# Poor Man's Micro



## StevenSWFL (Aug 10, 2017)

New to the group, I live in SWFL and I want to build the least expensive Microskiff I can. A few ideas I had were to buy a cheap gheenoe and modify it to fit my needs.

Some of my other more "Creative Ideas" were to modify a Sunfish Hull as seen below, however a sunfish hull won't plane and will only plow through water and I worry about its ability to make it through chop.




  








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StevenSWFL


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Aug 10, 2017











  








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StevenSWFL


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Aug 10, 2017








My other Crazy idea was to find a fiberglass paddle board and modify the transom the same way as the sunfish and put a 2hp motor on it. That should just skim over the surface.

I want to hear your thoughts and ideas for a poor mans skiff... keep in mind a sunfish can be bought for as little as 150$ and building, and glassing a transom, then gel coating the skiff would only cost a couple hundred more in materials... so with a motor I may be able to make one for 500$ so when I say "Poor Mans" I'm talking cheap.


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## jmrodandgun (Sep 20, 2013)

If I were trying to do something on the cheap I would be searching for a canoe with a transom or a small Jon boat. The sunfish thing is neat, but it's far from easy. Building one for $500 seems like a long shot unless you already have all the boat, necessary knowledge, tools, and material. Plus you have to figure if it were easy and it worked well, everyone would be doing it. 

Side note, as someone who spends a bunch of time on paddle boards, putting an outboard on one just sounds like a really fun way to submerge a perfectly good 2hp motor.


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## jonrconner (May 20, 2015)

You said that a Sunfish won't plane, is this what someone told you? Under sail they definitely plane quite easily, under power it's a matter of proper trim and ENOUGH power, a 2 stroke 5hp motor would certainly do it and doesn't weigh much.
JC


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## StevenSWFL (Aug 10, 2017)

Point taken on the paddle board... I saw the new "live 2 fish" outboard mount for their paddle board and I was inspired. But I guess that's an oddball idea.

With regards to the sunfish, the hull is readily available, I have the plywood, glass, resin and knowledge....according to the owner of the skiff in the pics I posted it won't plane, it will just plow. I've also read it won't plane on several forums. Converting a sunfish into a duck hunting boat is fairly common, it's converting it to a flats skiff that's uncommon.


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## makin moves (Mar 20, 2010)

This works! Money leftover for beer.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

makin moves said:


> This works! Money leftover for beer.
> View attachment 14323


Absolutely


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## RunningOnEmpty (Jun 20, 2015)

There was a thread about a really cheap plywood hull that looked pretty cool. I can't remember the poster or thread title? The op was offering the plans for free.


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## CPurvis (Apr 6, 2016)

Jon boat works just fine for a poor man's skiff trust me!


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## StevenSWFL (Aug 10, 2017)

On Craigslist and Facebook market around SWFL everyone thinks their jon boats are made of gold and with a motor it would end up not being a poor mans micro. The boats selling for 300-500 need a lot of work and have no motor


CPurvis said:


> Jon boat works just fine for a poor man's skiff trust me!


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## CPurvis (Apr 6, 2016)

StevenSWFL said:


> On Craigslist and Facebook market around SWFL everyone thinks their jon boats are made of gold and with a motor it would end up not being a poor mans micro. The boats selling for 300-500 need a lot of work and have no motor


True true!! But if you look you can find one. Be patient. Or go the sunfish route. Hell I got one with 6hp evinrude I'd sale for 600.00. it's in decent shape. A few rivets need sealing. Has false floor made with marine grade plywood. And I also have a th marine mini jack plate I'll throw in for 50.00. I live in Panama City though.


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## CPurvis (Apr 6, 2016)

CPurvis said:


> True true!! But if you look you can find one. Be patient. Or go the sunfish route. Hell I got one with 6hp evinrude I'd sale for 600.00. it's in decent shape. A few rivets need sealing. Has false floor made with marine grade plywood. And I also have a th marine mini jack plate I'll throw in for 50.00. I live in Panama City though.


Oh yeah and it's not the one in the above picture.


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## devrep (Feb 22, 2009)

no one who is really poor has the money for a boat and motor, fishing gear, nor a flat screen or a smart phone let alone a car or truck. If you can have those things and think you are poor you are delusional or deceptive.


