Re: Jon Boat, welded
Re: Jon Boat, welded
Do a internet search for 'boat plans'.<br /><br />There's bunches of sites out there with free or fairly cheap plans like that.<br /><br />Converting from wood to Aluminum is no big deal.<br />That's what I did on 2 hydroplanes. The last one I just got done with is the 'Airmarine Special' from over at the free boat plan site stretched out to 16 feet from 12, with 6" of width added in the tunnel, a covered instead a open cockpit, a little tinkering with the nose, and adding a inch to it's height for the wings and cockpit sides.<br />Instead of a 80hp eng. I hung a 2.4Litre Merc. V-6 Black Max. on it. <br />/////////<br /><br />Something like that would work for your jon boat.<br /><br />Or-<br />You might even just go to a dealer and look at the new generation welded hull jon boats and take a few notes.<br /><br />Length, beam, height, seat arrangement, how the bow curves up and how much is about all there is to them. <br /><br />To get the reinforcing that the pressed in ridges obtain, just weld 1" angle stock down the outside of the hull from front to rear like triangle shaped stringers. You'll get the strength like the ridges,,,, and a flat deck inside. Plus, running it up on the beach a few times won't chew through the hull and make it leak. <br /><br /><br />This sounds like a really cool project that I'd like to follow. If it was me, with a 60hp, I'd go on up to a 19 footer on at least a 7' beam, maybe even a 8' beam. You can get a lot more deck area for very little added wieght without giving up hardly any handeling traits or speed.
