Raising floor
 

What is the reason when rebuilding seacrafts everyone says to raise the floor.

so the deck will self bail and be above the water level

Dont buy a "redone" one that has not had the floor raised. Unless you want to keep plugs in it all the time.

Back when these older Seacrafts were built, the only motors were 2 strokes and they are lighter than the 4 strokes. Adding the additional weight of the four strokes requires the floor to be raised to keep the cockpit self bailing.
Height usually depends on if you are putting 2 motors or 1 back on.

Mike

Give me a call.

Thanks

There are some who might say that the answer is a motor that has an appropriate weight, and movement of batteries, tanks and such to re-establish balance rather than raising the floor. It can be done, and in my opinion, it is easier than raising the floor.

X2 on that. Also adding a Hermco fiberglass "floatation" bracket can help too.

Really limits your choice of motors especially if going new.
Plus most of the Seacrafts we have done needed the floor replaced anyway.
I can raise the floor a whole lot cheaper than buying and installing a Hermco bracket

One thing I like about my 23 is just how it "fits" me when fishing. When I'm on my friends 25 Mako, I'm always banging my knees on something. I just went out and stood on a 2x8 on my deck. Not as comfortable for me. I think I'll just deal with a little water from time to time. Just my 2 cents.

I agree 100%! Keeping the boat's CG where it was designed to be is very important to overall boat performance, ride and handling and just as important as keeping your feet dry if not more so! Plus the SF models don't have a whole bunch of freeboard to start with - I prefer to have the gunnel at or above my knees, not down around my ankles!

Don't you think ankles is a little extreme. Haven't done one yet that was uncomfortable leaning against the gunnels.
Plus raising the floor a couple inches isn't going to affect the ride (CG)as much as installing brackets and moving tanks around.
The first question I always get when selling one of these restores is "does it self bail"

And we use our boats for fishing alot...so baitwells, tons of ice, tackle and 3 or 4 guys, means for a lot of weight n the boat. Plus full tank of gas the first half of day

Mine is raised 3 inches and I cannot find one downside or compromise from doing so.

I raised mine 2 3/4 inches and routed the scuppers out the stern with ping pong ball scuppers and it's dry s a bone. Even though I raised the deck 2 3/4 inches it's actually only raised 2 inches from original because the original deck sat on 3/4 of an inch of putter putty back aft. I run a 2 stroke yami 115 with a new tank under the deck moved forward and battery under the console. Glad I raised it, no regrets in getting rid of the thru deck scuppers.

The 18 ft Sea craft has vey little freeboard and raising it 2" would make my leg hit the gunnell below my knee. I struggled with this and decided to lighen the deck and remove the aft well so it would self bail with no one in it. Boat is still not in water yet.

I'm raising the deck on my 20 Safari. I have removed all of the flooring and the transom and cut open the stringers and removed the foam. I think at this point it only makes sense to raise the deck 3". I had a 21 Steigercraft that had scuppers below the waterline and it drove me crazy letting water in all the time.