Back of boat weight capacity

Discussion in 'Stability' started by Armanf, May 21, 2017.

  1. Armanf
    Joined: May 2017
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    Armanf New Member

    Hi I'm new to the boating community and I recently purchased a 14' lund with a 4 person, 785lb load capacity and it has a 20hp outboard. My question is how would I figure out how much weight I can store at the stern of a boat? I plan on doing a lot of overnight fishing so I wanted to set up a dual battery system but will that be too much weight on the back of the boat? Thanks
     
  2. ondarvr
    Joined: Dec 2005
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    ondarvr Senior Member

    Load the boat like you expect to use it and see how it floats, then move stuff until you like it.
     
  3. Mr Efficiency
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    Mr Efficiency Senior Member

    Why not move at least one battery well forward ?
     
  4. Armanf
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    Armanf New Member

    Thanks for the reply, I think that may be my only solution
     
  5. Armanf
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    Armanf New Member

    I really just wanted to simplify the hole process; both batteries are in the same Marine battery box with a mounted switch board. Wanted to run all my wires cleanly to the box.
     
  6. PAR
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    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    A 14' Lund;
    upload_2017-5-22_2-57-38.jpeg
    So how much do you think this is capable of handling and how fast could you expect from a 20 HP? Well the speed will be adequate with 2 aboard, though nothing to write home about. With 4 aboard, a cooler full of beer and Fedel the wonder dog, you'll putter around about as over loaded as you might imagine, with the motor beating the water to a froth behind you, screaming it's brains out, about how much you're asking of it.
     
  7. Mr Efficiency
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    Mr Efficiency Senior Member

    Shouldn't need much of a battery to provide night lighting with LED's. Certainly the boat is not what you'd called generously proportioned, definitely a two-person conveyance.
     
  8. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
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    Location: Eustis, FL

    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    Using LED's and limited trolling motor work, a single battery will do. A twin battery setup could easily fit under the center thwart, though splitting them, one aft under the rear thwart and one forward under the forward thwart will do and the trolling more would need shorter leads too (a good thing), if running a bow mount. A group 24 will weigh about 35 pounds, which interestingly enough is how much a regular concrete block happens to weigh. Load your boat normally, gear, fuel and crew than position the concrete blocks where you want, getting the boat to trim up level. I use concrete blocks all the time for trim adjustments on boats. As has been shown, this little puppy isn't designed for much more than two well fed fishing buddies. Though 4 aboard is possible, it's asking a lot of this low freeboard, low transom cutout boat. Modifying the transom for a long shaft would help quite a bit, though she'd still be easy to sink down to uncomfortably low freeboard levels.

    On these boats, usually the little portable fuel tank lives just forward of the transom or under the aft thwart. The start battery is often off to one side, though putting it under a thwart cleans up the areas you have available for your feet, which is generally tight in this boat. The best DIY improvements to these puppies are; a lightweight sole grating (cedar planks, etc.) attached to the frames and some sort of small splash well to contain board water through the cutout and also provide a place, for the fuel tank and start battery. Whatever you do, think light and just stout enough, as these are really weight sensitive little ladies (I work on this type of boat regularly, as I'm one of the few that's not afraid to weld on them).
     
  9. Armanf
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    Armanf New Member

    Thanks for the advice sounds like I better lighten my load some. Think I'm going to keep it at one battery.
     

  10. ondarvr
    Joined: Dec 2005
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    ondarvr Senior Member

    Battery powered portable LED bow and stern lights are cheap and easy to clamp in place. You can also use the cheap LED solar rechargeable yard lights for lighting inside the boat, I've used them for a stern light too. This way none of the power comes from your existing battery.
     
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