Deck stability

cobrastrike said:

Hi all,
I've got a 1436 Alumacraft that I'm thinking of putting a front casting deck on. I've seen a lot of pics where others have done it but haven't read much on the stability of the boat afterwards. My boat has the standard 2 seats (rear, middle) and one "seat" up front. Initially I had thought about decking on top of the seat (middle) to the front, but now I'm thinking of dropping the front deck down to below middle seat (appx. 6" below the top of the seat) to lower the center of gravity. Any ideas / suggestions / experiences? Also, I would like to relocate the battery from the back to the front to help distribute the weight. Unfortunately, if I have the deck at the lower height, the battery will be too tall to relocate. What problems might I encounter if I cut a covey on top of the middle / bow seat, or would it be best to leave it the back?

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cobrastrike said:

As far as decking, I'm going to have angled aluminum bracing and either 3/4" PT ply or (2) 1/2" PT ply pieces mended together for the deck. I figured that adding a little weight to it won't hurt, but I don't want to over-do it. I've only had the boat a few months so I haven't fished out of it much (only 2 trips), and both of those were solo trips. At most, I'll have one extra passenger with me. As far as motors, the trolling motor up front will be foot controlled and I'll have an 18hp in the rear. I've only taken the boat to Sinclair so I haven't experienced stability with a lot of big boats passing by, but I doubt that I will go too many places where there's heavy traffic.

When I took the boat out last time, it was a little windy. I'm hoping that with the addition of the deck and the added weight, the boat won't be as easily moved by a wind gust, but this could be wishful thinking....any thoughts?

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