ideas needed for new project boat

its a lowes husky. wanna set it up for crappie fishing, mostly trolling. would like ideas on floor material, livewell placement, seats, trolling motor (transom or bow mount),. probaly gonna put the fuel cell and batteries up front under deck. we got a good 60 johnson tiller to put on it. its 17 ft long, floor is 5ft wide and top is 7 ft wide. we took the console, steering wheel, and control box out. we're only running the big motor 10% of the time, so the consol and stuff would be in the way 90% of the time. give me your ideas and pics of your big jon. thx, rick
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tinboatsdotnet has answers to your questions

x2

Before you do anything, put the plug in and start filling it with water to find any loose rivets. Pain in the butt to get to em after you do the mods.

yes, those rivets can be a problem. we tested it once while the console was in, and the 25hp johnson was on it. it didnt have any water in it after testing, but it was a short test. i got the tiller for the 60hp, just gotta put it on. i'm thinking that 60 will be too much for the boat. maybe i'll get it on the boat soon, and get more testing before any mods. thx, rick

keep in mind when your testing that 60 that all the mods you plan will add weight and take more to push it so maybe that 60 won't be to much

You say you have a tiller for that 60. I hope you meant a stick steering sytem. Because a hand tiller might be a bit of brute when you turn.:twocents

tiller handle w/ tilt & trim switch. i thought about stick steer tho. but then again, i'll probaly have a better idea once i get the floor and livewell in.

I think you are right about getting the floor in and then the other things in and see what you have to put where. Looks like you have a nice paint job on there.

You might consider about the weight in the nose if you put fuel tanks and batteries up there. Might make it hard to get up on plane being nose heavy. Also everyting you put up there takes a beating when water is rough including the hull with all those banging around.
I have used cardboard boxes close to the size of things to see how much room I will have with different locations before I start building something permanet and then have to tear it out. Done that before :banghead so I use paper first now.:Doh:

Not trying to tell you what to do just try to help you avoid mistakes I have already made.
Wishing you the best of luck on your boat work.

A 60 won't be too much for that boat, at all. A 60 tiller isn't bad to handle, either.

Ditto what others have said about putting a lot of stuff up front. I have my trolling motor battery and a small depth finder battery in my bow compartment and that's plenty. I spent a little time with some cardboard and plywood and made a level battery platform for the bow compartment to keep the battery off of the floor. It's secured with a bungee cord and it works fine.