Grandad’s old Jon boat turned into a pretty sweet rig!

[Ironsmith-Jared]

My grandad gave me his old 1648 Jon boat when I was 14 years old. It was rough. It was missing most of its paint, had a hole in the bow where he hit it on some concrete at the boat ramp, and some major scratches on the bottom where it had scraped rocks, but it was still my grandads boat so it meant a lot to me. Finally, last year, I decided it's time to step this boat up to something that he would be proud to see. It was a long process and a few thousand dollars put into a 35 year old boat that probably didn't cost a few thousand when it was new, but man did it turn out to be something awesome! It's one heck of a boat that I wanted to honor one of the great men who shaped my life. He passed away almost 10 years ago, but I believe he would be happy with how well his old boat turned out!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[cbhunter]

Looks great! You did a fine job on it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[CritterGitter]

Holy cow that looks unreal !!!

 

[CritterGitter]

I meant to ask , did you make a stencil or something? Looks factory ! I have a small boat and I'm forced to copy whatever you did.

 

[Ironsmith-Jared]

Thanks!
I had a local guy paint it but he used a red leg stencil I believe.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Gravey]

Looks great and quite certain your grandad would be proud.

 

[duckriver]

That's the best restoration of a Jon boat I've ever seen. Great job

 

[Dbllunger]

I really like what you have had done to it. Was taking out the middle seat very difficult? I would love to remove mine and have storage made for the sides.

 

[fairchaser]

Good job and a fitting tribute for Pops. Hope it catches lots of fish.

 

[Duck dogn]

Looks great and I'd also like to know about the process of taking out the middle seat.

 

[scn]

I really like what you have had done to it. Was taking out the middle seat very difficult? I would love to remove mine and have storage made for the sides.

A thought on taking out your middle seat: On a lot of boats it is filled with foam, or is an air tight deal for flotation. If you take flotation out of your boat, it may not float if swamped.

If you can move the flotation material up under the front deck, it may not matter on keeping it floating level if it fills with water.

 

[scn]

Great looking job on the restoration!

 

[RUGER]

Very nice!

 

[Big Ben]

Looks great Grandad would be proud of what you have done.

 

[TNRazorback]

That's an awesome restoration. Who did the welding and paint?

 

[Bobyote]

Nice!

 

[Bobyote]

Love the bottomland paint job

 

['borohunter]

Wow - very nice.

 

[bigbonner]

I bet your granddad would love what you have done with his boat .Looks great and I bet it will scoot down the water .

 

[Crosshairy]

Looks fantastic!

If I ever get a bigger jon boat that would accommodate some add-ons, I'd be interested in your people who worked on the boat with/for you!