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I have a 12 foot / 53 inch wide boat with a pointed bow that I'm thinking of trading for a 10 foot / 51 inch wide Jon boat. I need a boat that's really light and easy to load in a pickup truck, but I've heard that Jon boats are tippy and could be unsafe in choppy water. Anyone have any experience with Jon boats? Any advice on stability, tracking (I mostly troll) and any other info would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Michael

Not a chance that I would do that trade. You will severely limit the conditions that you are able to go out in. Most 12ft tinnys shouldn't be that hard to load into the box of a pickup. Even with my 14 when I was younger I was able to put a rope on each rear handle and lift the stern onto the edge of the box and then push it in from the bow. You could also rig up a ramp of sorts and some pulleys in the front of the box. IMO the best place for a 10ft jon boat is in a swamp for duck hunting. Even my old 6hp might be over rated for that boat.

Cheers

depends on what you want it for. The ten ft jon should be a lot lighter. I had a ten foot I used for duck hunting ponds /swamps/marsh and there was nothing better,. It was very light and easy to pull up on shore and bogs, plus with my 8 ft box and with the tail gate down nothing hung out of the back of the truck. If your out in lakes fishing Id stick to your 12 foot for stability reasons.

I have no issue at all fishing any of the lakes in the lanark highlands with my 10ft Jon boat and 3hp honda, been doing it for years. I got rid of my 12ft tinner in favour of the simplicity and weight of my Jon boat. Can toss it up on top of my 4runner solo or in the back of my truck easily, also transport it on top of my atv on a rack, great all around boat for fishing and hunting!

Never had an issue with tippyness at all, I do a lot of trolling and stand up casting and I find stability great, usually two men in the boat. If your going to be fishing big bodies of water like big rideau etc its Not the boat you want, but for the smaller to medium sized lakes there great!

Cheers

I have a 12 ft tinny and it's no problem loading into the back of my truck,even with the short bed. It's light enough that I can take it out by myself with no problem and as long as I can get to a couple hundred feet of the lake I can drag it in. Buddy has a Jon boat at the camp we take out too which is nice and light and never have issues with stability either. The one issue I have with the Jon boat is if there is a slight chop on the lake the sounds of the water slapping off the flat front on it is enough to drive me insane after a long day haha.

Some excellent advice here guys. Smitty, I'm 60 yrs old, so loading the tinny in the back of my tacoma gets harder every year, which is why I'm thinking of going to a shorter, lighter boat! Also, I usually only fish small lakes. Having said this, security is still a major concern for me which is why i need some advice.
Troutskiii & Fishoholic, are your Jon boats 32 inches wide at the bottom or 36 inches? I've heard the 36 inch bottom is much more stable. Also, do you have trouble steering in light winds in a flat bottom?
Thanks again guys.

My 10ft Jon boat is 36" wide, very stable I've never had an issue steering it in winds or choppy water. If you fish smaller lakes it seems like a no brainer to me, the Jon boat sounds ideal for what you want.....

I couldn't tell ya the measurements on it and haven't seen it since last spring so hard to guess. I do know we've never had an problems steering it or anything. We use an electric on it and it is no problem. The Jon boat is defiantly lighter and easier to move around, especially by yourself.

Interesting info. I'm likely going to buy a Jon boat this spring for a few lakes I used to fish in my tinny years ago that I can longer get the big boat in. I miss those lakes alot.

Thinking 12 foot Jon with a 6 hp and bow mount trolling motor so I just throw it in the back of Silverado.

RJ

Forgot to mention that we have my dog in the Jon boat and he moves around a lot. No problems with stability whatsoever even when he gets excited and sticks his head over the side of the boat to watch the fish come in.