WATER and WEIGHT TESTING Casting Deck Hatch for Jon Boat Build

What's up cuzins?! In my last video I did a step by step build of a casting deck hatch featuring fiberglass resin to make it waterproof. Now, we test that hatch!
In this video I do something I have yet to do on my channel... a video testing the limitations of a CASTING DECK HATCH I built from scratch! A little experimenting, if you will.
In my #topgunjonboat build I implemented fiberglass resin coating on all my floor panels, decking, and hatches to give it an extra layer of protection and water resistance. In this video, I demonstrate and put to the test the capabilities of an 11/32 inch plywood hatch coated in fiberglass resin just like the ones in my boat. I fully demonstrate and document the hatches strength in supporting my body weight, its buoyancy, as well as its capability to sit fully submerged in water for long periods of time.
It was for sure a fun video to do! I hope this clears up some questions I've had about my decking and hatches. It has definitely given me even more confidence and peace of mind concerning my build! Hope you enjoy, and as always, comments and suggestions welcome!
I am not an expert, just documenting my build process through trial and error in hopes it helps others with their DIY JON BOAT BUILDS.

[@orchardblessings9001]

Great video man. One thing also about the strength of your hatch, people have to realize you are standing on your hatch on solid ground. When you are fishing the floating boat takes ALOT of the psi away from your weight being on the hatch and framing. Not like i would be on solid ground. On the water those would not flex at all. Those will last a really long time. One thing you might think about, when I did alot of fiberglass boat work and would build extensions and such for decks, you can cut your resin 50/50 with acetone and it will allow the resin to soak into the wood and not just be on top of it. Resin will crack if very thick and flexes much, so the more the resin soaks into the wood the better. Just a thought. great job man, following you on IG.

[@AnthonyJonesBrigadeBoats]

Awesome awesome feedback! Probably one of the most useful (to me) comments I've ever received on here. I will definitely try cutting it, I think that's a great idea! Also never thought about the strength in the boat on the water and how that is changed. Thanks man

[@spudhut2246]

Thank you for sharing your expertise on the matter. @anthony Jones experience and methods in this video are inspiring to the method I would like to go, alternatively to Aluminum on my Bass Tracker V17 project I am currently doing. Cheers!

[@Grumpyolegrunt]

I did the same to my casting decks and it still looks like the day I did it. I fish primarily in salt water so 👍🏽

[@jessehammen115]

Well done. Thank you

[@WAEofFishing]

This is what i wanted to know!!! Thanks Anthony 👍💪

[@darrellwampler6473]

That's bad ass for sure. There is a big difference between water proof and water resistant. Your hatch lids are truly waterproof.👍

[@AnthonyJonesBrigadeBoats]

Thanks so much man! That was the goal, not easy but I feel it was worth the effort.

[@mikemaggiore8131]

Great video Anthony thanks for sharing. I’m definitely going to try it

[@AnthonyJonesBrigadeBoats]

Thank you and no problem

[@JerrelBaker-vo8xv]

I mostly catfish so lots of slim. What would you suggest on floors and decks beside carpeting?

[@gethiggywitit7338]

This my cuzin is a good video.

[@AnthonyJonesBrigadeBoats]

Thanks cuz

[@codydulmes804]

Awesome video and test as always! Thanks for showing this so some have confidence in doing it the way you have. Proves you dont "need" marine grade plywood and more than 3 ply with your technique. Definitely made me a true believer but was already with your techniques a while back already! Well done brother!!!

[@khristine51]

Love the videos and information, thank you so much

[@AnthonyJonesBrigadeBoats]

thank u 👊

[@spudhut2246]

Great video and example. I know its 3 yrs old, but it still shows a good method to use on your smaller boat builds, especially when your on a budget but still want a long term solution.

[@BlockyBrosGaming]

I believe due to the fact it immediately pops up, shows little to no water was absorbed. Very nice video. Your videos have helped out a lot

[@jamesreynolds3228]

Great video I'm a beginner And your extra time in brakeing it down and were you get it all at helps a lot Thsnks for your time

[@markecklund3125]

One way to double-check would be to weigh the hatch pre-submersion and after.. If there's a difference then you know it took on water.

