Printable View
What would you think is the best material to use to make my 12' aluminum jon boat more quiet? The criteria I'm using in order of importance are; cheapest, least amount of weight added, and effectiveness. For some reason I have in my mind rubber backed outdoor carpeting because it's removable so the boat can dry out when not in use. What say?
Joe,
Some rubber backing does not do well in the direct sunlight. I tried that once on an aluminum jon boat and the rubber sort of melts and glues itself to the floor. What a mess. If you are going to use a carpet then use some regular backed carpet. Larry ---sagefisher---
regular carpet and scotch guard
Lotech,
Carpeting the boat is the best way to quiet it. But don't use regular carpet, use marine carpet meant for fishing boats.
Marine carpet isn't all that expensive. Best thing about it, it doesn't hold hooks. Getting a hook out of the wrong kind of carpet can be time consuming and damaging to the carpet.
Both Lowes and Home depot can order it for you if they don't have it in stock. You can also get it from Cabela's or Bass Pro.
I 'decked' my little 15 footer, with two inches of foam flotation under the aluminum decking and carpet on that. May be more than you want to do. Just laying the carpet in the boat will work for 'quiet', but it may slide around on you.
Good luck!
Buddy
Use ,marine grade carpet like is used in bass boats. Your Lowes should have it. Regular carpet, once rained on, holds water and will add a lot of weight. I once owned an alum. canoe and I purchased the marine carpet and glued it down wth contact cement in the bottom and up the sides. Marine grade carpet is thin and once it is glued down, water will run off it to the back where you can take the drain plug out to drain the boat after fishing. If you take your time and cut the carpet to fit before glueing it down, it will look good plus you will be able to use a water hose to clean it.
An (OLD) fishing buddy of mine has a 12' jon boat, too, and what he did was pick up one of those hard rubber grate outdoor floor mats (I think it measured something like 2.5' X 3.5') and he simply laid it down between the rear & middle seats. I think he got it at Lowe's Bldg Supply. Seems to work fine for what he does.
Buddy slipped in an idea I used for years, aluminum over a closed cell styrofoam (like they put on the side of houses), that in itself will quieten the boat a lot and it adds floation. Reynolds Metals was a client of mine at the time and I got 1/8" at the source. It doesn't add much weight, I covered it with some astroturf type carpet.
http://www.menards.com/main/doors-wi...534-c-6614.htm
might try these
And you can make flies out of the trimmings.
I know I am in the minority, but I dislike carpet in boats. When the carpet in my Crestliner needs to be replaced I am going with non-skid vinyl. It'll kill the noise fine, won't stain or hold fish slime as much and it worlds easier to clean at the end of a trip.
First and most important, welcome to FAOL from TN. I had not thought about the vinyl floor covering and it would be better than marine carpet especially for easy cleaning. Thanks for sharing.
I'm not sure about weight but what about the spray on or roll on that they use for truck bed liners? I was thinking about this for mine. Quiet, nonskid, washable and holds no water. I've seen others do it Jon Boats and thought it was a great idea.
I think the spray on or roll on that vicrider suggested is worth looking at. Like, vicrider, I am not sure how much weight it would add, but, if the boat bottom has rivets, the roll on/spray on might seal off the rivets and keep them from leaking. Thanks for sharing your idea, vicrider. It has merit.