Lowe 1852 Bass Boat Mod - Electric Only

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hoghunter17

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With the colder temps approaching here in Maryland it is now time for me to start working on building my electric only bass boat. I fish 3 major reservoirs here in the Baltimore County area that are awesome fisheries. My plan is to build raised decking on both the back and front with a cockpit area and console. I plan on using aluminum tubing riveted together as the supports and an aluminum flooring, while utilizing as much of the space below deck for storage, batteries, livewell, etc. All current bench seats will be cut out to create as much below deck storage as possible.

I eventually plan on running a Ray Elecrtic 60volt outboard (https://www.rayeo.com/motors/) for my primary propulsion... These outboards take 10 6v golf cart batteries for a main source of power and are crucial to running around these large reservoirs. This will be a long build but I am eager to start! Attached are some pics of what the boat looked like this past season, a rough draft of the layout I am planning on, and it stripped down for some paint.
 

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Interesting. Is this a common mod for these waters? Sure seems like a lot of battery wt. to be handling, launching and so forth. I'll bet it will motor a long time and have decent speed tho!
 
Yes within the 3 major reservoirs these are on the back of most of the serious anglers boats, along with the Torqeedo Cruise 4.0 (https://www.torqeedo.com/en/products/outboards/cruise/cruise-4.0-r/M-1232-00.html) These motors are efficient/quiet and will give you the ability to travel all throughout the reservoir on an average 8hr fishing day. The motors will push an 18ft jon boat in the mid 7 to 8 mphs some may say this is slow, but you have to remember that is flying for electric only. The fact that you can come home from a day's fishing plug the batteries in and charge the whole system for the next day is the real advantage.

I will update soon as I have order my aluminum tubing, carpeting, and paint to get this build in full swing.
 
Well here in MD we just got 30 inches of snow from a blizzard that ran through. Got some time to work on the boat a little during the storm...

We cut all bench seats out and riveted L brackets to them to begin to mount posts for framing... The plan for layout stands as;
7 ft front deck
3 ft console area
4 ft. back deck
I am excited to get the actual framing in this week to see the boat take more of shape. Will be updating at the end of next weekend.
 

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Worked on the rig this weekend and we now have the framework completed.

The front deck is 7ft long, with two large hatches running up each side and two center hatches directly in the middle

Cockpit area measures around 3ft, where we will soon put a side console mount

The back deck is 4ft and will feature a center livewell hatch, and 2 larger hatches behind the driver/passenger seats. Of course a center pedestal seat will be located for fishing comfort.

The next step is acquiring the aluminum sheeting to start hatch work and closing everything up. I am unsure as to what thickness sheeting to get, so if anyone can chime in with some help that would be great. I want to keep the boat as light as possible yet still have stability and no flex... any recommendations?

I will get back to work next weekend and update as progress is made... Not to long until our reservoirs here in MD will open!!!!
 

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hoghunter17 said:
Worked on the rig this weekend and we now have the framework completed.

The front deck is 7ft long, with two large hatches running up each side and two center hatches directly in the middle

Cockpit area measures around 3ft, where we will soon put a side console mount

The back deck is 4ft and will feature a center livewell hatch, and 2 larger hatches behind the driver/passenger seats. Of course a center pedestal seat will be located for fishing comfort.

The next step is acquiring the aluminum sheeting to start hatch work and closing everything up. I am unsure as to what thickness sheeting to get, so if anyone can chime in with some help that would be great. I want to keep the boat as light as possible yet still have stability and no flex... any recommendations?

I will get back to work next weekend and update as progress is made... Not to long until our reservoirs here in MD will open!!!!
The framing is looking great! Here is a thread with info on aluminum floor thickness:
https://forum.tinboats.net/viewtopic.php?t=39903
Aluminum floor thickness reccomendations

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
 
Thanks all for the kind words, I am eager to see the outcome and can't wait to get this thing back in the water!!!

@ACAMS... What do you mean? Which deck should be longer?
 
Finally a boat of my exact make and length/width dimensions that is wanting to make it into a bass boat conversion and not some center console skiff. I plan to mimmick your build in some areas. Although I'll need a side console for my 50hp merc! Looking forward to your updates.. are you planning carpet or vinyl flooring?
 
@kbeazy... I am pumped to see this finished outcome. I have kept a spreadsheet on all material expenses that I will post towards the end of the build. I will be using 20 oz. Capri Carpet in a Grey color, to cover the aluminum sheeting that will be really comfy on the feet! I am going to paint it this weekend before I put on the sheeting because it is less weight to move around at this point.

I will update as I go along... I am aiming to have the boat completed and on a brand new trailer by March, if all goes to plan! haha
 
Ah perfect! Has 35 hp tiller on right now that runs me 23-27 depending on weather and who is with me. But after snagging season I plan to put my 87 mercury 50hp console steer on it.. but I do like the openness of the rear deck with tiller. Great stable boat and I'm definitely with you on carpet... I like to bass fish and river fish bare foot. Appreciate and look forward to see your materials list... I've done a smaller project before but excited to see how you'll do your hatches and everything else. Mine will definitely need some paint or steelflex on the bottom to sharpen it up..this is the previous owners "duck hunting camo" but it was a great deal and seller was a great guy.
 

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That framing looks fantastic, did you attach the framing to the side of hull? if so, could you possible post a close up picture?
Looking forward to seeing progress!
 
Your doing a awesome job, looking forward to see the rest of it. What size is the L brackets and the square aluminum?
 
This weekend we tackled the paint job, going with the classic Green jon boat color. The paint is by ALUMAHAWK and is giving this boat a refresher for sure. We started out by sanding the entire boat down, wiped the entire boat with TAK cloth, and then started to spray. Next weekend will be the start of the decking, going this week to pick up aluminum sheeting.

@hsiftac I'll have to get one posted when I work on it next for you

@ngabowhunter The L-Brackets are 1x1x1/8 The tubing was 1-1/4" SQ x 1" x .125"
 

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A lot has been completed since my last post. The boat is very close to being complete... All that is left is purchasing a trailer and hooking up all electronics! Warmer weather coming to MD, fishing will be on soon!

Will post some pics of it in the water on the first trip!
 

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Any pictures of your hatches? more pictures of attaching the aluminum sheeting and in inside the hatches.
 

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