Jon Boat Set Up Advise???

[boxcar]

I recently bought a 12' Alumacraft jon boat for lakes/occasionally near shore salt and am looking for some advice on a couple of things:

Carpetting: I've got some outdoor carpetting cut to fit the floor of the boat to dampen underwater sound/vibrations. Those of you who've done this, do you prefer to seal it to the floor or would it be better to leave it loose for occasional removal/cleaning? If adhering to the floor, would works best as an adhesive?

Oar sockets: I'm looking to install oar sockets but the boat has a rounded gunwale that most bolt on oar sockets don't seem to accommodate. Where can I find what I'm looking for? Any suggestions?

Thanks for the advice!!!

P.S. I'm in the northsound area if there are any part shops worth checking out. I haven't found what I need at Yeager's, Joe's, or online.

Scott

[ak_powder_monkey]

I'd put the carpet on some 1/4 inch pllywood cut to shape, that way you can remove it for cleaning

[Jon Borcherding]

If the gunwales of your aluminum jon boat won't accept any of the standard sockets you might have to choose between welding up something or shaping a block of wood that would fit inside the hull and attaching edgemount sockets.
I would probably use blocks of wood. make 'em large enough so they spread out the force from the oars. Attach them to the inside of the hull with some countersunk stainless screws through the hull from the outside, and use a bedding compound like 3m 5200 between the wood and the aluminum. The best wood would be oak. Dirty little secret: Sometimes small pieces of oak can be found on wood pallets. If you can't find any oak you could use fir or mahogany. Hope this helps.
JonB

[Banzai]

As an alternative to wood, you might check out your local thrift/2nd hand/ bargain store for a polyethlene cutting board. On a previous boat I had, I used a 1/2" thick one from my local Goodwill store that was purchased for 50 cents. No rot, easy to work with, cheep.

[earlsmith]

you can purchase the new oarlocks from marine supply outfits, and tell them u want them for a smokercraft, I purchases a second set for mine to allow rowing from the rear seat and fishing a man up front, I carpetted light plywood, glueing to it and screwing to the ribs, there are a few pics in the gallery.....
Earl Smith