ATV Florida Forum

i need to register this jon boat that i got with no title and the guy i bought it from found the boat, it has been registered before so i am not going to even deal with registering it as a manufactured boat. im going to scrape the numbers, remove the vin and try and get it registered as a home made boat, does anybody have any experience with this? do i need to bring the boat down to the dmv and have it inspected? will i need to determine what engine i will have before hand? id like to get it registered before i get the engine so that i know its going to be worth my time to buy a good size engine for it. im getting at least a 20horse and i know the rating limit is 9.9 on this particular boat.. but that doesn't mean anything for a boat that is home made...  and yes the transom is beefed up for the extra power, it has a 3/4" plywood transom with an aluminum top plate.

any help would be appreciated, im just a little lost as to were to start trying to get it registered.

You wont be able to register it as a home made. The coastguard has to inspect it. Your best bet is to get a towing company to impound it and the apply for a title.

I recently had to register a flat back canoe that had no VIN numbers nor registration numbers.
DMV gave me a number for the game warden.  I had to schedule for them to do a site inspection of the canoe.  He went over the canoe looking for numbers, or signs of the numbers be defaced.
After that, he submits a report to their office, who sends you a letter either accepting it or denying it.  Take the letter back to DMV with you.

It took about 3 months for them to complete this.

That's just my experience.

so i could do what poolsean says which seems good, or i could have it impounded and get like a salvage title? how would i go about doing this? it could be done all as paper work right, i don't actually have to have it impounded do i?

thanks for all the help so fast

If it has Vin Numbers like you said you were going to scratch off it will send up a red flag. Find a local towing company they might be able to help you.I had a friend who had a towing business and he did one for me.I think he had to post it in the paper and it took like twenty days but I did get a title.

the vin isnt stamped on, its a tag thats just riveted on.

im going to just go into the dmv tomorrow and say i need to register a home made boat that my grandpa built for me and never had it registered. if that doesnt work(probably wont) then ill look into the towing company thing first.

thanks for all the help.

I redid a 21' hull once w/no vin. I had a bill of sale from auction co.Not thinking I had it all complete & went to register it 18 months later. I needed to get a marine patrol officer to sign a slip verifying it was more that 50% rebuild & I got a no vin reg for it. There are ways around everything. If the dmv person dont know talk to a supervisor. If they dont know go to a different dmv.Dont mention you were just at the oher.There is no reason you cannot make a boat & register it as HM.

First red flag, The guy you bought it from said that he found it. What if someone stole it and left it somewhere so that they could come back later to get it. Or stole it and took everything off of it and left it somewhere so that they would not get caught with the boat. Remember that the motor and fishing equipment won't be registered, the boat will.


Second red flag is if you take off teh registration. The game officer will know that its been taken off because its a manufactured boat.


Now here is what I would do.

First thing is try to find a vin number.

You can take the numbers that are on the side of the boat and have the tag agency tell you who it is last registered to and then contact them. Although the owner could then take possession of it by doing this. Its probably the best way out. The owner may have reported it stolen and now you are in possession of it, Thats not good. You could probably explain your scenario with him and tell him that you did not steal it, if you did then you would definatel not be trying to look up the owner and probably be ok and not prosecuted. You will probably be asked several questions on who you purchased it from and then that person would have to explain how he aquired it. Maybe the owner does not want it, then he could go with you to the tag agency and sign the title over to you and now you can get a registration. Keep in mind that this may not sound like the best way, but if you quad got stolen. wouldn't you want someone to let you know that you have it. You may take a loss for what you paid the guy who sold it to you, but that loss will be far less then it you get caught in possession of stolen property.

I'm the other owner of the boat, im not going to contact the original owner of the boat. that just seems like a bad idea. i know this boat is as good as stolen but there has to be other ways to register it. the person i bought it from is a member of this site (hondabeefast) so maybe he can tell you how he found it.

You say that you are the other owner and you know that the boat is as good as stolen. Thats dealing in stolen property. You could be arrested. Your no better then someone stealing someones quad and you buying it knowing that it is stolen. By purchasing property knowing its probably stolen and not turning a thief or stolen property in, you are part of why people steal.

X2 go to DMV find out the details of original vin and go from there...  KARMA sucks

look, he told me he found it floating down the canal he lives on, i believe him. so i don't think its actually stolen. what i mean is as far as registering it, its as good as stolen to the dmv, and if i call the original owner he may want it back.

Yes he may want it back. Its his remember. The water could have rose and it just floated away. Thats like saying. Someone could steal your quad but only take the tires off then ditch it and someone comes along and finds it. Does that make it theirs or yours. Would you want it back.

yea i understand what your saying, but the date on the last time it was registered was like 96 or something so i doubt he even remembers it... idk maybe i will try to contact him, but i would rather try the other ways first.

