See full version: How to Make a Casting Deck
After you have a hole in the center of the rivet, all you need to do is dip your drill bit in some oil and drill out the rivet. The rivet will pop out onto your drill bit and you should now have a clean hole for when you drill into the frame of your new standing platform.
Corinthian makes a high quality marine carpet that is excellent to use on your standing platform. Their carpets come in twenty one different colors ranging from $1.25 per square foot all the way up to $3.33 per square foot.
Once the bench seats are out of your boat, it is time to decide which material you are going to install for your casting deck. Most people make the frame out of 2 x 4’s, however; some people that know how to weld or are willing to pay a welding company, choose steel or aluminum framing. more
Many fishermen like to make a casting deck so that they can move around unrestricted and fish more water in a shorter amount of time. Removing the front two seats in a Jon Boat is a necessity if you would like to make a casting deck.
If your seats are just screwed in, you will need a power drill with the appropriate phillips or flat screw bit. However, if your seats are riveted in, you should also have a hole punch. If you lack the hole punch, you can use a phillips head drill bit that will fit just inside the rivet.
Underneath the bench seats on most boats you will notice insulation that helps the boat to float in the event of an accident. It is suggested that when you install the frame for your casting deck that you also pack some form of lightweight insulation to replace the insulation that you have taken out. more
A good marine carpet is recommended, although, some people do use rubber sheeting which also serves the purpose and is waterproof.
I built a back deck into my 15' fiberglass boat (5' beam). If that's a tri-hull, it won't be the least bit "tippy". But it'll pound you in any kind of rough water. here
Here's a pic, I can provide any other info needed. Thanks in advance for the help!
How about just some 2 x 12"s glassed to the existing deck done the same way stringers are done or floor joists in your house? Don't need near as many (MAYBE 3 across) and then glass the casting deck to the gunwhale after it's screwed to the new structure.
The starboard side compartment I use for pfds and foul weather gear, water doesn't come in from above, but it's not watertight from below. here
^^^ Good stuff. I like the idea of using pipe and flanges. PVC would be even lighter though it can get brittle when it gets cold. With a little ingenuity, one might even create their own light weight fiberglass "pipe" for this purpose. Anyway, I'm not sure what my beam measurement is. I'll check it this evening. I'm thinking it's a lot narrower than 5' but I could me mistaken. I believe the beam width is where the stability comes from. I remember walking around on the fore casting deck of a small Bass Tracker and thinking it was like walking on a dock. They're really wide at the stern. According to their catalog I just looked at, their smallest boat has a 6.75" beam. They also sit pretty low in the water IIRC (not the deep vee models). Yea mine's a tri-hull so it's going to beat me to death going across the lake to get to some of my fishing spots. It can't be any worse than the boat I have now. Should be really good for going up the river though. [links]
Big day today with prep and hull painting. Started by acid washing the hull. You only leave this stuff on for about 30 seconds then hose it off. It etches and cleans the hull ready for paint. [links]
It was such a great feeling to finally get her wet – even if i had to share the moment with all of my friends 🙂 Good news is nothing leaked and despite adding all the extra weight it is still a spritely little craft.
Then top coat. Oops forgot to take photo of finished hull. Was a bit excited. Will be plenty more pics to come in better light too. The colour we made up. Just added a small amount of blue to white. I am calling it ‘ice blue’ as i reckon it will look white in some light and blue in others. There are a couple of gamefishing boats that have a similar colour that i have always liked. With one litre of paint plus hardener and thinners we were able to do three good coats including the hatches. [links]
Day eleven was just a bit of a fit and finish day. A few loose ends still to tidy up but it is basically ready to fuel up and hit the water now. I started by installing the battery box in the bow to run the Minn Kota. I already had and anderson plug lead from my old boat so it was good to go in no time.
I’m starting to get a glimpse of the finish line now but everything does seem to take a lot longer than expected. We started the day fully welding the front casting deck and then i cut out all the hatches for the front deck. There are four hatches in total – livewell, battery, and 2 x storage. [links]