Light fishing boat, aluminium vs fiber glass weight?

[shingo]

Are aluminium fishing boat really lighter than fiber glass?

I want a 12 footer that weight around or less than a 100 pound

I saw a few fiber glass model in that size of around a 100 pound but couldn't get the size of the aluminium one.

I'm currently browsing in the used market.

I want to pay around 500$ for the boat without engine.

Also, if I want to put the boat on top of my car alone, what do you think should be reasonable as far as the weight is concerned?

Thank you

 

[southkogs]

Re: Light fishing boat, aluminium vs fiber glass weight?

Dunno' that you'll find either under 100# at 12'. Why not a light trailer boat? 14' boat with outboard on a trailer will pull behind most anything.

 

[kfa4303]

Re: Light fishing boat, aluminium vs fiber glass weight?

Hi shingo. You might want to check out a boat called a Gheenoe. They're a regional builder herein FL that are very popular. They buil a special sort of flat-back fiberglass canoe that can modified in a million and one ways. There's nothing these little boat can't do. People use them to do everything from hunt alligators in the swamps to fly fishing on the flats. Best of all the boats are light enough to put on your car/tuck by your self. Check out the links below and/or look at vins on youtube.

Custom Gheenoe

 

[shingo]

Re: Light fishing boat, aluminium vs fiber glass weight?

Well, I will probably use a trailer, but I would like to be able to carry the boat without the engine and trailer with ease in my yard. I want to be able to put it under my deck.

Also sometime the only way to put the boat on the water is to carry it, so if I'm alone, I want to be able to do this easily.

 

[shingo]

Re: Light fishing boat, aluminium vs fiber glass weight?

If I have to use a trailer, I would like to keep the total weight of the boat + trailer under 450#

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Light fishing boat, aluminium vs fiber glass weight?

You need to look for boats called cartoppers.

 

[brnschoneck]

Re: Light fishing boat, aluminium vs fiber glass weight?

hmmm let me tell u i had a pu truck and got a 10 ft aluminum i hated putn that thing in n out trailering is much easier than that ..if u get a light enough boat u can probly pull it with car ???depending trust me from experience u dont wanna be putn that thing on top of ur car it will get old quick i thought that too awww ill just put it in my truck no way i couldnt barley do it by myslef wich means i had to have someone with me if i wanted to go out (not always possible) ....

 

[shingo]

Re: Light fishing boat, aluminium vs fiber glass weight?

The issue is not towing the boat with the car, it's to lift and pull the trailer in my yard by hand with the boat still on the trailer.

 

[southkogs]

Re: Light fishing boat, aluminium vs fiber glass weight?

Moving a boat on a trailer around a yard is pretty easy. My last boat was a 16' fiberglass tri-hull and I could lift the tongue and move it without a trailer jack ... no grunting even!

A 14' fiberglass or aluminum boat with a 10 - 35 HP on a trailer should be pretty easy to move around by hand on the trailer. AND ... that should be really easy to find.

 

[kfa4303]

Re: Light fishing boat, aluminium vs fiber glass weight?

You can easily load a Gheenoe into a the bed of a pick up, or on to the top of a car. I believe a bare hull only weighs about 150lbs.

1 Man Cartop Gheenoe or Canoe Carrier - YouTube (gheenoe)

This is how to load a boat - YouTube (hi tech jon boat loader)

 

[airshot]

Re: Light fishing boat, aluminium vs fiber glass weight?

To answer your initial question, yes, aluminium boats are considerably lighter than glass boats. Depending on make and model probably 30-50% lighter than glass. Most small wood boats are lighter than glass boats. I have a 12 alum jon boat that weighs approx 70 lbs, the similiar model in glass weighs 105/110 lbs. Neighbor has a 12' v-bottom alum boat that weighs 95 lbs and it is a well built boat.

Airshot

 

[BonairII]

Re: Light fishing boat, aluminium vs fiber glass weight?

I'm not understanding WHY the boat needs to be stored under the OP's deck/porch. Just buy a cover for the boat.

The OP can get a nice 12-14' aluminum fishing rig with a small trailer....and tow it with the smallest of vehicles. He'll be able to launch it with the car....or even launch the trailered boat by hand.

