looking for a wood free boat?

[smokintoad]

better think twice.

Over the past decade there has been a lot of manufacturers moving towards ?wood free? boat construction. The general public seems to applaud this move as a progression towards better built boats, when in fact, it is a cost cutting measure among manufacturers.

It?s actually much more expensive to use wood (properly installed) instead of synthetics. There are man-made materials out there that some manufacturers use in place of solid wood stringers and they are touted as rot-free. What is never discussed is the effect non-wood stringers have on the ride and long term durability of the boat. There is no better substance for the stringer system than wood. Unlike synthetic materials, wood stringers do not transfer sound, they're heavier and provide a more solid ride, and most importantly they have the flexible memory to absorb shock and vibration. A treated wood stringer bonds to fiberglass better because it penetrates the wood where as the synthetic can only achieve a surface-only bond.

Just because a manufacturer is marketing ?wood-free? construction, don?t assume this equals better construction. In most cases it only means cheaper construction costs. Proper wood construction will always outlast and outperform any synthetic construction. The key is proper construction.

 

[Summer Fun]

Re: looking for a wood free boat?

Who are you talking to ??. . .

 

[smokintoad]

Re: looking for a wood free boat?

Reggie Fountain and Tommy Trabue, I believe these guys would be an authority on boat construction.

 

[jkust]

Re: looking for a wood free boat?

Yep, I think it is Caravelle that advertises with a beaver and the saying "no wood is good". I get where they are coming from though. No wood would be good for bad owners or good for say the 5th owner down the line. Imagine if no wood had been used for say the past 30 years in the industry. There would be no restoration section here. Also who cares who you are talking to.

 

[Kracken]

Re: looking for a wood free boat?

Yep, I think it is Caravelle that advertises with a beaver and the saying "no wood is good". I get where they are coming from though. No wood would be good for bad owners or good for say the 5th owner down the line. Imagine if no wood had been used for say the past 30 years in the industry. There would be no restoration section here. Also who cares who you are talking to.

Wow thats a little harsh don't you think?

Reggie Fountain is the CEO of Fountain and I think Tommy Trabue is the President of NMMA.

 

[seabob4]

Re: looking for a wood free boat?

A rotten wood transom in a Grady-White is not my idea of "cost cutting"...

 

[Shrike]

Re: looking for a wood free boat?

Good info.
Informative.

 

[jkust]

Re: looking for a wood free boat?

Wow thats a little harsh don't you think?

Reggie Fountain is the CEO of Fountain and I think Tommy Trabue is the President of NMMA.

No, I think it is logical. If I was in the market for a 15+ year old boat and three others had owned it previously, I bet i'd be happy to hear it is wood free construction. I wouldn't want a VEC Glastron as a new boat but if I was new to boating buying an older used boat say 10 years in the future after it had been around a while I might. I also realize there are some very high end brands that produce larger/expensive boats that are made with wood free construction. I think they are apples and oranges to some extent.

 

[Senza]

Re: looking for a wood free boat?

Having owned a Larson boat that eventually needed the floor replaced and the transom repaired because of rotted wood, I will always now go for a wood free boat....which I did with a newer Larson. With a lifetime transferable (one-time) hull warranty I don't see how you can go wrong.

 

[tswiczko]

Re: looking for a wood free boat?

I have a wooden deck and there is plywood in my transom, I replaced my floors last spring and inspected the transom and it apears to be in good order.

My stringers are hollow fiberglass. Had they been wood they would have needed replacing as well.

I think 22 years and the fact that the stringers out lasted the deck is testimony enough to the fact that man made will last longer than wood.

In fact the fasteners that held the original deck to the stringers(steel nails) were only stubs sticking out of the stringers about 1/4 inch(rusted). I expect that the deck I installed will need replaced before the stringers but that won't be for a long time.

 

[Subliminal]

Re: looking for a wood free boat?

The dealer I bought my boat from was telling me about this same thing. Back in the day darn near the whole boat was wood. Then they went to no wood and found that wasn't the best either. Now it's a mix of the two, with wood that's injected with fiberglass. You get the benefits of both.

I think some take no wood to mean its better, but I don't think that is necessarily true. I guess we'll see how these 'no wood' boats hold up in 20 or so years.

 

[jkust]

Re: looking for a wood free boat?

Having owned a Larson boat that eventually needed the floor replaced and the transom repaired because of rotted wood, I will always now go for a wood free boat....which I did with a newer Larson. With a lifetime transferable (one-time) hull warranty I don't see how you can go wrong.

Yep agreed for a used boat with a bad string of previous owners. Amongst our boats, we still have our 1984 Bayliner we bought brand new and it is as good as new having lived its life in the harshest climate and stored outside all but a couple years. A good owner won't have rot issues and bad owners will cause them to be discovered by a subsequent owner.

