make sure you consider the side boat angle in the the cut, otherwise you will have big gaps between plywood and boat.

OK, I see the pictures now. That is a large span, and will require a number (2-3) support "beams". I also question how stable this will be, especially if going to bench seat height. Have you tried standing on that bench seat, and carefully moving toward port or starboard? I have a similiar 14' boat, that would not be stable enough for a casting deck. Might be ok if you stay glued to a casting seat.


http://www.canadalake.org/Starcraftii.html

 

[marquette]

Re: casting deck

i assume you are going to put a floor in between the bow seat and the 1st bench seat. if you were not planing to that would be my first suggestion. it will keep stuff stored there dryer. secondly it will give you a simple place to brace the casting deck to. buy a hatch (i like tempress but there are several other good brands) something like 10x18. you can make one but to make it look good and fuctional will take too much time. with the width and style of boat don't plan to put a seat socket on the deck. it will be too high to be fuctional. the floor may not need to be fastened dow but just fit snug. make your template for the casting deck as you planned and then cut your plywood. 1/2 or 5/8 should work. then center your hatch and cut the hole for it. i like to use angel aluminum but 2x2 wood will work. put a leg at each corner of your hatch hole(be sure to leave enough room for the mounting screws for the hatch). this is where having a floor comes in handy because you can use either a 90 degree bracket if you are using wood or a short piece of angle if you are using aluminum to fasten the legs to the floor. now stand on it and checkk the flex at the center along each side. if it flexes cut a brace that goes between the floor and the casting deck and follows the hull. these are a little tricky to cut because of the angles but you will figure it out. at this point if you didn't fasten the floor in you should be able to lift this competly out of the boat if you wanted to. it should be like a table totally self supporting except if you stepped on the edges that will be over the seats. now if you want to carpet it or cover it in vinyl you can do that and be able to wrap it around the edges for a nice professional look. make sure you allow for the carpet or vinyl when you cut the casting deck to width.
then you can set it back in and use stainless screws with finishing washers to fasten in down to the seats. put your hatch in and fasten it down and you should be good to go. i like doing it this way even if it is a little more time consuming because it never puts any holes in the hull or a line of rivet heads on the outside from holding the side bracing. most of all have fun doing it whatever method you use.