Jon boats are one of the most popular inland waterway watercraft in America and in many other parts of the world. Its shallow draft and superior stability on calm water makes this personal utility vessel an amazingly versatile inland waterway boat. Let’s take a look at the very popular 1436 Jon boat to explore this topic further.
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Advantages of a 1436 Jon boat
Hopefully you can now tell exactly what a 1436 Jon boat is. We can see exactly how this naming protocol works when we look at a standard 1436 Jon boat.
A 1436 Jon boat is one of the most popular types of Jon boat in America.
It is ideal for river, creek, pond and lake use, is large enough for 3 people plus gear and can be fitted with a small trolling motor or bigger outboard engine (to see what size motor works best read this).
As per the naming protocol mentioned above, a 1436 Jon boat has a length of 14 foot and its bottom has a width of 36″.
A 14 foot Jon boat is large enough to offer ample deck space for gear, catch and passengers.
A 1436 flat bottom Jon boat will:
- Be able to carry up to 3 people and their gear.
- Weigh approximately 130 lbs.
- Have a weight capacity of approximately 300 lbs.
Of course different manufacturers will have different specification for their 1436 Jon boat models but the above specs cover most 1436 Jon boats.
You can easily work out the weight capacity of any Jon boat using the formula given in our Jon boat weight capacity guide.
Most 1436 Jon boats on the water are made from aluminum.
Although aluminum is a fairly expensive metal, and there are cheaper options available (especially if building your own boat), an aluminum boat is incredibly hard-wearing and practically maintenance-free.
Aluminum Jon boats are also fairly light.
As mentioned above a typical 1436 Jon boat will only weight about 130lbs but is able to carry 300 lbs.
The only problem you may encounter when using an aluminum Jon boat is galvanic corrosion.
This type of corrosion happens when an aluminum boat is used in saltwater.
Saltwater and aluminum Jon boats don’t mix well. This does not stop many people taking a Jon boat into the ocean though.
If you do plan to take an aluminum 1436 Jon boat, or any other aluminum boat for that matter, into saltwater then the boat needs to be treated with special chemicals that will protect it from erosion.
Saltwater eats away at aluminum quickly.
Although it is not advisable to take a 1436 Jon boat into ocean waters, if you do decide to do it follow the advice we give in the article can Jon boats go in the ocean.
If you prefer the greater versatility and superior stability on choppy water that a mod v Jon boat offers then you will be unlikely to find a 1436 model.
Most 14 foot mod-v Jon boats will have a wider bottom to give them extra stability in rough water.
In most cases a mod-v 14 foot Jon will be a 1438 model.
If you need to know the difference between these two different types of Jon boat read the article flat bottom Jon boat vs mod v Jon boat.
Who will benefit most from using a 1436 Jon boat
A 1436 Jon boat is large enough to accommodate up to 3 people and gear.
A 1436 Jon boat is also versatile enough to be able to handle a motor but can also be propelled manually via a paddle, oars or even a pole in very shallow water.
A 1436 Jon boat is perfect for hunters and anglers.
This hybrid approach to propulsion means you can use a motor to travel fast and comfortably (a Jon boat is easy to get on plane) to hunting and fishing grounds and then use a manual propulsion method for stealth.
Likewise, a motor can easily be trimmed-up, so the prop comes fully out of the water, when a Jon boat is about to enter shallow water areas.
Then a paddle or pole can be used to navigate the shallows.
The flat bottom hull design of the boat means that it will also easily slide over any obstacles in the bottom.
Because of these features, and its low freeboard, a 1436 Jon boat can access areas with a water depth of only 2″.
Cost of a 1436 Jon boat
Although different manufacturers will have different costs associated with their particular 1436 Jon boat models you can expect to pay about $3,500 for this size of Jon.
We have an article covering typical Jon boat costs with links to the top manufacturers in our article how much does a Jon boat cost and I advise you to read that if you plan to purchase a 1436 Jon.
Some boats are over-priced while others are a real bargain.
1436 Jon boat specs
A 1436 Jon boat is usually sold without any fittings – all you get is the bare boat.
However, all Jon boats are easily customizable (as we demonstrated here) and so additional features are always available for a 1436 Jon boat.
Typical additional features for a 1436 Jon boat include:
- A length of 14ft
- A width of 36″
- An outboard motor or trolling motor.
- Oarlocks (yes you can row a Jon boat).
- Center seating storage units.
- Livewells.
- Rod holders.
Extra stability can also be added to a 1436 Jon boat using flotation pods or outriggers.
We cover this in the article how to make a Jon boat more stable and the article how to make a Jon boat float better and in the article an explanation of an outrigger & outrigger boat benefits.
Why do Jon boats have numbers in their model names?
Many people new to boating wonder why Jon boats have numbers in their names.
The number in the name of a Jon boat refers to the length of the boat and the width of its bottom.
The first 2 digits represent the boat length.
The next two digits refer to the boat length.
Let’s look at an example; a the popular 1436 Jon boat.
Examining a 1436 Jon boat as an example
An example, of a Jon boat with a number in its name a 1436 Jon boat?
A 1436 Jon boat is a flat bottom, shallow draft watercraft used almost entirely on inland bodies of water.
The 1436 number in the name refers to the length of the boat and the width of its bottom.
A 1436 Jon boat is 14 foot long and has a bottom that is 36″ wide.
Sometimes you will find that boat owners will put the number after the boat.
An example would be a Jon boat 1436 and others will mistakenly refer to it as a 1436 john boat (there should be no “h” in the boat title Jon).
All Jon boats follow this protocol so the potential buyer can tell the size and width of the boat by the number in its name.
How to know the length and width of a Jon boat by its name
Jon boats are named by most manufacturers in a peculiar way. Each Jon boat will have numbers in its name.
Almost every Jon boat sold has a model identifier that incorporates a 4 digit number into its name. Why is this?
The 4 digit number that is a part of a Jon boat model’s name is there only to inform the potential buyer of the size and the width of the boat.
For example, a 1448 mod-v Jon boat identifies the boat as being 14 foot long with a bottom that is 48″ wide.
A 1760 Jon boat has a length of 17 foot and a bottom width of 60″.
Sometimes though a certain amount of liberty is taken with this naming convention.
In many cases the length and width of a Jon boat will not be exactly the same as the name of the boat implies.
When manufacturers build a Jon boat that is a few inches short of a foot (for example a Jon with a length of 13 foot 10″ – only 2″ short of 14 foot) they will round-up the length of the boat to the nearest whole number. Then add that number to the model name.
An example of this is the L1852MT AURA Jon boat from Lowes.
The number protocol tells use that the L1852MT Jon boat has a length of 18 foot and bottom width of 52″.
However, this particular boat is not 18 foot long and actually has a length of 17′ 9″.
Why add 3″ to the name of the boat?
Well, using the exact dimensions in the model name would force the digits to go above the 4 that is the convention.
This would just confuse the matter and make the model name much too long.
So Lowes, like all Jon boat manufacturers, have rounded-up the length to the nearest whole number.
As there are 12″ in a foot and the boat is only 3″ short of 18 foot, Lowes have used 18 as the identifier for the boat length in the boat’s name.
Just about every Jon boat user considers the L1852MT an 18 foot Jon boat anyway. So it makes sense to use “18” in the model name rather than using the more precise length measurement.