My New Jig Rig! (graphic heavy post)

[Bantaras]

Well about a year ago I was given a little 12 foot pontoon boat by an older gentleman who was moving out of the Lake Okeechobee area.

Sounds good right? Well it was, ...
'cept that the 1982 50hp Chrysler was shot and didn't run hardly at all, oh.. and leaks in the pontoons, and also the wood deck was rotted and had holes in it... plus the trailer needed work, and the wood console was rotten and falling apart, the carpet was in shreds, etc. etc.

Anyway it doesn't matter, I was happy cause I live on the banks of the 'Big O' and have had to tag along with folks to do any fishing at all, and now was my chance to have my own rig, to go out fishing by myself whenever I wanted. ... just needed a little work.

Here is a pic of my diamond in the rough:



The first thing we had to do was strip the whole thing, including the plywood. Finding the replacement plywood wasn't easy, cause down here when you say "Marine Grade Plywood' you could get just about anything .... you have to specify the kind used on decks, not the kind to be fiberglassed over. Anyways, we found a supplier and had the plywood shipped out (yeah I coulda used just simple 'Pressure Treated Plywoood' but that stuff is HEAVY and not advisable by the experts) Since the boat has a 12' deck I only needed 3 sheets.

Here is a pic of me and my friends stripping the boat and putting on the new deck:



The next problem, when installing the livewell, (to keep all those multitudes of Crappie alive that I was gonna be catching), we found that the transom was above water and there was no place to mount the aerator. So I asked folks here at Crappie.com what to do, and got the advice from Mopar Matt to weld on a bracket to the back of one of my pontoons. as posted before, here's that result:



Now, after we laid the new carpet, I wanted a place to be able to jig off of the bow, and run a trolling motor, but when we got to that point of installing the seats , we noticed there was very little foot room, so we installed a 'Deck Extension' , which looks very much like a swim deck you see on a lot of boats... only this one is in front, and is made of pressure treated 1x6 boards instead of teakwood. I used removable 'swivelease' seat pedestals, with flush mounted deck plates.

Here's how that turned out:



(you can't tell it from the pic, but thats the trolling motor between the seats. also, the two vertical boards you see are part of the trailer, not the boat. They are the trailer's boat 'stops')

Well, I wanted to be able to jig all around the boat, and with a limited space I didn't want to crowd the deck with seats and stuff, so I settled for a small 'Flip Top' bench seat for the pilot's chair, and a bench seat in front of the console which doubles as the livewell. Both benches are 30" long.

This way one can walk all-around the deck and look for those good fishing spots. This limits the storage space to only be under the pilot's bench and console, but hey, ...I built this to be a fishing boat! Anyway, four people can ride on the boat just fine, and with it being only 12', you don't want more than that aboard anyway.

here is a look at the space:



Using all stainless steel bolts, washers, nuts, brackets, and aluminum "kick plate' from a mobile home supplier, we got all the deck finished. Then we added a console, instruments, lights, direct plug for the trolling motor, on board dual battery charger, and a 50pd thurst trolling motor.

I then took the rig into a boat machine shop type place and had them fix all the leaks and reinforce the brackets with new welds. (not cheap btw)

...and finally a 1995 40 hp Merc.





Since I extended the front of the boat by 12", I had to extend the tounge of my trailer by slipping a 3" peice of steel box 3' long over the existing 2&1/2" tounge, therby avoiding denting my truck when I jackknife. It workes great, but it took me a few days to engineer the thing to make it work.

Finally we are done. Just need to organize some of the wiring in the console (need a few 'common busses' and such), clean and polish the pontoons, mount the rod holders, and install an air pump to the live well for those long trips home when I fish far away.

We even tested it out, and as you can see by this pic of my 7 year old, it get gets the job done!:




When it's all said and done this "Free Boat" wasn't so free. But you know, if I was to go to the wife and say I want to buy a boat and spend these $$ all at one time, I'd be sleeping outside.

This way I was able to do it sneakily, just buying some parts at a time as needed. Over all total was about $3,500 (about half of that being in the 40hp outboard that came with a 12 month guarantee). It may not look like much to you, but it's my first boat and we sure are proud of it.

Tell me what you think.

[hogster]

Looks darn good to me.Should catch them slabs now.Happy fishin to ya:D

[Don G]

You did a great job..Now get aboard and go fishing.......

[Ferdi]

I'd be smiling like that 7 yr. old boy of yours if it were mine. Looks like you did a fine job. Have fun and use it alot. Ferdi Oh yea, not many can say they have built their own boat so hold your head up high...

[hogster]

Hey one more thing.I dont know if you have a NAPA store there or not but someone down there should carry this stuff.Its called Aluma-bright comes in a gallon jug you put some in a spray bottle and spray on those toons let sit 15 mins. then wash off with hose and they will look brand new.
Just thought i would pass that on i used it on aluminum wheels and the stuff is great.

[Bantaras]

Yeah, I'll try that stuff on the pontoons. Kinda looks weird to have new stuff on the boat and those toons being all stained and all.
This thing sat in a canal for over 15 years.

Here's a few more pictures:

before:


after:



...anyone wanna trade me a Merc aluminum prop for a old Chrysler one? lol

[Rat]

I love freebies! That thing turned out really nice, lotsa room to fish. I may need to upgrade. I don't think I have ever seen a 12 foot pontoon before. very cool.

[Crappie Reaper]

What a great project! I have wanted to come across a set of pontoons with frame on a trailer for years. They have all been way overpriced. It looks as if you are prepared to spend many hours fishing from her. Good job!

[Net Service]

That looks like a case of Extream Makeover. Good looking fishin rig ! Tom

[anchorpuller]

That thing looks like the cat's meow to me. How neat! The workmanship shows. I'm sure a lot of time, money, blood, sweat and tears went into it. I know you will spend many more hours enjoying it with your son. Way to go!