Vlad the Impailer

I used my boat today for the first time since building an elevated platform on it. WOW! Should have done this a long time ago. The problem is with two people standing in the front of the boat we have a little teeter totter effect. I said since it's my boat I'm not giving up ice cream just so my partner can shoot from the front of the boat with me. We took turns until multiple fish were spotted then we'd both hop up to shoot then go back to taking turns. My question is has anyone else had this problem? Did you add ballast to the back of the boat? Obviously if you went by that weight sticker that is on the boat you could hardly use the boat for anything. We are close to that limit but not over it by the way. at least not till I eat this bowl of ice cream.

HNI_Christine

Ideas:

1) put all batteries and such in the back.

2) buy a bigger, heavier outboard.

3) you could use my old oneida t-III for ballast in the back

4) put the fish barrel in the back and fill it with fish.

5) get a lighter shooting partner.

Mark S

How high is your platform? Of course the higher it is, the more it will teeter? What size is your boat by the way? I know Bowman always carries his outboard and generator in his 1448 just for weight in the rear even though we might not be using them.

Vlad the Impailer

it's a 14 foot lowe. my platform is 18 inches and 5foot by 5 foot square. I used square tubing and when I welded the frame all up I weighed it and it was 72 pounds. I haven't weighed it since I put the plywood on. the batteries are in the back and the outboard is always on the boat. I really expected the "teeter" to be in the front of the boat but it's in the back. when we both step to the front the prop on the outboard is half in half out of the water. the front of the boat is still far enough out of the water so that doesn't worry me. but with the outboar not riding all the way down in the water the boat won't trac right. I'm hoping the weight of the generator is enough to level it out because I hate to add ballast.

bowman15

That's what they're talking about. I'm suprised you thought the front would come up more than the back.

I always have my motor up, even tho it does help track better when it's down (it's a bear to get the boat to go straight with 2 people on deck). But I keep the motor up so it doesn't hit bottom when we get shallow.The only options you really have (and I'm in the same boat as you with a 14'er, no pun intended) is lightening up the front. I'm thinking of rebuilding my frame with 1 1/2" PVC. It's strong enough and lighter than the wood I have it done in now. And I know your frame is alot heavier than mine. I think mine is right around 50 lbs. I probably could have built it even lighter if I had put more thought into it, but since I'm redoing it I might as well do it in something that'll last longer.
It's 4' deep by 5'4" wide at the back.

Vlad the Impailer

yeah I'll admit I was not even thinking I'd ever have enough weight to get the back end light. I was thinking it would "teeter" left and right in the front because I was higher up. I thought of pvc too (now anyway!) mine was made of free material that jumped in my truck off of job sites here and there. all I have in it is time so I'm not too bent up about it. I made it out of two 5 foot sections of ladder rack for a pick up truck and just cut the legs to the length I wanted. with the plywood I think I'm right around 100 pounds. If you made one out of pvc would you try and make it with a floor truss design like you did on the wood one? or have you thought of anything yet?

bowman15

Most likely. It seems to be the best design, strength-to-weight-wise. I haven't sat down and figured it out yet, but I think when I do it'll take me about 15 minutes. The biggest expense will be the fittings. And you know there's gonna be alot of them. When I do it I'll take pictures and let you know how much it costs. You can figure out the materials needed from the pictures. If you want to do one that is. But it'll definetly help you. I'm thinking the PVC platform will be between 30 and 40 pounds finished. Plus, ifI seal itright, it'll keep the boat afloat of it takes on too much water.

bowman15

Oops. Couldn't get the picture to load.

Mark S

Just remember one thing about anything Bowman does, it's way overdone. Cut his material list in half for yours and you'll be just fine. 10 people could stand on the front of his deck and it wouldn't bow more than .001".

Vlad the Impailer

Yeah now that I've made my free one and it's very usable I'm thinking I may try a pvc deck this winter. I think the floor truss idea is pretty good. I looked it up on another web site and there were some on there. they were made with inch and a half and two inch schedule 40. I thought of another way though. I would have to actually purchase all of the smaller material. I tend to think of things I can get out of the scrap pile at work or donated from the other trades. they just don't use the small stuff on commercial buildings. they do use the big stuff though. what about using 4 or 6 inch pipe with closet flanges on the top and bottom. it would be more of a column effect. the flanges would offer a wide foot for stability on the bottom and a good attach point for the decking material on top. then you wouldn't have to fight the jigsaw puzzle of the smaller pipe. I actually have some. I could cut one to length and weigh it then multiply by however many it would take and get a rough weight even.