Best Drift Boat - Wood, Fiberglass or Aluminum?

drifter · 01-23-2001, 01:34 PM

Hey Chromers - alot of discussion recently about wood drift boats. Certainly cheaper and some look real nice.

But, have always heard that they are harder to handle and not as safe as aluminum. Also, what about fiberglass?

I hope to purchase my FIRST drift boat in the near future. Since I plan on taking my kids whenever possible, I need something safe. What do you recommend and why?

Thanks, as always, Drifter.

rob · 01-23-2001, 01:46 PM

I don't own a drift boat but I've heard that as with any wood product, the wooden boats will rot and/or warp if not kept dry. I would also imagine that any nicks or scratches would have to be refinished to keep from absorbing water.

lippee · 01-23-2001, 01:53 PM

Drifter
I have had both, Wood boat's are very good floater's and there not hard to handle. On the down side of the wooden drifter is the constant maintence and up keep, If you like doing that kind of thing great, If not buy the aluminum like I did.

Master Baiter · 01-23-2001, 02:16 PM

Drifter, some believe that Aluminum is colder than the other two. Fiberglass will slip off rocks easier where alumninum tends to grab because it is more ductile and not as smooth as glass. Holes in glass can be patched relatively simply but aluminum is more difficult. However, glass can develop hairline fractures and weak spots that are not visible too the eye. I heard a story about a guy that had an accident with a glass boat and could not get anyone to repair because they would not guarentee the integrity of the hull.

Just some things I've heard! Good luck...

Mikie · 01-23-2001, 02:43 PM

Hey drifter. Fiberglass drift boats are really nice, their quiet, handle really nice and are fairly easy to clean . I use to own a slide-rite 16 ft. 1987 model built in eugene oregon, really nice boat, you do have to be careful with sharp heavy object's inside the boat however , like pyramid anchor's ,they will cause spider web fracture's in the gel-coat. I know own a 16 ft. Koffler wide bottom with the walk through front seat arrangment I really like the additional room in this boat , and it handles really well . Aluminium is pretty tough to beat, I give thumb's up to either of these material's for a drift boat. SEE YA MIKIE

chinook_hunter · 01-23-2001, 07:08 PM

Drifter I have 17ft aulmaweld guide and love IT if you keep agood coat of gluvit on the bottom alum boats slide over rocks like anything else

kinaye · 01-23-2001, 08:54 PM

Picked up a wood boat with trailer for 600 bucks-nice trailer, they are expensive. After about 40 hours of work on the drift boat, cleanin out and epoxying rot, sandin paintin, customizin, got er to where i liked it. Sucker gets water in it if I don't take it out for a couple weeks, then gets heavy. But have floated the upper drift on the Hoh, Cowlitz, Sky, Humptulips, etc. Don't think i would float the Sol duc. But take it out ten-15 times a winter, does fine. Got to put some time into it every summer though and flip it over, got the plastic on the boottom it likes to pop over the screws holding it down so i have to replace a couple every year. K

ampersat · 01-24-2001, 08:41 AM

i recently had this discussion with a guy at work and here's the short and sweet of what he had to say. throw a piece of wood, a piece of aluminum and a piece of fiberglass into the river (not literally) and see what happens. for my money, wood drift boats show up for cheap and they are relatively easy to repair although maintenance is an issue. i'd rather have fiberglass overall because i'm much more familiar with the repair process; however, fiberglass boats don't come cheap. when i get some bucks scraped together, i'll be getting a woody.

Wally · 01-24-2001, 08:49 AM

I picked up a used 14 foot Clackacraft a couple of years ago as my first boat and I have been really pleased with it. Like some of the others have mentioned it is great in skinny water - really slides over the rocks. I can get through stuff that other guys have to get out and drag their boat through. It is super low maintenance, just keep it clean and go fish. The down side is glass boats are a little heavier, and they don't have any chine so they don't track as well when you are back trolling. The new Clackacraft tunnel hull is supposed to cure this. I would like to get a bigger boat in the future and I would seriously look at a new Clackacraft. Every dealing I have had with them has been great, and they used to have a trade up deal where you could get most or all of the purchase price of your boat back if you trade up to a new one.

