Jon Boat

Anyone haul a Jon Boat in their 6' bed?

 

i put a 10' jon in my short bed. looking for the pic now. cant seem to find it.

 

i did not drive the boat to here, it was tight near the ramp, so we took the boat off the trailer.
10' boat on a short bed

 

I'm flirting with the idea of getting a Jon boat or aluminum V. I think 12' is the minimum I'd want and am leaning toward 14' so not something I could fit in the bed. I want a smaller boat I can haul up into the high country here to hit the smaller lakes. Some of the lakes only allow electric motors BUT I'd like to be able to fit 3 people (2 adults and a kiddo) and a small cooler on board.

I've looked around on craigslist and prices all over the place. Plus you never know what kind of condition you're getting them in until you get it out on the lake. Bass Pro sells 14' flat bottom jons (Tracker brand) for about $700. But then I'd need to get a trailer too and those aren't cheap.

Maybe I'll just buy new and build it up into what I want. Batteries, trolling motors, all that stuff starts to add up in price.

 

Tell me about it...we just got into one, We happened to find a boat trailer in good condition from a neighboring property. It was abandoned and the owner of the property gave it to us. So Today we bought a flat bottom and new engine. We should be up and running by Wed, I have to hook everything up and put the seats on etc. so it shouldnt take long but I cant wait to put in the water and catch some fish!

 

Buy the boat brand new too? Do you plan to tow the boat down some rougher roads? Thinking about trailer structure and how to best protect the bottom of boat bouncing against it. A lot of junk for sale on craigslist, I saw some trailers on Harbor Freight for $300-$400 but they do not have the "side supports" like some of the other options out there.

Curious to see your setup once you get it together.

 

yeah boat is new, its got some flat bumpers underneath that are covered in that black marine felt. We have to tow it on our dirt road so it gets rough at times, just have to drive slow. I dont think you really need side supports for flatbottom, its more for V-hull but thats just to guide it into the spot. Once I get it together I'll post some pics.

 

This trailer has the side supports I was talking about. I guess they wouldn't serve a whole lot of purpose. Bottom is most important.

 

doesnt hurt anything...mostly for guiding it onto the trailer IMO.

 

So I rewired the boat trailer a few weeks back and everything worked fine, brakes, running lights, turn signals...we take it to cabelas to get the boat and the wiring is all jacked up...I wonder if some animal got in there and chewed on some wires...Im going to leave it for another day...I got the engine, seats and rod holders installed today. I also put some flooring down as it was tripping me up walking on the ribs. Nothing fancy by any means but it works. I still have to get some pics and put on the stickers.

 

Soy based wiring? that sucks! Look forward to pics

 

I used to haul a 14' in my 6' f150 bed back when I lived Hawaii

 

8ft of boat hanging out the back? Yikes! Some kind of hitch support?

 

our maiden voyage was a good one, My wife caught the first fish on our new boat...figures. Then she was up 4 bass to my 0 then I got to where the crappie were biting and I caught the most crappie but she caught the biggest. We moved on to some shallow water and started catching bass, I almost caught up but she still beat me this time...she caught 11 bass, I caught 7. I missed quite a few as did she..overall a fun day. Had some crappie fillets for dinner tonight. Yum!

 

tailgate down do only about 6' unsupported, transom in 1st. wasn't bad, never gave me any problem, gotta do what you gotta do.

 

I got wiring ghosts...went to mess with the boat trailer and checked for power at the bulb and I had power going into the light assembly...Im sitting there scratching my head as to why the bulb wont come on. I take the bulb out and re-position it and it works, same with the other side...Dunno how or why it didnt work before.

 

I used to have one of the Harbour Freight trailers for my 11' inflatable boat. I probly bought it 12 yrs ago I guess. Worked great for hauling the boat around. There was quite a bit of adjustability based off the shape of the boat.
Side supports would have made it easier to load the boat when there was a breeze or in a current. With the flat bottom it would often try to go off to one side.
I got about 10 yrs of use out of the trailer. I am happy with that considering most of the use was down south in salt water which is much rougher on a frame than fresh water.

 

So this is not a jon boat but a buddy of mine told me I could take this one (16ft) with trailer off his hands pretty much for free. It looks really straight, rivets and seams appear in pretty good condition. It's been sitting forever. He put tires and wheels on it 6 months ago, has new trailer lights and rewired it as another guy was going to buy it and drag it back to Montana but for some reason decided against it. Trailer is rusty and has no title that's a problem as id have to get a bonded title or register as a homemade trailer. It's an old-school tilt type trailer. Boat is not registered but has not been for over 5 years so not a big deal supposedly to have game and fish register it. Trailer needs some replacement rollers, probably would strip it all down wire brush it/sand with angle grinder then repaint.

For the boat I'd gut the interior, pressure wash and use Gluvit (rivet and seam sealer), then repaint interior. Add some foam and then plywood platform covered with exterior carpet to create a flat low profile flooring platform and insulate the hull a bit. May just leave exterior the way it is for now. He started to camo it a few years ago as he planned to use it as a hunting boat which I may do too...so no need for a fancy exterior paint job yet. Interior will need new transom wood and wood seats or I may just install plates and swivel seats on top of the benches.

Thoughts? We have it pushed off the trailer here so I could inspect the trailer.

More boat than I initially envisioned having. Some work involved but maybe a fun project. For the price hard to beat.

 

Will not be nearly as stable as a John boat, but will move easier than a equal size. As long as it is not to big for your needs and water tight, sounds good.

 

Really? I figure this would be much more stable than a 14ft flat bottom jon, especially with a floor in it. I think it is wider than most of the 14' jons I've looked at but I did not measure the beam.