# Installing a casting deck on a 14' aluminum boat



## Northern1

It seems like I post in this part of the OGF site too much, but I have a new project I will work on when I get the boat out of storage this weekend. (In addition to fixing my motor  ) To give some background- Crappie fishing last fall, I realized I was at a considerable disadvantage without a bow-mount trolling motor, let alone a casting deck on the front with a seat. Watching those guys in the boats that had one run circles around me and land crappie quite regularly told me I needed to do something to improve my chances.

I want to put a casting deck on my 14' alumacraft. I'm sure guys on here have done this very successfully. I am also putting a Wise pedestal chair on the deck that I have ordered as well. Pictured is the exact boat I have. I want to use plywood, not aluminum, just to let you know. Not treated because that corrodes aluminum after a while. I want it to go over the first two seats. How can I do it right so it is stable, solid, and reliable? Thanks!


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## drew7997

I would use a large piece of cardboard template for the bow. Use 3/4"plywood throughout. Where the seats are not, on underside of wood attach "runners" for strength. Bolt it down to the seats. The pic wont load on my phone but thats where i would start. 

Drew

Sent from my Droid 1

2013:
Common cold - 0
Flu - 0
Sniffles - 0
Bluegill - 0
Crappie - 0
Smallmouth - 0
Largemouth - 0
Perch - 0
Redear - 0


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## billorp

I have a 14" mirrocraft with the same set up. What I did was remove the front bench and just put in a flat deck/floor from the middle bench to the bow. This way it's lower in the boat and more stable. I put in a raised pedestal seat and mounted a bow mount trolling motor on a carpeted piece of plywood installed on top of the bow. I was originally thinking of mounting the deck over the seats also, but felt it would be too unstable. I also put in a flat floor between the back and middle bench. The front deck starts approx 2" from the bottom of the middle bench and goes to the seat in the bow. I would advise to keep the deck as low as possible for safety. I've been in a boat that capsized once, so maybe I'm just being overly cautious, but I feel more comfortable the way i did it.


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## Legend killer

Raising the center of gravity makes it more prone to capsizing. Small boats are made the reason that they are. Be careful!


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## Sculpin67

Sometimes the seat provide structural stability to the boat, so be careful if you remove any seats.


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## smallieguy

definitely don't remove any seats. just put 7/8'' plywood on top of them.
i did it to my smoker as soon as i got it. it worked out great.
find a big enough piece of cardboard to make a template of the inside of the boat along the gunnels and transfer that to the plywood and cut it out with a jigjaw. be careful to go around the gunnel supports and DO not cut or remove them. if you cut it right it should just lay right on top of the seats and go all the way the the bow. there will be a gap of course because the bow is pointed and the plywood is square but that gives you room to put your trolling motor wires into the hole you have created for your batteries.
http://www.smokercraft.com/showroom/utility-boats/voyager/14
my boat. if i can help please just ask. Good luck.


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## Northern1

Legend killer said:


> Raising the center of gravity makes it more prone to capsizing. Small boats are made the reason that they are. Be careful!


Legend, I appreciate the concern. I am a pretty small guy, so i'm not throwing too much weight around the boat. But, yeah when its all said and done, i'll be careful.


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## Bassbme

It would be super easy with that boat. As Drew said, use a piece of cardboard for your template. If you're going to be carpeting the deck, which I can only assume you will be, it makes for a nice clean edge if you roll the carpet over the edge of the decking material and glue it to the bottom of the deck. If you don't want visible screws sticking through your carpet after installing the deck, use a the type of stud that has prongs on it that will sink into the plywood and keep the stud from turning when you put the nut on it. Put them in before you install the carpet. Also, If you don't want to use marine grade plywood, make sure you encase the entire piece of plywood in fiberglass resin. Have any hardware or studs that will be needed to secure the deck to the boat installed before you encase it in the fiberglass resin. You don't want any water to get to plywood at all or it will d-laminate. When you attach the deck to the boat use nuts that have nylon built into them so they work as locking nuts. DO NOT take out any of the seats. The seats in that boat have flotation built into them, and your boat has federal upright and level flotation requirements. Taking out the seats will violate those requirements unless you plan on adding some kind of permanent floatation of your own.

