I've got an old jon boat I use around here on the river and small lakes, you've probably seen it in pics on here before. I've been wanting to make it a little more "user friendly" for me when I'm by myself. If I need to go to the front of the boat to tie off to a brush pile or jerk the anchor loose, I had to step over the middle seat, and more than once I damn near fell over it. I had deccided to cut out the middle part, which was a livewell that I converted to a storage compartment. I hated to lose all the storage tho, so I revised my plan. This is what I had before I started.




Got out the sawzall, grinder and drill, and cut out half the center.



Used some of the pieces I cut out for trimming up the edges, and added a little putty to smooth off the edges. Still need to add a few metal screws, and cut some plywood for the floor, then I'll have a nice flat floor, with an 18 inch wide walkway in the center. I'm not gonna fasten down the floor, cause I get a lotta mud in there sometimes running the river, and I like to take it out to hose it down. It ain't the prettiest job, but plenty good for an old river runner like me.



Hopefully I'll have plenty room to walk through, and still have a little storage room and an extra seat when I do need it.

Yea, Its pretty great idea. Looks good!

Great idea, graybeard!~! Looks like you have it about whooped. Hope this will work better for you!~!

Now thats some good old redneck inginuity rite thar!

Yep!!

redneck inginuity means "to heck with a so called proffessional I'll do it myself so I know what went into it and how its was done"

Redneck term.....wa'chiss. In non redneck.....oh fellows,watch me.

if ya can make it quit raining up here we shall make the water go down down there lol

So here's the finished product. I got it done a long time ago, and have used the boat quite a few times, and it's working well so far. I just haven't taken the time to post any pics till now.


You can also see my new home made river anchor in the boat. If I want to anchor off a sand bar, or someplace where there is no place to tie off, I toss this out. It holds in the current real well, and (supposedly) if it gets stuck, you can pull upstream of it and it will come out. I haven't had to try that yet.

Looks good to me buddy, nothing like a flat bottom in a boat.

No kidding Mike,it aint no dump truckin v hull,thats for sure.