seahawk 4 inflatable boat

[tonypower]

Hey all. So I seen a couple people online and on youtube have put wood floors in a rubber dingy. I have a 4 man boat I bought at crappy tire last year and I am going to covert it into a fishing boat. I ordered the motor mount last night from cabelas and should be at the store in edmonton soon. so just wanted to know if anyone had any advise to share. thanks

[Marsha]

I had a Fish Hunter which is almost the same, I made a wood floor for mine and it made all the difference. The main thing is to make a template with the main tube inflated. Not the floor. I made mine out of 2 pieces of 1/2 plywood, made the edges VERY smooth and rounded, then sealed it with marine varnish sanding the edge over and over to make it silky smooth. I found at home depot alunimun h channel that connected the two sheets perfectly. Opps forgot locate and cut a hole so you can inflate the floor after the floor is in

[tonypower]

Awesome I cant wait to get started.

[tonypower]

Anyone else? lol

[trapshooter]

I did one to a while ago. I put a motor on it and made a wood floor by putting 2 sheets of the pink foam insulation on the bottom and then a sheet of 1/2 inch plywood on top. Heres a pic, sorry don't have one of the inside.

http://i1188.photobucket.com/albums/z419/Photography_Hunting_Trapshooting/DSCF2761.jpg

http://i1188.photobucket.com/albums/z419/Photography_Hunting_Trapshooting/DSCF2758.jpg

[FishingFrenzy]

I've done the same thing with an Intex Mariner 4, basically the same boat.

What i did was inflate all the chambers, flip that sucker upside-down and locate the seam where the floor meets the tubes. Then take a huge piece of paper (newsprint on a roll) and make a template of the floor of the boat.

Then you want to make a little jig by bend a small piece of metal into a 90 degree L shape, with the long piece of the L about 2.5 inches long. The short piece of the L should be about 1.0inch. Drill a in the long piece of the L, about 2 inches from where it bends. The hole should be big enough to fit the end of a felt tip marker through. Now, gather some cardboard, tape er all together into a piece big enough to make a CARDBOARD template. Trace the paper template onto the cardboard. Once you have a cardboard template, deflate the floor of your boat and see if the cardboard fits. If its too big, use your L shape jig and trace a line around the edge of the cardboard template. Cut off all the excess from the line traced.

Keep doing this until you have a cardboard template that is not tight, or even "snug" but fits in easily with maybe an 3/4 - 1 inch of "leftover" space between the cardboard and your boat.

Transfer the cardboard template to some 1/2 or 3/4in plywood.

Cut the plywood in half. Find a piece of aluminum channel that the plywood fits snugly into. Screw the channel onto one of the two pieces of plywood in a manner that you can shove the two piece together and the aluminum channel acts as a connecter.

Sand or router all the edges so they are VERY smooth and round.

Waterproof the plywood with latex paint, thompsons water seal, spar varnish, etc.

Boom your done! Remember to cut a hole for the inflation valve.

Makes these cheap, crappy inflatables 100X better. Remember not to EVER drop needle nose pliers tip first onto these boats, they will go through :sHa_shakeshout:

Hope that helps, let me know if you want me to clarify anything!

EDIT: I used 3/4 inch plywood, personally I wouldn't go any thinner. The thickness provides a nice wide edge that wont rub through the thin material as easily as a thinner plywood. JMHO

[tonypower]

Sweet thanks for the advise. I can't wait to get it done and test it out.