As others have said, putting a seat higher than the seats installed in the boat will change the boats center of gravity, but it's really not something I would be too overly concerned with. I put a casting deck in an old aluminum boat I used to have. The boat I put it in was a much narrower boat than yours and I really didn't have any problems with the boat feeling tipsy when I used it. Of course you'll want to take water conditions into account. Heavy boat wakes, or waves that are coming from the side of the boat can pose a problem if they are big enough. You may want to consider using the type of seat and pedestal that slip into a plate with a hole in it. That way you can easily remove the seat from the pedestal, and the pedestal from it's mounting plate. This will allow you to put just the seat's base pin into the pedestal base for running if you have a outboard, or for rough water conditions where you don't want to be sitting on an elevated pedestal. 

A hint for determining the height of the floor. The small seat or platform at the bow may be higher than the next seat back. I'd use a straight edge of some sort that is long enough to reach from that small bow seat or platform, back to the seat that is closest to the middle of the boat. If that platform is mounted higher than the first seat back, you may have to build some kind of shim system so that your deck is level. Either that, or you may end up having to install brackets in the hull to rest the bow end of your plywood on. I hope the way I described that makes sense. Once you start playing around with the boat I am sure you'll understand what I mean. Also as Drew said, you'll want to make some kind of stringer system for area between your forward mounting position and the existing seat top. Also mount your pedestal seat as far back as you can. There is nothing more frustrating than not having enough room between the bow, and where you're sitting. Another idea that makes a world of difference is recessing the trolling motors foot control. If you fish sitting down most of the time it really isn't necessary. But if you fish and run your foot controlled trolling motor while standing up, it makes all of the difference in the world. Have fun with your project, and I hope the info helps.


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## buzzing byrd

I did what you want to do to my richline, and what you have been told is right on the money. As for the runners that drew mentioned, I used 2" angle aluminum. Just like angle iron except aluminum, I cant remember if I bolted them or riveted them i will have to check. The space between the runners gave me enough room to install two doors so I got storage under the casting deck. I did take an old road sign that my dad had in his scrap pile and mounted it on top of the gunnels (not for sure if that is what they are called, very top edge of boat) so I would have a place to mount my trolling motor. If you interested I will see if I can get some pics.


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## 9Left

I did that same thing to my first boat, seemed to be the important part was to make SURE the weight of the deck RESTS primarily on thebench seat you are covering, and nowhere else, afterall, when you have people in the front of the boat like that, their weight is primarily on the seat, if you put in a swivel seat, put center it OVER the bench seat.


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## Northern1

guys, thanks for all the help. I just bought the lumber. I am going to get at the project after the big snowfall thats coming. i will post pictures after i complete it.


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## davef

I also did what you are going to do with my Sea Nymph and it worked out great. I'm not sure if any one mentioned it but if you adjust your jig saw while cutting out the plywood you can taper the plywood so it fits a little tighter in the curved areas. I marked my plywood along the bottom side from my cardboard pattern then cut it. With the blade tilted the top plywood ended up being about a 1/4 inch wider in the areas where the aluminum boat had more taper towards the bottom. Made for a little neater finish

My boat also had an open area behind the seat and before the transom. I had a piece of plywood left and also covered this area. I had an old aluminum ladder I found in a junk yard. I cut the legs off with a hacksaw so the ladder would lay across the floor length wise at two spots and bolted that all together. You need to cut a door so you can get to your drain plug but that part also came out nice.


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## nixmkt

Something not build specific, but keep in mind that if you don't have a proper fire extinguisher in the boat now, the regs will require you to keep one in it after installing the deck, since it no longer will be open construction. Don't quite understand why one isn't required with open construction.