 

[shingo]

Re: Light fishing boat, aluminium vs fiber glass weight?

I'm not understanding WHY the boat needs to be stored under the OP's deck/porch. Just buy a cover for the boat.

The OP can get a nice 12-14' aluminum fishing rig with a small trailer....and tow it with the smallest of vehicles. He'll be able to launch it with the car....or even launch the trailered boat by hand.

Well the boat do not necessarily have to be under the deck, but I have to be able to roll the boat on the trailer on my yard with ease. I will be alone to move it.

I already have a 500# trailer which is near the limit that I can pull by myself on this terrain.

So I would like to be under 500# trailer + boat + engine

 

[southkogs]

Re: Light fishing boat, aluminium vs fiber glass weight?

...the limit that I can pull by myself on this terrain.

What kinda' terrain are you on? My boat/engine/trailer weigh in around 2,000# and I can move it around on flat ground pretty easily with a nose wheel. If I have to, I can lift the tongue and move it around. That's obviously not the situation you're looking for, but a 14' open aluminum boat with a 10HP (ish) outboard on it should be easy for a kid to push around honestly.

 

[lncoop]

Re: Light fishing boat, aluminium vs fiber glass weight?

Shingo, I agree that a little john boat on a trailer is your best bet, and you should have no trouble moving one that size around by hand. Also, you might consider getting one of those trailer moving dollies. They're really handy and not very expensive.

 

[shingo]

Re: Light fishing boat, aluminium vs fiber glass weight?

What kinda' terrain are you on? My boat/engine/trailer weigh in around 2,000# and I can move it around on flat ground pretty easily with a nose wheel. If I have to, I can lift the tongue and move it around. That's obviously not the situation you're looking for, but a 14' open aluminum boat with a 10HP (ish) outboard on it should be easy for a kid to push around honestly.

It's a leveled grass yard, I can tow my current 500# trailer but I wouldn't say it's easy but it's not hard too.

I'm a software developper, so my muscle might not be as developped as the average joe.

I just don't know if going from 500 to 1000# is going to be much harder to pull.

 

[bonz_d]

Re: Light fishing boat, aluminium vs fiber glass weight?

I think you have some ill conceived notions to begin with.

You say you have a 500# trailer. Is that the real weight of the trailer? If so that is way more than is needed for a 12' boat.
One of the trailers I have weighs 500# and it is rated to carry a 2200# 16' boat and has 15" tires on it. Another trailer I have weighs just under 250# and is rated to carry 1660# and has 12" tires on it.

The lighter rig has a 14' Aluminum Lund with a 35hp outboard and my wife is able to push and pull it out of the garage by herself. That whole set up weighs about 1000#.

A 12' boat either aluminum or fiberglass on a properly fitted trailer should be no more than 500# and be as easy to push around as a lawn mower. The tongue weight on something like this would most likely be less than 75#.

 

[shingo]

Re: Light fishing boat, aluminium vs fiber glass weight?

My 500# trailer is a utility trailer, I was just extimating how a 600#-800# trailer + boat would feel like.

I do not have a boat trailer, so I will need to buy one and a boat 2.

I currently have my eye on a used kit consisting of a 12 feet aluminum boat with a 9.8 merc, 2.5 johnson and and a 1000# capacity trailer. Seem like a good deal (1200$)

 

[bonz_d]

Re: Light fishing boat, aluminium vs fiber glass weight?

I don't know where you are located put honestly, $1200.00 I'd keep looking. In the area I live that would be high top end money for a 12' boat and trailer with 8 to 10hp engine. $600.00 would be more the norm.

Watch craigslist I see that size regularly many times even cheaper than above.

 

[hungupthespikes]

Re: Light fishing boat, aluminium vs fiber glass weight?

A boat trailer has better balance than your utility trailer, with the motor/s on the back. They really do move around better than most trailers.
A trailer dolly start under 50 bucks if you need one.

The 12 footer with 2 motors and trailer does sounds good. A 16 footer with a console, side/center and then never sell it sounds better. :facepalm:
huts