Guys, I was browsing through here the other day and saw someone who had a jon boat with the center bench cut out and had two seperate storage sections cut out with a walk through bench. I was thinking about doing this on mine (1648 polarkraft) and was looking for some inspiration. I have looked and searched but can't seem to find the picture again.

Has anyone else done this? Do you have pictures? I was curious as to how you braced the hull and the two sections up for stability.

Thanks

I took everything out of my polarkraft, back bench, side seats and all. Had the Bowcap cut and put a lid on it for my gas tank, gonna make a removable bench with a lid for the boys to sit on up front, and to keep my decoys on the bow side without falling all over the place.

Gonna do a review soon.

I cut a section out of my 1436 jon boat. Went to lowes and bought some 1x1 alu tubing. Cut it to fit. The drilled holes through the hull into the tubing. Got some SS selftapping metal screws. Added JB weld in the hole and on the screw. Ran them from the outside the hull into the tubing.
All this was before I borrowed a welding machine. When I did the welding I chain welded the tubing to the hull sidewalls and the floor.

I got a few pics somewhere.

cmiller, thanks for the input. a quick search showed the thread with the pics. Great Job on the boat btw!

I am looking to basically cut a walk-through in mine though. I have 2 batteries and other misc junk in the bench now. I am in the process of building a front deck on mine to move the light stuff like life jackets and small tool/dry box to the front. As well as a place to store blind bags/tackle boxes.

I tend to overthink the simple things and just wanted to be sure that I was thinking right that I would need a little support across the bottom. I know i will have to box in and cover where i make my cuts in the bench. I want the two "mini benches" to serve as battery storage/seats.

See Pictures below
Snow,
If you send me a text, I can shoot you a few pictures of the layout before the plate was put.

1.JPG8.JPG

thanks uncle J. Do you even notice that little ridge in the middle? It would make sense to take the middle of the bench down to the bottom where there is a lip and then run some square tubing all the way across. Not bad at all.

Thanks again gentlemen!

J is right. You do not notice the lip. I was questioning the lip also when getting my boat from Uncle J and just went ahead and got it done. Most people ask me why the center is lifted and I have to explain it to them and they understand afterwards.

Here's some shots of mine after I took everything out and redid the floor when it had an outboard. Wide open.

I have a split bench wit storage on both sides... wouldnt have it any other way....

But I live north of I 10 and dont know what the fuck im talking about.....

Towboater, the first boat is mine. It's 17.5 feet long with a 48" bottom.

I told J the layout I wanted and it came out perfect!