[@WAEofFishing]

Best video EVER 👊

[@AnthonyJonesBrigadeBoats]

Your TOO kind! Thanks man

[@noahledbetter3969]

I just watched the video 4 years later..how is it now?

[@bitenbass]

Nice jones

[@joeyg369]

love the videos! your top gun jon boat inspired me to do my own build. I was wondering, would it be worth it to coat the framing/dividers in the resin? I did use cedar wood for the weight and the water resistance, but some areas of my framing are on the bottom of the boat against the hull.

[@DESERTSTATELINEANGLERS]

Nice bro

[@dickfillmore7055]

Should have weighed it before water test, wipe off excess water after, weigh it again. It water penetraited, would gain weight! SORRY I see someone already suggested this.

[@JMThomson10]

Great test! Would like to see another water submersion test with a hinge screwed into the hatch.

[@AnthonyJonesBrigadeBoats]

Good idea.

[@briancole6550]

I'm curious. What would happen if you weighed the part before and after. That would really tell if it had absorbed any water.

[@AnthonyJonesBrigadeBoats]

I'm sure it would weigh the same because it did not absorb any water. 12 hrs in and you'd have obviously very visible damage to plywood. But , it could have reinforced the conclusion. Hard to think of these things as I go. Good idea.

[@ernestleal6890]

Awesome video! You should of cut it down the middle to show no water penetrated the wood to shut some of those haters up!

[@seanchastain9801]

Go Dawgs!!!!

[@AnthonyJonesBrigadeBoats]

GO DAWGS

[@jaredl7712]

Definitely deserved a like for the “jacked up on mtn dew” line

[@PureFishermenTV]

I just watched the majority of your videos and I am very impressed and inspired. I plan on making an extremely dummed down version of a casting deck but I still want to coat in fiberglass resin and wrap in carpet. I may have missed this in one of your videos, but when you coat with fiberglass resin on the top of the plywood do you sand it down before you glue it and wrap the carpet? Or does the glue adhere to the fiberglass resin just fine?

[@AnthonyJonesBrigadeBoats]

Yes I mentioned it but you would need to sand the resin to give the glue something to bind to. I show in my jon boat paint video what I sand the hatch with to prep for paint but you will also need to sand the top to prep for carpet glue. I use a finer grit for paint prep and a rougher grit (60 or 80) for the tops for carpet prep. You just want to knock it down smooth and get rid of the sheen the resin has when cured. Be careful not to burn through the resin and hit wood otherwise you lose the purpose of putting the resin on in the first place. Hope this helps

[@PureFishermenTV]

Anthony Jones alright that’s what I thought I just wanted to double check with you. Thanks so much for a timely response 👍🏼

[@PureFishermenTV]

By the way, my brother and I are painting both our tiny boats with the alumahawk grey very soon - it looks so badass on your boat man. Keep up the great vids, I've learned a ton from you!

[@tylerw1418]

My wife uses these, I use 65’s lol nice flex.

[@12ernie]

How much resin did you use for your boat? Just trying to get a idea what I would need.

[@AnthonyJonesBrigadeBoats]

Great question. Less than a gallon in whole build. Floors, hatches, decking. Hard to guess because as I was building and doing resin (over a long period because i changed things as i went) i had an issue with a lot of resin crystallizing and hardening in the container due to to much air i guess. I'd say buy a small container and try it out and go from there or just drop 40 bucks and buy a gallon and have more than enough. It goes real far though if you do it as I did in the last video. Too thick and it could crack though, too thin may not waterproof it just right.

[@12ernie]

I figure i'm going to use 2 sheets of plywood. Thanks!

