Does anyone have any experience with installing "beavertail" pods on their jon boat? I guess the idea is to increase buoyancy at the motor. I've watched some youtube videos and I don't know that I want to mess with installing them myself. How much would something like that cost to have installed? Do they work pretty well? Any info yall could provide would be appreciated.

I'm looking at pods from Backwater since Beavertail quit making pods for boats below 18 feet and mine is a 14. I'm just waiting on a quote from a local welder for installation. How about you? Any luck in pricing an install?

I haven't really done much research yet. Focusing on researching a motor first since all I have right now is the hull and trailer. Just figured I would post on here to see if anyone had some info.

Roger that I'll drop a line in here when I find out anything.

Same here.

Being a metal fabricator, I made my own. I also did structural warranty repair for several boating mfgs in the Texas region for a couple of years. But I'm no longer in the business of building for others. Went back into the aircraft industry. And to near retirement.

But I will make some suggestions: Figure out how much lift you want/need. Lift is about water displacement. That is what a hull does and what makes it float. Next, determine if you have enough clearance to steer your motor without hitting the pods.

Here's a few pics of what I designed with SketchUp, and built. They provide 220lbs of lift for my G3 1648 Jon. That's more than the 189 lb motor I have on the back.

That very nice work TG. Great job.

I'm gonna need you to go ahead and come out of retirement for me and steve lol.

Can't speak for steve but for me, I don't need a ton of extra lift as I'll be putting a smaller 5-15 hp motor on mine. So I think the smaller pods will be more than enough.

Hey Steve, just an fyi, I was quoted $350 for installation of the pods from a local welder. That would be for the smaller pods from backwater that you posted earlier in the thread. This guy was recommended to me by a friend and he apparently does top notch work.

Texasgrown, Nice pods and good advice. Does it get the boat on plane as fast as I have been told? Also do the pods effect the boat while turning? If so.... How?

spasm09, thanks for the update and that's pretty much the same answers I got around here $350 to $450. And 1 to 3 months wait due to backlog. As an alternative I was recommended 3M 1751 epoxy. I was told I would tear off the transom before the epoxy would give way. I was told to use one tube kit (1 kit $50) per pod after sanding off the transom paint and prepping the area on the pods and transom. Then seal around the edges of both pods to waterproof. The epoxy has aluminum in it which makes it as tough as a weld or that is at least what I was told by 3M. So $300 for the pods, $100 for the epoxy, add a wire drill brush, a pint of rubbing alcohol and some sand paper (all in my shop) and I'll have em mounted and painted for less than $450 and never have to leave the house. The two pods together are supposed to provide 118 lbs of floatation and the motor weighs 106 lbs. So adding them would make it float with the motor like the boat would float now with no motor on the back. That and they are 20" in length basically adding almost 2 feet in length to the boat or making it 15' 8" rather than a 14'. Sounds like stability to me.

Yeah I've seen the epoxy method on YouTube I'm just a little skeptical. Have you made the final decision to go that route?

Before I added the pods, I had a lot of problem getting my bow down. I had 130 lbs of batteries in the back, 190 lbs of motor, and a 6 gallon tank back there. Plus, I was sitting on the bench right in front of it all. No problem getting the boat up on top with that motor. The problem was getting the bow down. After adding the pods, it's no problem trimming the boat out on plane (with power T&T). But pods will slow you down some. Cause they add drag to the hull. I've got mine slanted upward going back to reduce the drag as I move faster. Before I put them on, and despite raising the transom height for the long shaft motor, I could reach over the transom to get a fish from the motor area while anchored, and I'd have about 6" clearance before water was coming over the transom. I was afraid somebody's wake would wash over if they got to close. Now I don't have to worry about that. Plus, I can get up pretty skinny (6") where I duck hunt in the fall/winter. I don't do high speed sharp turns. And they don't affect my turning when running slow at all. And I haven't noticed any steering issues with them at normal conditions. Where I hear the most complaints is when folks try to back up, or putting boat in reverse. They do create more resistance, and for some folks when in reverse, harder steering pending hull style, motor, and pod combo. I haven't had a problem with mine. They do what I need them to do like I designed them to do. There are advantages and disadvantages to having them. I needed the lift so I wouldn't get swamped in the back.

Trim Tabs can be a good thing if you're having planing issues. They generally don't have as much drag either.

Trim tabs won't help my situation. I have the same issue as you did with the top of the transom being too close to the water. Having added a deck in front and a 3/4" floor the bow levels out pretty well. With my belly, battery, fuel tank, and motor I'm borderline sinking while sitting still on calm water with only 3 to 4 inches of transom out of the water. I moved the battery and fuel tank forward but that hardly made any noticeable difference.

I found some bolt on pods. Similar to the ones I was looking at but the studs are welded to the pods so no pod cutting or welding to the transom is required. Best of all The pods are ready to install and are less expensive than buying pods and having them welded.

https://riverrunmarine.com/product/medium-boat-pods-with-stud-bolt-mount-copy/

I am getting the bolt on pods from the guys above. I just sent him the geometry so that he may get started fabing mine up custom for my boat. I woulda gotten started on it sooner but as always other things came up. But this time I don't have to pay for them. Directly lol!!! My wife is getting them for my birthday. I'm a lucky guy....