Hulls on older boats Question?

[Purecarnagge]

when did 17-22ft runabouts or bowriders start going away from wood floorings? I know every boat/company is different, but I'm just wondering approximately what year/s these changes started occuring?

 

[oops!]

Re: Hulls on older boats Question?

mid ninetys.

it was a production issue.

with a different cap mold they could gell and chop the deck as part of the cap...this eliminated a few steps and saved labor.

 

[Purecarnagge]

Re: Hulls on older boats Question?

so how do you check to see if the wood is possibly rotting out, or can you still get rotted out floors today?

 

[ziggy]

Re: Hulls on older boats Question?

wood free construction goes back to at least 1972ish. maybe earlier even.

at least for the mfg. of my boat anyways.

the boat in my sig. is billed as wood free. while not totally true. it's mostly true. certainly no stringers or wood sole. minimal wood in the transom. just around where the drive is at. funliners were wood stringer free too best i know. they were the predecessor of my boat built back in the 60's..

as for checking for rot. ya gotta drill some holes and see if ya get rotted wood out or fresh wood. low in the transom, soles at the back are usual places for rot. if ya can find any wood visible (which isn't easy). probe it with a ice pick.

or can you still get rotted out floors today?

don't know if ya can get new rotted out soles or not, but ya can get used ones... they can be replaced with not rotted soles with much effort..

 

[seabob4]

Re: Hulls on older boats Question?

Even with the cockpit sole as being part of the deck, and therefore fiberglass, the soles are usually cored with end-grain balsa or marine ply. Where there is wood, there is chance for rot, especially around cut-outs, like pie plates...

 

[Purecarnagge]

Re: Hulls on older boats Question?

so the easiest way for a guy like me to figure out how the floors are is simply to walk around on every square inch that I can. The guy selling the boat probablly isn't going to take kindly to me drilling holes in his boat to check the wood.

 

[NSBCraig]

Re: Hulls on older boats Question?

yeah push down on it and try to find soft spots