plywood deck replacement question

[walt-oxie1]

I have a 16" well boat I am working on and have a few questions. First off, it is a flat bottom boat and the plywood was flat against the bottom of the boat. What is the best method for attaching the plywood? If I decide to just build it up with glass and not use plywood, how thick would I need to build it up to keep the strength about the same as the 3/8 plywood? Would it be recommended to do so? The boat will get well abused since it is commercial. It will hit sandbars, oyster beds, stumps and god knows what. It will also need to carry heavy loads, 1000 to 1500 pounds of fish, plus nets, etc (which it done before I pulled it out the water after meeting a steel pipe and sinking). This is the first boat I have worked on with no stringers or floor supports. Oh yeah, before epoxy is mentioned, I will be using poly since I have 4 55 gallon drums of it already.

 

[Bondo]

Re: plywood deck replacement question

First off, it is a flat bottom boat and the plywood was flat against the bottom of the boat. What is the best method for attaching the plywood?

Ayuh,... A Picture sure would be Nice,... Having a hard time visualizing it...

Is the plywood a deck, or a filler for the hull,..??

 

[walt-oxie1]

Re: plywood deck replacement question

Ayuh,... A Picture sure would be Nice,... Having a hard time visualizing it...

Is the plywood a deck, or a filler for the hull,..??

It is a filler for the hull I believe. The plywood was between the bottom of the boat and a layer of glass.

 

[HVAC Cruiser]

Re: plywood deck replacement question

It is a filler for the hull I believe. The plywood was between the bottom of the boat and a layer of glass.

Without seeing a pic it sounds like it is the core of the hull. If it were me I would re-install new ACX plywood, that's were you would get your strength. Seeing you have the resin, thin out some with styrene soak the new panels and seal the edges. Then wet out a layer of 1708 biax on the bottom of it, thicken some resin coat the hull with the thickened lay the ply and weigh the heck out of it down. if you can make a clamping system for it even better.
after that I would tab it in using 1708, and layer it from there

Hope that helps some, Others might have some better ideas with more experience than me

Good lick with your project

 

[walt-oxie1]

Re: plywood deck replacement question

That is pretty much what I had figured on doing if/when I put the plywood down, except for layering the 1708 on top and not just tabbing it. I may go 2 layers of 1708 and 1 CSM over the plywood since the floors on my work boats have to be repaired every year due to wear. I should have taken pictures before I removed all the wood from the boat. I have 2 other boats to do repairs on this winter but they are not as bad as this one. Hopefully the rain and cold weather will hold off for a bit.

 

[HVAC Cruiser]

Re: plywood deck replacement question

I threw the 1708 in on the bottom for good measure ( my nickname is overkill bill lol ) not knowing the condition of the existing hull. when I did mine I did the topside the exact same way you stated with 2layers 1708 + 1 csm. I did do a layer of 1708 0n the bottom. Now I can do an Irish jig on it and its solid like a rock

 

[walt-oxie1]

Re: plywood deck replacement question

I threw the 1708 in on the bottom for good measure ( my nickname is overkill bill lol ) not knowing the condition of the existing hull. when I did mine I did the topside the exact same way you stated with 2layers 1708 + 1 csm. I did do a layer of 1708 0n the bottom. Now I can do an Irish jig on it and its solid like a rock

There is nothing wrong with overkill. I am going with a layer of 1708 and CSM on the outside of the hull too. I was planning on doing it today but mother nature doesn't want me too. I have already made repairs to the hull where it met the steel pipe in the water. I should post that story in the "stupid things" section.