Roeboat · 01-24-2001, 09:18 AM

If I were to go out and buy a new driftboat, I'd probably buy a willie guide. They row very nice for their size and pull plugs and handle very well. (they have a very well designed hull rocker) Any aluminum boat must have the hull coated or it will be dangerous in extreme rocky conditions when it hangs on rocks. I built my boat out of wood and lots of hand layed (no mat)fiberglass. It combines the beauty of wood, and the strength and functionality of fiberglass (my boat has no frames, ribs, stringers), so it is ultralight (launched at 135 pounds), very strong, and quite the little hot rod for handling. Mine is a stressed plywood design out of 1/4 plywood bent and fiberglassed with 80 ounces of hand layed glass on the bottom, 16 ounces on the sides. It is designed to flex and not hang when you go over the nasty rocks)It has so far been fished hard for 10 years with no problems. I have bounced it down to rivers over concrete bric a brac, lowered it down cliffs on ropes, pulled it back up cliffs by rope connected to the truck bumper around a telephone pole, banged into some healthy rocks on the Sol Duc and Calawah and my worst knick came from some#$#@% who sunk angle irons into a drift to keep out drift boats. I still show the scars of a tough impact at speed but the iron still didn't pierce the hull. I flip the boat every 3-4 years and give it another coat of wax solution. Basically you dissolve grated parafin wax in styrene (1/4 block per qt. approx.) and stir some into colored laminating resin. As the resin dries the wax surfaces and makes a very slick durable coating for fiberglass as well as filling in a lot of the rock scratches from previous seasons. By the way this wax solution makes the easiest sanding resin there is. Try it and you will never ever use a commercially made product again! I made surfboards and wind surfers for years so fiberglassing is easy for me but it is hard to learn to do well with a mimimum of sanding. All of the other home made wooden driftboats I have rowed were much to heavy and with the ribbed design they are also much to prone to rot and maintenance and the hull rocker designs have not been well thought out. You would probably be happiest with a fine aluminum boat like the Willie.

STRIKE ZONE · 01-25-2001, 07:35 AM

It's hard to beat an aluminum boat these days for strength,maintenance,ect.who wants to maintain?? when theres fish to be caught.
If I were to by new it would be the 16x54 guide model willies.I currently own a fish-Rite that works great but is the mid eighties
model.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

Osprey · 01-25-2001, 07:48 AM

I used to own 16' lavro (glass boat) and enjoyed it for years,then I bult my first Cataraft...sold the drifter 3 months later never rowed it again,it depends on you're needs...Os

Artwo · 01-25-2001, 08:46 AM

I spent about a year looking at briftboats before I bought mine. I looked at the Willie boats, very nice but a little spendy. I looked at Alumaweld (sp), same thoughts as the Willie. Allthough both these manufacturers are very popular and very well designed I decided on a Fish Rite, same basic features but much cheaper. My boat has the new flat curve hull design which makes it row soooooo easy. All I've done to the boat other thatn the normal fishing garb is coated the bottom with Gluvit. I would recommend Fish Rite to anyone, they have allot of sizes available along with many different seating arrangements. I did get a chance to fish with a friend this last spring who bought a new Clackacraft 16ft. guide model, I thought it was very nice and very easy to manuver. I would however agree with the above comment above that it seemed hard to keep straight while backtrolling it had a tendency to slip side to side, overall it was pretty nice.

JK

ampersat · 01-25-2001, 08:48 AM

so, what about hanging a motor off the back of a wooden drifter? in hopes of being able to fish as many different places as possible, i plan to get a 6hp 4 stroke and i'm wondering if a tired old wooden boat would withstand the increased stress. by the way, is a 6hp going to be enough to get me around in the spring chinook melees down around oregon city? what about doing the columbia at the mouth of the sandy for those summer run steelhead? would i end up in astoria if i tried it with a 6 hp?