16' Lowe Line

[River Rider]

I am starting to re-work my jon boat. I have been searching for inspiration and set up and came across alot of you talented guys. I bought this boat a couple months back for $650 with a 6 horse and trailer. Of course the 6 horse would not meet my expectations so I took it off and put my ol faithfull 15 horse on. After few few runs I came across an old 30 horse evinrude and fell in love with the power. The down side is teh boat is old and the transom is gone. Not to mention I am 220 plus the weight of the motor. Thus the ideas came rolling in my head. Here is what I have planned. I want to remove the rotten wood floor and replace it with aluminum. I would like to extend the front deck out a little more for running lines and then maybe remove the middle seat. I was thinking a removeable ice chest or something. Some way to open up the boat and add a a chest. Along with the comfort mods I am also looking to add some pods to the rear of teh boat for the added boyancy. This way I can plane out by myself easier. I have some pictures of the before, and hopefully after this week I will be able to get some work done to show my progress. Any pointers along the wya are greatly appreciated as well as any concerns.

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

That transom has seen better days.
When I replaced my transom I added a 1"x6"x48" Oak board so I could run a 25HP motor.

 

[huntinfool]

Good start. I re did my transom too. I have 40hp on mine, but it is a 1652.

 

[MikeA57]

Good luck with this. I'll be watching your progress. That boat is a beast! I've got the 14' version of it that I'm still working on. Man, I wish my Dad had bought the 16' model...

Mike

 

[River Rider]

Ok, after much delays running backhoe and messing with cattle I was able to do a little more work. I removed the old rotten plywood from the floor to expose the ice chest that were cut up to add flotation. I want to go with alluminum diamond plate for the floor and maybe paint that to help with the glare and heat while on the water all day. I also went ahead and removed the old transom to make the all new aluminum transom. It will be framed out of 1 5/8" aluminum channel with some 7/8" channel. Later I will weld a piece of aluminum plate to the front of the frame to add dexterity as well as cover the frame for asthetic apeal. I am in a debate as to bolting the transom in or welding it. Welding would secure everything, but then if something were to go bad I would have to cut it all out. Then again if I bolt it, there will eventually be play form the 30 horse evinrude on it. Any suggestionis? There will still be both of the kickers, or knee braces that go from the floor to the transom so there will still be adequate support in any case. Again if there is any suggestions or concerns with the all alumnium design as well as ideas for the floor let me know. Thanks.

 

[huntinfool]

I know the new Tracker boats are made with aluminum channel and they are just stich welded in. So I would think that you could get away with bolting it in, but I think you would have to make sure that you had spacers behind the channel so it did not crush. Otherwise I think you would be better with welding it in. I just got rid of the boat we had here for a repair, but if I get time I will go by and take some pics of what they have done.

 

[rick50]

I see you have braces from the top to the bottom channels, but I think where the motor will clamp on the channel it would help to have a spacer( in between the channel) other wise the torque of the motor (especially when you gun it) will eventually crush the channel.

You might want to check the height of the motor,before you weld it in, make sure there is no problem with motor being to high or too low. I m not the expert on this ,but I know there are some people on ths site that are.

Aluminum transom frame looks good!

 

[River Rider]

I still have a couple of bracings to put in for where the motor clamps. Once all the braces are done and the welds grounded down the open sides of the chanell will be attached to a piece of plate aluminum, 1/8" I believe. Then the transom will be moutned to accomodate the short shaft motor I have allowing the cavitation plate to be slightly higher then the bottom of my boat or even I will check it out to make sure there is not a problem with the water pick up in any case. Thanks for the advice and concerns. I am always open to any suggestions or if you want to call me a DA so that I don't do something dumb that is fine too. :lol:

 

[River Rider]

I have the frame finished and welds ground smooth. I welded a piece of aluminum to the inside of the frame and bent the remain aluminum sheeting over the transom and it will attach to the origanl boat and hull aluminum. Then everything will be welded into place and a couple of bolts added for good measure. I will post pics Monday after I get it all done this weekend. I plan to start on the rear pods as well. I have a budy who can bend the aluminum for me and then I will weld them up. Does anyone have sugestions as to the length behind the boat the pods should extend? I was given the aluminum and it is 17" wide and 10 feet long so I was just going to go with the 17" in length. They would be 12" wide and taper to 9" to acomedate the turn of the motor. Anyone have a desing for there pods they would be willing to share?

 

[River Rider]

Okay I am not able to get as much done as I was hoping but here is some progress in the aluminum transom. I had the aluminum bent around the transom, and then welded it into place. Here are some different shots of the work I did. I hope to have some aluminum plate for the floor soon, as well as pick up the pods I have at a friends to do some metal breaking.

