Sled floor replacement? plywood or ....

[NEUTRON]

Have the floor removed... contemplating what material to replace it with... How about opinions and why? suppliers for materials?

[Uglygreen]

DP Aluminum - cause you never have to do it again.

UG

[Chromaflage]

hey, I'm going to do the same thing to my sled - forgive my ignorance, but what's DP aluminum? [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img] And where do you get it? What's the cost relative to marine plywood?

ORS

[FishinMission]

Keta..Or you won't be able to fry an egg on it either...

Mark

[Grain of Salt]

yep diamond plate is durable, but...., I went thru this same question about a year ago, was going to go with 3/16 diamond plate but it is spendy unless you have a source, it is noisy, (drop a 4 oz from 3 feet and see what i mean) it glares and heats up in the sun (september on the columbia gets hot!)it is hard to hide from the ducks (unless you paint it, then the paint rubs off all the nubby things). It can be worked with general woodworking tools however...just keep the old floorboards as patterns and skilsaw away....please wear saftety glasses tho....

After considering standard sheet aluminum with a rhino coating (would have had to add more support structure) and sheet fiberglass panels (very very heavy) I went back to plywood with a twist.
5/8" MDO with an epoxy coating (triple coat the edges to keep the water out). Plywood has great strength to weight ratio, fairly cheap (but factor in the epoxy) and is quiet and cool. Just add some traction sand to deck paint for the top coat (may need to reapply paint after 4-5 years of normal use) not as maintenance free as DP but a good compromise

[Hoosier Daddy]

http://www.bertram31.com/proj/tips/pvc.htm


what about something like foam sammich board....?

[Billy Tillamook]

Had the same dilemma, kept my old flooring and laid 1/8 diamond plate over it. looks classier i think... it is bright for a few trips but after it gets walked on with sandy feet and such it dulls it up

billy

[Lund]

Diamond plate is okay until you put a fish on it and then try to walk on it. It's very slick with fish slime and hot in the sun.

Best thing I have found is 1/8" flat aluminum. cut the pieces out and rough it up a bit. Take it to Gratteries Les Schwab in Hillsboro, and they will spray it with any color truck bed lining for $200 or less. have them put Garnet sand on top of it and spray a coat over that and it will have tons of traction and durrable as you can get.

[Flatfish]

Diamond plate will not wear out. It will dull up some. It is slicker than plywood. And in when thick enough to support a boatful of anglers, very expensive.

I know tearing out boat floors may not be the most entertaining project, but I can afford a lot of plywood and labor for the cost of DP.

DP sure does add to the "Bubba" factor though.

Mark and the dog.

[uhmw]

ultra high molecular weight polyethylene plastic with rocks impergnated in the surface would make a nice floor. we sell it to the navy up at the bremerton ship yard where they use it to replace decking on there landing craft and docks. its the same stuff the pros use on the bottem of their sleds to deflect rocks and keep from destroying their hull, the only differance is we add crushed rocks to the hot polymer creating a cement like surface that is mostly polymer and can be cut like wood via-table saw ,router, drill . the material is light yet so durable tanks can drive over it. sheet size range from .25x48x120 to over 8" x48x120 It is called anti skid uhmw Uv inhibitive. ask for randy and mention Ifish @ power plastic corp 1-800-495-8141

[Pitch Pocket]

The marine plywood lasted how many years....15 or more? Plan to have that boat in another 15 years? Diamond plate is pretty, but not very practical and very expensive. I'd recommend just getting the coated plywood. It's quiet, you save money and weight. Forget about the DP, unless you're just made of money and have no where better to spend it.

[back bouncer]

plywood with fiber glass or marine epoxy on both sides and edges. my boat is a 1956 woody. still solid.

[ANDYCOHO]

Where are you guys getting that DP Alum. gets hotter in the sun than vinyl coated plywood?

I have a DP Alum. front deck on my sled and vinyl coated plywood everywhere else. On hot days I CAN NOT walk on the vinyl with my bare feet(way to hot) but the DP Alum is consistantly cooler.

Maybe, I just have had strange boats compared to everyone else

I'm not being rude just curious....

[Mr. Carp]

Stay away from Diamond Plate. Go with Plywood. The diamond plate is hot and slick.

I guess I am not telling you anything you haven't already heard. :grin:

[ZaQ]

Carp man, your back.....................

I vote for the plywood!

[Bill Monroe]

Jim Martin showed me some rubber matting he found at a store of some sort in Jantzen Beach. It's easy to clean, doesn't keep a film to slip on, had good traction and goes on top of anything (such as plain aluminum instead of the spendier diamond plate). I also saw some at Environmental something or other at 8th and taylor (SE).

[snit]

DP stands for diamond plate.

[Chromaflage]

D'Oh [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img]

Plywood is quieter but it won't last as long.

[Carver_OR]

I vote for DP. I used it on the Deschutes for ten years in my sled in that hot east side sun, it was never hot, loud or slippery. You can purchase it used at a place on Evellyn street in Clackamas.

Pat

[Wet_Willy]

How long are ya gonna keep that sled Roger? I have fished on hot summer days over diamondplate and it didn't get hot (did reflect more though and I got sunburnt) but it'll never have to be replaced, doesn't sag and cleans easily. For me I'd choose diamondplate for its durability. I like to do a project once and then not have to mess with it again. If you are planning to upgrade boats in another 5 years I wouldn't spend the extra dough though. Gotta keep it for awhile to get the value out of it. As far as noise goes, aluminum boats are noisy anyway, if Roger wants to go stealthy, he can take his tupperware boat.
Bill