14' Jon Boat in 2014 6' Bed

Looking at some jon boats that I can haul either in the bed or with a trailer that I buy one day. The bed is the key though as I want an alternative boat to my kayak that I can stand on and bring the dog on.

14' is the sweet spot but my question is in regards to width. The measurements between the wheel wells is just a bit over 42" but my question is whether or not I could get away with a 1448? Thought behind it is that with the back ..... sorry boater boys.... "stern"... being the only part that actually measures 48" it would not interfere with the wheel wells. as the flat bottom boat tapers as it moves toward the ...... bow.

And yes there will be a bed extender involved.

Anyone out there do anything similar? Advice? Warnings? If so let me know. Thanks.

 

I have a 12 and a 14 foot Jon boat and the 12 fits in the bed of the truck pretty good but the 14 I use a 5x8 trailer because it wont lay flat in my bed because of the wheel wells. Not sure if mine is a 1448 or not so it could be a little wider than what your looking at. If you find a 14 that will lay flat then I would load the battery and any heavy stuff in the very back of the boat and add a couple ratchet straps and go fishing. O yea tie a red or orange rag on the front handle of the boat.

 

Good to know. So it seems like you were trying to load the 14' stern first. Is that accurate? By my measurements a 1448 would not fit over the wheel wells if put in stern first but bow first might be possible. Any way you can provide more info about the jon boat? Brand/model/year etc?

 

Yea the back of the boat has to go in the bed. Its the heaviest end and the curve of the front end just would not set right if you tried to put the front end first. My 14 will not fit in our trucks so info on it wont do any good. Just about any 12 will fit and not stick out so far.

 

I always had bad luck with Jon boats for stability. I ended up finding a 10’ v bottom smokercraft that I use for duck hunting and small little lakes. It’s far more stable.

 

Works. Wouldn’t mess around with steep driveways but but a 1542 tracker fits bow first or stern first with a bed extender. I hate that I am already using boat terms... what the heck is wrong with front and back?

Anyway I just drove this thing 50 miles. Half on highway half on back roads. Zero issues. My thought is that with a home made dolly it will be easier to launch by myself if I load it this way. That is until I add an outboard, and build it up enough that a trailer becomes a necessity. For now, oars and a FRONT mount trolling motor will be all the power I need.

 

I used to carry small boats in truck beds all the time. Had a 12 footer and the truck was smaller.

It doesn't have to fit BETWEEN the wheel wells. In fact, it doesn't even have to fit between the RAILS.

If it fits between the rails but not the wheel wells, then it doesn't have to sit FLAT. Stern towards the cab, and one side up on a wheel well. Put the motor and gas in boat between the back seat and transom. Ratchet strap it down.

Think about this; worst case, you get yourself a piece of 2x4 and throw it across the truck rails up about 1-1.5 feet behind the cab, and sit the boat upside down on top of that AND the tailgate, and secure with ratchet straps.

You do NOT need a bed extender because the boat is rigid enough to hold itself from bending beyond the rear support. If it wasn't, it wouldn't hold together when under power.

Don't forget that carrying anything that extends more than 3 feet behind the back bumper MUST be FLAGGED. Get yourself a nice bright fire-red piece of fabric and tie it to the bow handle. If you want to be REALLY cool about it, get a tail/brake light for it.

 

Turn that thing around. The transom should be towards the CAB.

 

Its actually a LOT easier to throw a small boat in the bed than to putz around with a trailer.

 

Maybe, maybe not; it really depends on the boat. You're not going to toss my 14' welded jon boat in the back of your truck even without a motor, fuel tank, battery, trolling motor, etc., at close to 200lbs empty it's just not practical and who wants to remove all of your crap before trying? For a welded boat or any boat that you don't feel like unloading every time, a trailer is the way to go. Some area also restrict how far anything can protrude from the vehicle as well. Watch your local Craigslist for trailers if you need one.

OP, have you looked at the sit on top fishing style kayaks?

 

Having the trailer will be nice but there are a few spots I go that are car top launch only. Down by the coast in here in New England this will also allow me to get into the salt ponds to fish and clam.

 

I own a 12’ sit on top that is rigged up for fishing.

This one I can stand on, spend the day on, bring my dog, and most importantly get to the beer easier.

 

Look at the semi-V or modified V shapes if you think you may be on anything other than flat water or use the boat during cold weather. The jon boat I inherited from my grandfather is a flat bottom with a pretty flat front and it rides rough and wet; I'm not complaining but I have no idea why he bought it as he had a pretty extensive knowledge of boats and owned quite a few over his lifetime.

 

I’m not planning on dealing with anything more than the occasional jerk who doesnt know how to be considerate about wake. Salt ponds and bass ponds and lakes. Maybe drifting a river or two. Not a lot of big water around here other than the ocean. Might look in to more of a v shaped hill down the road. For now I’d say 95% of my fishing is on flat water and the other 5% is on a friends ocean boat.

 

Everything has its uses. Those flat bottom welded aluminum boats are real easy to get over stuff like beaver dams. With a small motor like a 6hp, you set the engine on shallow water tilt and just let off the throttle when you're about to hit the dam. Inertia carries you across, motor rides over, and when you hit water on the other side, just shove the motor back down and keep on going.

Although I'd recommend to OP that he reinforces the transom before trying that with a tracker. Their transoms aren't exactly "tough" -- just a couple of pieces of really shitty soft plywood sandwiched over the aluminum sheet.

 

Depending on the situation to store a trailer and boat, the ease of a trailer over bed loading even a small boat, tilts it towards a trailer. No more loading and unloading the boat a bunch of times for one trip. Get tie downs for everything and most of it can ride in the boat. Add guide-ons for the trailer and launching and retrieving the boat from the trailer is simple too.

 

We're not talking about ski or bass boats with 500 pound OB's here.

 

Since your actual question was about fitment, not if you should buy a trailer or not, I'll offer up this.

Use the OE notches in the bed and take the wheel wells out of the measurement to get a full bed width. Easy for a trolling motor, battery, oars or skulling paddle to lay in under the vessel.

Yaks shown are 15'.




Now then. I've done lots of small pond fishing in a 12' jon, with just a sculling paddle, hauled in the back of a truck in areas a trailer would not have worked out so well.

But if you have bigger or more, as others have said, wt matters. Consider a trailer.