clind98 0 Report post Posted January 29, 2014 How stable are the boats after you add a casting deck? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
captkenroy 0 Report post Posted January 29, 2014 There is an easier way. Turn the boat over and clean with detergent and then acetone. Score the bottom with 80 grit Emery cloth. Roll on a coat of "Steel Flex." Steel Flex is used to repair airboat bottoms. I bought a 10' aluminum boat 4 years ago. I knew it had a bunch of leaks. I turned the boat over on the trailer and put a shop light under it. I found 27 holes up to about 1/8 in diameter. There were probably more but I knew Steel Flex was up to the job. I use the boat a lot. Granted, I don't work it terribly hard with the 4hp Johnson but I average 2-4 days fishing each week, year around. The steelFlex has some fairly deep scratches caused by dragging the boat over oyster bars but it has 0 leaks. By the way, my little aluminum boat is probably 35 years old and was an el-cheapo to begin with. I am a true believer in Steel Flex. (I don't own any stock either) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
clind98 0 Report post Posted January 29, 2014 There is an easier way. Turn the boat over and clean with detergent and then acetone. Score the bottom with 80 grit Emery cloth. Roll on a coat of "Steel Flex." Steel Flex is used to repair airboat bottoms. I bought a 10' aluminum boat 4 years ago. I knew it had a bunch of leaks. I turned the boat over on the trailer and put a shop light under it. I found 27 holes up to about 1/8 in diameter. There were probably more but I knew Steel Flex was up to the job. I use the boat a lot. Granted, I don't work it terribly hard with the 4hp Johnson but I average 2-4 days fishing each week, year around. The steelFlex has some fairly deep scratches caused by dragging the boat over oyster bars but it has 0 leaks. By the way, my little aluminum boat is probably 35 years old and was an el-cheapo to begin with. I am a true believer in Steel Flex. (I don't own any stock either) Who sells Steel Flex? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Iroc_Jeff 0 Report post Posted January 30, 2014 How stable are the boats after you add a casting deck? For a Jon boat that would depend on how wide the boat is. I don't know how wide your boat is, but, you should be fine for yourself. We did our conversion on a bass boat, so that's a bit more stable. However, a simple Google search for Jon boat conversion or Jon Boat bass boat or similar will show you boats of all sizes, 10 ft included, with deck conversions. Here is a neat website that can help you out a bit more. Main thing is the marine grade plywood OR similar backer board. We actually used an outdoor sign composite board from a scrap found at my friends Steel Building sales office. http://www.secretweaponlures.com/odf/odfsite.html Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites