stringers

[Cptkid570]

This is going to be an odd question..but, I read on here all of the time about rotten stringes…. And I must ask. If a boat has rotten stringers that don’t get repaired, what happens?? Does the boat just become a little bit less flexible so it handles worse? Does the boat break in half? Do the boat’s floors just get weak and mushy?

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: stringers

you or someone steps thru and breaks and ankle, if not more. hope you've got insurance.

 

[samsam]

Re: stringers

Originally posted by cptkid570:<br /> This is going to be an odd question..but, I read on here all of the time about rotten stringes…. And I must ask. If a boat has rotten stringers that don’t get repaired, what happens?? Does the boat just become a little bit less flexible so it handles worse? Does the boat break in half? Do the boat’s floors just get weak and mushy?

It's not specific, as in "If the wing falls off your plane while flying, what happens?" Basically the boat gets more and more flexible, you step through or drop an anchor, holes appear in the floor, more water gets below to cause more rot. The boat gets heavier, your seats rip out of the floor, you have to sit on the cooler.If your motor hits something submerged, that might rip off and sink along with some or most of the transom as it's probably rotten and gets a lot of it's strength from the floor and stringer system, but not if they're rotten, too. Somewhere along the line reasonable people quit going boating with you and you might become criminally negligent if anyone dies. Boats are a conglomeration of systems/parts that all work together for strength, if one fails the rest is weaker. It's not neccessarily "does" the boat break in half, but it surely "might". Sam

 

[fishingdan]

Re: stringers

Sam is absolutely correct. Stringers provide a back bone for your boat. By itself, the back bone isn't very strong. However, bond it to the hull of your boat, the transom, frames/bulkheads and the boats floor and you have a strong structure specifically engineered for the loads expected on and in your boat.

 

[surlyjoe]

Re: stringers

if you beat the boat in chop with a brocken stringer it will work the glass at that point till a hole develops, and will eventaully crack out from there, maybe even lose part of it

 

[OHfishing]

Re: stringers

True story here short and sweet. I bought a boat 5 years ago and put in new carpet, noticed a "mush" spot on the floor and ignored it. last tuesday was on a local lake, the lake level was down 3 ft and I was doing 35 mph in a 1972 MFG boat, I noticed on the hummingbird I hit some shallow water and quickly found neutral, I tried to tilt but it was to late .... BOOM !! .. I tilted and looked at my prop and its banged up, So I headed in to the ramp, I wanted to see how bad the pitch was on my outboard so I opened her up and to my suprise my floor opened up like an earthquake, I let off the throttle and it closed up, I thought I was sinking, I hit the bilge pumps and no water came out, So I realized I wasnt taking water so I examined the floor, I gassed it again and the carpet again rised about 8" off the floor to the point of tearing, I went in at a crawl and took her home, Removed my seats and pulled the carpet out, 4 stringers all rotten, 2 of them (same side) exploded right in half, wet mushy wood was everywhere. There was literally NO support being given to the boat and it was bending when I gassed the throttle, I never felt so scared on the water before, thats what I get for ignoring "mushy spots" when I first found them. If you look for my post called "72 mfg" you will see the photographs of what ignoring the problem looks like ..... fix it while it floats

 

[dmarkvid2]

Re: stringers

What Happens? You spend the whole day worring, and wondering if the hull will give way. I don't know about you, but but I have more better things to think about than that...

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: stringers

What happens? You end up on a first name basis with your local marine and hardware suppliers buying epoxy, fiberglass, fillers, foam, sandpaper, carpet, vinyl, stainless screws and bolts, and band-aids...<br />- Scott