72 20' sf Wood or no wood

[real deal]

Whats your guys opinion on using wood for deck and transom? . I have priced out coosa 3/4 at $250 a sheet my cost and thermo lite at $240 a sheet .im not crazy about the cost compared to marine plywood at around $100. I want this boat to be perfect and one day have good resale value and i know alot of people look down on wood.

[ReelTherapy]

I'm going all composite for my 70 20' for resale and piece of mind. That said, there's nothing wrong with wood if you do everything correctly. Personally i think it's worth the investment. I'm sure you can find deals on coosa and other cores if you look around. I found some on craigslist.

[Ryan]

Wood is fine as a core material, however some people will not consider buying a boat with wood in it,just the way it is. It will be interesting to see how long the composites last now that they have been around for a while. I have seen that de-lamination is a problem in some composite boats.

[Islandtrader]

Originally Posted by real deal

Whats your guys opinion on using wood for deck and transom? . I have priced out coosa 3/4 at $250 a sheet my cost and thermo lite at $240 a sheet .im not crazy about the cost compared to marine plywood at around $100. I want this boat to be perfect and one day have good resale value and i know alot of people look down on wood.

Wood is not the enemy...its the drilling of holes and not sealing them properly. If you document everything and show that you have sealed the marine ply and glassed it. You won't have a problem justifying why you used it.

I used wood on my rebuild and do not regret it. Good luck with the rebuild .

[ReelTherapy]

Originally Posted by Islandtrader

Wood is not the enemy...its the drilling of holes and not sealing them properly. If you document everything and show that you have sealed the marine ply and glassed it. You won't have a problem justifying why you used it.

I used wood on my rebuild and do not regret it. Good luck with the rebuild .

Islandtrader is correct. Drilling and filling is what i was referring to. I build a 16 ft glass over marine ply (all epoxy) 5 years ago and the only issues I've had are the handful of screw holes in the gunnel where i rushed and didn't drill n fill.

[NoBones]

If you are a young guy that plans to keep the boat use what your
conscience dictates !

I used 3/4 marine plywood when the NoBones was re-habed
30 years ago... was at the age of 34 at the time..
To this day there are NO signs of any bad wood. Reason
lots of 5200 was used on every drilled hole. (except motor mount)

Now at the age of 64 re-habing a 1975 Hewes with wood...
Reason it only needs to last me maybe 10-15 years before to old
to fish and move around.. Let the next guy worry about it !!!

[real deal]

I do appreciate the reply’s everyone ,before I bought the seacraft I had a 1988 236 mako that I restored to better than new . It had a little wood and a little composite I loved the boat but it was a strait inboard and didn’t work well in shallow water , so I sold it . I got probably a hundred calls on it and the first question I got was “does it have wood in it “ it drove me crazy cause I didn’t want to lie and say no but on the other hand I didn’t want to say yes and lose the sale .the guy that bought it looked pass the fact that it had little wood in it.i tend to go over board when restoring my boats , I’m the guy that has the hose ready when the fish hits the deck , lol, I’m 39 years old and thinking this might be the last boat I restore , hahahaha just kidding , I’m thinking a 23 sc is next , I love the look of these hulls and the way they sit in the water .honestly I still can’t decide.

[real deal]

Here's a picture of the old Mako

[real deal]

Interior

[Beaver]

That Mako looks fantastic!!!!