So a few months ago I picked up a 11’ Coleman Crawdad on Facebook marketplace for $600. Came with a 30 thrust trolling motor and a battery (although came to find it’s toast) overall not a bad deal.
However I find myself getting bored of it and wishing it had some different features. Looking around at ideas for “mini bass boats” or “pond hoppers” if you will . I decided to gut the entire boat right down to an empty tub. I removed all the factory galvanized steel tubing that was used for the framing and extra un necessary plastic. There are 4 foam blocks, 1 in each corner from the factory as a safety floatation. (I’m not sure if I will keep these or find an alternative safety solution) but all said and done I have removed a significant amount of weight from the boat and am now ready to start customizing it.
I have decided to use 1/2” birch plywood for my casting deck material and I found some 3/4”x3/4” L brackets online for cheap. I plan to use the factory gunnel as my base and bolt the brackets to that the whole way around.
My current debate is whether I should reinstall the factory steel framing (cracked/splitting and rusted in spots) or if I replace it with pvc and add 2x the supports (or more) under the deck to add some rigidity to the bottom of the boat and under my deck. Will pvc be strong enough to prevent the bottom of the boat from folding in on itself when it’s loaded in the water? Would be roughly 1 foot sections between the bottom and the deck so I’m thinking the pcv won’t flex too much but I’m looking for opinions!
Thanks in advance, any help is appreciated!
(Picture of boat being customized)
Posted by colby_rubby