 

[Kracken]

Re: looking for a wood free boat?

I believe the OP was referring to wood stringers.

When I started reading it I was thinking: Get ready to flame the poster. The more I read the more in made sense.

I am pretty sure manufacturers like Cobalt, Hatterus, and Formula use White Oak for stringers. These are hardly poorly manufactured boats. On the other hand, Bryant, SeaRay and Chaps (all quality) are wood free.

Interesting topic.

 

[Senza]

Re: looking for a wood free boat?

Yep agreed for a used boat with a bad string of previous owners. Amongst our boats, we still have our 1984 Bayliner we bought brand new and it is as good as new having lived its life in the harshest climate and stored outside all but a couple years. A good owner won't have rot issues and bad owners will cause them to be discovered by a subsequent owner.

I disagree with part of what you said. The boat I had probems with was a 1982 Larson which I bought in 1984....I used it until 2006 when I purchased a 2005 Larson Senza 206. The old Larson was stored correctly and taken care off....I think the problem with the floor is it getting wet everytime a someone gets in the boat all wet from skiing or tubing. The Transom, I don't know why but it got all soft as the wood rotted. With the newer Larson I don't have to worry about either of those problems.

 

[jkust]

Re: looking for a wood free boat?

I disagree with part of what you said. The boat I had probems with was a 1982 Larson which I bought in 1984....I used it until 2006 when I purchased a 2005 Larson Senza 206. The old Larson was stored correctly and taken care off....I think the problem with the floor is it getting wet everytime a someone gets in the boat all wet from skiing or tubing. The Transom, I don't know why but it got all soft as the wood rotted. With the newer Larson I don't have to worry about either of those problems.

Well I stand corrected but I believe you and I are the exceptions. I realize that owning a 1984 anything for this long is an outlier and since Bayliners of this vintage are particularly bashed, it enhances my point. My point really being that a good owner can overcome even the worst constructions shy of the outliers. If my poorly constructed Bayliner made it unscathed, why not others?

 

[Cool Brees]

Re: looking for a wood free boat?

I can definitely see why wood would provide better performance than man made products. I have recently driven new boats containing wood and non wood boats. Without question the boats with wood construction felt heavier and more solid than their counter parts. I guess like everything else it comes down to what is important to the purchaser.

I have seen Reggie Fountain a few years back. The dude looks like Brian Billicks twin brother.

 

[asm_]

Re: looking for a wood free boat?

I'm sure the difference you felt between wood and non-wood boat is simply the matter of design decision made by the engineer. Composite material can be as heavy or as strong if not stronger then wood. For example, solid piece of fiberglass that are layered using fiber glass mat would certainly weight more then a piece wood in the same size.

I think the reason we are not building more full composite boat using fiberglass, Kevlar, and carbon fiber is probably due to cost and lack of experties in composite manufacturing in the boat industry. But, in time, we will evolve.

B

 

[ziggy]

Re: looking for a wood free boat?

so far i'm sold on wood free boats. and the technology isn't that new.
the boat in my sig is billed as wood free. for the most part it is too. certainly no wood stringers nor wood sole. just glass and foam. it's a three part boat. most boats have a hull and a cap. mine has that + an inner liner. in between the liner and the hull is full foam.
http://www.aristocraftboats.com/fiberglassbrochures/Incomparable19page4.pdf

where i believe i have wood is in the transom to build up the stern drive mounting area. under the sole for the ft. motor mounts to bolt to, seats cushions only, and ski locker lid only.. the ski locker acts as the stringers.

being a wood free boat was a sale point to me when i bought it.

 

[Woodnaut]

Re: looking for a wood free boat?

This is an interesting post. First off, I have a wood boat. (See avitar) I do find it unusual, however, that in this day and age of super composites that wood has not been completely superceeded in boat construction. Is it just a matter of economics? I was just thinking that there are some really incredible aircraft made from composites that seem to stay together pretty well. It just seems that a thick-section stringer (and transom) could be made from composites with very high longitudinal strength and flexibility.

 

[jonesg]

Re: looking for a wood free boat?

Theres nothing wrong with wood and nothing wrong with no wood.

Stringers in composite boats are to provide shape to the glass that goes over them, the bond to the composite stringer isn't important, the shape is.
If the bond joint was so important they wouldn't make the stringer from urethane foam would they.

I prefer composite because I don't like taking care of stuff to the degree wood requires.

OPen bowriders, full of fallaparticle board furniture and bleepin rugs, thats just asking for scrupulous care or rot. If I had one it would last 3 years.