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## Finn Maccumhail (Apr 9, 2010)

https://fortmyers.craigslist.org/chl/boa/d/12-ft-canoe/6212199995.html

https://fortmyers.craigslist.org/lee/boa/d/15-poly-sportsman-canoe/6169354806.html

https://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/boa/d/canoe-mad-river-orion-oars/6257154736.html

https://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/boa/d/canoe-coleman/6234873840.html

https://miami.craigslist.org/brw/boa/d/16ft-coleman-ram-canoe/6250491294.html

These are just a few of the options found on CL for SW FL. And I didn't include Gheenoes. These would all be easier, just as cheap, and much safer than your plans.


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

Half a dozen or so guys here have modified a sunfish over the years, they were mostly disappointed with the performance and would wind up selling them soon after.
If the aluminum boats are to expensive down there then take a road trip to central fl. They are a dime a dozen. 
Or look for an old johnson or similar skiff, 200 of cheap plywood and resin can do a lot, but you'll be redoing it within a few years.


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

Also, don't just stick to CL and Facebook. Apps like LetGo and Offer Up have plenty of stuff too!


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## StevenSWFL (Aug 10, 2017)

devrep said:


> no one who is really poor has the money for a boat and motor, fishing gear, nor a flat screen or a smart phone let alone a car or truck. If you can have those things and think you are poor you are delusional or deceptive.


It was used as an expression, and I am poor my wife takes all the money


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## Throw Plastic (Aug 11, 2017)

devrep said:


> no one who is really poor has the money for a boat and motor, fishing gear, nor a flat screen or a smart phone let alone a car or truck. If you can have those things and think you are poor you are delusional or deceptive.


Disagree. Poor is relative. I can buy a 500$ "boat" (likely kayak) that gets me on the water for years. Or I can buy $500 in groceries that lasts me... (Well, lately I'm living on $150 in groceries a month) a little over 3 months.

Buying "cheap" stuff that I extract every bit of use I can out of doesn't mean I'm living comfortably. It doesn't mean I'm not "poor". It means I'm resourceful.

On that note: I've got a Nucanoe Frontier with a new trolling motor for sale in the classifieds.


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## devrep (Feb 22, 2009)

look around the world. you're not poor.


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## Throw Plastic (Aug 11, 2017)

Yes exactly - Relative. If I have a boat like this am I "poor" yet? I still have a boat... And a motor that doesn't need a mechanic.



We can look at legitimate standards to measuring poorness. But "crappy" boats, trucks and $50 TV's aren't it.

PS - don't want to derail thread feel free to PM.


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## richg99 (Nov 28, 2009)

I keep on reading whether or not a sunfish will plane. Well, the answer is yes and no. I owned a Dolphin Jr. which has a very similar hull. When the hull was canted to one side (as in sailing most of the time) that side would, in fact, plane. If you attach a motor and keep the hull facing forward, the "planing" hull sides are now plowing.


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## Flylikebrian (Sep 11, 2016)

I think a square stern canoe would be a good option. I saw one for cheap in the Miami Craigslist.


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## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

2.3 HP is all you need on a converted Sunfish.

A Sunfish will plane under sail, but it is a displacement hull. Conceptually, think of it like the wind pulls the hull along form the bow while a motor pushes from the stern. Under sail, the bow does not rise with speed and there is no force driving the stern down, so there is no stern suction to overcome. If the wind is high enough, a Sunfish is light enough and the rocker minimal enough for the hull to move fast enough to generate the lift to plane. 

The physics are different when an outboard pushes a displacement hull from the stern. Once the hull exceeds hull speed, the bow rises on the bow wave and the stern is driven down, causing the boat to wallow. You can make a displacement hull plane with a big enough motor, but it is detrimental to trim at rest because displacement hulls don't have the displacement in the stern to support a heavier motor.

Nate


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## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

The key is to find Jon Boats that are not on craiglist. I used to drive around neighborhoods and find houses that had jonboats laying in the yard, leaning up against a wall, and was able to find a few for less than $100. I got two for $50 each and another for $80. Same goes for Gheenoe's. You can find them old and beat up, but easily repairable for very affordable prices. Then there's times that you just get lucky. Heck, I stumbled upon a Gheenoe Classic on this forum that was boat motor and trailer for $500. The best part about it, it was 5 minutes down the road from me so I went immediately and picked it up.


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## Rhardee3 (May 10, 2020)

WhiteDog70810 said:


> 2.3 HP is all you need on a converted Sunfish.
> 
> A Sunfish will plane under sail, but it is a displacement hull. Conceptually, think of it like the wind pulls the hull along form the bow while a motor pushes from the stern. Under sail, the bow does not rise with speed and there is no force driving the stern down, so there is no stern suction to overcome. If the wind is high enough, a Sunfish is light enough and the rocker minimal enough for the hull to move fast enough to generate the lift to plane.
> 
> ...