OK, do it your way, then you may get arrested for possession of stolen property if the guy reported it stolen. I was trying to keep you from being arrested but you seem to not wanta listen. The cop that catches it will immediatly arrest you, then you can explain it to the judge.

the boat was last registered in 99, Seth(hondabeefast) found it floating down the canal and it was a total turd, it had a rotted out transom and looked as if no one gave a crap about it. it was not like im taking somebody's pride and joy. more like somebody didn't know what to do with it so let it loose down a canal, seth found it, it sat in his backyard for a long time then i got the deal of the century on it. stop blowing this out of proportion and look at it from a less negative view. i am not the kind of guy who would buy something that was plain out stolen. and yes it REALY was found, i really doubt he would have gone and stole the pile of crap when he has 2 nice jon boats already.

trust me, nobody wanted that boat, it was neglected to say the least. it would be like if somebody stole the stock engine of my golf cart that i have siting in the woods, somebody may find it use full, but i just don't know what to do with it, i want it gone. same thing

but out of respect and maybe the feeling of doing the RIGHT thing???? if those 2 dont come into mind then you have a problem.... if its the boat he put the deck on and fixed up that his bad for doing the work beefore it was legally his... thats like me test driving a truck and stopping off at off road shop and jacking it up,tires, programmer.. and not even be able to get the financing... do as you wish you asked for us to help you with info on registering a lost/stolen boat theres no over thinking there!!

I am the person who "found" the  boat, Just to clear things up i have had it sitting in my backyard for almost 2 years now. I used to live in Golden Gate city on a canal an old guy lived like 10 or so houses down from me. The boat just sat tied up to the bank for as long as i can remember seeing it there. One day after school i was in my backyard and saw it floating down the canal, half full of water and loaded full of leaves and crap, it really wasnt even worth the trouble when i first saw it but i pulled it out and cleaned it up. That weekend when i was fishing in my boat i decided to stop by his house to tell him i had found his boat floating down the canal. He told me he didnt need it anymore and didnt have the time to mess with it so just keep it. Like I said that was almost 2 years ago and i dont even live any where near there anymore.

if this was said in the beginning it would of cleared alot up... go to DMV get last owners known address send certified letter with signature stating boat info etc and if he has no intentions of owning the boat.. if it returns unopened take it unopened and DMV will issue new title..if he wants it then your out of luck if he says no return letter he wrote that he says he forfeits it to you an they will grant you title

lol finally, the arguing ends. THANK YOU for clearing that up

No problem man, This is why i don't really bother with this site that much anymore, Everyone on hear always jumps and thinks everythings stolen or getting scammed....

done arguing but he DID admit it was probally stolen

yea lol, once i started reading all these replies about how i should return it to who is solen from i just thought "atvflorida disappoints again" lol

im just gona carry it to the dmv with no vin number and say i need to register an abandoned boat.

no, you took it wrong, my bro said that taking to the dmv is as good as bringing a stolen boat. and it is, anything with no title is as good as stolen when it comes to registering it really.

Here is what you wrote:


Just because someone tells you a story, doesn't mean its a true story. Not saying that he was telling one but do you really expect a theif trying to sell you something will say "wel, I'll be honest, touch it with gloves or you may get burnt"


The point is that this started out as a found boat, just because someone finds something, doesn't make it theirs. And when registration is involved, it could have been reported stolen and you be out fishing when someone notices the numbers have been removed, and you go straight to jail until you see a judge.

ok i understand were your coming from now, you just didn't understand that i didn't buy it from a stranger, i know seth and iv known hes had the boat and how he got it before i even thought about buying it

so i just got back from selling the billy goat, i got 150$ and a 25hp johnson for it 8)

the problem is that this motor has WAY to long of a shaft lol, i may have to pretty much make a full custom transom and make it about 6" taller. i want it to be safe so im not gonna just bolt and nut a piece of aluminum and wood up there becasue this motor is allot of power for a 14ft aluminum jon boat. ill have to peel the 25hp stickers once i get it registered, the limit is 9.9 hp...

o and its not a tiller, so im going to have to get creative...

EDIT, turns out the shaft is not too long and isn't uncommon to run, if you ask me it looks way to long... ill run it and see. anyways, got it running tonight, sprayed some gas down the carb(didnt have any starter fluid or carb cleaner) and it fired up pretty easy. the motor doesn't need much, just spark plugs, anodes, and alot of nuts and bolts hear and there. cant beet it for 50$.