Building of an Aluminum Shooting Platform

As some of you know I have been planning a new deck for my boat. The old deck, as seen in the pictures above, was made of wood and not in great shape. When I originalled built the deck I simply took a sheet of 3/4" plywood and covered it with plastic outdoor carpet. This sat on top of the aluminum casting deck that was built into the boat. This made the job easy but took away a lot of storage space. Well after a couple years or so the deck started dry-rotting and became water-logged. It was so bad that last winter I threw on a 1/2" sheet of plywood just to get through the season. The light guards are very nice but they do add extra weight.

I had noticed that the front of the boat seemed to be sitting deeper in the water which was no surprise since I had all that water-logged wood up there. So I decided early in 2005 that the aluminum deck was going to be needed in another year and started planning and saving.

The above pictures are some of the rotten wood I removed from the boat late last year. I made sure to weigh everything that came out of the boat and it all came to 207 pounds!!! This does NOT include the light guards which are about 10-20 lbs each...as you can see I have not yet weighed them yet.

I thought about this a while and decided to remove the aluminum casting deck that came with the boat. So out comes the jigsaw and saws-all and we got it pulled out. We knew there was some foam under the deck and was happy that the foam was in large blocks rather than blown in. It made removing the foam so much easier. As you can tell by the pictures it is much larger that I expected. Since I am planning on mounting the deck on the gunwales there will be plenty of extra room for storage, which was sorely lacking before. I was very happy to see the extra large bracing that Sea Ark built into the front of the boat. This will provide plenty of support for the deck and makes me feel good about the workmanship that went into building this boat.

We decided to make the deck larger than the old one. Since I originally covered the casting deck we found that it was perfect for two shooters, but too small for three or more people. This one will be about 2 feet longer than the old one which will support more people but also help with more light coverage. We got the aluminum from Custom Marine Concepts who specialize in aluminum fabrication and could have easily done this job. We got some 2X4 aluminum sticks which are actually 1 3/4" X 4" and are .93 in thickness. They claim they use them for football stadiums at high schools...definately sounds like a Texas boat now. We started out with the one in the rear and tack welded the top. This rear stick is exactly 7 ft from the front V of the boat.

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As you can see in the pictures we have a two foot wide opening in the back for a large door and the rest we boxed in for support. All these welds are only tacked in but easily supports our weight. We will put some aluminum angle at the joints under the gunwales just to make sure it is strong. We also added a couple square sticks that are welded into the heavy duty bracing in the bottom of the V. We will add decking to the back to close in the deck but this will also support the rear stick.

02/04/03: I was hoping that I would have remembered to get some better pictures of the steering stick mount. Basically Kyle welded a couple of the 2X4s below the bracing and the bearing is bolted to this and the stick will sit on top of the bearing. The above pictures are after I grinded the welds down and am laying out the sealant. This will help the deck not rattle as much after it is riveted to the braces.

We got the decking and it is 1/8" thick. We had to get a 5X12 sheet that we cut at about 7ft. This way we have one sheet where we stand most of the time. We did not want to stand on a seam or hinges because that gets very tough on the feet after several hours. From the above pictures you can see that we riveted the deck to the bracing. Kyle is going to tack-weld the outside edge and once the door is mounted we will fill in the missing rivets.

You can almost make out the side sheet in the back. We also riveted the angle to the floor and sides and then riveted the side sheet onto the angle. It is plenty strong.

Notice how much room I have under the deck now! I can easily lay down in the door section and the middle picture shows me laid down in front of that. This will be nice for storage and just might have to use it in case of a bad rain storm. I have already thought about a couple small lights for under the deck, with one shining on the steering hub in case of emergency repairs. The decking for the door and the two side panels have not been broke yet but once they are the deck lid will cover that 2X4 brace.

We got the door and two fill pieces broke and mounted. Unfortunately I forgot the camera so we didn't get new pictures. The door is now mounted but we are not sure about the hinges and might change them out later. We finished riveting the entire deck and I even riveted the floor back down in places. These rivets are heavy duty rivets and are much better than the cheap ones I previously had on the floor. We built one light guard with cardboard and it will match my lights very well. Now I need to scuff up the entire deck so the durabak has something to grab.

