Desoto Manufacturing and Supply- Nashville Tn.

[Vagante]

Hi Guys,

A few years ago I found a 12' slightly used jon boat in a neighbor's basement. It had been in storage for maybe 34-40 years but I could tell it was never used much and probably never had a motor hung on it. I bought it for $50. I now use it in a creek off the ICW in St Augustine where I now live and occasionally go further but it is a very narrow boat and with a 5hp Nissan it can get pretty squirrely. Anyone have one of these? Not much on the internet about them other than they were made in Nashville and the company is out of business. Very light. I know pics.......if interested I will post tomorrow.

 

[MikeA57]

I'd be interested in seeing it!

Mike

 

[ggoldy]

Me, too!

Gary

 

[Vagante]

Done Side note- when I went to register the boat the State (another state) would not register as the original serial number was not long enough. They sent out an officer of the DNR to my house in order to inspect the boat and attach another serial number they assigned. The guy drove about 2 hours to my house and spent another hour looking it over and calling into HQ with questions. He could not have been nicer. Never saw anything like it though. Much have cost the tax payers quite a bit to register a $50 jon boat. Cost of registration was about $18 as I recall. Your government at work =D>

 

[sr71]

Old ad for one.....

 

[Vagante]

Very cool. Mine is only rated for a 5HP and has no "bottle opener" or fish rings but it's my boat. Thanks for the nostalgia. =D> This is great.

 

[Kismet]

Neat.

Can read clearly, but does that say "can be carried on top or INSIDE A STATION WAGON?

Skinny little tin. You got weight up front?

I've had good experiences with WI DNR, as well. There's a lot of good folks out there.

 

[Vagante]

I blew up the ad and yes that's what it says. Remember the station wagons then were tanks. I guess it could go inside. Pretty funny...I put a small ice cooler in front of the first bench seat and that keeps the bow down while getting on a plane. It helps to lean forward too until it's up. Wide open it pretty squirrely. :shock:

 

[Lowe 2070 CC]

Pretty sure they were in Memphis, like it says on the tag.

 

[Maggiesmaster]

They were made in Memphis, and were pretty good boats. Problem is, they were (are) really narrow and squirrelly. They're great to mount a 4-6 hp motor on & use a paddle for sculling without a trolling motor. A friend of mine just gave one away--it was really old, but still floated good & didn't have any leaks. They all had a middle bench seat (most worthless thing imaginable on a boat).

 

[Kevmill7]

Hi Guys,

A few years ago I found a 12' slightly used jon boat in a neighbor's basement. It had been in storage for maybe 34-40 years but I could tell it was never used much and probably never had a motor hung on it. I bought it for $50. I now use it in a creek off the ICW in St Augustine where I now live and occasionally go further but it is a very narrow boat and with a 5hp Nissan it can get pretty squirrely. Anyone have one of these? Not much on the internet about them other than they were made in Nashville and the company is out of business. Very light. I know pics.......if interested I will post tomorrow.View attachment 56714View attachment 56715View attachment 56716View attachment 56717

I have the same exact boat. Mine has a bottle opener. The registration I got with the boat says 1965. Looking for a motor now to put in it. I have pics. [email protected]

 

[Kevmill7]

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

The camo looks good.

 

[airshot]

Being so shallow, they look like they were made for a swamp boat..pretty cool looking old boat

 

[Kevmill7]

The camo looks good.

Thanks