V boat mod - newbie questions

Hi guys. I stumbled on this site a month or so ago and it has provided some valuable information! Thanks for that!

I am working on a mod for my 14' V hull. It has the standard 3 tank seats now, and I want to deck across the middle seat to the front for a casting deck. I spent a little money getting the old 9.9 Johnson on it running, so my budget is not so big.

I have looked over some pretty intense designs for the deck framing systems on here. I wanted to do the least amount of drilling and whatnot as possible so I have come up with this idea -

I will use 2x4's laid flat (not vertical like on your deck) across the middle and front tank seat to the front of the boat. We orig. wanted to do a system similar to how you would build a deck between the tank seats, but I need a little more height below the deck for my livewell.

Has anyone experimeted with this type of framing? It seems very easy and there is minimal connections to drill as there would be putting the framing system flush with the top of the seats and running boards between them?

ALSO - I am not in the market to purchase marine grade plywood. What is the next best thing to use that will not break my wallet? I can seal 3 sides of this wood and will be carpeting - but I really can't spring for the premium wood.

Thanks for your help. I will work on getting some pics up.

Welcome Aboard!

Others have used 2"x4"s for framework, although I don't recall them being laid "flat" instead of on-edge. Do you plan on putting any vertical bracing to the bottom braces of the hull? How wide is your 14' rig? Just wondering about weight and stability. Looking fwd to the pics

I considered doing them on edge, but was worried that might be too high for the deck.

I believe the boat is a Richline (I think, and I have seen one that looked almost identical on here in a 76' model) - and its just under 5 feet wide - 5 feet at the top, but the tank seats are only 53" wide because of the curvature.

If you think standing them up would be sufficient and not too high, then how far apart would they need to be to keep the deck from bowing? I wanted to use 5/8" plywood (again, I still do not know what type of wood to buy) to keep the weight down.

Then on to the next problem - a 4 x 8 sheet wont work to make the whole floor because of the 53" width, but then if I turn it sideways, I have to use 2 sheets, which I have not figured out yet how to affix those together to be able to carpet over it when finished and set it into the boat as one big piece.... I looked for a 5 x 10 sheet, but that is not very common around here.

I don't think you'll find plywood in 5' widths. Get regular plywood and seal it both sides, and especially around the edges. I recommend some good Spar Urethane such as made by MinWax The best thing to do is to go to this link and checkout all the mods the members have done https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=3156. Checkout the link, and you may decide to go with 2x2 's.

Ya I still like the 2x2s


But, I can't seem to find anyone who tried to make a deck just over 4' wide?!

I used 2 pieces of tongue and groove plywood to make my deck. I cut them down to where each piece was a little over half the width of the widest part of the deck and a little longer than the deck was going to be. Glued them up and clamped them. Once dried, I had one big piece to make my deck from. Get some large refridgerator boxes to make your template for the deck and trace it onto the big piece of plywood you made.

The deck on my boat is a little over 5' wide. I found a sign that was used to announce the arrival of a new library. It was 5x8. I have about an inch and half on each side that I am dealing with. Even if you put carpet on the plywood, you need to seal the wood on all both sides and all edges. The carpet will hold water and untreated wood will rot out faster.
Mary

OK - those are some pretty good ideas. I like the Tounge and Groove idea - but try this for a second -

The one thing that has been holding me back from making the deck so far was because I was told that plywood other than Marine grade will rot in a year or two. I have been told I could use cheaper plywood and seal it as you suggested - but I was told to seal all sides EXCEPT for the bottom. The reason for this would be to let whatever moisture that is in the wood when you install it dry out. So you would seal the top and sides, and any moisutre that gets in could evap. out of the bottom. Just a thought though.

If you have had good luck sealing the whole thing - then I guess it would not matter what kind of wood I bought, just cheap T&G would work!

Let me know your thoughts on this.

Also - how far apart was the spacing on your joists for the T&G flooring? What kind of glue did you use? Does it need to be waterproof?