This Old Boat.

[Jackalope]

My FIL Jim gave me an old 1436 Lowe Jon boat that I brought down here with me. I want to set it up as an inland boat to go knock around the Cyprus swamps and marshes. A beater boat to use for hunting and fishing. I have an SPS Thai longtail kit on order fit the motor. Until then I've started getting some other stuff done. After the hurricane, the neighbor got fed up with her plywood hurricane shutters and was throwing them out so I scored some free deck material. Built a front casting deck for it today. Next is a floor deck for the middle.

 

[Buckmaster]

How popular are fan boats down there?

 

[CJD3]

Well that's cool Joe!
When I moved to SW Florida, I took my canoe so I could fish the backwaters and mangroves. Hope you get a ton of us out of it.

 

["J"]

Put a 36v 109 trolling motor on the front of that puppy

 

[Jackalope]

How popular are fan boats down there?

Not very. We don't have as much marsh as Louisuana. But even there they aren't super popular. An aluminum skiff with a surface drive will take 99% of people where they want to go.

 

[Jackalope]

Put a 36v 109 trolling motor on the front of that puppy

$1,500 trolling motor on a 500 dollar boat. .

 

[Jackalope]

Well that's cool Joe!
When I moved to SW Florida, I took my canoe so I could fish the backwaters and mangroves. Hope you get a ton of us out of it.

Tons of uses for it here. Especially with a long tail. Lots of the public land have marshes and stamps scattered throughout so it'll help when I try to get away from the crowds. It'll be great for getting to shallow wooded duck spots all the way to running crab pots.

 

["J"]

$1,500 trolling motor on a 500 dollar boat. .

No different than $4k rims and tires on a $500 junker
Plus it’s removable too your next project boat...

 

[Jackalope]

Cut the floor today from another piece of discarded hurricane plywood.

I had a piece of foam board insulation that the previous homeowner left in the garage. I decided go cut it up and put it under the floor to hopefully soften footsteps. It sticks up a tad higher than the ribs so it should give some cushion.

Both the casting deck and the floor will be held down with stainless steel bolts with washers screwed in to some rivet nuts. I'll drill through the deck down to the ribs and the seats to out the rivet nuts in.

I haven't decided on a paint to seal everything yet. It'll need to be something flat and brownish tan to match the marsh.

So far I have $9 in screws, $10 in 1x4 boards, and $8 in hardware. $27 dollar boat. The mud motor and trolling motor will jump that up. .

 

[Geezer II]

Cut the floor today from another piece of discarded hurricane plywood.

View attachment 117434

I had a piece of foam board insulation that the previous homeowner left in the garage. I decided go cut it up and put it under the floor to hopefully soften footsteps. It sticks up a tad higher than the ribs so it should give some cushion.

View attachment 117435

Both the casting deck and the floor will be held down with stainless steel bolts with washers screwed in to some rivet nuts. I'll drill through the deck down to the ribs and the seats to out the rivet nuts in.

I haven't decided on a paint to seal everything yet. It'll need to be something flat and brownish tan to match the marsh.

So far I have $9 in screws, $10 in 1x4 boards, and $8 in hardware. $27 dollar boat. The mud motor and trolling motor will jump that up. .

Do you have a way of draning the bilges ?

 

[Jackalope]

Do you have a way of draning the bilges ?

A good ole butter bucket.

 

[Geezer II]

A good ole butter bucket.

Yea maybe turn it on its side when storing - built a couple canoes back in the day - some fun - kids will be wait n on that boat ride for sure

 

[Jackalope]

Yea maybe turn it on its side when storing - built a couple canoes back in the day - some fun - kids will be wait n on that boat ride for sure

It has a drain plug in the transom so I've been running the front jack leg all the way up to give it a rearward tilt when storing it. The bottom of the boat has ribs to help drain water also.

The boys little chairs fit perfectly, they can sit and fish, and while running I can still grab either of them if need be.

 

[Geezer II]

It has a drain plug in the transom so I've been running the front jack leg all the way up to give it a rearward tilt when storing it. The bottom of the boat has ribs to help drain water also.

The boys little chairs fit perfectly, they can sit and fish, and while running I can still grab either of them if need be.

View attachment 117439

Dam cool

 

[jagermeister]

Gonna be a lot of great memories made with that little boat. Awesome stuff Joe.

 

[cspot]

Nice!

 

["J"]

What type of seats you looking at Joe?

 

[cspot]

Put a 36v 109 trolling motor on the front of that puppy

Needs a $3,000 fish finder also.

 

[Jackalope]

What type of seats you looking at Joe?

I'm going to put a seat bracket up front so I can use either a casting seat or one with a back depending on what I'm doing. Probably the same for the middle deck.

We're not limited to a number of rods so I'm going to put four elevated rod holders on the front so I can use a 4 rod array when crappie fishing and sit up there in comfort.

 

[cspot]

I'm going to put a seat bracket up front so I can use either a casting seat or one with a back depending on what I'm doing. Probably the same for the middle deck.

We're not limited to a number of rods so I'm going to put four elevated rod holders on the front so I can use a 4 rod array when crappie fishing and sit up there in comfort.

Going to run any lights for night fishing? Probably also need a couple cupholders.