decking a jon boat

Chris S.

Chris S.

Well-known member
Anyone ever deck a jon boat? My buddy has a 12ft shallow V bottom that we are thinking about decking like a sneakbox. I was thinking cedar frames and 1/4 ply over top for the deck. As a one man sneakboat with a 9.9 it think it would work pretty good. The only thing I have trouble with is attaching the deck to the edges of the aluminum boat I was thinking self tappers. What do you guys think any ideas. Or pics if anyone has done this. Thanks.
 
I didn't do a jon boat, but I did this to my V-Bottom.

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I am sure it can be done. The problem may lie in the seat removal. I think you would have to remove them to make enough room to be comfortable. A lot of smaller jon boats utilize the seats for structural integrety.

I used some triangular shelf brackets that I happened to pick up at a yard sale somewhere long ago. They just happened to work. My deck is actually plywood, but it's not the best choice. Again, I just happened to have a couple sheets lying around.

I think you could use some aluminum angle metal and pop rivets to keep i simple and easy. Aluminum can be easily cut and worked with.

Jon
 
Thanks jon that's kinda what I am looking to do. We will only have to remove the center seat but by building deck frames I think it will replace the integrity that I loose from the one seat. I am also going to fiberglass the topside of the ply decking to keep it protected. How did you attach the decking to the top edge on the aluminum boat? Thanks
 
Chris
If you are familiar with the gator hide boat, I was considering doing something like that myself. I was going to make the deck in sections so it can be removed for summer fishing. I was thinking of some sort of pre drilled holes the help the deck align properly and then a type of fastening system to hold in place. Crawl inside start the Mr buddy heater and you'll be toasty in no time

John - nice work. That was another idea that I was thinking about.
 
Jon, Did you take out all 3 seats? i have a 14ft starcraft and was thinking of doing something similar but was worried about it flexing.
 
That sounds like a good idea, I considered doing this to my jon but I ended up starting construction on a new boat. My plan was to use either self tappers or through-bolts to run a piece of wood along the outside of the top gunwale of the boat like a sheer clamp, and then attatch the decking to that. Depending on the height of the seats in your boat this might work without having to modify the seats. Just an idea, make sure to take pics of what you guys come up with!
 
My old semi-V 14ft Starcraft looked alot like yours does except mine had an aluminum piece about 5 inches high down the middle with aluminum straps coming off of it and attaching to the ribbs at the side of the boat. This created a support system that made for a level floor. I used treated plywood for the floor. Over this I used the rubberized texture stuff sold through Cabelas. With this set up you can put floatation under the floor. I also had 2 pedastal seats and had a 20hp Merc with tiller. With my home made blind my son and I ambushed a ton of ducks. This set up worked for several seasons till I sold the boat for a bigger one.
 
Chris,

I fabricated clamps to hold my deck on. There simple, and fairly easily removed and don't require drilling holes in the boat. I over hung the deck by roughly an inch, used square tubing that matched the rail and a piece of angle whacked to match the hull angle. I've left the carriage bolts long w/ rubber vacuum hose over the ends to be able to hook bungy cords to hold the flip up boards down & decoy bags in during transport. Short bolts and acorn nuts would possibly be more wader friendly but after 11 years I still haven't poked a hole with a rubber covered carriage bolt.

View attachment Clampsinstalled.jpg




I did drill the transom for installing plugs to either side of the motor. They make a huge difference on a low transom.

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View attachment 1sternflipcockpit.jpg

Enjoy!

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Scott
 
That sounds like a good idea, I considered doing this to my jon but I ended up starting construction on a new boat. My plan was to use either self tappers or through-bolts to run a piece of wood along the outside of the top gunwale of the boat like a sheer clamp, and then attatch the decking to that. Depending on the height of the seats in your boat this might work without having to modify the seats. Just an idea, make sure to take pics of what you guys come up with!

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That's kinda what I was thinking with wood on the outside edge like you said as how I will attach the decking. As far as the height of the boat its kinda low profile. That is a good thing as far as hiding the boat. We will have to remove the center seat for sure. I think the deck frames and decking will keep any integrity lost by removing the center seat. I am looking to do this the same way a sneakbox would be framed for the decking. Put a little arc to the deck so water will run off. I am thinking a 4ft front deck and a 3ft aft deck with a motor well. That will leave room for a 5ft long cockpit. The cockpit will also be 30 inches wide. That will give me 11 inches on each side of the cockpit for decking. Then when all that is done I will glass the whole deck with 6oz glass and epoxy. That's the idea anyway. As anyone who has built or rebuilt a boat knows its never that easy. Atleast my buddy and I have 6 months till the season starts to get her finished.if you guys have any thoughts or ideas please let me know.
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John- Nice work on the deep-v. What size is/was that boat? When you completed the build, what was the overall size of the cockpit? How many guys did you hunt? Any problems with dogs in and out?

