Boat Construction & Building at low cost

Alas I'm not young and free, else I'd love to come help.

Also sorry, no good ideas as it's not my field of experience or expertise, but I wish you the best of luck with your project.

Del

In the US, almost all commercial boats are built of steel, and if the bottom and sides are not compound curved, this can be a very fast construction method. Plywood is used for smaller fishing boats, and is is sometimes covered in thick fiberglass in polyester resin. (Polyester resin is not considered a high quality material here for wooden boats, but with enough thickness, it works well.) Epoxy is a much better adhesive, and far better for water resistance, but it is costly. Wooden planks are another option, and many boats are still built in this traditional way.

For low volume production, standard fiberglass boat construction (with polyester or vinlyester resin) makes sense, if these boats are not too large.

But for a durable flat-bottomed easy-to-construct work boat, steel is hard to beat.

Its important to know the size of the boat to reccommend build materials. What type of commercial use.

The two simplest materials are steel and aluminum. Flat bottom commercial river boats up to 30 ft made of aluminum have been used on the Mississippi river for years. Either material construction is welded. A good example of a steel river boat used today is the Island Girl ported in La Crosse Wi.

The first thing any of us would like or need to know is how long,how wide,what kind of power, what kind of loads, all of this will be of help at comming up with a usefull design to fill your needs. A boat for the most part,is a hole in the water that you keep throwing money into.

As for safety, design areas of the boat to be filled with closed cell foam enough to make the boat sink resistant by displacing more water by weight than that of the boat.

Design the boat with things like fire and accident prevention and accidents in mind.

For durability reinforce points of stress. Cheap and durable can be difficult to do.

Corrosion is a big factor in metal boats. FRP(fiberglass) has problems with Ultra Violet.

Not enough information to say much more.

Design parameters: speed; cargo capacity; range; materials; insurance specification; water conditions(average and worst); power plant type; propulsion type; servicing and maintenance; maneuverability; etc.

The quantity of boats to build determines if you scratch build or make reusable forms, jigs, and molds.

good luck their is allot for you to learn but it is do able.

Brad

WE are a boat builder in England, and we make fast commercial and leisure boats suited to shallow waters - see www.explorermarine.co.uk .

As the thread has asked, we all need to know the sizes and weights and payloads and speeds required.

Are these freshwater lakes, is the depth sufficient for outboards, is there too much weed for waterjet drives?

Plenty of questions, but I will be pleased to help.

Dear Sir,

With : past , widespread : construction/mining activities in quite remote areas my suggestions are based on the level of expertize of the indigeneous workers you will have to deal with and the of availability of material.

When you say that you are needing " low draft transport " one of the best concepts is that of cat or tri-maran simple steel structures which use steel drums (which can be changed when holed or rusty) as means of floatation.These drums are individually lashed on the underside of the frame.(These days you can use discarded plastic containers which are up to 200 liters capacity) If possible they should be contiguous so as to limit "drag" in the water .Should no steel be available for the frames then bolted timber frames (and decks, incidentally the latter can be made of bamboo) will solve the problems.

2The alternatives are many (if you do not have the money to buy good quality aluminium or steel boats . Steel is far easier to weld on the spot and in remote areas). One of the most inovative solution I have seen is in : North Vietnam where woven bamboo mats are shaped tub like and rendered water proof by molten coal-tar or "pitch" (Northern Viet Nam coal in the vicinity of Campha -near Baie d'Along- is plentiful and serves as an excellent water proof for above purpose)

b.The second " do-it yourself system " that can be recommended is the use of concrete. Concrete boats have been around for almost 2 centuries. Of course they are heavy but will last forever without maintenance. Some countries such as New-Zealand call these boats "ferro-crete".

Again ferrocrete cylindrical tanks can be used in catamarans or tri-maran flat decked boats or barges. If the concept of a flat deck is good for the work (and transpor) you envisage, my suggestion is that this approach may be the best. An outboard motor can easily be fitted. ( I you want to go really basic I suggest you look up Chinese builders of diesel powered out-board drive which are used to power the low -draft barges on waterways . These are generally one or two cylinders, water cooled, slow -probably 600 rpm -churning diesels generally coupled to an outboard Z type propeller .

The installation is simple . The coupling is by V- belt drive. It is very cheap and efficient and will outlast , and by far, most modern Japanese or US made outboard motors. In various hp/sizes barges of up to 700 tonnes are using these very economical propulsion systems ( The German Schottel Company had a simple diesel powered heavy- duty outboard in the 25/50 hp. Extremely good quality but much more expensive- and I do not know if they still produce same.

In all the above I have assumed that you want reliability , as well as :very low cost so my suggestions are quite basic . If you have the money the boats that are offered by the UK Company are obviously spot-on.

Good luck on your worthy endeavours If you get "stuck" yell (I notice you have already attracted the best "brains" on the circuit !.It is amazing how when "one lights a candle the number of butter- flies that are attracted " -myself included !!!

"Labor"