175 Osprey Fishbox Rebuild

[BMAC1988]

so ive been kicking around the idea of rebuilding my fishbox in my 175. ice retention and drainage/pump-out is subpar at best IMO especially when used for fish. ive noticed there is basically zero insulation around the walls and the big hatch on the top so im thinking about cutting out the plastic fishbox and making a drop in insulated fiberglass tub with a better pickup for pumping out also forming the bottom to more of a V shape than the raised steps that it currently has. im thinking a drop in setup would be great for after a day of fishing just lift the entire fishbox out and take it to your cleaning area instead of handling every fish one at a time.

doing this should also give me access to the fairly large unused area (im assuming its open) under the casting deck to maybe put some batteries for a trolling motor which would be accessible with the fishbox removed.

is this possible or has anybody done something like this before i cut a huge hole in the deck of my boat?

[RickK]

There is a lot of room under the casting deck depending on the layout of your stringers. Here is a pic of the original stringers in my 170 - yours may be different. This pic shows the stringers up to the casting deck.


This is what I built, replacing 3 stringers with 2 and bulkheads (not in this pic yet)




Maybe we have pics here of the stringer layout on a newer 175.

[BMAC1988]

thank you. some pictures of the stringers in a 175 up in the bow would be really helpful.  im going to try and get my phone down in the access cover in the fishbox and get a picture of the area towards the bow. hopefully thatll give me a little idea. im just worried about cutting that much out of the deck losing strength in the front of the boat

[Capt. Bob]

I can't recall anyone re-building a newer Genmar hull but the photo below may give you some idea of what to expect if you do decide to open the deck.  It's a larger Osprey so it may not be anything like what is there.



Good luck.

[BMAC1988]

i took a look around in the hull under the fishbox yesterday via the hatch in the bottom of the fishbox. i got a decent picture of the forward area under the casting deck and i cant see any stringers, just the hull and an empty void. my phone wouldnt flash for the rearward picture and it was about 120* in my shop so i gave up. i did feel around in there and i couldnt feel any stringers just the V in the hull