Rick James
Well-known member
So after weeks of lurking here, I finally have some pics to share of my newly acquired project boat.
I started with a new Harbor Freight trailer. So far I'm impressed with the trailer, however I gotta say I don't know how you could get a boat any larger than 12' on this unless you had the transom several feet behind the trailer. It's perfect though for a 12' boat. The factory bunks suck, that's one of the things I plan to modify pretty quickly. I've also ordered a pair of 2047 Bearing Buddys, I'd like to keep the stock bearings in as good of shape as possible. Right now it's setup with the factory dust caps, but I'll pull the bearings and clean everything, along with a repacking when the new Bearing Buddys get here.
The boat came from my Father in Law. He has had it since the early 1980's and it's been used very little. I have to do some research from the HIN and serial numbers, but my best guess is that it's a late 70's model. The boat is a Sears that is mostly welded, and a pretty heavy and well built boat. It's pretty wide and deep compared to other 12' boats I've seen. It's about 24" at the deepest part of the hull, and 46" across the widest flat part in the bottom, and 60" across the widest part of the gunwhales.
It has some small dents in the gunwhales where someone probably tied it down too tightly on top of a truck or car, but other than that.......the boat is in great shape structurally. It will definitely need a new transom, and I'll be filling it with water this weekend to see if there are any leaks. If no leaks, I'll just start fishing it as soon as I can get it registered, and start modding as time/money permit.
Plans as of now, are to see how stable it is when standing on the benches, and then deciding if I deck the front off, or simply put in a slightly raised floor between the existing benches. If I can get a deck on the front, I'll deck to the back of the middle bench, and put in a couple of hatches and move my batteries to just in front of the middle bench. I'll also deck off the back bench to the transom and have a hatch for gas and access to a bilge. Plans are to wire it for a bilge, front and rear sonar, running lights, and a bow mount foot control trolling motor. I will also be applying steelflex to the bottom, and then painting the top section a different color for the two tone look. Not sure on colors yet.
I just picked the hull up yesterday, and unfortunately am out of town this entire week for work. I'm hoping to get some work done this upcoming weekend, and will post more updates when I have progress to share.
For now...........some pics!
I started with a new Harbor Freight trailer. So far I'm impressed with the trailer, however I gotta say I don't know how you could get a boat any larger than 12' on this unless you had the transom several feet behind the trailer. It's perfect though for a 12' boat. The factory bunks suck, that's one of the things I plan to modify pretty quickly. I've also ordered a pair of 2047 Bearing Buddys, I'd like to keep the stock bearings in as good of shape as possible. Right now it's setup with the factory dust caps, but I'll pull the bearings and clean everything, along with a repacking when the new Bearing Buddys get here.
The boat came from my Father in Law. He has had it since the early 1980's and it's been used very little. I have to do some research from the HIN and serial numbers, but my best guess is that it's a late 70's model. The boat is a Sears that is mostly welded, and a pretty heavy and well built boat. It's pretty wide and deep compared to other 12' boats I've seen. It's about 24" at the deepest part of the hull, and 46" across the widest flat part in the bottom, and 60" across the widest part of the gunwhales.
It has some small dents in the gunwhales where someone probably tied it down too tightly on top of a truck or car, but other than that.......the boat is in great shape structurally. It will definitely need a new transom, and I'll be filling it with water this weekend to see if there are any leaks. If no leaks, I'll just start fishing it as soon as I can get it registered, and start modding as time/money permit.
Plans as of now, are to see how stable it is when standing on the benches, and then deciding if I deck the front off, or simply put in a slightly raised floor between the existing benches. If I can get a deck on the front, I'll deck to the back of the middle bench, and put in a couple of hatches and move my batteries to just in front of the middle bench. I'll also deck off the back bench to the transom and have a hatch for gas and access to a bilge. Plans are to wire it for a bilge, front and rear sonar, running lights, and a bow mount foot control trolling motor. I will also be applying steelflex to the bottom, and then painting the top section a different color for the two tone look. Not sure on colors yet.
I just picked the hull up yesterday, and unfortunately am out of town this entire week for work. I'm hoping to get some work done this upcoming weekend, and will post more updates when I have progress to share.
For now...........some pics!