Has anyone ever removed one of the existing bench seats from a jon boat?

Can it be done without having a negative effect on safety?

Thanks

I would think it could be ground out at the welds ... rivets could cause a new dilemma. I've never done it though.

If you do you might need to reinforce the bottom of the boat. If it is small 4ft or less, when you stand up the bottom might be pretty stressed from the weight.

I urge you to leave it in. There is so much you can do with it.
You can turn it into a livewell as most people do. Also it can be made into a dry storage box. The seat gives you the support for a raised deck, which I don't recomend.

That is the way I was leaning. I like the livewell and storage options plus it would seem to me that once you take it out it's probably out forever.

To convert it into storage or livewell do you think I would just need to open up the top like a can and scoop out the flotation material?

Why do you not reccomend a raised deck?

Many thanks for the responses.

Most jon boats are too unstable to be standing and setting hooks that high. Don't ask how...

Yes it can. I personally had the baddest redneck bass rig around
Here's what I did:
Started w/ a 14' Ouachita hi-side. took out the benches.
cut/fit/installed a 5/8" treated plywood deck w/ indoor-outdoor
carpet. installed swivel pedestal seats fore/aft. built a small
side-console for the sonar, mounted that.
Got a rubbermaid 25gal. container, screwed it to the floor between the seats,sealed it. (are you getting a visual, yet?)
put a 12v suction-cup areator in it & wired it to a switch on the little console. powered the sonar, livewell, and floodlights
(did I mention the lights?) off a small tractor batt. underneath the console. bought a 55# tiller steer trolling mtr, mounted that
in back next to 2 big deep-cycle batt's. actually could go about
10-12 knots @ full charge!
spent maybe $1000 total, incl boat/trailer. 2 guys could stand up in it and fish all day, no problem.
we actually won a small local tourney w/ it in Ar.,
'course we weren't invited back either. something about kicking
[censored] on 12 other teams w/ $30k rigs apparently didn't set well!

tight lines
-Brian

once you have the deck installed and bolted down, the boat
becomes completely ridgid again.......

That do make sense.

Thanks again to everyone for their thoughts

I had one that I turned the middle seat into dry storage. If I were to do it again, I would have bought the prebuilt storage containers from Cabelas/bass pro and put them in instead.

I wouldn't take it out. It adds a lot of stability to your boat. You can put PVC through it to use a fishing rod storage slots. It also is a good spot to mount a seat bracket.

I'm doing the raised decks in my "bass jon" but they will only be the plywood height above the seat, no more. I know plenty of guys who've done this and they were stable enough to stand and set hooks on with no problem. You just can't hold a hoe'down dance on em with 50 people...

I'd leave them in because its more rigid and there are so many uses for them. To give me more room, I may be changing my plans and using the inside of my seats (under the "decks") for battery storage. I rarely will have to mess with the batteries since I'm installing an onboard charger, so under the original seats will make a great battery location.

Check around the net and you'll find tons of pictures and descriptions of "bass jons" where they've taken jon boats and converted decks etc. into them. Some are low decks, but most are raised decks. Heck, there are even companies now offering front and rear raised decks as original equip. on them!

Good luck with your endeavor, and post some pics of your progress (mine are under the photo threads).

I think stability depends on how heavy the boat is to begin with. A 100 guage 14 foot jon is pretty heavy. I had a 1542 Alumaweld back in the 80's to early 90's. I put a 3/4" marine plywood deck (carpeted)screwed to the top rail on the front (with a 2" overhang) and used it to castnet for shrimp in La.. That consists of throwing an 8' down to 6' net quite a few hundred times a day! Plenty stable ... I never fell in ... hung a gator once and almost was jerked in though. I kept the middle seat. I stored life vests and boat cushions along with rain gear under the front deck.