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Quinte Fishing

Fishing Reports for the Bay of Quinte
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2015 8:14 am 
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Walleye
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Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2010 10:38 am
Posts: 93
Location: Greely, Ont
Project: replace boat floor with aluminum diamond plate! This should be a nice complement to the thread by Papa Fishing.

The original plywood and carpet in my boat needed to be replaced. I considered many options including plywood with epoxy, composite (Thermolite) and aluminum. The criteria for this decision were mainly it had to be easy to clean (no fish stink), and longevity – I only want to do this once (on this boat!).

Attachment:
0 the boat (Medium).jpg


The boat is a 19’ Alumacraft Trophy. In addition to the floor replacement I will also be rebuilding the consoles (next project). This generation of Alumacraft is known for having a very poor quality dashboard and windshield; once the floor is done and the consoles are remounted I will make new tops for the consoles and a new windshield (this will be modeled after a true welded boats like Stanley or the river jet boats found out west).

There are pros and cons for using aluminum (over plywood and vinyl for example) but I preferred the true quality and ‘industrial’ look of the diamond plate (DP). The drawbacks of the aluminum are:
- Working with it! I had the full sheets sheared to roughly what I needed; I have my own smaller shear, punch and brake to help with the smaller details but cutting out profile to fit the bow was done with a jig saw and de-burred with a belt sander and

- Stiffness. Aluminum sheet (1/8”) is not as stiff as 5/8” plywood; the boat may need additional supports installed.

- Brightness and hot in the sun. The shiny DP will definitely be a problem as-is; my plan is to etch the surface as soon as the install is done. My hope is that he natural dulled finish will be sufficient. If this is not satisfactory then it will be etched, primed, and painted. I also plan on installing a snap-in marine carpet; this will be easily removable for cleaning, etc. (Note: I also considered using aluminum flat sheets and covering with marine vinyl; this might have been a best of both worlds option).

- Slippery. This was the most difficult problem (if it is slippery) because the only solution is to resort to painting with a non-slip coating. I decided that the snap-in carpet would mitigate this concern most of the time.

Note: I also discovered this product – knurled diamond plate! It was more expensive and the delivery time was too long for my project; walleye opens in a couple of weeks :o . Here is a picture of the knurled DP. I understand that this style of DP is now the standard or emergency service vehicles.
Sexy stuff!
Attachment:
knurled diamond (Medium).jpg


I did not mention cost; I compared the cost and level of effort using plywood and decided that I was not interested in screwing around with cutting and fitting plywood, encapsulating it in epoxy, drilling holes in my once-sealed sheet… starting over in 10, 15 years… I felt the aluminum was the better choice. :geek:
For this project I needed two full sheets, one 4x8, one 5x10, and a smaller panel for over the fuel tank. The 5x10 sheet made the best use of materials (least waste).

The boat disassembly:
Attachment:
1 Dissassembly (Medium).jpg

Attachment:
2 Dissassembly (Medium).jpg


The bow section had ribs on 12” centers – this will be great support for the aluminum.
Attachment:
3 Front ribs (Medium).jpg


cont'd


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Last edited by mblaney on Wed Apr 22, 2015 8:29 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2015 8:20 am 
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Walleye
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Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2010 10:38 am
Posts: 93
Location: Greely, Ont
First sheet installed :mrgreen: . It just happens that following the old panels as a template, that the front sheet (including the little peace in the nose) will allow me to reinstall the consoles and bow fixtures. I left the plywood floor over the gas tank to protect it while I was crawling all over. The sheets are installed over a heavy bead of silicone caulking and held in place with 3/16 aluminum pop rivets. I chose aluminum rivets because they are much easier to remove :? than stainless (the original floor used aluminum also).
Attachment:
4 New floor (Medium).jpg


Consoles back in place. One technical difficulty was dealing with the thinner flooring. This lowered every thing by about ½” (yes I can do fractions! :wink: ). The bow fixtures (live well, storage and benches) fit too tight; to help a little I installed a rubber gasket between the sheeting and the fixtures. This was not necessary for the consoles.
Attachment:
5 consols back in (Medium).jpg


The back of the boat was much easier to do. I did need to add some bracing over the gas tank to prevent flexing. I also added rigid sheet foam where the original flotation did not offer any support for the floor.
Attachment:
6 back ribs (Medium).jpg

Attachment:
7 supports over gas (Medium).jpg


cont'd...


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Last edited by mblaney on Wed Apr 22, 2015 8:32 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2015 8:26 am 
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Walleye
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Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2010 10:38 am
Posts: 93
Location: Greely, Ont
The original seat bases were simply screwed to the floor using #12 stainless sheet metal screws. I guess the plywood, backed by the aluminum sheet (shown here), were supposed to be good enough :roll: but I was never happy with the screws backing out and the constant creaking of the seat bases. The backing sheet also made a mess of the new floor sheeting, causing a hump that guarantied that the base would never sit flush.

Original:
Attachment:
8 orig seat support (Medium).jpg


I removed the sheets and modified them with folded edges for rigidity. The bent edges are tapered so there is no interference with the chine. The large hole is not used for anything – that’s just what happens when you recycle material. This modification made a huge improvement to the fit and flex of the floor 8) .

