My Hooptie! 12' Sears Semi-V

[Merlin]

I wish I would have found this site last year! Tons of tremendously excellent information! After looking on the site, I found that I made a lot of mistakes on my Hooptie boat project ( I called it that because of the budget I was working with) . If you will allow me, I’d love to share this project with you.
I started this project with a 1973 sears 12’ aluminum row boat model 60122 and a 1999 Suzuki 9.9 outboard that I picked up off Craigslist.
There were obvious things that needed to be fixed, but I had some goals. Since I purchased this well under my budget, I had some wiggle room, but I would definitely have to go low budget.
Goal: A useable and enjoyable “first” fishing boat, under budget and since this was my first attempt and there would be room for improvement,, it had to be cheap/temporary and reusable (AKA: CTR)
What I wanted on it:
• Casting deck with pedestal seat
• Some storage
• Battery located for easy service and in the middle of the boat for balance
• Lights
• Bow mounted trolling motor
• Seat for piloting
• Live well
• Fish finder

 

[Merlin]

Transom and rod holders

 

[Merlin]

Hummingbird mounting and future live well (free Coleman cooler)
I found that Cabelas was having a sale on a Hummingbird 550fishfinder . With the sale price, discount coupon and Cabelas points, I was able to get this for the price of shipping and got a “free” tackle bag. I installed the fish finder to the starboard side of the center bench directly in front of where I plan to sit when piloting the boat. I set the mount far enough away from the gunwale that I would be able to turn the unit towards the front when I fish. The transducer is mounted to the starboard side of the transom. ½ conduit is used to route the wires between the transducer and the mount.

 

[Merlin]

Front casting deck and battery installation
. I knew what I wanted, it just took a while to figure out how to do it. Since this was my first attempt at this and knowing that there would be room for improvement, I planned on following my goal of CTR..cheap/temporary and reusable..
First task was removing the front bench seat mounts. My original thoughts on the decking was to make it high up on the gunwales, so I just needed to remove the ripped part of the mount , grind it flat and leave the rest of it riveted to the boat (one less..actually 6 less holes to fill).
After doing this, I next leveled the boat the best I could and used my laser level to find the centerline and the proper height of the decking. I played around a while and decided for simplicity sake, I would make the deck an extension of the middle bench, and so I struck lines across the inside of the boat to mark the location of the deck. This would put the deck lower than I anticipated, but may add in stability when my fat *** is on it fishing (lower center of gravity and such).
Keeping with the CTR philosophy, I scrounged around the garage for scraps of anything I could use to build this. I found pieces of treated and untreated 2x4’s that would work.
I ripped the treated piece and screwed it to the bench using 3 ½ cabinet screws I had lying around from my kitchen remodel project. I had enough treated scrap left over to build a battery enclosure and finished the rest of the framing with some scrap 2x4’s and screwed it to the support ribs in the floor of the boat.
Right about know, you are saying “This is totally useless without pictures” and I agree. While I was doing this, I kept telling myself that I really need to take some pictures. So you will just have to use your imagination as to the level of “redneck’ engineering that is involved here.
So once I got the framing done, I had just enough scrap plywood left over from the transom that I could build a deck. The deck would be 48” wide at the bench and would come to a point at the bow with just enough curve on the sides to make it a real PIA to cut.
Thru many hours of layout and rough cutting, I finally got it to fit..it ain’t pretty, but it fits! Next was to cut out the hole for the battery and a hatch to gain access to under the deck. Simple square holes.
I primed the deck and hatch with Kilz, finished it off with a coat of Rustoleum and went to work on the battery and electrical.

 

[Merlin]

Trolling Motor and wiring
The original plan was to keep the transom mounted trolling motor on the transom, so I ran ½” conduit down the middle of the floor from the battery area to just behind the middle of the back bench seat. I used a plastic junction box as a switch box and junction for the trolling motor wires. I mounted a cheap/ non waterproof toggle switch in the box for the lights and made a pigtail for the trolling motor.
After all that I came across the deal of a lifetime, a new 55lb thrust Minn Kota bow mount trolling motor with autopilot..this thing retails for about $700, I found it at a local marine store on clearance for the low-low price of $200.
This drove a change of plans, I wanted a bow mount, but it was not in the budget and I already had a transom mount trolling motor that was functional. With this addition, I could really utilize the casting deck, by having the pedal controlled bow mount trolling motor.
So now I need to reconfigure some of my electrical wiring. Since I was now going with a bow mount, the wiring would have to be moved to the front, so I had to run the conduit around and under my previously completed work..easier said than done, but, I got it done none the less and this gave me an opportunity to repair and re-engineer some previous wiring that I really didn’t like in the first place.
Well since I didn’t follow proper marital protocol when I found the deal of the century, the new find would have to be returned..since I bought on clearance, that wasn’t a possibility, so a quick ad on CR produced a lot of spam and scammer emails and one potential buyer. The highlight of this was I actually made a $150 profit.
So after licking my wounds, I decided to mount the trolling motor I had to the bow. I engineered a mount out of some 5/4 decking board I had laying around. The most expensive part of the trolling motor installation was the fuse mount and fuse (very expensive mistake if you don’t use a fuse to protect your circuits!).After mounting the trolling motor, I didn’t like the way it sat when stowed, so I found a piece of treated scrap 4x4 and cut an angled piece to bring the motor head closer to the deck when stowed.

 

[Merlin]

So I learned some lessons on the first build and I’m sure that I will learn some more once I get out on the water and put this boat to use.
So far, the things I would change/enhance on the current project are:
• Use aluminum “L“ and “U” channel to build the frame for the casting deck. It is much lighter and doesn’t take up as much room
• Use fiberglass resin to seal the wood
• Add a foot switch for the trolling motor ( or get a bow mount..55lb thrust autopilot would work)
• Use readymade hatches, they have drop in containers to help keep small stuff organized
• Plastic conduit
• Make the cooler into a live well
• Use Pin style pedestals, this makes the seating more versatile by allowing the seats to be placed in different positions
• Remove the center bench and extend the casting deck. This would allow better rod storage
• Turn the battery 90 degrees, this way I could install some rod holders under the deck for storage
• Create a casting deck on the rear, with the area behind the bench covered to make the boat look neater and allow the fuel tank to be covered. This would also allow for some storage areas
• Fabricate a front mount for the trolling motor

Thanks for letting me share and I'm up for comments and suggestions

 

[jasper60103]

Looks like a real nice little rig. Hope you catch lots of fish in that thing.
Bummer on the troller. You should have sold the other one instead. :lol:

Where are you located? Be sure to update your profile.

 

[Merlin]

Thanks.
I stumbled onto this site by accident. I guess I wasn't using the right keywords when I did my search. :LOL2:
This was my first attempt and from the information and ideas I gathered so far, I have already made plans for a complete re-do next fall.

 

[mdue151]

wow very nice!
i have a 1975 sears v bottom can u post more pics...i want it similiar to yours..thanks!

 

[Jdholmes]

Looks like a good clean build.