Can I Remove 4' off a 16' John Boat?

Hello fellow boaters, I purchased a 16' John Boat and was wondering if it would be a realistic task to remove 4' off of my 16' john boat? i Purchased the boat off my friend while he was at work and went to the house to get it. I soon realized that the boat is far too big to throw on the roof of my car as well as paddling capabilities. Please let me know if this is a realistic task or maybe i should just try and trade on craigslist? thank you!!

 

No one can answer your questions because first they would need to know what the boat's material is, what you can accomplish as a carpenter, the boat's value as is, and the design of the specific boat in question. Also, would it also weigh too much once chopped? What does it weigh now?
Really, this is probably a very bad way to go about obtaining a boat. There are many boats that are 12 ft long, many light enough to car-top. You don't appear to have experience with boats, so any boat construction project is going to be comprimised by your lack of experience (which is okay, so long as doing the job is worth it to you in ther end).

 

You got the wrong boat. Buying a boat solely because its cheap, which happens way too many times with people just getting into boats and boating is also a poor way to buy one either.

 

You don't want to be rowing or paddling a jon boat, even if it's been reduced in length by 4', unless you're really interested in a full body work out each time you take her out.

 

Sell to a tugboat's captain. Tugs carry a johnboat for use when painting their hull, because it is very stable. They're always in the market for a cheap one. Quick $150 or $200 sale.
You can buy and inflate a truck tire intertube for a rooftop carrier or borrow a trailer.
Good luck.

 

Gallo, is your reply testament as to why you're a "previous member"?

 

thanks everyone, yes im clearly new to boating, yes the boat was cheap. 150$. my carpentry skills are very good. I wanted to know if it would be strong enough to be pulled off. i figured i see canoes with the ends cut off for motors quite a bit why couldnt i removed 4' off the end of my jon boat. jon boats are great for fishin and even better for having a child in. there are obvious differences in the structure of a canoe vs a jon boat and thats why i was asking if it was possible or not. I boat, i am a full time college student for civil engineer, no i am not a experianced boat builder or enthusiast... YET. we all have to start somewhere the boats maker is montgomery ward btw. any of you enthusiasts have an idea of value? my guess is its from mid/late 90's

 

its made of some sort of galvanized metal

 

For sure everyone starts somewhere and I do not think that anyone was being critical as much as we saw a serious redlight go off. Square ended canoes are not just cut off four feet to allow for a motor. There are several other factors involved too. But anyway the bottoms on most all rowing hulls are shaped completely diferent to allow for minimum bottom on the water unlike most runabout type hulls, john boats included.

 

Jonboat

why not design your own Jonboat I found this design helpful jonboatplans .net

 

I agree with the others. If you're gonna design a boat, design one ideal for the use. If it's a jonboat, you can buy one stock used cheaper.

 

Extremely probable that it is aluminum, not galvanized steel. I don't think there have been any galvanized steel small boats built comercially in the US since the 1930's.

 

Yes, you can cut the boat down. And since it's basically flat bottomed and square ended to begin with, you won't be doing as much damage to performance or stability as you might with some other boats.

DCockey's almost certainly right about it being made of aluminum though, and I'm not sure how much good your carpentry skills will do you on the hull itself --unless you want to make the new transom or transoms of wood. Your skills could come in handy reworking the seats afterward, though....

I vote you try to sell it, then take the money and go buy a shorter boat; you should be able to at least break even. But of course that's the practical and sensible way to go. If you want to mess with the boat for fun, have at it.

 

Pwblackbelt, the link you've provided is a rip off artist looking to make money off public domain plans. Maybe you're him, in which case go away, as you know how we feel about this sort of thing.

In short the plans in that link are free and available to anyone for nothing. This said, most of the plans offered also aren't complete, don't incorporate modern techniques or materials. In fact, most of those 50, 60, 70, 80 year old plans have BOM's with products and material that aren't even available any more.

I disagree in that chopping 25% of the length off this boat wouldn't cause issues. If you chopped the front, you're remove the rocker and she'd become a barge. If you chop the aft section, you'd reduce the planning patch by 50%, which might help rowing effort a bit, but most importantly you lose volume, in the most important area of the hull. I doubt you'll want to car top this boat, even with the last 48" hacked off.

 

I'm not sure they would be serious issues. I'm not claiming the cut-down boat would be the equivalent of one designed from scratch to be four feet shorter. But given the ways Jon boats are generally used, I doubt a casual user would really notice the difference -- especially if he took two feet off each end, instead of just chopping off the bow or the stern.

But again, I do agree he'd be better off selling the boat and buying a shorter one, instead of cutting the one he has. Unless he's fiddling with it just for the fun of it....

Of course, last time I checked Harbor Freight was selling small boat trailers for something like $320.00 each. He might be better off just buying one of those, if he has the cash.