Putting Floor In My New Tinnie

[shan777]

Just picked up this little gem with good trailor, motor, for $500!!!! Yes i know..... a steal..... you'll be happy to know i did feel bad.......... for a second or too!!!!

Just need some advise.

I'm thinking of taking out the middle seat, and putting a floor with carpet in there, adding a bow mount electric, making it a nice little spinning outfit. The boat is your standard 3 seater tinnie, 12odd ft.

Would this compromise the strength of the hull in the middle? I'm not taking out the front and back seat so that should hold it together. Its a well built tinnie too.

Any advise on the above and any rough tips on putting floor in would be great.

Cheers everyone, Shan

PS- sorry no photo, i'm on dial up for a few days and its not handling it.

Edited November 2, 2007 by shan777

[davebrewer]

Congrats on the new boat Shan-I know you'll be putting it to good use.Probably OK to remove the seat -plenty of tinnies are built that way-there should be ribs which give the hull it's strength.I'd build a removeable marine ply floor shaped to the hull sides (with oregan lands glued to the bottom with marine epoxy if it wants to flex-that'll depend on how wide the floor is for the thickness of ply).You could seal the whole thing with epoxy if you wanted to to waterproof it but I think I'd knock it up cheap and simple and just replace it in 5 years or so if necessary.If the hull is a tricky shape a thick cardboard pattern scribed off the side will give you the correct shape for your ply.Let me know if this doesn't make sense-it's easier to visualise it than describe it.There's a mag in the newsagents at the moment called"Fitting Out For Lake and River Fishing" which has heaps of good info including a section on fitting floors on page 60.HTH,

Cheers,

Dave.l

[shan777]

thanks so much Dave, that makes plenty of sense!!!

Will be picking up that mag for sure. Do you know the actual name of the mag??

Once again, thanks for your ideas, they'll be put into good use. Shan

[pelican]

Lets see a photo as many aren't that suitable if it was biult very light. The main seat constitutes a lot of structural support to stop sides both flexing in and out. Dial up oooh I hate that as it is like going back to the dark ages now there is so much detail on sites.

Edited November 4, 2007 by pelican

[davebrewer]

That is the name Shan,it's one of Jeff Webster's,he's also got one on Bay and Estuary Fishing-they're $9.95 each.If you can't find one let me know-you can order from Jeff directly.

Cheers,

Dave.

[Davemmm]

I'd have a serious think about pulling the middle seat out. Whilst a lot of boats these days dont have that seat that doesn't automatically mean your boat will be fine without one. The ribs in new boats are all in different positions to an old boat that has three seats. Your boat would be relying on the centre seat for a certain amount of strength.

Dave

[sc0pe]

hi mate,

i recently just redecked my 4.3m brooker saratoga and can give u some tips when it comes to actually doing it, but i would suggest leaving the seat in.

have u thought about making the floor actually on top of the seats? im not sure what your use for the boat is, but if it was specifically for lures u wont be needing seats etcetc as u will be standing and casting all the time.

would be better as u would be higher and be able to see better into the water and certain types of casting would benefit from the extra height. it doesnt need to be permenent, and u could take out the deck whenever u wanted.

[shan777]

Hey guys, thanks for all your comments.

The boat is reasonably strong but yeah, i was a bit worried.

About the idea about putting the floor on top of seats- thats what i was originally thinking of doing but i wasn't sure that the height i would be standing would make it less stable instead of having floor lower...... any thoughts??? I have no need for seats as i am lure fishing only -so if you guys think it wouldn't be too unstable with the floor on top of seats, then thats what i'll do.

I'll have a look for that mag Dave and if i can't find it I'll PM you.

Thanks once again eveyone for your help and input.

Shan

[shan777]

Hey guys, thanks for all your comments.

The boat is reasonably strong but yeah, i was a bit worried.

About the idea about putting the floor on top of seats- thats what i was originally thinking of doing but i wasn't sure that the height i would be standing would make it less stable instead of having floor lower...... any thoughts??? I have no need for seats as i am lure fishing only -so if you guys think it wouldn't be too unstable with the floor on top of seats, then thats what i'll do.

I'll have a look for that mag Dave and if i can't find it I'll PM you.

Thanks once again eveyone for your help and input.

Shan

[Boban]

Looking at your boat, the middle seat has to stay. It is part of the structure.

I would make a casting deck up front between the front two seats. It is not that hard if you think about it. I would then put in a floor between the rear seats at the lower level. That would be a good solution for your boat.

I am in the middle of fitting out a new layout for my relatively new 4.2m v-nose punt. The aluminium is not that expensive, nor is the plywood or carpet if you know where to buy it.

Good luck with your new money pit.

Edited November 3, 2007 by Boban

[robeebee]

looks a good buy for $ 500

you would have a nice deck up front

driveway is tight mate

[livo]

I'd be leaving the seat in, although if you were prepared to go to the trouble you could install side stiffening benches between the other two seats to provide the support to the gunwhales if you do remove the middle one. These dont have to be very wide as long as they remove any outward flexing of the sides. I once owned a tinny that had this side seating configuration and it was great. It was a deHaviland 14' with front and rear seats and seats down each side in between.

A word of caution. Be very carefull of actually resting the timber floor on any part of the hull. Yours is a single skin boat and aluminium is soft. I've seen timber floor panels wear holes right through hulls in surprisingly short time due to the vibration caused by the outboard motor. Try to support the floor from the seats or ribs where possible and if it must rest on the hull make sure that you provide good thick padding with a synthetic carpet glued in place. No nails or screws.

