Man did I mess up..

[ssgshooter]

So after 17 years I decided to upgrade the front end of the old 2000 Skeeter SX186..

New Trolling motor
New Garmin
and new Troll-N-Tray for the foot pedal.. (This is the one I goobered up)

So I get everything wired up tight and resin sealed after I cut hole in deck.. mount everything up and take it to the river for a test run..

FIRST step in the boat was just to the left of the recessed tray and the deck flexed down about an inch and popped the screws right out of the tray...

The tray works good... The tray itself seems sturdy.. just when I place some weight to the left or right does the deck FLEX enough to worry me..

I really need to place some bracing in there but I really don't want to be standing on my head trying to fiberglass a piece of plywood on each side of that hole.. I'm thinking maybe some heavy gauge aluminum angle bracket but not sure how to attach... i'm guessing if I screw it up to the bottom of the deck.. all fiberglass and flotation in ribs.. that the deck will just flex and pop the screws..

I could possibly use some aluminum bar stock and secure it with "L" brackets to the bottom and the top of the deck however I DO NOT know how thick the deck is and I would literally blow a gasket if I drilled a screw through the bottom of my baby!!! LOL

Anyone have any ideas??

[CastingCall]

Remove the tray, and add a wood bulkhead brace that spans across the deck and under the tray.
Attach it from above by cutting a small slit in carpet, drill a through hole, and install with SS wood screws. They'll pull down into the carpet and shouldn't be visible when done.

[ssgshooter]

I think I could do that and hide the small slits in the carpet..

You think that would be ok just resting on the bottom of the hull...

Or should I try to use some sort of epoxy to lock it in??

[gleninaz]

I did that on my old Skeeter years ago. I had to cut the brace to fit the TM pan in. I built a teak brace with two legs to the bottom of the hull and screwed it in from the top through the carpet. I put the pieces through the pan hole and didn't have to cut anything. Worked good for years.

[Scott S.]

Skeeter builds a BEAUTIFUL POS> I put a tray in a customers boat, flexed like hell at the seat base when he would rock back. It had a wood sub floor, so it was easy to install more plywood to support the deck. Screwed down some 2x2 to the floor and screwed bulk heads to that, long bulk heads, the biggest I could get through the home. Once that was screwed down I went in and glassed it all in. Deck is 100% solid.

[ssgshooter]

I have something in mind to lock it all down.. a stringer type support.. I'll try to post pics when I'm done..

[ssgshooter]

So I've finished an buttoned everything up.. seems to work ok.. wanted to post some pics... not as easy as i thought as I've never used fiberglass type resin before.. but it all worked out and works perfect.. Thanks for all the tips... 1.JPG2.JPG4.JPG5.JPG8.JPG9.JPG2018-06-19_17-26-37_147.jpg

[TommyMo]

Look's Good.

[Jumping Jimmy]

You did a good job putting those braces in. It should be solid now.