Adding floatation

[Draft]

A friend wants to add flotation on the outside of the transom. Its a 14' livingston with a 40 hp honda. Its a little too heavy as it sits tail heavy in the water. We were thinking of adding flotation boxes on each side of the engine. I read that one cubic ft of foam adds 60 lbs of lift.
Has anyone ever done this before?
how big should the boxes be and how should it be constructed

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Adding floatation

I have seen it done with some aluminum boats........ but keep this in mind. You are just adding displacement to the hull and yes they can be foam filled. The 60 lbs would only be if the boat sinks....... You are speaking of pods above water.

How old is his boat? Could the boats current flotation be holding water causing the stern to sit deeper? There are common shallow sided boats that were designed for lakes and boats with higher sides designed for the "bay" and boats with real high sides for the ocean. What kind and type of boat is it? Metal? Fiberglass? Hull design?

 

[MTboatguy]

Re: Adding floatation

What year and rating does the Livingston have? I would suspect that there is a problem in the boat itself, if it is sitting tail heavy. If there is flotation currently in the boat and it is sitting tail heavy, either your foam is saturated or the motor you have on it is bigger than it is rated for..adding to the outside of the transom, could create more problems than it solves, I would do some checking on the boat to make sure.

The current LV14 is only rated at 20hp, so I would say you have to large a motor mounted on the boat...

http://www.livingstonboats.com/downloads/LV_14_SalesSheet.pdf

http://www.livingstonboats.com/boats_14.html

There does seem to be some conflicting information between the web page and the .pdf order form, they say, on the web page that the boat is rated at 20 tiller, 40 remote steering and on the .pdf order form it says straight 20 across for both, I would give the company a call and provide details on the boat your friend has and let them advise you.

 

[oops!]

Re: Adding floatation

If there is flotation currently in the boat and it is sitting tail heavy, either your foam is saturated or the motor you have on it is bigger than it is rated for

this is correct....

if you are talking about pods.....mounted off the back of the transom....it will help a little....but only because there is more hull displacement.....not because of the foam like bob said.

the correct method is to find out why you are low....if all is well and you want more freeboard in the transom.....build and add the pods

 

[Draft]

Re: Adding floatation

He went with a 40 hp Honda which is the max rating for the boat, remote steering. Its a bit heavy. add two six gallon gas tanks, ice, fishing equipment and a two guys. It gets close to the 1000lb max rating. The boat is a 2006. I don't think there is any water intrusion. Just that it is overloaded.
The pods would be mounted as far below the water line as possible. The boat is fiberglass. Not looking to put on aluminum floatation boxes. Any construction tips for the box?

 

[seasik]

Re: Adding floatation

I think there may be misinformation on the Livingston website. I've got an old (1979) 13' Livingston, and it says max=40 hp right on the old sticker.

What year and rating does the Livingston have? I would suspect that there is a problem in the boat itself, if it is sitting tail heavy. If there is flotation currently in the boat and it is sitting tail heavy, either your foam is saturated or the motor you have on it is bigger than it is rated for..adding to the outside of the transom, could create more problems than it solves, I would do some checking on the boat to make sure.

The current LV14 is only rated at 20hp, so I would say you have to large a motor mounted on the boat...

http://www.livingstonboats.com/downloads/LV_14_SalesSheet.pdf

http://www.livingstonboats.com/boats_14.html

There does seem to be some conflicting information between the web page and the .pdf order form, they say, on the web page that the boat is rated at 20 tiller, 40 remote steering and on the .pdf order form it says straight 20 across for both, I would give the company a call and provide details on the boat your friend has and let them advise you.