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## tadluvadd

Legend killer said:


> Raising the center of gravity makes it more prone to capsizing. Small boats are made the reason that they are. Be careful!


I was about to say that.i have a boat already set up this way,and it is very top heavy and more unstable then if it had no deck.fyi motor guide makes a bow mount trolling motor with foot control that mounts on any john boat without a deck or flat surface.


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## nuckinfutzracing

I've done this and found tinboats.net to be a wonderful resource. Good luck


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## gonefishin 50

I have done 2 boats a semi-v and a deep-v. They can be a bit tipsy, but once you get the feel for how they react to movement no problems. The boat I have now does have what you could call decks but we don't stand on them. They are more for storage. Well my son 6'1" 200lbs will stand in the back with no problem. I used 3/4 press board covered with 4 coats of exterior paint. I used angle aluminum to lay the press board on in the front of the boat. I made mine to be taken apart for easy fixes.
It can be done just take your time. good luck


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## Northern1

Just got the casting deck all done today. Its got a door to put my battery down there. Got an aluminum plate i'm going to put on for my trolling motor as well. Thanks for all the help guys!


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## drew7997

Lookin GOOD! I'd like to see the trolling motor installed. 

Sent from my DROIDX


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## JosephSimpson

Northern1 said:


> Just got the casting deck all done today. Its got a door to put my battery down there. Got an aluminum plate i'm going to put on for my trolling motor as well. Thanks for all the help guys!


I was surfing the web today to find examples of decks, so that I could determine the best way to put a deck on the front of my Lowe 1467 WT. Your work looks great and it is similar to what I want to do. Can you tell me how you secured it infront of the bench. Did you build a frame under the platform or is attached to supports on the boat? Did you use 1/2 inch plywood and any other info or tips would be greatly appreciated.


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## Northern1

I'll put some more pictures up here after a bit. But yeah, I used a 2x12'' board on the seat, a 2x6'' on the very front little seat. The good thing about that is it didn't go over the whole seat, so I could use 2x6'' boards to then support the plywood I put on top. The 2x6'' I ran went from seat to seat straight and served not only as support but also as the lip that the trap door would rest on as well. I used a jigsaw to cut to the contour of the sides of the boat so it had support on the outsides as well using 2x4s. I cut notches into the sides where you can see that there are some guides on the seat. Thats nice bc then it wont move at all forward or backward. I used 3/4'' plywood on top of the frame. I cut at a 15 degree angle in with the jigsaw around the outsides. This made sure it went with the angle of the boat and fit nicely. I left about 3/8'' on each side for the carpet as well. I put 4 coats of concrete epoxy on the frame and on the plywood top. then screwed them together, then epoxy'd all the holes. I used a 6'x8' piece of outdoor carpet from lowes for $20. I used 3/8'' stainless steel staples so it doesnt rust. The hinges and screws for the seat are all also stainless. I took a few pics along the way, like I said i'll put them up soon. if you need any more help though, just pm me and i'll send you my number.


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## Northern1

Here is the picture of the frame portion. I epoxy'd that separate from the plywood on top. I used cardboard from a refrigerator to get the outline. Got that from Lowes, they had an extra. I also put the pedestal seat directly on the existing bench. It gives it stability. Also, I didnt put 1 hole in my boat to do this project. If you need anything else, let me know.


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## drew7997

Im still waiting for the aluminum decking you made for trolling motor... 

Sent from my DROIDX


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## Northern1

Drew, i'll get a picture of it here in the next couple of days. I'll be out tomorrow, but if its not pouring Sunday i'll snap a picture of it for you  I'm doing some mods on my back and middle seats as well. When I get those done i'll put up some before/after pics as well.

Basically, I want to be able to fish what I need to at Indian lake- crappie and saugeye, and i'm making a machine that's gonna set me up to do just that!


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## Northern1

Drew, as promised, although its late- here's the pics of my completed boat project! Now I hope I 'll catch a few fish with it


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