Still to do: Build light guards, run 120 volt wiring, mount lights inside guards, run steering cable, cut out steering hole, run kill switch and starter box, run 12 volt wiring, grind the entire inside of the boat and spray in durabak bedliner. Yes that nice pretty aluminum deck will get it too.

02/20/03: Well between being out of town the weekend before last and kid's birthdays this past weekend, I have not been able to get much done lately! Kyle finsihed the light guards and set them on the boat for pictures...they sure look good! I will try to get them painted this week. I am planning to paint the inside and Tuff Coat the outside. I was able to repaint my lights this week and picked up two 150watt HPS lights to try out. I figured since I only have a 4000 watt generator and 9 lights I dont want to kill it. If these two lights work out then I might get two more and space them out between the 350 watt Ultra hallogens.

02/26/03: Not many pictures here but got a lot of work done for being suck a wet weekend. We used the same steering stick rather than building a new one and got the hole cut in the deck. We even had time to sandblast the deck. I spent the rest of the weekend wire wheeling the floor to get all the durabak off. I probably could have sprayed the Tuff Coat over the top of it but I had some spots where I didn't sand the alum floor very well and it was coming loose. So I just did the whole thing instead. Also removed all the miscellaneous stuff from the console. Other than a final cleaning everything should be ready to blow the Tuff Coat in next weekend, assuming good weather. The best thing was the wiring. I cut holes in the fat gunwale and run all my wires through it. I cut one under the deck and the other in the back corner. These will be dry and no one will be able to see them. This will hold the 220 volt cable and all the extra 12 volt wires that every fan boat seems to need. I didnt want to cut holes in both sides so I glued the cable into a corner up the side of the boat with liquid nails. Once the Tuff Coat is put in it should not be noticable.

03/05/06: Did a lot yesterday and today. First of all by the pictures you can see that I sprayed in the Tuff Stuff. These pictures were taken after the first coat and I had already removed a strip of tape. I double taped the areas that touch so it would make the 2nd coat easier. You can also see that I added the carboard to the deck after the first coat. I did not get a good run on the deck seams and did not want too much over spray. This stuff really does spit out of the texture gun. FYI I had it set at 40lbs and it really did great. I used two full gallons on both coats with the floor and the deck getting the majority of stuff. I also rolled this stuff on the light guards. Spraying is much easier but I only have 2 quarts left and rolling is much more efficient. Since I was not as concerned about getting the rubber particles too thick on the light guards I didn't think it mattered. Now this stuff needs to sit for 5 days. The best part about this stuff is the water cleanup. I wore gloves but it still seams to get everywhere and it made cleaning the gun very easy. Oh and I am no longer concerned about whether this stuff will stick. I got some on the front of the boat and did not see it until I fiinished the first coat. Well I could not scratch it off with my fingernail and then got out the scraper and was able to take off the rubber chunks but not the paint. It should hold well.

I wish I had remembered to take pictures of the electrical work I completed yesterday. I mounted the breaker box under the deck and hung wires for each light under the deck. This will keep them out of the way and make for a cleaner area. I did not finish the 12 volt setup mainly because I want to see what kind of electrical box or console I can find. I would like to mount all my fuses in this one box to make life easier.

Will not be able to work on the boat next weekend, but spring break after that and I have a few days off. I would like to get the boat running again.

03/17/06: Been hard at it lately and it is finally done! As you can see the deck is done and coated and all the lights are mounted!!! Even Brody was excited about the new deck! All the lights are 350watt Ultra Hallogens except the two on the corners and they are 150 watt HPS...I am testing them out to see if I like them.

The light guards are very cool. The lights are now mounted directly to the guards so I was able to get them off the deck a little more than normal. They are also much stronger this way that I had them before. The light guards not only protect the lights but also keep the glare off the shooters when they are on the deck and are extremly useful when the lights are on while running the big motor from the console.