[@orchardblessings9001]

You will have to play with the mixture of resin vs hardener depending on temp and humidity. The hotter it is the less hardener used as it will harden much faster. the faster cure time can make if more brittle also. I've wasted alot of resin repairing 18 wheeler hoods and trying to get my mix right in a hot or cold shop lol. One thing that helped me was mixing smaller batches in the plastic paint mix cans. They are a qt in size, and have various mixing scales on the side. The hardener is added by ounces so these help alot. You can also keep a mental note of ounces hardener vs resin and temp vs work time. They are also normally free if you buy your stuff from a parts store that has them. If they sell paint they will have them. Free is always great! If you use them don't throw them away until you see if you can get the dry resin out the next day. Alot of times you can and reuse them. If not the you really haven't lost anything. Maybe that can save you from messing up a dish from your kitchen and getting into trouble. 😆

[@luisvillarreal5361]

How many cans did you use on your jon?

[@AnthonyJonesBrigadeBoats]

I bought a gallon initially but probably used 3/4 of it.

[@monti409]

Lets leave it under sun for a few days then we try the water test, fiberglass resin will water proof wood but the heat of the sun n water tend to take its affects on fiber in the wood.

[@MrCstone1]

weight it before and after the water test to prove it to the haters

[@uShotNobody]

I would like to see the math results as to which lid would be lighter. A half inch AKA 16/32 for this experiment coated the same way vs one piece of 11/32 and another partial piece (subtracting 2" around the side) which would bring the middle up to 22/32. Oh and the extra weight of the glue and screws. You wouldn't need to fiberglass I guess as that would be the same weight either way but that extra 6/32 in the entire center might knock your saving weight down to 10-20% at the most which might not be worth all that extra time and expense.

[@AnthonyJonesBrigadeBoats]

Here's my thoughts.... The 11/32 is single layer for all flooring sections which in my set up is 1/3 of boat. The 3/8 is single layer for middle bench and rear bench surround. The 3/8 is single layer for 2 of the 5 rear hatches. 3/8 is single layer for entire casting deck surround. 3/8 is single layer for 2/5 front hatches. When you think that I've only doubled up and added runners for just 6/10 hatches in the boat and everything else is single layer 11/32, I'd say the weight savings is very substantial versus thicker plywood. In my opinion I've only doubled up on wood in about 25% (if that) of all decking in the boat which is far from your estimation above.

[@uShotNobody]

@@AnthonyJonesBrigadeBoats excellent reply and I agree.

[@AnthonyJonesBrigadeBoats]

@@uShotNobody I will add for all the work and trouble it just depends on what you are trying to achieve. My next boat will need to save every ounce possible therefore I'll do whatever it takes to do so. If I built another set up like the TopGunJonBoat, I may go a simpler route and use 1/2 inch with no runners and take the added weight. 1/2 inch is easier to accommodate hinge set ups as well. Theres just so many options and honestly it just depends on your set up, budget, and goal of what you are trying to achieve.

[@uShotNobody]

I know my build gets much attention when I am at the docks. I am able to remove all decking as well as all framing by just taking out a few screws. Plus there is no spacing....my whole deck consists of latches. Some are bigger than others but the only solid area is the covered two benches which I have my adjustable bass seats attached. I used all 2 x 2 connecting them with cut off joist hangers. To keep the stuff above the bottom I still two holes parralel to each other on the 2 x 2 and run a waterproof rope creating a u shape. Then I purchased 8 plastic folder holder (we used to call them milk crates) and set them on the ropes...no noise since nothing is touching the bottom. If it need to be waterproof I put a black garbage bag in the crate and put an extra set of clothes. The crates also hold I think 7 Plano 3700 series plus one on too. That was done on a 14 footer. I just purchased a 17 foot bass boat with actually really nice carpet and 2 livewells and 12 gallon tank. I am going to rip that apart and remove all the 1 inch decking to see how light I can get that boat as it should take minimum 40hp up to a 70hp but I want to use a 25hp since they weigh just over a 100lb compared to a 50hp that weight almost 200lb. Also going to move the batteries up front to plane faster.

[@Sman798]

Go Gators!

[@orchardblessings9001]

James Moody 🙌🙌🙌🐗🐗SOOIE!! Sorry, I had to. lol 😆

[@AnthonyJonesBrigadeBoats]

Come on cuzins..

[@orchardblessings9001]

SEC is family except on gameday. 😆