I thought I would share some of the Jon boat mods I made. It is a 14' tracker I got from BPS.
Pics 1,2,3 and 4 show the fron deck making process. I started out making a template of the shape of the front of the boat using something called foam core. It is an1/8 inch cardboard with foam in the middle making it a bit more stable then regular cardboard. I had it easily available to me so I used it but regular cardboard will work just fine.
Once the template was made I traced that shape onto 3/8th CDX plywood and cut it fit. I then used galvanized dech hangers to mount my 2x4's to span the distance from the front to the 1st seat. The deck hangers were attached with pop rivits and are rock solid. I then carpeted the deck and installed latches to hold the deck in place while fishing ( the deck is made removable so that it is lighter to load and unload into the back of my pick up
You can see the red wires I ran from the back to the front withing the side groove of the boat to keep them off the floor and away from water and moisture.
The trolling motor mount is a 3" x 5" piece or cedar but a couple of 2x6' screwed together will work as well. I fastened the block to the plywood from underneath using 4" deck screws then bolted on the TM mount. I added a plug for easy connections
I made 2 small floor deck pieces for the very back of the boat to put my batteries on ( 24v tm) and not shown in the pics because I added it later was a carpeted floor deck in the center part that is also removable. The carpet is indoor/ outdoor you get from Home depot and I used a rubberized contact cement to adhere it to the plywood. I coated the entire pieces of plywood from and back with the contact cement to act as a sealer to keep out water. In all it took about a days ( 8 hours) work broken up over several days. Hope you like the mods.
Feel free tro ask any questions
Pics 1,2,3 and 4 show the fron deck making process. I started out making a template of the shape of the front of the boat using something called foam core. It is an1/8 inch cardboard with foam in the middle making it a bit more stable then regular cardboard. I had it easily available to me so I used it but regular cardboard will work just fine.
Once the template was made I traced that shape onto 3/8th CDX plywood and cut it fit. I then used galvanized dech hangers to mount my 2x4's to span the distance from the front to the 1st seat. The deck hangers were attached with pop rivits and are rock solid. I then carpeted the deck and installed latches to hold the deck in place while fishing ( the deck is made removable so that it is lighter to load and unload into the back of my pick up
You can see the red wires I ran from the back to the front withing the side groove of the boat to keep them off the floor and away from water and moisture.
The trolling motor mount is a 3" x 5" piece or cedar but a couple of 2x6' screwed together will work as well. I fastened the block to the plywood from underneath using 4" deck screws then bolted on the TM mount. I added a plug for easy connections
I made 2 small floor deck pieces for the very back of the boat to put my batteries on ( 24v tm) and not shown in the pics because I added it later was a carpeted floor deck in the center part that is also removable. The carpet is indoor/ outdoor you get from Home depot and I used a rubberized contact cement to adhere it to the plywood. I coated the entire pieces of plywood from and back with the contact cement to act as a sealer to keep out water. In all it took about a days ( 8 hours) work broken up over several days. Hope you like the mods.
Feel free tro ask any questions
Yes 14' tracker topper. I like the added lenth and width of the 14' over the 12. Not sure the 12 will be as stable. It's plenty stable. It is a flat bottom so it is less stable then a v hull but no more unstabe with the floor then without. I usually have someone with me and the added person plus the 2 batteries in the back give a lot of weight and add stability
Thanks,
The trolling motor is an 24v 80lb thrust Minn Kota maxxum mounted on a Minn Kota Edge Bracket. The reason being is the Maxxum is not easily removed from its bracket. It involved dimantling the bracket entirely and having to reassemble it to remount the motor. The Edge bracket fits the Maxxum motor and the tm is easily removed with the unscreweing of one handle like bolt and just swining open the clamp. The maxxum allows for longer battery life AND it is varible speed with a infinite dial insted of 5 predetermined speeds. It also has a "slow start" inwhich the motor comes on slowly over a couple seconds insted of instant on at whatever speed you have it at. On high speed, without this function it jerks the boat pretty good. The Edge model does not have this function. My eletronics are a Lowrance color screne unit with temp guage and with the transducer mounted on the TM.