[davebrewer]

Having seen the picture I agree that it could be risky to remove the central thwart without beefing up the area with extra ribs or by following Livo's suggestion,but I think mods like these will be costly unless you can get the welding done cheap somehow.One thing (you probably already know) is to make sure you can inspect under the floor for dropped terminal gear that can quickly react causing holes in the skin.I can't believe you got the rig for $500 Shan-what a find!

Cheers,

Dave.

[shan777]

Yeah i know, it was a steal!!!! Easily worth $1200 i reckon. And yeah, driveway is stupidly narrow!!!!

Ok, so i've obviously decided, after everyone's wisdom, that i'm not taking the middle seat out.

Would love to do your idea Livo but $ is not flowing freely!

I know the obvious way to test this next question, is to actually put it in water and try it, but was wanting everyone's opinions -I really like the idea of having a floor from middle to front seat on seat level but wasn't sure if it'd be too rocky. It is a v-hull but a very flat looking one.

Here is a rough picture of what the floor would be like, and also where i'll put the 2nd floor on bottom, and carpeting it all.

You can see the flat bits on the frame where i could fasten the bottom floor, is this what they're here for??

Let us know what you think, thanks again, Shan

[Davemmm]

This was a pretty good post for flooring

http://fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.ph...3&hl=fitout

[shan777]

Hey guys, just letting you know i've decided to put in supporting benches like livo suggested, taking out the middle seat and adding the floor.

I have a friend who has done this before so i'm in luck.

Thanks once again for all your help.

One more question- i'm looking into getting an electric motor. Am keen on the foot control, but i'm not sure if it has to be a bow mount to have the foot control function, and if my sort of tinnie will be able to have a bow mount???And if anyone knows where you can get killer deals on electric motors, that'd be great. Any help would be awesome, thanks, Shan

[davebrewer]

If the foredeck's pretty flat the mount should go on fine Shan-best price I can find on a 44lb bowmount is $499 from that MailOrder Tackle place-PM me if you don't follow.That's for a Jarvis Walker Watersnake-I've been looking into getting one too but don't want to pay MinnKota prices given that the JW feedback has been mostly positive.Glad you managed to get the floor you really wanted.

Cheers,

Dave.

[mrmoshe]

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QUOTE(Dave B @ Nov 7 2007, 09:49 AM) 204985[/snapback]

If the foredeck's pretty flat the mount should go on fine Shan-best price I can find on a 44lb bowmount is $499 from that MailOrder Tackle place-PM me if you don't follow.That's for a Jarvis Walker Watersnake-I've been looking into getting one too but don't want to pay MinnKota prices given that the JW feedback has been mostly positive.Glad you managed to get the floor you really wanted.

Cheers,

Dave.

Dave..give Huey a call about thr FR price on a MinnKota..you may be

surprised.

Good luck with the deck..should make a nice platform when you get it finished.

Cheers,

Pete.

[shan777]

this may sound really silly, but whats a floordeck??

Thanks for the help too

[davebrewer]

The foredeck is the triangle shaped sheet welded to the gunwhales at the front of the boat-the idea is to mount the electric as close to it's centreline as possible so it pulls the boat most efficiently.

Cheers,

Dave.

[shan777]

Ok, cool, gotcha. Here's a picture of it...... what do you reckon?? Ok for the bow mount???

[bart]

That looks like an old Quintrex Sportsman. Strong as . A great little tinnie. Approx 1980 AD. I would not modify it.

Cheers BART.

[pelican]

I'm with you Bart. Just build a removable casting platform between the 2 seats if it balances ok and attach the leccy to the outboard. . No hassle and easy and you can sell it when you upgrade. I've seen too many good tinnys wrecked by half done jobs. Doing the side bench doesn't give the same stiffness etc etc unless done extremelt wll and very bulky / heavy

Pel

[livo]

I'm with you Bart. Just build a removable casting platform between the 2 seats if it balances ok and attach the leccy to the outboard. . No hassle and easy and you can sell it when you upgrade. I've seen too many good tinnys wrecked by half done jobs. Doing the side bench doesn't give the same stiffness etc etc unless done extremelt wll and very bulky / heavy

Pel

I have to disagree with you saying that it has to be very bulky / heavy and the stiffness is easily attainable. There are several very strong rolled sections of aluminium available that are quite compact and probably weigh less than the centre seat in total once the job is done. I actually have two lengths in my shed that would do the job no problem. The difference in structural integrity of the boat need not be comprimised if the job is done properly.

[pelican]

I have to disagree with you saying that it has to be very bulky / heavy and the stiffness is easily attainable. There are several very strong rolled sections of aluminium available that are quite compact and probably weigh less than the centre seat in total once the job is done. I actually have two lengths in my shed that would do the job no problem. The difference in structural integrity of the boat need not be comprimised if the job is done properly.

Depends on your skill level and tools and materials you have to work with as that seat look as though it is currently weldeld in. I have seen lots that aren't engineered well, some come from the factory,designed for light use but retrofits are often done by people without the skill , tools or knowledge. Hope it works out and ends up a safe boat that lasts. Not sure if the older models had floatation in the seat. I know a brand new boat will have a flat floor and storage etc but fishing 2 up with a simple removeable floor wouldn't be such a dissadvantage in that tinny and keep it cheap as wekk.