So what if you put a bow mount trolling motor on it would that help with the planing issue


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## Mark H (Nov 22, 2016)

devrep said:


> look around the world. you're not poor.


I don't see where he said he was poor in the first post. He said he wants a poor man's micro. Now maybe he just wants a boat his wife won't bitch about or maybe he wants to steal a micro from a poor man. Can't say.


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## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

Rhardee3 said:


> So what if you put a bow mount trolling motor on it would that help with the planing issue


No.

Nate


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## Gatorgrizz27 (Apr 4, 2015)

Rhardee3 said:


> So what if you put a bow mount trolling motor on it would that help with the planing issue





WhiteDog70810 said:


> No.
> 
> Nate


Haha. Technically you would, if that and a push pole were your only means of propulsion. You’d be taking a boat that wasn’t designed to plane, and fitting it with a motor that’s not designed to plane, thus avoiding the “planing issue.”

Fished for years with a jon boat set up that way, started with just oars. Caught lots of fish.


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## houndog (Jun 20, 2016)

I paid $200 for some guy’s pond boat. Put in new transom, some other mods, strapped on a Yamaha and there you have it...poor man’s microskiff.


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## Rhardee3 (May 10, 2020)

Gatorgrizz27 said:


> Haha. Technically you would, if that and a push pole were your only means of propulsion. You’d be taking a boat that wasn’t designed to plane, and fitting it with a motor that’s not designed to plane, thus avoiding the “planing issue.”
> 
> Fished for years with a jon boat set up that way, started with just oars. Caught lots of fish.


Well I have no intentions of going fast on this thing just need it to get skinny, or as they say in the low rider world “low and slow”


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## Rhardee3 (May 10, 2020)

WhiteDog70810 said:


> No.
> 
> Nate


What if your not concerned with going fast and getting on plane, I basically guilt an oversized paddle board with the comforts of a boat


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## LowTideFly (Apr 8, 2016)

StevenSWFL said:


> New to the group, I live in SWFL and I want to build the least expensive Microskiff I can. A few ideas I had were to buy a cheap gheenoe and modify it to fit my needs.
> 
> Some of my other more "Creative Ideas" were to modify a Sunfish Hull as seen below, however a sunfish hull won't plane and will only plow through water and I worry about its ability to make it through chop.
> 
> ...


Hey, I recognize that!


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## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

Rhardee3 said:


> What if your not concerned with going fast and getting on plane, I basically guilt an oversized paddle board with the comforts of a boat


You can’t make a silk purse from a pig’s ear.

If you want a boat just for trolling motor speeds, get a cheap used jonboat. Flat back canoes are readily available used. Hell, any double ended canoe can have a side bracket for a trolling motor clamped on it. All would be cheaper and more functional than what you are suggesting. Why spend money and effort to make hull built for an entirely different function adequate, and only just adequate, for a conflicting function? Other guys have told you it will not have the primary stability desirable in a fishing hull. That means that while you will have a hull that is wider than a paddle board, you won’t actually be able to utilize that extra space because the boat will dump you off if you try. I have heard these conversions get heavy, especially when done on the cheap, making it unwieldy for your suggested application. You need to be able to at least drag, and preferably carry, a paddle board with one hand while carrying something else in the other.

I have “made do” with stuff in pursuit of a good time, but why go out of your way and spend money to make do with a boat?

If you want to build something, which I understand, there are tons of cheap canoe plans out there. Once again, you would get a more functional end result for your efforts.

Nate


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## Fishtex (May 10, 2014)

Keep in mind it will cost nearly $150 to register/title a boat and trailer and transfer title on a motor, oh and then there’s insurance. A good set of trailer lights is at least $75, and there’s life jackets, etc. The point is all the stuff you really need starts to add up. You might gets some serviceable stuff from friends or off Craigslist for cheap, but you’ll likely have to spend some cash for all the little stuff you’ll likely need. 

You can find lots of hulls for $150.....but they never seem to have titles, and don’t buy a boat without clear title, just don’t. I think I’d save up for awhile and then revisit the idea. 

I was in your situation when I was in college decades ago and my budget was quite a bit larger and after I sat down and really added it all up.....I bought a used canoe, and it was still $300 plus the racks for my car, but it got me on the water for a few years.

YMMV, and good luck!


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## Mako 181 (May 1, 2020)

Jon Boat can be great.
Lowe 1648
No Wood - Lots of Storage


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