WOOD?
 

I have a 76 inboard and was curious if there was any other wood in the boat besides the transom? Thanks!

Re: WOOD?
 

I have a '74 Tsunami that was an I/O converted to outboards/bracket. The original engine mount stringers look like they were wood....now mostly gone....from the samples I drilled out. The keel support is also wood but
seems pretty solid except for a couple of screw/nail holes.
Amazing considering how long water sat in the hull.

The bulkheads, floor and forward deck are plywood cored....
the gunnels are balsa cored.

Re: WOOD?
 

The deck is laminated with balsa and the cap is laminated with balsa as well.

FellowShip

_______________________________________________

My motto: Just for the Grins :D

Re: WOOD?
 

wow, so there IS alot more wood than i thought in it, bummer :(

Re: WOOD?
 

Not a bummer that boat is 30 Years Old and sounds like you aren’t have much of a problem. After 30 years that’s pretty good to me. Just look at most 30 year old cars or homes sitting out in the weather for that amount of time. The new composites have only been around for approx 15 years. A lot of the guys have re done their boats with Wood and my bet those boats will out last all of us.

FellowShip

_______________________________________________

My motto: Just for the Grins

Re: WOOD?
 

Some "high end" smaller boat manufacturers still use wood for a very good reason....if properly sealed it's great!

Re: WOOD?
 

Hey, the way I see it, wood is a proven product with millions of years of reseach and development........Mother Nature is still using it in the construction of trees all over the world.....

rockdoc

Re: WOOD?
 

dont get me wrong i love wooden boats. I used to build and restore wooden vessels in MA. The only reason I say bummer, is because it confirmsfor me that a complete look through of my boat is in order. I just dont know wether to fish it another year or not before i lay it up for a complete resto. Anybody have a ROUGH idea of what going through one of these boats in fairly good condition and ripping out all of the wood and replacing with composites would cost? I know this is a super vague question, but i just want to know if it is like 5-10k or 20-30 k etc just a ROUGH estimate. Thanks!

Re: WOOD?
 

there are a lot of multi-million dollar sport fishing boats that are wood. Go look at any custom Carolina boat and see if you can find just one of those "wood free construction" stickers on it!

Re: WOOD?
 

i know! wood is great, it transfers energy through the stringers soooo well. But i wouldnt compare a carolina boat to a balsa cored boat that is 30 years old. The resins and technique they had back then was not what it is today or even 20 years ago. It is my belief that if you are going to use wood in your vessel then use it in a cold molded fashion where you can actually take advantage of all of the great properties of wood. But as far as i am concerned I want all of the wood out of my boat, and it will all be taken out.

Re: WOOD?
 

if you want it ALL out, get out the saw and get to work, you've got a project ahead of you. Every hatch will need to be recored, new floor, all horizontal surfaces will need to be redone (deck, gunnels, the works), etc.

I'm sure it will be great when you get it done. I figure my '71 lasted until 2003 (probably would have lasted well beyond that) in its orginal configuration. If I can get 35 more years out of the redone version, I will be 75 years old and at that point all the oil in the Middle East will have been used up and we'll all be driving solar powered kevlar boats (if there's any fish left at that point) by then so I really don't care at that point!

Post photos, many would enjoy the tutorial.

Re: WOOD?
 

If your boat is sound and if the economics of the project are any concern, you might consider selling your current boat and buying one with a rotted transom, soft decks and soft gunwales to work on. You should net at least 10K on the swap.

Re: WOOD?
 

If it ain't broke don't fix it. If the wood is solid why tear the boat apart ?

Re: WOOD?
 

the boat has no issues and i am definately a fan of letting a sleeping dog lay, but it does have a soft spot in the front deck and i can see blistering on the transom, both of which are not huge issues for me, but I am going to have my small block freshened up as well as the tranny rebuilt this winter, i want to be a stickler for a solid drivetrain. during the rebuild i was thinking of sending it out somewhere to get the glasswork done and i am just trying to get a better picture of what all it would encompass financially and time wise. I want to spend my time fishing, not building, so maybe just a fresh motor is all that will happen.