Posting for a buddy for possible ideas.
Has anybody built their own deck extension for their Ranger 520SV? Was thinking about doing a thick plywood and carpeting it to save some money. Wanted to see if anyone has any other ideas they came up with to do the deck extension?
2011 Nitro Z7
2011 150 Mercury Optimax
A buddy built one for his older Ranger and bolted a short seat pedestal to the bottom which went into the hole in the floor. This way, he could secure the deck extension without having to drill holes in the fiberglass to secure it.
"The man of system is apt to be very wise in his own conceit; and is often so enamored with the supposed beauty of his own ideal plan of government that he cannot suffer the smallest deviation from any part of it…He seems to imagine that he can arrange the different members of a great society with as much ease as the hand arranges the different pieces upon a chessboard.” Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments
I have a 2000 R83 and I wanted a full casting deck. I checked what Ranger had (this was many years ago) and one with storage that was over $300 and I don't remember what just a flat insert was. It was still more than I wanted to pay. I got a piece of 3/4" form grade plywood (from a friend who did concrete work). Went to Lowe's and got some gray indoor/outdoor carpet that was as close a match to my boat carpet as possible and some stainless steel wood screws. Don't remember the length of the screws but probably some 1.5" and some 1/2" inch. I laid the plywood over the opening and got underneath and used a pencil to outline the shape. After cutting it to shape I took narrow strips of the plywood and doubled the thickness around the front and sides so it would be at the same level as the rest of the deck (using 1.5" screws). I also took a wider piece and added it down the middle to give it a little extra strength (again, 1.5" screws). After that I covered the top and then the bottom with the carpet (attaching with the 1/2" screws). Since I had cut it to the actual size the carpet made it a bit over sized, which was actually better as it made the fit tighter. For less than $50 I had a custom made deck insert.
Photo #1: Front deck without insert.
Photo #2: Underside of deck insert.
Photo #3: Deck insert installed.
DECK INSERT 1.jpgDECK INSERT 3.jpgDECK INSERT 4.jpg
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