Modified:
Attachment:
9_ seat base mod (Medium).jpg

Attachment:
9 reworked seat support (Medium).jpg


The boat came with three seat bases (not sure why not four) but I have only ever used two. I will not install the additional bases but I marked the locations in case there was a desire to install them. This is a fishing boat right? Don't ask my wife.

There are three floor panels on the rear half; the side panels are 112” long and will be held down with pop style rivets, the center section provides access to the fuel tank and will be screwed down. I installed aluminum Rivet Nuts to accept machine screws.
Attachment:
10 rivet nuts (Medium).jpg


I am using three different sizes of Rivnuts... the installation tool for each size was $50 :? so I 'made my own' :roll:
Attachment:
11 rivet nut inst tool (Medium).jpg


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Last edited by mblaney on Wed Apr 22, 2015 8:36 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2015 8:28 am 
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Walleye
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Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2010 10:38 am
Posts: 93
Location: Greely, Ont
The floor is down! :mrgreen: The center panel (over fuel tank) is bent to add rigidity where there is insufficient support in front of the motor.
Attachment:
12 floor in from front (Medium).jpg

Attachment:
13 floor in from rear (Medium).jpg


Seat bases are also installed using Rivet Nuts; I decided to use ¼ - 20 bolts but these can easily be increased to 5/16 if necessary. The seat base holes are counter sunk; this creates a ‘zero tolerance’ fit between the fixed threads in the floor and the holes in the base :ugeek: . If I have to I will manufacture some tapered washers to fill the countersink and use pan head bolts instead. This is why I chose the ¼ bolt size.

At this point there the remaining work is pretty much just reinstalling panels and engine doghouse. I will post more as the project progresses.

Thanks for reading!


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PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2015 9:09 am 
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Perch

Joined: Fri Mar 28, 2014 10:39 am
Posts: 37
Looks awesome!

And looks like a lot of work (i.e. fun) - can't imagine my wife would grant me the time.

Brian


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PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2015 1:47 pm 
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Walleye

Joined: Mon Jan 31, 2011 3:45 pm
Posts: 198
Location: hunting/fishing season
Get a new wife!! Lol


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PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2015 6:49 pm 
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Walleye

Joined: Tue Dec 24, 2013 12:42 pm
Posts: 131
Looks great bud can't wait to see it on the water.


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PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2015 7:40 pm 
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Walleye Wisdom

Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2012 6:28 pm
Posts: 648
Looks great!! U just need some blood all over it!!! Hahaha

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LUCK HAS NOTHIN TO DO WITH IT!!!!!!


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PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 6:39 am 
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Walleye Fry

Joined: Fri Dec 23, 2011 7:02 am
Posts: 61
Lov the 1st pic...lol
How's the fishing in that lake? :lol:

Great job btw!


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PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 7:20 am 
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Walleye
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Joined: Thu Sep 18, 2008 8:07 pm
Posts: 197
Location: OTTAWA, ONT.
Great job & thanks for sharing. Any boat manufacturers paying attention - seems to me this is they way they should be built in the first place.

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Ottawa Region Walleye League
186 Blue & White Princecraft, 140 HP Johnson


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PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 7:39 am 
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Walleye
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Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2010 10:38 am
Posts: 93
Location: Greely, Ont
kevin67 wrote:
Lov the 1st pic...lol
How's the fishing in that lake? :lol:

Great job btw!


Fishing there is not so good, pulling the tube is really difficult. Kids have to wear helmets and elbow pads!

Attachment:
Pond boat (Medium).jpg


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PostPosted: Fri Apr 24, 2015 5:51 am 
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Walleye Master
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Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2007 7:48 am
Posts: 1887
Location: West Lake, ON
Great work. It's looking good.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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West Lake Willows Resort, Picton Harbour Inn, and Bay of Quinte Charters
Bay of Quinte Charters offers a 26' Charter Boat operating out of Picton Harbour with a fully enclosed cabin.
Picton Harbour Inn offers 31 rooms, docking, and a restaurant on the sheltered waters of Picton Harbour.
West Lake Willows offers 8 cottages and camping at the doorstep of the famous Sandbanks on West Lake.

www.bayofquintecharters.com, www.pictonharbourinn.com, www.westlakewillows.com


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PostPosted: Mon May 04, 2015 8:39 am 
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Guppy
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Joined: Wed May 16, 2012 1:33 pm
Posts: 6
Good looking Boat! Can't wait to get out fishing in the boat this weekend.


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PostPosted: Mon May 04, 2015 9:45 am 
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Walleye Angler

Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2010 7:14 am
Posts: 387
When do you want to start mine it looks great


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PostPosted: Mon May 04, 2015 12:52 pm 
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Walleye
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Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2010 10:38 am
Posts: 93
Location: Greely, Ont
Minerspoint wrote:
Good looking Boat! Can't wait to get out fishing in the boat this weekend.


Thank you! I will be going to PV this weekend. Can't wait!

Horsehunter, too late! Fishing season is on and no time now :!:


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