10ft Ouachita

I have been looking around this site for quite a while now enjoying looking at every ones modifications as I waited for a jon boat for me to pick up. Well I finally found one today and picked it up for 80$ tonight! It is a 10ft Ouachita and I am not sure of the year since the serial number is not legible. The paint on it is faded and has rubbed off in places as well. I wasn't able to get a very good leak test done as it got to dark before i was able to get it home. I am very excited to get this project underway as I have been looking for to doing this for a while!

- Things To Do
1) Leak Test / Repair any leaks.
2) Replace transom - it is currently 1/2 plywood, should i use thicker?
3) It needs to be repainted - but i can hold off on this
4) make some sort of storage in the front - possibly a small deck (i will figure this out once i test standing on the bench while its on the water)
5) floor the bottom or rhinoline it.. something to make it less noisy if i were to drop something - also to help protect the floor
6) navigation lights
7) get it registered

Current pictures aren't so good, i took them at night on my phone
Here is what i am starting with:

good luck, look forward to watching your progress

Congrats on the tin.

Do you have (or plan to have) a trailer?

Thank you. As for now I do not have a trailer and don't plan on having one either. The reason being the places I plan to fish most frequently do not have boat ramps - this is why I went with a 10ft'er. However I intend to make a cart to move it around on. Something like a kayak cart if anyone is familiar with those. That along with a loading ramp to to make easier to carry in my truck bed. Although if a trailer showed up for the right price I might would pounce on it.

I see all the great ideas on here and I have to try to remember like you said...keep it light to get into those places alone.

I am removing the old transom right now and have got 4/7 bolts out. The other 3 aren't wanting to come out at all. They are super soft and strip easy, that along with them coated in paint isnt making them come out. Ive tried scraping the paint off with a pocket knife and it didnt help.

trueblue1970 said:

I see all the great ideas on here and I have to try to remember like you said...keep it light to get into those places alone.

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id ALMOST have to agree with you! lol... i started out with a lightweight 12ft and ended up with a great boat! but i cant take it out by myself at all... i even struggle with two people loading/unloading it without a boat ramp... feel free to check out my build thread!

inlovewithsurfin thats a nice job you did with your boat! i saw the youtube videos as well. it looks like the trolling motor pushed it along nicely. Do you happen to know or have a guess-timate on how fast it went? I plan to use my Motorguide Great White 24v 67lb thrust trolling motor as my motor until i can find a good deal on a small outboard.

well today i took out the old transom. it was definitely rotted and looks like termites had found it as well. I also pressure washed it. The previous owner had glued carpet straight onto the aluminum and had been done a long time ago i assume, since was able to pull it up easily. But now im left with glue or whatever he used to attach it to the floor. Anyone have a trick to get this stuff up or am i going to have to scrap it all up?

- I also hope to put the new wood in the transom tonight, but that may not happen til tomorrow.

Here is a picture of the trolling motor and my Cruise N Carry 6600 (1.5hp) - Im not sure if i will use it

Well after looking at the boat for a while i realized that it really needs paint... badly. So I hope to get that done before the end of the week. I do have a few questions about painting. First off what kind of prep work do i need to do? What should i use to do it? What kinda of paint do i need to use and where can I get it? Sorry for all the questions.

I also took some more pictures of the boat and here they are.




This is a small crack at the top part of the transom. I am not to concerned about this, should I be? If so how should I go about fixing it? - You can also tell the old wood from the transom has been taken out.


This is the stuff I tried scrapping up. I decided I will just sand it down/out.

thank you!!! i have a 40lb thrust trolling motor and it pushes my boat pretty quick! id have to guess around 3-4 mph? i bet your boat will fly with a 67lb thrust motor!

as far as the left over glue... i would use a scotch bright pad and sand it down with that? same goes for prep on painting too! if your paint isnt peeling i just scuffed mine up with the scotch bright pad and then wiped it down with a wet cloth. once it was dry i spray painted it and so far so good! its not the most durable or perfect paint job. but it looks a ton better than what it did! (obviously there is much better ways to prep/paint your boat but i was in a hurry to get it done

for my transom i used 3/4in ply wood (non pressure treated) and then added a small piece of 1/2in on the backside just to make it a little thicker. i drilled holes and used carriage bolts to hold the new transom in place. i also used silicone to seal up the new holes i drilled.

