Lightweight 14 foot cartopper?

[Tacklewasher]

I have a 10' pram and a 12' cartopper. I'd like to replace the 12' with a 14' pram (flat front) for taking people fishing, but don't want to have to trailer it.

Be running a 10Hp Honda BF100 so I'm not looking for a big 14'.

Anyone know a good model 14' cartopper?

I'd be building an electric loader setup and it would be going on a 2001 2500HD GMC extended cab shortbox. I would like to be able to take it when I'm pulling my travel trailer.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Lightweight 14 foot cartopper?

Are you talking about what we call a jon boat (here in the states), or a traditional pram?

Jon Boat

Pram

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Lightweight 14 foot cartopper?

You might also want to consider a semi-V aluminum utility boat, like the Lowe Sea Nymph. They're lightweight (140 lb for the 14' model), stable on the water, and much better able to handle wind and light chop. A small (5hp) outboard will put them along OK.

http://www.lowe.com/fishboats/sea-nymph/1457.html

There are a bunch of manufacturers of similar boats, and they're readily available used, as well.

 

[Tacklewasher]

Re: Lightweight 14 foot cartopper?

Are you talking about what we call a jon boat (here in the states), or a traditional pram?

Jon Boat

Pram

Jon boat.

 

[Tacklewasher]

Re: Lightweight 14 foot cartopper?

You might also want to consider a semi-V aluminum utility boat, like the Lowe Sea Nymph. They're lightweight (140 lb for the 14' model), stable on the water, and much better able to handle wind and light chop. A small (5hp) outboard will put them along OK.

http://www.lowe.com/fishboats/sea-nymph/1457.html

There are a bunch of manufacturers of similar boats, and they're readily available used, as well.

Trouble is, is I want to use it mostly for flyfishing and the v-boats just don't stay stable enough for casting (IMHO). My 12' is particularly bad and I'm pretty much scared to stand in it while my 10' Jon is great for just me casting.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Lightweight 14 foot cartopper?

I hear you on that. My 12' is a little tippy to stand in, too, but I do it sometimes, particularly when casting for muskies. I just can't get the distance while sitting. So far, I haven't gone over the side. I used to have a 12' Alumacraft, though, and it was so round bottomed that you didn't dare stand in it. The Sea King/Starcraft below isn't nearly so bad. Different boats seem to be more or less stable.

Most of the jon boats I've looked at in the 14' range are pretty heavy, running about 185 lb. and up. That's a little heavy for car-topping, as far as I'm concerned, but your mileage may vary. Of course, on a pickup, it's pretty easy to come up with a rear rack. the front, especially on a short bed, though, still pretty much has to ride on the rain gutter section. I've never liked that arrangement.

 

[Tacklewasher]

Re: Lightweight 14 foot cartopper?

What I did for my 12' was to build a steel frame specific to the boat so I have nothing on the truck cab, and it's all supported by the boat rack. I'd do the same for a different boat. Probably have a bit more hang over the rear and it would go past the windshield.

Just want to be able to carry it and pull the travel trailer as well.

And at 185 lbs, with a boat loader, I'd be okay loading it by myself.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Lightweight 14 foot cartopper?

Sounds like a good plan. Get the widest one you can fit on the rack. I really, really hate skinny little jon boats. The wider the better. The higher the sides, the better.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Lightweight 14 foot cartopper?

Back when I was an impoverished college student, I rented a house with three other guys, almost on the water of a shallow bay in California. A boat was going to be a must, but the money was just about non-existent.

It took a while, but after about a month, I had scrounged up a full sheet of 1/4 CDX plywood and three 10' 2x12s, along with a few 2x2s, some other boards, and an ancient, but running, Johnson 5hp outboard ($5). Total cost, from various garage sales and dump sites was about $20. I even found a pair of oars at a sale for $5, complete with oarlocks and sockets.

One Saturday's work, and I had a 4' x 8' jon boat, complete with seats and everything. It was put together with silicone caulk and drywall screws and painted with a nasty color made from several cans of oil-based enamel paint.

It weighed way too much. But, there was a street easement down to the water's edge near the house, so we tied it to the trunk of a bush and just left it down there.

That horrid little boat got used for three years. We never bothered with registration numbers or any such thing, and never got bothered by the harbor patrol, since they couldn't run in the shallow water of the back bay.

We fished from it, including bowfishing for the sharks and rays in the bay. With that ancient outboard, it would scoot along pretty good, too, so there was towing of big tractor inner tubes and more.

When we graduated, we left the boat for the new tenants of that house.