Road sign boat

[AGENT 37]

Anyone ever know of a boat (22') being made with recycled road sings. Apparently the bottom is welded with new 1/4" marine grade by a professional. The hobbyist welded in old road signs for the gunnels, transom, and the cabin. It looks well done and seems sufficiently supported with framing. I don't know for sure what alloy or thickness it is though, the owner says that it is 5000 series (think he said 5250). The boat has never been in the water. I'm just looking for feedback from anyone who knows what alloy or thickness the sign material generally is. And just as importantly, what's your take on using this material for hull construction?

 

[beerfilter]

Re: Road sign boat

DUDE !
We MUST have some pics of this thing , seriously .

Most sign material is ~ .125" or 1/8" thick .
Fairly sturdy stuff and actually easy to obtain in a lot of scrap yards .
Still , it is far thicker than most manufacturers use in thier hulls , by over twice .
It will stop a beer bottle traveling at 100+ MPH , as any purebread redneck can attest .
I have a lot of it , biggest is 2 pieces 4' x 4' each , currently reserved for deck material in my newest project .

What the alloy is , I do not know .

What did they use for framing and how good are those welds ?
Done right , this thing should last centuries .
If the welds are garbage , it may be a death trap looking for a victim .

 

[AGENT 37]

Re: Road sign boat

I've got to down size the files to be able to attatch. I'll try later. It looks pretty good to me. The road signs seem to last forever. Out here the support structure gets folded over by the winter wind storms before the signs rip off of the post. They do last forever in the elements. How many road signs have you seen that corroded away before the paint was gone? They hold up to galvanic corrosion pretty well (steel fasteners on galvanized posts). My concern is material thickness, and strength.

 

[AGENT 37]

Re: Road sign boat

here are a few that are small enough

 

[AGENT 37]

Re: Road sign boat

one more

 

[AGENT 37]

Re: Road sign boat

What kind of "deck material"? These are bigger as in freeway exit sign size pieces. Have you used this stuff for boat building?

 

[oops!]

Re: Road sign boat

is is obviously a home made project that someone tryed.

i just cant imagine a boat built like that......

imagine...using that stuff for a boat




is it for sale?

 

[peacekeeper6]

Re: Road sign boat

cool..

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: Road sign boat

Nice. But how much does it weigh? Does it take a Hemi on the transom? Welds look a little rough, but I'm often called a picky bast**d. More pix please.

 

[jeeperman]

Re: Road sign boat

Down here the larger road signs are extruded planks that lock together to form a big sign. Usually running parallel to the ground.

Which makes me want to go to the scrap yard and see about using those planks as deck material on a boat.

 

[AGENT 37]

Re: Road sign boat

He says that the boat on the trailer weighs under 2500 lbs. I think that it is a fairly light boat for a 22' welded aluminum, but it's not finished yet. It still needs the deck put in, motor installed, cabin finished, and glass put in the house. It's basically just a bare hull.

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: Road sign boat

Wow, pretty sweet. I bet it will do well in the big water with the right powerhouse.

 

[oops!]

Re: Road sign boat

yup.......that is a big water work horse.....

 

[turfman]

Re: Road sign boat

I can see my taxes going up even more now; won't be any road signs left out here.

 

[tylerr83]

Re: Road sign boat

i've heard of people using road signs to patch aluminum boats but never seen one made entirely out of them....thats pretty cool...i cant imagine how long that must've taken

 

[AGENT 37]

Re: Road sign boat

Anybody built anything else out of this material? I agree that the design of the boat is great, my only concern is the properties of the material used to build the sides in regards to corrosion resistance and flexibility. I had a guy tell me that he knew another guy who built a truck box out of old road signs and it fell apart. He said that the welds all held and the aluminum just busted off around them. That may just be a matter of that individuals aluminum working skill though. We may never know.

 

[fuzzeywiggler]

Re: Road sign boat

Thats pretty cool. But before I had seen any pictures I pictured it to have "stop" , "slow" and "caution" Written all over it.

Fuzzey

 

[oops!]

Re: Road sign boat

i dont think anyone here has ever used those materials......

aluminimum welding is really tricky....but for someone to even think about doing that...then build it....thay had to have some good knowelage.

the truck box failure....(and im guessing here)...may have been a figment of someones imagination as it would be way easer to just hit the auto wrecker and get a box......


id take it and drop it in some good sized waves ...throw some weight in it and tow the sucker around for a bit....juan de fucha is a great place for testing.....if it holds...go for it.

cheers
oops

 

[IWELD]

Re: Road sign boat

If the guy said it was 5000 series aluminum he probably did some research or has alot of expierience (probly both). Thats was major project and the correct filler rod selection for welding that much aluminum would be criticle. Welding any structure that large with that amount of linier feet of weld would be a challenge, there is a lot of stess generated when something is welded and it can be a be a real b!*ch to keep it all alligned as you progress. The 5000 series aluminum has a high magnisium content and has a good resistance to corrosion in marine atmosphere. Looks like he did a great job!!

As far as the toolbox falling apart, the wrong filler metal or shielding gas or both could have been used to cause it to fall apart. Also the material could have been an un-weldable grade of aluminum.

 

[AGENT 37]

Re: Road sign boat

The guy who actually built the hull worked for seasport building fiberglass boats. He died and a friend of his sold the boat to the guy who is trying to sell it now. The current owner has done no work to it but he's the guy who has given me all of the info.