The trolling motor is an 24v 80lb thrust Minn Kota maxxum mounted on a Minn Kota Edge Bracket. The reason being is the Maxxum is not easily removed from its bracket. It involved dimantling the bracket entirely and having to reassemble it to remount the motor. The Edge bracket fits the Maxxum motor and the tm is easily removed with the unscreweing of one handle like bolt and just swining open the clamp. The maxxum allows for longer battery life AND it is varible speed with a infinite dial insted of 5 predetermined speeds. It also has a "slow start" inwhich the motor comes on slowly over a couple seconds insted of instant on at whatever speed you have it at. On high speed, without this function it jerks the boat pretty good. The Edge model does not have this function. My eletronics are a Lowrance color screne unit with temp guage and with the transducer mounted on the TM.
DAM! i just realized this forum was here!!! Great job on the 14 Rich!!!. I just uploaded 10 new photos from the build of My Tracker Topper 15LW to my profile, shes as stable as stable can be, Ive be rocked by 2 foot rollers from My Arch Enemies " The Recreational Boaters" and she took it like a champ. I can float her in 8 inches of water with out a problem, i only have the Motorguide 46pro 12volt on the bow, with a 31 series battery that runs allllllllllll day! every thing purchased at Bass Pro as well, bought the 9.9 4 stroke on the back used and she purrs as well. I may not be able to chase down the bigger boats or get spot to spot as fast but one think is for sure there are not getting in the shallow water tight places I can bring this puppy!
The foam core tip is great.I've used it in two other apps at different jobs for different things.at an engineering for for templating sheet metals and in an art gallery for matting.this was a genius use for this stuff I must say.And the finishished product was cool too. . .
you guys have got me seriously thinkin about what I'm gonna do to this next jon-boat(I'm intending to buy the boat NEW*) so I can be the original frabricator.BIG UPS to senor` Stratos who now has me FULLY OBSESSED on the joist hanger idea and special thanks to Team SINISTA™for that website...
*******if it turns out anything like my guitar rig it should be able to do wheelies on land !
Thanx again guys -da river-rat
*******if it turns out anything like my guitar rig it should be able to do wheelies on land !
Thanx again guys -da river-rat
you guys have got me seriously thinkin about what I'm gonna do to this next jon-boat(I'm intending to buy the boat NEW*) so I can be the original frabricator.BIG UPS to senor` Stratos who now has me FULLY OBSESSED on the joist hanger idea and special thanks to Team SINISTA™for that website...
*******if it turns out anything like my guitar rig it should be able to do wheelies on land !
Thanx again guys -da river-rat
Originally I intended mine to be a car topper only. Thats why i went with the 14'. I was even thinking about 12' but I wanted it to be as long and wide as possible and still fit in the back of my truck.
Well that lasted 1/2 a season.
I saw a trailer for cheap on Craigs list and scooped it up. Over the winter I am going to remodify it adding built in storage and a back deck.
If you are going to only trailer yours, I would go with the topper 15' It is a foot longer but more importantly it is wider, 6" wider and the hull is thicker too.
When you go to do yours shoot me a ppm and pick my brain.
personally I got a ton of GREAT ideas from this thread and hope it helps ya make up your mind on your JB when you get it
and as you can see richie and niel CLEARLY know thier s*** when it comes to MODDIN out a topper THANXZzz guyz 'preciate that...
and now that I'm getting a little closer to buyin' mine I wanna ask you ALL this ...I'm a pretty short dude and drive a Pathfinder so I want some thoughts on Trackers new 10' bearing in mind I can limbo under a snakes belly so I'm thinkin PRACTICALITY here?
THOUGHTS?
and as you can see richie and niel CLEARLY know thier s*** when it comes to MODDIN out a topper THANXZzz guyz 'preciate that...
and now that I'm getting a little closer to buyin' mine I wanna ask you ALL this ...I'm a pretty short dude and drive a Pathfinder so I want some thoughts on Trackers new 10' bearing in mind I can limbo under a snakes belly so I'm thinkin PRACTICALITY here?
THOUGHTS?
personally I got a ton of GREAT ideas from this thread and hope it helps ya make up your mind on your JB when you get it
and as you can see richie and niel CLEARLY know thier s*** when it comes to MODDIN out a topper THANXZzz guyz 'preciate that...
and now that I'm getting a little closer to buyin' mine I wanna ask you ALL this ...I'm a pretty short dude and drive a Pathfinder so I want some thoughts on Trackers new 10' bearing in mind I can limbo under a snakes belly so I'm thinkin PRACTICALITY here?
THOUGHTS?
I think a 10 will be fine if you will be fishing alone 80% of the time. If you plan on fishing with friends in might get cramped quickly and a little unstable with raised decks.
I wish I had a 10' to add to my boats to go out and fish solo in. Lighter and easier to load and unload and plenty big for 1