First of all you can see I picked up a stainless support spring which holds the door open for you. To close the door you just hit the spring and it will bend. I also added a latch to lift the door (it was tough on the fingertips without it!) and it even has a lock so it we have to stop and eat we can keep everything under the deck for a little added security. Oh and yes I know the latch is not 100% centered, we have a brace in the middle and I did not want to cut into the bracing. Now you probably noticed the lights. I setup an old driving light in the right corner and it swivels so that I can turn it around and get a good view of the steering hub. I also have two other lights deeper under the deck and you can kind of see the reflection which really keeps the whole area bright. All these lights are controlled by that toggle switch just behind the spring. The other four pictures are different views below the deck. You can see the steering hub is sitting on a cheap bearing and we specifically built the support for this purpose. Also notice the throttle cable laying loose, but it is secured and I didn't want it to bind. I ran this and a power cord up the steering stick. The power cord is for the electric throttle and only needs three wires. It is also the only other wire that is hanging loose. All the 120 volt and 12 volt wires are all secured to the bottom of the deck to keep it as clean as possible. However, I gave a little loop for every external light so if I have to work on the light I simply pull the slack and have at it. You might not have noticed the various hooks that I have installed under the deck. The short gaff is hanging from one now but the rest will allow us to hang a couple bows under the deck without getting bounced around too much.

Now for the cool part! My Generac 4000XL can run 220 volts so I ran a cable from the back of the boat (yes it is hidden too) and it ends in this breaker box. I basically ran one wire to each 120 volt light from this box. The four switches on the box represent a pair of lights from back to front, yes the front set has three. The wires look like a rat nest but they are secured to the bottom of the deck and are not moving. This will be very helpful when trying to get back to the boat ramp in the middle of the night. I forgot to take pictures of the 12 volt fuse box (O'Reilly for $12) and ground block (Academy for $10.) I took the trolling motor wire, which was run when the boat was built, and hooked it to the battery on a large fuse. This wire stops at the fuse block mounted under the deck. This is an automotive fuse block and has six fused slots. Currently I have only two used slots for the lights in the deck and for the floor lights. The ground block also comes from the former trolling motor and is directly attached to the battery. Every 12 volt light is grounded to this block.

You can see the kill switch and starter button mounted in the light guard closest to the steering stick. I have several different types on switches and I am not 100% sure which ones I like yet so I am trying these first. The toggle switch above them is for the floor lights behind the deck. With a black boat these are very important since you would not know where the deck ends. Did I mention that this Cabella's Tuff Stuff will take skin off your knees and elbows, so you certainly do not want to fall in the boat. These two lights are basically fog lights that I picked up at Wal-Mart for about $15. I have another set in the rear of the boat, one is on the console and faces the generator so you can see when plugging in the power cord. The other light is mounted near the battery.

These pictures have nothing to do with the deck but since I was taking pictures I added these. This is the rear hub and the fan motor mount and since I had so many questions about it I thought I would add it.

Cost: Well the two alumunim sheets plus the 2X4 bracing was right at $500. The Tuff Stuff was another $160 and I still have one quart left for touch ups later. The hallogens and 12 volt lights I already had and the two 150 watt HPS lights were $70 each, however, I just found them on clearance for $55. The new steering cable was $7 and I went through 2 1/2 power cords which were the cheapo 15 amp $4 specials. We didn't even talk about labor....let's just say that I will be taking Kyle fishing for quite some time to make up for all the hours he put into welding. I would say the light guards were the most time consuming because he had to break each one several times and then weld up all the seams. My labor was even more time. As always rigging it out is the most time consuming part and I wanted to do it right so I took my time.

Still To Do:Remember this IS a bowfishing boat and it seems like we are always working on them. I need to caulk everything under the deck. Every wire and exposed hole will get caulked to keep as much rain and water out as possible. The one thing I really don't like is the huge hole I had to make to run my steering cable under the deck. I am going to try to find a thin piece of rubber to put over this hole which should also help.. The last thing I want is to find is some red wasps living in my new deck! We are also going to add an aluminum tube around the outside of the light guards, that is the reason for the ones with the longer tops. We will trim those off to make it match. This will help keep the fishing line from wrapping around the lights and help strengthen the lights even more.