Jon Boat Outriggers

Scott O.

Scott O.

Well-known member
Starting to think about my annual boat project and this year its a 14' jon boat that I bought at the end of summer.

I cleaned it up, fixed the leaky rivets, and painted it olive drab. I also put together the trailer left over from the Aerocraft double ender so that the Jon fits it now. Also bought new oars, and ran some #8 Romex from bow to stern so that I can place the trolling motor battery up front to balance the load a little. I have a 1991 Evinrude 6 HP coming from a buddy of mine in the spring.

This thing is a 1432 and the first noticeable issue I felt after floating it in the pond, was the instability. I know the obvious answer is "get a bigger boat" but I want to see if I can solve this problem with a set of outriggers.

There are commercially available outriggers, and I have seen some of the ideas on tinboats.net but I wondered if anyone here had thought about this and designed any type of outrigger setups.
 
Ya know Scott, my first inclination would be to tell you to keep your butt OUT of the boat. That will maintain stability....though, placing Scott O. AND "Stability" in the same sentence is quite a stretch. ;)
Later partner,
Lou
 
C'mon Lou...you know I am the Rock of Stability...but maybe with an odd sense of humor

I am just trying to get this boat to sit still when I am in it and I feel the need to BUILD something.

Its a small water boat...in fact if I were to keep it after I am done, that stretch of the Ausable east of M65 is where I would take it...Cooke and Foote Dam ponds. Fish in the summer, hunt in the fall.

I'll buy something "else" next year...I like the projects.

Nice pics of the Lake House btw...never seen as many ducks as we have seen out there..."like smoke in the distance"
 
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SSSSSSCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCoooootttt, it's getting to be way past time to have some Sapphire. Let's get together.
Lou
 
Tom wanted to come down there too and bring another friend over the holiday but I was working. He went up snowmobiling after Chrsitmas and I dont know when he's coming back so you never know...
 
This thing is a 1432 and the first noticeable issue I felt after floating it in the pond, was the instability.
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1432...as in 32 inches wide right? Sell it and get a canoe!
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5PtSJEfajw

In the words of Police Chief Brody.... "You're gona need a bigger boat!"
 
i don't have pictures so use your imagination. i had a 15' canoe i liked to overload and was nervous of tipping so i took 1x3 square stock aluminum and a 5 gallon poland spring jug at either end painted it up and made a locking device to attach it to the canoe it worked great and very stable and cheap
 
Scott,

Check out what Hobie (Hobiecat.com) did to stabilize a kayak for sailing. Their outriggers fold in and are removable.
 
A while back I had this very conversation with a guy here in Vt who was hunting out of a canoe and was worried about shooting out of it and possibly turning it over. I suggested that he make outriggers out of big chunks of foam. I further suggested that he could make them decoy shaped and they would look like super magnum decoys and maybe even help hide the boat a little.

John
 
This thing is a 1432 and the first noticeable issue I felt after floating it in the pond, was the instability.
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1432...as in 32 inches wide right? Sell it and get a canoe!
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I believe that the 32 is the width of the flat bottom; the overall beam at the gunnels would therefore be 42 or 44 inches.
Bob
 
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I believe that the 32 is the width of the flat bottom; the overall beam at the gunnels would therefore be 42 or 44 inches.
Bob
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That is correct Bob...actually 45".

Thanks guys for the input. Since I wasnt planning on using the stabilizers while motoring, I think I have an idea for something that swings up while underway and swings down into position once anchored or drifting. I will probably attach it to the transom but I am still considering my options. Pictures to follow this spring.
 
I believe that the 32 is the width of the flat bottom; the overall beam at the gunnels would therefore be 42 or 44 inches.
Bob
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That is correct Bob...actually 45".

Thanks guys for the input. Since I wasnt planning on using the stabilizers while motoring, I think I have an idea for something that swings up while underway and swings down into position once anchored or drifting. I will probably attach it to the transom but I am still considering my options. Pictures to follow this spring.
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Okay, don't do much (and by much I mean any) jon boat shopping...knew it was a width thing, missed the fact that it is the bottom width. Seriously though, used a few of those little 12 and 14 foot Jons as a kid, and I say with total sincerity, for stability (especially with a load), manuverability and ease of transport, I have had many canoes that I would get into in a heartbeat over little jons when given the choice. There is a company that made foam pieces that riveted onto the sides of canoes, for floating if swamped and additionally for secondary stabitity when leaning too far. No reason they wouldn't mount onto a jon.

Chuck
 
Chuck - I have seen those foam pieces and may incorporate that into the solution.

Maybe some of the pink Home Depot 2" foam, cut into 6" wide strips, burlapped like a decoy, painted OD like the boat, then fastened to the sides with #8-32 machine screws and big fender washers.

That along with my transom idea and maybe it'll stay on top of the water
 
I have a Radison canoe that has foam sponsons bolted to the sides. I've tryed to tip it over with three people in and it is very stable. I've canoed most of my life and would take even a regular canoe over a jon boat. 36in. flat bottom doesn't make any sence to me. I've seen people turn over canoes and don't see how they went over so easy. My Dad had a 19.5 ft. square stern conoe with a six hp motor that we used to ride the wakes of large boats when coming in from fishing. People thought we were crazy.
 
Scott,

What about some 12 inch PVC pipe capped on both ends filled with foam? You could figure out a way to fit attach them when you get to yor spot and paint them up like the boat too? Just a thought but I have one of those small jon boats too and would like to see where you go with this project.

Neil.
 
I'd be very careful about adding sponsons or other modificiations to a boat to address an underlying concern about its stability. If you feel you need those modifications, you are probably using the boat for something it wasn't intended for.

That said, I have fished out a canoe with a sponson rig that was pretty slick. I'm not sure if it was purchased or built by the boat owner, but the concept was a pair of foam sponsons about 5 feet long bolted amidships. They could be retracted while travelling, then extended to allow two anglers to stand and fish from the canoe (it was a big 20 foot Old Town Tripper).

The sponsons when extended were perhaps 2 feet from the gunwale and suspended just above the water. They didn't add any initial stability, but as soon as someone screwed up and put the boat off center, one of them would hit the water and provide enough resistance to prevent a capsize.

That said, a 20 foot Tripper is a VERY seaworthy boat without the sponsons, and this one was used only in very sheltered waters. I'd be leery of sponsons on a small john boat.
 
I'm interested as well to see how this works out for you.
I re-did an old jon boat this fall that is the same size as yours and put a 6hp on it as well.
The 6 moves it along quick enough to make you nervous, but the only thing we use it for is transportation in protected creeks when the tide is low.
I painted it marsh grass tan and we have been calling it the "butter dish"
 
The 6 moves it along quick enough to make you nervous, but the only thing we use it for is transportation in protected creeks when the tide is low.
I painted it marsh grass tan and we have been calling it the "butter dish"
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I Like that, "the butter dish".

For the record, this boat is not going out on any sizeable body of water. Here, in the great State of Michigan, we have all kinds of water...from the expansive Great Lakes including the sometimes treacherous Saginaw Bay, to the larger inland lakes like Hubbard, Houghton and Higgins. But there are also a ton of smaller lakes (look at a map of SE Michigan) and many very fishable and huntable rivers (for me, the Ausable and Rifle). I have been underwater in all of them, one way or another, over the past 50 years and my preference has always been to stay on the surface. This boat is well suited for those smaller lakes and rivers and thats where it will go.

After all, there are bigger boats available to explore the big water...they will just be some future summer's project.
 
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