Livewell size for conversion project?

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ShoestringMariner

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Hey everyone, I am converting my 12' tinny into a one man fishing boat. I am removing the middle seat and making a mid height casting/steering deck on the front. At the front of that deck, (between where the front seat and middle seat now are) will be a swivel seat (face mounted to the edge of the front deck's bulkhead).
Just in front of the seat post is where I'd like to have the live well.

Now let me open another can of worms...I'm concerned about the weight of this well when full, as there will be a battery, anchor and a bow mount troller ahead of it, so needless to say, weight could be an issue
I have room for a 12" deep by 12" wide x 36" long tank, which I fear is going to be too heavy if 3/4 full .

Also, does anyone have any links to design plans? I'm planning on making it from .060" aluminum sheet. Not sure how these things are usually constructed to prevent water slop
 
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dingbat

dingbat

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Size depends on your needs.
My live/bait well is roughly 14"W x 12"D x 24" L. Total enclosed with a gasketed hatch.

Square corners are a no no if used as a bait well
 
gm280

gm280

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It sounds like you will have everything up front. And you can calculate the weight of the live well by multiplying the dimensions to get the total cubic feet and then dividing by .75 (your water level) to see how many cubic feet that will be. Then multiply that figure by 62.5 (roughly the weight of water per cubic foot space) to arrive at the total water weight. Then add in your battery and of course your weight and see how much front weight you will have. It sounds like a better idea would be to place the live well about where the middle seat is right now. You could even convert that into your live well. I've seen that done before. JMHO
 
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ShoestringMariner

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gm280 said:
It sounds like you will have everything up front. And you can calculate the weight of the live well by multiplying the dimensions to get the total cubic feet and then dividing by .75 (your water level) to see how many cubic feet that will be. Then multiply that figure by 62.5 (roughly the weight of water per cubic foot space) to arrive at the total water weight. Then add in your battery and of course your weight and see how much front weight you will have. It sounds like a better idea would be to place the live well about where the middle seat is right now. You could even convert that into your live well. I've seen that done before. JMHO
Click to expand...


Thanks, I am putting the battery directly under the front seat, and have cut out most of the middle seat. The front of the middle seat will be the bulkhead for the front deck. I might keep the seat post right at the bulkhead and move the livewell as close to the seat as possible. With the offset seat post, I think I can do it.
Photos of what I've done so far and a sketchy rendition of what I have in mind. The reason I cut out the middle seat is I'm putting a flat floor through it.

If I had a 14', I'd have done as you suggested (livewell in the center seat)

What about putting it under the rear seat? I'm only carrying a 3 gal fuel tank. My motor is a bit heavy though (58 Johnson 10hp)
 

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jbcurt00

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That bench was either sealed or filled w flotation foam

Sounds like an incredible amount of weight to be added up front. Esp w a fairly large reduction in foam.

Every pound you add in decks, floor and mods is a reduction in the amount of weight capacity.......

On a 12ftr, was what 450lbs? Which is all up, including you, motor, gas, gear and all your added mods.
 
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ShoestringMariner

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jbcurt00 said:
That bench was either sealed or filled w flotation foam

Sounds like an incredible amount of weight to be added up front. Esp w a fairly large reduction in foam.

Every pound you add in decks, floor and mods is a reduction in the amount of weight capacity.......

On a 12ftr, was what 450lbs? Which is all up, including you, motor, gas, gear and all your added mods.
Click to expand...

Agreed with weight, hence my concern. I may forgo the well. As for the foam, Styro SM will be going under the floor, back in any possible cubby and anywhere there is an air pocket. I figure I can get as much foam back in, if not more) And no more bead board bits floating/blowing around from mice trying to nest in it

Most of the mods will all be done in wood, and while wood has a weight, it is somewhat buoyant as opposed to total dead weight of aluminum should I get swamped. (?? no??)

And agreed about weight capacity. Its just me. I'm a solitary fisher
 
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fhhuber

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Simplest idea for your live well... is to modify an appropriate size ice chest. One with a drain you can use to hook up to a hose and then add an overflow and a pump. Just run the fill pump and let it overflow. That will take care of any needed aeration.
 
gm280

gm280

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Shoestring, I actually had a boat like yours.

It was a 12 foot "V" bottom aluminum Feather Craft. And I did pretty much like you did with removing the center seat area and installing a flat level floor. I added two swivel seats, one the rear bench and the other at the front to fish from. I didn't put a raised platform in knowing how quickly raising a floor changes the C/G of such a small boat and makes it more tipsy.

I didn't build in a live well either, but used a cooler for any fish I would catch. I had a 9.8 HP Mercury OB on it and enjoyed fishing from it for a few years. It was my very first boat.

So I understand what you are trying to do. Just be careful to get things balances with the placement of everything and understand it is what it is. Any time you raise any floor (casting platform) you change the dynamics of the hull and its balance point. So try using a piece of wood and a seat on top of it on the water to see how that would work before actually installing it. You may change your mind and just go with a nice seat attached to the front bench instead. :noidea: JMHO
 
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ShoestringMariner

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Thanks guys. I am no longer planning a live well for this boat.

@gm820, If you had a thread somewhere about your conversion, I may have seen it. I do think it will be tippy, which is why I was not going any higher with the deck than the seat height, but as you suggested, I am trying just that (testing with a simple set up of plywood)

If too tippy, I will just go with a flat floor and no raised deck
 
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ShoestringMariner

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Did a float/balance test. I am not going any higher than about 4" above the deepest part of the hull. Just enough to get a swivel seat mount installed

It's going to work pretty nicely I think. I might use one of those mini seats up front and leave the full swivel seat on the back bench. This will allow me to be sharper on my feet and also not have a big chunky seat to walk around, hopefully reducing the tipping hazards a little more
 
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