My Jon boat Conversion

Hello this is my jon boat conversion. The boat is a 13.5 ft Sears Gamefisher that my grandpa just gave to me. Work started yesterday and its going well i would say i have a few pictures,




We are planning on adding a front deck and a few compartments for livewell, tackle storage and whatnot.

We are both 19 and both unexperienced builders of any kind so I am more here for help than anything. I kinda need ideas for the front deck and support issues, so any advice would help

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Hi KrisStone,
Thanks for joining! The boat looks killer already! I am completely useless in this field, because whatever i attempt to make or build, I break. LOL! Keep the pictures coming! One suggestion for a livewell which I like (I plan on buying a crawdad one day)Is a big cooler with a battery powered livewell system. The beauty of this is that if you want to go fishing one day and your not fishing for keeps or a "jon/cartopper tournament" you can leave it in the car or home, and have even more room in the boat. Do you have a gas motor or are you going electric?

Again thanks for joining,
Jim

Nice! Welcome!

Nice boat man. I've got a very similar Gamefisher, possibly minor differences. My boat came with two seats. I thought about a front deck, but I'm convinced it's just too narrow.

It's an awesome little boat for sitting and fishing. Fishing alone and standing is OK. But when I stand with someone in the back standing, anytime someone sets the hook, the other has to be ready and balanced, or get tossed!

So it would be sweet to have a front deck on mine but it's probably not necessary. Regardless it's a fun little boat.

Welcome to the board. You have stumbled upon a good group of people here - well, except maybe esquired. Just kidding.

I am going to point out a couple of issues I see here. First of all, I have never been real crazy about oriented strand board (OSB) in a boat. If you have ever left a piece outside in the rain, next to a piece of plywood, you would understand why. In my opinion, plywood, and a good coat of water sealer, or oil based paint is the way to go, unless you venture into aluminum.

Also, do have any pictures of what your back raised deck is held up with?

As far as your bow deck, I could spend a long time explaining it, or I could tell you to drop down and view a thread started by member pbw, about his conversion. Just remember, don't use galvanized fasteners, or pressure treated lumber, and you should be good.
Nice job so far!

The back is actually not supported yet, we are getting a 10 horse for it so we dont know exactly how its going to fit or even if that deck is cut correctly. We worked today on the front deck and perfecting the bottom piece of plywood. I dont like the OSB Board either we might eventually go to plywood but the OSB is for our mistakes i guess

Here are some pictures of the work we got done today



Me and my partner perfecting

that looks good i cant wait to see the finished project keep it up

Welcome Aboard! Conversion progress looks really good!

Nice work on the cut outs. Looks like you knew what you were doing. What kind of structure did you put under the bow deck? You won't need much, as it isn't an incredibly long span, but you will need some. If you stood on just OSB, it will flex way too much. Plus, if you ad some structure, you can put casting seats, and storage lockers.

As of now its all just cutouts we are thinking about supports, We would either do something like pbw did or run some 2 by 4's parralell in a box shape with room for a cooler and tackle storage underneath. If you guys have any ideas i can provide measurements and pictures for you guys

Oh and by the way we had no idea what we were doing

ive never done this but i think it would be a good idea to run mabee 2x4 under the deck for support but space them out so they act as a devider to seperate the boxes you can slide under the deck so they dont get tossed around. you also might want to make room to fit a rod or two so there not in the way on top of the deck. i hope this makes sence if not let me know ill try to re word it.

KrisStone said:

As of now its all just cutouts we are thinking about supports, We would either do something like pbw did or run some 2 by 4's parralell in a box shape with room for a cooler and tackle storage underneath. If you guys have any ideas i can provide measurements and pictures for you guys

Oh and by the way we had no idea what we were doing

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Good job man! You guys should be proud!

Looks good man.

I'm hoping to get back on track with my boat this weekend!

Alright. I am going to keep this as simple as possible. Plus, a lot of things would change, as I don't have dimensions. I just drew something in about a minute and a half. This is your picture.

By dead reckoning, I assumed your seats were about where I put the blue lines, and airbrushing. So, there isn't much you can put there. But, the red is a possible structure idea. Remember, nothing is set in stone here. 2 by material would probably be good here. I made a square, about 6, by 6 in the middle, as that is the dimension of many square seat bases. The red airbrushed area is a storage locker. Now, that span is still too much for someone to stand on, so a couple 2 x 2s will stiffen up the bottom of the hatch lid. You will probably need a couple vertical pieces, connecting the structure, to the hull, probably under the seat base square. Good luck!

We worked today on bracing the front so it is stable, it started raining so we had to stop but we ordered the carpet and we should start wiring soon.

The structure support will be two sections cut to fit the boat that we will run 2x4's over and possibly on the sides and be riveted into the seats. I will have pictures tommorow

Keep on taking pics! One day you will look back on this and smile!

The project is coming along well !

...we will run 2x4's over and possibly on the sides...

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Are you sure you can't use 2"x2"'s instead? The 2"x4"'s may add unnecessary weight. Just a thought :wink:

Are you sure you can't use 2"x2"'s instead?

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I too, would use 2 x 2s on such a short span.

Sarted on this yesterday but finished it today due to rain let me know if you think it is enough support

I would either add 1 more in the middle or move the ones you have there a little closer together. Most of the weight will be standing in the middle area.