I have been planning a low sided permanent blind or cockpit cover like yours. I was thinking of maybe having a slightly steeper angle on the sides and bring them up to about shoulder height when sitting in a chair at a comfortable height. I have a rather open floor plan in my boat and think it should work well.
 
Chris,
I decked an old Sears Jon boat many years ago after reading an article in one of the duck publications and it was almost the end of me. It was a 12 footer with a really narrow beam and the decking added enough weight that it almost nose-dived under on a couple of occasions so my recommendation would be either use a V hull or get a really wide beamed Jon.
Ron
 
Chris,
I decked an old Sears Jon boat many years ago after reading an article in one of the duck publications and it was almost the end of me. It was a 12 footer with a really narrow beam and the decking added enough weight that it almost nose-dived under on a couple of occasions so my recommendation would be either use a V hull or get a really wide beamed Jon.
Ron
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Its a V bottom just not a deep V. It has a 50 inch beam. I will try it out through the summer and see how she does.with the deck and 1 man plus motor I will still be 175 under the reccomended weitht. I will see how it does.
 
I was thinking about making my little jon boat into a one man marsh layout boat but the only problem was with taking the bench seats out didnt want to loose all the support
 
I was thinking about making my little jon boat into a one man marsh layout boat but the only problem was with taking the bench seats out didnt want to loose all the support
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I thought that too but I think the framing will hold everything and I only have to take out the center seat. I am also gonna use cedar for the framing and 1/4 inch ply for the deck to keep it as light as possible. I will post pics as we go when we start later on this spring/summer.
 
Chris-

I am working through an idea like what you describe. I can't decide what material I want to use for the project. I am most comfortable with using wood for ribs and 1/4 ply for the decking. I would likely consider some fiberglass and resin to help strengthen it and make it last longer.

I would really like to consider doing this out of aluminum square tubing and some lightweigh aluminum sheet product.

Do you think one would be lighter than another? (My thoughts tell me the aluminum would be lighter and last longer.) Just not sure I am up to the task.

I am also much more familiar with buying wood products vs metal products.
 
As far as weight I think you could make it lighter with aluminum. I thought of that but then you are stuck having to rivit or bolt everything unless you have a welder. I have a mig welder and access to a tig but I am still gonna do it in cedar ribs and ply decking with 6oz colth and epoxy. It is my friends boat and it will be eaiser for him to help if we do it in wood. I think it will be eaiser for me and the ply covered in epoxy will last a really long time if taken care of. The boat has a plate that says 550lbs motor persons and gear so I know that as a one man sneakboat I can stay under that. I think my buddy is getting a 6hp to start with that is 60lbs he is 180lbs and lest say 100lbs for the decking and i think that i can keep it a good deal less then 100lbs I am thinking closer to 60lbs but say 100 to be safe and say 60lbs of gear gun decoys and stuff. So thats 400lbs still 150lbs under max weight and that is over guessing on some things so I think I should be safe. This boat will be in semi protected waters it wont be out in 3ft waves and 30mph winds. It should be a fun project and this way I will have someone to hunt with next season as I hunted solo a good bit last season. Thats the down side of sneakbox hunting unless you have friends to hunt with that have their own sneakboxes then you are going solo.
 
Aluminum is nice to work with, I cut mine out with a 25 yr old Craftsman saber saw. Plans were to temporary pop rivet it with sealer in the seams then I was going to hammer rivet it w/ solid aluminum rivets after it was complete and the sealer set. Before I got to that stage a fellow CT duck hunter volunteered to tig it for me. I still think the solid rivets would have worked well, but I love the fact its welded. Using angle for the coaming and to support the plate junctions made the deck strong enough to walk on (250#s in waders, dressed for winter gunning) with no additional vertical support than the hull rail and transom.

My first deck was wood, I really liked working with aluminum for the second. Note the link is back to ancient history 1997 ish DHBP reader's rig. Meg is almost 28 and married now - damn time flies!

Scott
 
I was hoping for aluminum and believe that it would weigh the least. I am thinking 1" square aluminum tube, 1/8" thick. I am not sure about the "skin" because I want it to be lightweight and affordable but it needs to withstand a 1 hour drive at highway speeds to and from the launch. I was initially thinking some type of aluminum sheet sold on a roll, maybe a little thicker than aluminum flashings for a house?

Any thoughts on that?

I have a Mig and Tig welder. Both are setup to do aluminum. My experience with aluminum is minimal. Mostly steel but I have been wanting to do more with aluminum and figured this would be a worthy project.

But my main background is woodworking, so thus I keep falling back to my comfort zone.
 
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