98 23 ft livewell mod

[thedog]

I have a 98 23 seacraft with a stock deck, the in deck livewell I never use and would like to remove it and put in a watertight hatch on the deck. for better access to the stern and for some below deck storage.

my question is this. if any one knows. is the livewell attached to the deck or hull in any way?
besides were it is around the hatch. can i cut it out without effecting the integrity of the deck itself,
would I have to resupport the deck with a crossbeam if the livewell is not there

I would love to get rid of the thing, I never use it and it fills with water when parked on a trailer. water comes in thru the lid. always have to pump it out when I go to use the boat.

[bj]

I have a 2003 21' Seacraft and I am pretty sure your livewell is like mine. I was having the same problem as far as water getting in and also having to clean pine straw, leaves, etc. all the time. I sealed the lid down and installed a hatch in the lid itself. Now everything is fairly watertight. One real benefit of it is now the livewell itself is basically pressurized. It will fill completely with water and the baits don't get sloshed around as bad. It is a fairly low profile hatch so walking on it has not been a problem. I was very hesitant in doing this but now after 3-4 yrs I have not regretted it. I am pretty sure your livewell and floor are made together as one. If you don't need the livewell and only want storage I would seal the inlet and overflow holes. I would think you would need to keep the pump out pump there because if you did get water in it could be pumped out as you do now.

[DonV]

When I did my transom I left the baitwell in place and made a shelf on the front of the tank to mount my two-stroke oil tank. Drilled a 3/4" hole in the lowest part of the baitwell so water will drain into the bilge, however both hatches in the splashwell are sealed water tight so I really do not get any water in the baitwell (it's not hinged anymore). The access to the oil tank fill is through a 4" water tight screw type deck plate.

With a '98 you're lucky, you won't have to fight with the "Potter putty" if you try and remove the baitwell. Potter putty is mostly indestructable for everything up to C-4 explosives.

[WildBill]

I just removed mine. They are layed in a bed of putty. Using a 4''angle grinder with a cutoff wheel first cut out the PVC fill/drain tubes close to the bottom of your tank, then cut out the sides just below the lip where it goes toward the bottom of the live well.(save the lip for your future lid or reuse your old lid) I then cut out the sides in sections leaving the bottom. Then I cut out as much of the bottom in sections as possible. Then I took a 2"wood chisel and hammer between the putty and hull and the putty and bottom of the tank came right up. It was easier than it sounds it didn't take 2 hours including grinding/cleaning the hull. I'm thinking about a battery compartment sealed off from the fuel tank of course and making easier access to the bilge and a thru hull transducer.