There is stuff sold for adhesive removal. Think one is called goof off. Can buy at home improvement stores. Hope that helps. Also go with the scotch pad.

Thanks for the replies! inlovewithsurfin your boat looks nice with the spray paint. I think I will do the same, seems like a cheaper and quicker route to take. Do you have any recommendations on a spray paint brand or how many cans/coats are needed? Looks like i will be using scotch pad to remove paint and good off to remove the adhesive, thanks for the recommendations inlovewithsurfin and Coach d.

Did you coat your the wood for your transom with anything? I also was wondering if you did anything to the floor to attach it? Or did you just cut and carpet the plywood so it fits snug? I am looking to cover the floor and then coat then plywood with bedliner or something similar. That way I have something nice and flat to stand on and Something that is easy to clean.

for the paint i just went to home depot and found Rust-oleum "camoflage" paint... the light tan color i painted the inside took alot more cans for some reason? i went thru 6 cans of that and i didnt even paint under the floor panels. the spray nozzle was different than the olive green? the outside only took 2 and 1/2 cans of olive green? but i only did one coat for now... goona be putting on at least one more coat!


for the floor of my boat i used 1/2in ply wood and then used a few 1x's to match the hight of the aluminum ribs in the boat so it sits flush on the floor of the boat. i wanted to be able to remove them to clean underneath so they are not fastened in at all. they just lay in place and work great! even the front casting deck is removable in case someone wants to sit up front without it.

again... i was in a hurry to get my boat in the water so when i rebuilt my transom i didnt coat the 3/4in plywood for the main transom, i just spray painted over it. i kinda wish i had sealed it cause it would last longer! for the extra support on the outside of the boat i coated that piece of 1/2 plywood in thompson's water seal with several thick coats. i am sure there is better products to use but my boat is on a budget :/

Thank you for all the info, it was very helpful! I put the boat in the pool to test for leaks as well as stability while standing in different places.

I first tried standing on the middle bench and felt comfortable. So I then tried laying a piece of plywood on the gunnels and it was a bit tippy up there. I then laid a piece of plywood across the middle bench to the front bench and walked around on it and felt pretty good about it. So I think I will deck the middle bench to front bench and use the underneath as storage for TM batteries, tackle, cast net, life jackets, etc…

Well I found a leak… atleast one haven't narrowed it down to the location yet but once I find it I will use JBweld on it. I'm pretty sure that's the right stuff to use. I have seen many many people use that on their boats on this site.

I hope to get the wood for the transom put back in, get a coat of paint on the outside and or JBweld my leak(s) tomorrow.

Thank you for all the info, it was very helpful! I put the boat in the pool to test for leaks as well as stability while standing in different places.

I first tried standing on the middle bench and felt comfortable. So I then tried laying a piece of plywood on the gunnels and it was a bit tippy up there. I then laid a piece of plywood across the middle bench to the front bench and walked around on it and felt pretty good about it. So I think I will deck the middle bench to front bench and use the underneath as storage for TM batteries, tackle, cast net, life jackets, etc…

Well I found a leak… atleast one haven't narrowed it down to the location yet but once I find it I will use JBweld on it. I'm pretty sure that's the right stuff to use. I have seen many many people use that on their boats on this site.

I hope to get the wood for the transom put back in, get a coat of paint on the outside and or JBweld my leak(s) tomorrow.

Started painting the outside of the boat forest green and am trying to think of a color to paint the inside with so it doesn't absorb so much sun and get too hot. I like the khaki that inlovewithsurfin used but I **dont**really want to copy his color scheme although it looks so good!

Well I found the leak and JB welded it, put the new transom in, and painted the outside of the boat today. Tomorrow the plan is to paint the inside of the boat, and hopefully build the small deck. I decided that I will use the Cruise N Carry outboard. There are a few things that need to be done to it such as the carbs need to be cleaned and it needs a new spark plug.

JRyno10 said:

Started painting the outside of the boat forest green and am trying to think of a color to paint the inside with so it doesn't absorb so much sun and get too hot. I like the khaki that inlovewithsurfin used but I **dont**really want to copy his color scheme although it looks so good!

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by all means copy me! lol... i love my color scheme but i am not the first to use it and definately not the last! canst wait to see some pictures of the progress!

I just found this thread. I was going to suggest Spar Urethane for coating the transom. I actually used epoxy for coating mine, but that takes a few days! Good luck with your build, and welcome to the Ouachita family! =D>