DRIFT BOAT REPAIR

[KENAIDOG]

I took everyones advice and bought my first drift boat over the weekend. I just had a couple questions to ask on repair. First the raised floor that is in it now needs to be replaced. Has anyone everused diamondplate instead of the plywood? I'm capable of replacing with either one, but not sure which to use? Second, glovet needs to be repaired. Has anyone ever rhinolined the bottom? how about the inside being rhinolined? I'm thinking maybe to heavy,but what about conveinece? Any help appreciated, thanks

[ampersat]

truck bedliner has been really popular inside the aluminum motor boats of late. if i had a boat that needed an interior job, that's what i'd use. by the way guys, a buddy of mine just bought a new trailer for his drift boat and the guy told him he'd do well to coat it with bedliner. something about nicking the paint with rocks during the tow and getting rust or something. graemlins/idea.gif inside a drift boat, it might be a little heavy. it won't get any heavier inside the boat than it is in the can though.

as for the bottom, ever since i found out about UHMW, i've wondered why guys still bother (or don't bother and regret it) with glovit. with aluminum boats, weight is an issue; however, UHMW is actually lighter than water, thus adding to bouyancy. just a thought.

[fishbait]

You might call Pat Able at Parks Able Metal Products in Aloha. I know he has put some Aluminum Diamond Plate floors in a few driftboats and I bet he would give you his input. Tell him his cousin sent you..........

[skein]

Uh....what's UHMW? I'm about to re-glovit my boat, but I can't stay out of it long enough. Your mention of UHMW kinda intrigued me.

Skein

[Flatfish]

Dog,
if you can use any of the listed materials, then proceed.Just remember that small steps are good.Any large amount of weight will be noticed by the oarsman.If you can,temp the stuff in place and see if you like it.If you do weld away.If not you can play around with it til you do like it.For what it's worth My Willie has plywood backed floors and they look great,It was made in 1989 and has seen a lot of use.I like gluvit pretty much every year.The new coatings sound trick, but I would prefer more field testing before it goes on my can.Have seen several pickup beds that are coated with that stuff and have torn the liner.Never cut it on my rock scratching machine.
Congrats on the new rig.
Mark.

[chromer]

According to Joe Koffler a wood and diamond plate floor weigh the same when new. Given that the wood floor will absorb water becoming heavier and will rot over time, I invested in the diamond plate.

I also have diamond plate in my sled and the reflection is killer on sunny days. I had the floor in my drift boat painted and then had the diamonds sanded. Looks great and no glare. Will likely have the same done to the sled, just as soon as I get a good tan on all 3 of my chins!

I also have UHMW on my Koffler drift boat. Only way to go. Had it on my first boat (wood) and got tired of replacing Gluv-It/Coat-It on my Willie. So the new Koffler has a UHMW shoe on it. A couple of observations - First it's very very slick and the boat will not stay on the bank without the anchor out. Second - the trailer has UHMW on the bunks. All I have to do is pull up to the river and say "In" and it unloads itself. Same when loading. Just a sharp "Out" and its on the trailer. Not quite that easy, but just about! :cheers:

Tight lines.

[ampersat]

for those of you who are :whazzup: , UHMW is short for ultra high molecular weight (plastic). they've been putting this stuff on the bottom of wooden drift boats for a few years now. go here for info on it. (http://www.gregboats.com/pages/uhmw.html) it is very slick and yes, you might dump your boat off the trailer once or twice when you first put it on (as greg himself did the first time).
my only concern would be shooting the screws through the bottom of your boat to install it. maybe some sort of rubber washer on the inside to seal up leaks. absolutely nothing sticks to it so gluing it on is out of the question. it's a little pricey but for the money and time it beats having to glovit every year. all that, and it's bouyant getting your boat just an inch or two further out of the water. it is heavy though so you may feel it on the oars. having not rowed a boat myself, i couldn't tell you about overall weight vs. how deep in the water you ride when it comes to rowing.

greg sells the kits and for $250 you can cover the entire bottom of your boat. it looks like a DIY kind of thing but you could probably get someone to install it for you if you didn't want to break a sweat yourself.

[ 07-02-2002, 09:37 AM: Message edited by: ampersat ]

[TideRunner]

Who would be reccommended to install the UHMW?

[Artwo]

When I bought my alluminum drift boat it did not have any coating on the bottom. I did allot of research into the different coatings to use and ended up using coat-it. Here are somethings I found in my research:

rinoliner (bottom only)- What I was told by some who have used it is it's nice until you get a gouge in it and then the water forces its way between the coating and the boat bottom and causes a large seperation (bubble) which has to be removed and repaired.

UHMW- Having owned wood boats in the past, I agree that this is the best material to use. Only problem is attaching (screwing) it to the bottom of your alluminum boat. It is ideal for wood boats.

Coat-it- If you prep the bottom of your boat real good (follow the directions) this product is very durable, slick and light weight. I did my boat three years ago and have had no problems with it and have not had to re-do it. I may not use my boat as much as others on this site but this coating has worked wonderfully for me. It only took me about three hours to do the bottom of my boat.

Hope this helps.......

JK

[skein]

Thanks, Ampersat. It sounds as if the added bouancy might offset the added weight. I'm not sure I'd want to punch holes in the bottom of my boat, but at least now I can look into it. Thanks for the tip.

Skein