14 ft. Alumacraft T14V Project

[Froggy]

Great Job man!!

 

[BottomDweller]

You know, to be honest with you I haven't made it out since I put them on...I've been working to replace this transom. It has taken longer than I thought with our new 8 month old around. I'll get out there soon. Take care man

 

[UtahBassKicker]

Great Job man!!

Thanks Froggy. How's your boat working out for you?

 

[FishyBC]

Very nice job. Hopefully you have had more than just that one trip out and "harmed" a few fish since then.
I just discovered this site by accident and am hoping to do pretty much the same mods as you. I have a couple questions for you.

1) Do you find the that front and rear decks are too high or just the right height ? I am wondering if I would be better off keeping the center of gravity even lower if possible.
2) Do you like the carpet or would you go a different direction if you could do it again ?
3) Anything else you would do or do differently to save a rookie from making mistakes ?

Pretty scary but I've started looking at old boats now thinking, that one would turn out real nice if you did this and that to it.
Maybe I should finish this first one off and see how I make out ;-)
Thanks to you and all the folks on this site. I can't wait to turn heads with a very different boat if I do things as nice as ya'll have here.
FishyBC

 

[UtahBassKicker]

Very nice job. Hopefully you have had more than just that one trip out and "harmed" a few fish since then.
I just discovered this site by accident and am hoping to do pretty much the same mods as you. I have a couple questions for you.

1) Do you find the that front and rear decks are too high or just the right height ? I am wondering if I would be better off keeping the center of gravity even lower if possible.
2) Do you like the carpet or would you go a different direction if you could do it again ?
3) Anything else you would do or do differently to save a rookie from making mistakes ?

Pretty scary but I've started looking at old boats now thinking, that one would turn out real nice if you did this and that to it.
Maybe I should finish this first one off and see how I make out ;-)
Thanks to you and all the folks on this site. I can't wait to turn heads with a very different boat if I do things as nice as ya'll have here.
FishyBC

The height of the decks have worked out well. No stability issues. I don't use a pedestal on the rear deck so I can't say much about being up higher in the back. I'm sure the lower the better as far as stability but no issues or concerns on the height of mine.

I like the carpet. I wish I could've afforded a higher quality of carpet but it has worn very well and been very durable up to this point.

I can only think of two things I would do differently if I were starting over. First I would've mounted the rear seat more in the center. The original thought was to offset it so the tiller control was easier to reach but I've found that having the seat in the mount and my seat in the seat causes the boat to tilt to one side pretty heavily. I usually just sit on a cushion now and don't use the rear seat much. The second thing I would do different is adjust the size and placement of my hatches because when the seats are in place in the mounts, the hatches aren't able to open all the way making it a little difficult to access that space. Not a big deal but I'd definitely do it different next time.

The build has held up great over the last couple of years. I do wish I could've use aluminum instead of wood but I'm no metal worker and I couldn't afford the extra cost of aluminum. I do know that spending time with my boy on the boat is time very well spent. Catching fish ain't too bad either.

Thanks for reviving my build thread. I haven't looked at it lately and I almost forgot how much fun it was to do.

 

[fishingmich]

Hey Utah! I like the way you did your decks and haches. I plan on doing mine the same way. I purchased a 16' Smokercraft and trailer last fall for $400. My decks will be almost identical to yours. What kind of hinges are those on your hatch lids and where did you find them. I really like the look of them. When my hatches are dones I don't want the hardware to be seen.

 

[Karyn]

you did a nice job! Looks great and functional

 

[UtahBassKicker]

Hey Utah! I like the way you did your decks and haches. I plan on doing mine the same way. I purchased a 16' Smokercraft and trailer last fall for $400. My decks will be almost identical to yours. What kind of hinges are those on your hatch lids and where did you find them. I really like the look of them. When my hatches are dones I don't want the hardware to be seen.

Sounds like you got a good deal. The hinges are a stainless steel cabinet hinge that I picked up at home depot.

 

[UtahBassKicker]

you did a nice job! Looks great and functional

Thank you. It's worked out great so far.

 

[UtahBassKicker]

Decided to go to work on my middle bench today. This project kinda hit a standstill after I got my decks done a year or two ago. I mentioned adding battery boxes for storage in my middle bench forever ago and went for it today. I learned two things: 1)Cutting aluminum with a jigsaw is efficient but extremely LOUD! And 2) There is no good way to remove floatation foam. :x

Well I started by marking where I wanted the boxes placed. Once that was decided I went to work with the jigsaw. This is what I ended up with...

 

[UtahBassKicker]

Then I built the frame, spar urethaned it, and screwed the boxes to it. Then I slide it into place and screwed it to the original bench. Looked like this...

 

[UtahBassKicker]

Here's the storage idea behind all this.

 

[UtahBassKicker]

I also built a front and rear cover for the bench out of ply, spar and carpet. Going to make lids tomorrow. I'll post some updates then. Eventually this will all lead to the flat floors that I'm planning so my boy will quit tripping on the ribs of the boat. Peace out for now!

 

[UtahBassKicker]

So I was able to get all the pieces cut, urethaned, carpeted, and put together. I'm happy with the results and the added storage. Here are some pics...

 

[UtahBassKicker]

 

[UtahBassKicker]

I also added this badboy (pole holder)!

 

[TimRich]

Very nice! You've done a great job on your tin! Can't wait to get my deck and floors done.

 

[fishingmich]

My hero! =D> Most of the inspiration for my build came from this build. Excellent job Utah! I'd love to fish out of it sometime.

 

[UtahBassKicker]

Hey TimRich and fishingmich, thanks for the compliments.

fishingmich, how is your project coming? I'd like to take a look at it. What's the title so I can search for it?

Tim-your boat is coming along nicely, I recently commented on your thread. Keep up the good work.

 

[Firescooby]

AWESOME build man!!! Awesome!!

You've given me a few ideas....thanks!!