 

[River Rider]

Ok, I have not been too productive lately. I have gotten the transom welded in and the knee supports back on. The transom raised the motor another 1 1/2", but I think I should still be able to lift it another 1" or 2" once I get my pods finished. I had some buddies come over to help clean out the bottom of my boat while I welded some leaks on one of thiers. We found that the styrofoam that was under the old plywood was actual cut up ice chest. They were so water logged the pile weighed at least 30 lbs. I have not gotten any pictures of the hull completed yet, or of the pods project but I will soon. I have gotten the aluminum cut and bent on a break so all I have left to do it weld the end caps and seam. Hopefully I will have that done tonight, or tomorrow at the latest. I have a fishing trip planned this weekend at Choke Canyon and don't want to be without a boat.

 

[huntinfool]

Someone just added pods to their boat. Try doing a search and see what you come up with.

 

[BLK fisher]

Nice progress. Can't wait to see it finished.

 

[danmyersmn]

Someone just added pods to their boat. Try doing a search and see what you come up with.

It is front and center on the main page.

 

[kbkid]

Here you go!

 

[River Rider]

Thanks guys. The pods are ready to be welded, I just keep having to do the honey-dos before I can play with my toys. I think I will be able to get them welded next week as I have to pack tonight and tomorrow for a fishing trip this weekend. I was hoping to have them ready for this trip but I ran out of time. If I get hopped up on some caffine tonight I might try to pull out a late night to finish them tonight. I just want to make sure they are ready to be air tested and tight. Then attached securely to my boat. I don't want to rush and then have something happen on that big lake. Choke Canyon lake is a monster (26,000 acre lake) and taking it on in a jon is a task if you are not familar. And that is with the chop there to a minimum. Otherwise it is just a no go situation.

 

[huntinfool]

I bowfished Choke and had a great time. I hear there are some big bass there too. Good luck.

 

[shizzy77]

Nice work so far! I'm glad you are still able to enjoy the boat while the season still permits.

I do have a question on your new transom. It looks quite well built and sturdy, but im not sure yo uhave added as much strength as it is going to need. did you make it extend any further down? are there any knee braces? the reason I ask is my Alumacraft is rated for a 40HP and it has a total of three braces and a "tray" that attaches to the sides of the boat. not seen in the pics is the 3/8" plywood that is glued and bolted to the outside of the transom that goes down almost to the bottom. all this is factory giving this little boat the ability to carry a 40HP outboard.

here are a couple of pics.

as you can see the transom is braced from the top all the way top the bottom and about 6-7" forward on the top.

with your design I can still picture some wiggling top to bottom. What was the boat rated for originally?

 

[huntinfool]

If you go back it says he has the transom in and the knee braces back in. I think he said he has two.

I know Tracker Marine is going to an all aluminum tube frame for their transoms, so I don't see how this would differ. I think the fact that he is welding it and then bolting it in (maybe welding it in) would give him enough strength. All outboards pull on the top of a transom and push in at the bottom. As long as he has no twist here he should be fine.

 

[River Rider]

Alright guys I stayed up till morning doing some work on the jon. I have it ready for my trip this weekend, but the pods were not finished. Unless I am able to talk my boss in to letting us go early since it is raining, and no construction can get done without a roof in the rain, I might finish the pods for the trip. Other wise it looks like I will just get to do water trials with the new transom and no pods. Either way I tried to take some photos of the transom and knee braces, and a couple of shots of the pods being started on. To clear up on the transom it is built out of 1 1/2" channel or in my trade it is called unistrut. The frame is done enitirely out of the strut and then I put in vertical supports where the motor mounts and where the knee braces will be. Then I bent aluminum plate around it and welded everything into place. The knee braces are welded to the transom and the floor of the hull. I also added stainless steel bolts through the knee braces where they meet the transom for added strength. I will let you know how the weekend goes on that rough water and how the transom holds up. The pods I only got to weld up one seam where we bent them on a metal break, so I still have to cut out the angle at the end of the pods for the motor to turn fully. Then weld in the caps and mount them to the boat. This will be done as soon as I get free time. ( Which ain't going to be soon as it is deer season and I have a ten point begging to be haning in my living room. ) Here are some more pictures I took last night. Sorry for the poor quality but I guess the batteries were as tired as I was. I will try to get better ones this weekend of the boat in action. Be easy on me with the welding. I am not a pro and I had some other novice welders working on the transom as well. Let me know what yall think.