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    #61
    I bought erosion control Matt and electrical conduit and made a blind late last night
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      #62
      very nice

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        #63
        good work

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          #64
          That's awesome

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            #65
            Following

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              #66
              So I went hunting down in the coast this weekend and I really like the open floor bay boat style. I'm half tempted to remove the console and have joist welded in the lowered floor and deck it out. I already have to replace the decks and repaint this spring anyways, I figure now would be the time to do it. I used my blind once this season, so I don't think hunting out of it will be an issue. But does anybody have any pros and cons of doing it this way?

              I need more storage and I think that would solve that and sitting down, standing up and climbing over things kind of gets annoying.

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                #67
                Originally posted by Eagle19 View Post
                So I went hunting down in the coast this weekend and I really like the open floor bay boat style. I'm half tempted to remove the console and have joist welded in the lowered floor and deck it out. I already have to replace the decks and repaint this spring anyways, I figure now would be the time to do it. I used my blind once this season, so I don't think hunting out of it will be an issue. But does anybody have any pros and cons of doing it this way?

                I need more storage and I think that would solve that and sitting down, standing up and climbing over things kind of gets annoying.
                Not sure what you mean. Do you mean stringers? You could always put more box down each side for storage. And use the lids for catwalks. Or just put catwalks in with cargo netting bags for storage under the catwalks. Open floor plan is the way to go if you want a hunting rig. I'd leave that front deck in for fishing. But take the rear out out to open it up more. Structural integrity will need to be thought about to maintain hull strength and rigidity. With the decks where they are, the hull is prob pretty dog gone strong as it sits. A lot of the mfgs raise HP rating (moving up in models) using the same hull by putting decks in because it stiffens up the hull. Catwalks will stiffen the hull up to if you have to much front to back flex when hitting big water. But being aluminum, you shouldn't hit big water hard anyway. Cause it will case the hull material to stretch inward, and create what's called "hooking" between the ribs on the bottom of the boat. I repaired a lot of hulls that had that problem. You never get all of it out. And Hooking slows the boat down due to drag.
                Last edited by Texas Grown; 01-29-2017, 06:23 PM.

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                  #68
                  More or less what I mean is not rip anything out really, besides the center console. Just bridge the gap with some stringers where the pit currently is to make it one continuous deck. If anything I would think that would make it stronger since I'm not removing anything. Then all I have to do is re-deck the whole thing with aluminum.

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                    #69
                    Think I've got what your thinking now. What would you do about steering? Don't you need the console for the steering wheel? Just curious.

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                      #70
                      Originally posted by Texas Grown View Post
                      Think I've got what your thinking now. What would you do about steering? Don't you need the console for the steering wheel? Just curious.
                      Yeah I would have to buy or make a new center console and a new steering wheel with cable.

                      I guess what it's going to come down too is how much more will it cost me. It may not be worth it from that stand point. But at the same time I've only got like $1600 in this thing, so even if it cost $1000 more to deck it out, I probably couldn't buy a boat like it for under $5K.

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                        #71
                        So decking the whole boat was a dumb idea. However, I'm going to extend the front deck to the console. I just feel like the space from the console to the front deck is currently wasted space. In that new deck space, I'll move the batteries to the upper middle of the boat to get some weight off the back. I'll also have room for a small cooler and some tackle boxes.

                        Also in the works, lights on the outside of the boat, and lights on the inside, speakers with a Bluetooth amp, new aluminum front and rear decks, make my live wells work, and lights inside storage spaces. I'm also ordering back to the basics hydroturf from gator trax so it will match my color scheme.

                        I've already cut the the frames out of 3/4 square tubing and used 16 gauge aluminum sheets. I thought the 16 gauge would be plenty for stability and I was right with the way I braced it. The part where I messed up is how sensitive it is to heat. I started welding the front deck and it buckled in a few areas. So I'm going to rivet them together and just tack weld it in hopes that it's remotely quiet.
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                          #72
                          The original deck is done and I am starting on building out the rest of the deck.
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                            #73
                            Looking good man! I'm getting ready to buy a jon boat in the next few months and will be decking it out for duck and deer hunting some public land, and fishing. I have enjoyed following your build so far.

                            If you haven't already, take a look at the tinboats.net forum. Lots of cool builds on there. Also, if you want more ideas, take a look on youtube at Tiny Boat Nation. There's a guy I believe named Michael Lopez? that has done a few different builds on aluminum boats mainly for bass fishing, but he has some really cool ideas and things he does to his boats.

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                              #74
                              Got some lights added on the boat for night fishing! Also in the middle of painting the aluminum decks. I still have two small pieces of the deck I need to fab but its coming along.

                              Ordered back to basics hydroturf from gatortrax should comw in next week and i think that will really make this boat look more completed.

                              Also bought a hds 9 gen 3 and 3d for chasing all sorts of fish.
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                                #75
                                Also added LED lights to most of my compartments and finally got my main livewell working and added some aerators. I like idea of using an airstone aerator rather than turning the inline bilge on and off all the time.

                                Now I just need to figure out how to get water to my front bait livewell.
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