Styrofoam Duck Boat Project

[otterbfishin]

I'm in the design phase of building a light weight portageable duckboat using blue styropfoam. <br />I plan to cover it with 6 oz. S-weave fiberglass cloth with epoxy. <br />Probably laminate a door skin onto the floor for puncture resistance and as a stiffner.<br />Need help with best cutting, glueing and shaping methods and tools for blue or pink styrofoam. <br />Thanks,<br />otter

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Styrofoam Duck Boat Project

you might do some surfboard building research.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Styrofoam Duck Boat Project

Otter, I think they use heated wire saws to shape styrofoam. You may want to install some lightweight wood stringers (nose to tail) to stiffen boat(1x2??). cut channels in the bottom and epoxy them to the foam. If you plan to have any kind of deck with an opening underneath, it will require some kind of support. If you plan to use a small outboard, a wood transom is in order.

 

[otterbfishin]

Re: Styrofoam Duck Boat Project

Thanks for the input. After doing more research I'm not sure that a foam boat will be any lighter than a properly built wooden boat. My aim is tho build a light weight duck boat that I can portage and drag to my favorite hunting marsh. Needs to weigh in at around 40 lbs, and be large enough for me and my black lab hunting partner. Should be wide enough to be a stable shooting platform, and low enough in profile to be camoflaged and used as a blind. I have not found a design that fills these requirements

 

[surlyjoe]

Re: Styrofoam Duck Boat Project

sound like you need the old plastic cement mixing trough with the dock foam screwed to the sides like we used at my dads club back in the day, course you may have a hard time finding a cement trough these days

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Styrofoam Duck Boat Project

Otter, Sears used to sell a styrofoam sailboat called "Snark". It was about 11 feet long with a 3 foot beam. I would guess it would weigh less than 40lbs, and might serve your purpose.

 

[surlyjoe]

Re: Styrofoam Duck Boat Project

NO!! those things are wretched! even to sail they sucked.and the styro is only an inch thick in some spots. you'd be better off in a wash tub than a Snark..

 

[samsam]

Re: Styrofoam Duck Boat Project

Here's one that weighs about 60#....<br /> http://www.svensons.com/boat/?p=RowBoats/Pintail <br />These next two weigh a little over 100#. The sneakbox is a classic.....<br /> http://www.svensons.com/boat/?p=RowBoats/SneakBox <br /> http://www.svensons.com/boat/?p=Utility/JonBoat <br />Those plans came from here....<br /> http://www.svensons.com/boat/ <br />You might find something at this site... <br /> http://www.boat-links.com/boatlink.html <br />Sam

 

[otterbfishin]

Re: Styrofoam Duck Boat Project

samscam,<br />1000 thanks for the links. Using modern boatbuilding techniques a very light weight boat can be built along the lines i've seen here. Much food for thought. <br />Thanks again for the help.<br />otterbfishin

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Styrofoam Duck Boat Project

when i was in my early 20's, pre kids, i had a Yellow Jacket, w 15 rude. foolish days.

 

[surlyjoe]

Re: Styrofoam Duck Boat Project

Originally posted by tashasdaddy:<br /> when i was in my early 20's, pre kids, i had a Yellow Jacket, w 15 rude. foolish days.

that boat is worth a ton of cash these days...

 

[Always Broke]

Re: Styrofoam Duck Boat Project

My second boat was a Sea Snark, They were made in New Castle, Pennsylvania, my hometown. I was just a kid and I abused the crap outta that boat and never broke it. We used to flip it over and use it as a floating dock and dive platform, it was not unusual to have 5 or 6 kids on top the thing. I sandwhiched a few boards under a 3 1/2 horse outboard every now and then too and it was so light it would come up on plane. So Scrumbler musta got a lemon when he bought his.

 

[AMD Rules]

Re: Styrofoam Duck Boat Project

I agree, we have a styrofoam snark at our cottage...been there for 30+ yrs and been used a lot. Seen all kinds of abuse and never missed a beat.

 

[2manyboats]

Re: Styrofoam Duck Boat Project

Otter,<br /><br />I built a 13' Payson's pirogue weighing 35#. It's great as a sneakbox or laydown blind in the shallow waters of Louisiana coastal marshes. No built in floatation as its wood, but again the water is shallow.

 

[jtexas]

Re: Styrofoam Duck Boat Project

Here's plans for a pontoon boat - 12' by 6' - it weighs 150 as designed but maybe you can find opportunities to reduce weight. Material cost $270. 1/4" plywood pontoons but think about substituting styrofoam/glass composite...

 

[dellaperu]

Re: Styrofoam Duck Boat Project

if you are looking for something that lightweight you might want to consider a kayak. a traditional sit inside yak will give you lots of storage while a sit on top may offer more stability and versatility. the cobra fish n dive is stable enough to stand up and flycast from and can also be rigged with a trolling motor. hobie's outback is also rumored to be very stable (i havent tried one yet) and sports the new peddle drive system for hands free operation in very shallow water

 

[Always Broke]

Re: Styrofoam Duck Boat Project

Hey jtexas,<br /> <br /> Thanks for the pontoon link. I got a couple fiberglass pontoons a guy gave me off a Hobbie Cat and you got my wheels turning now. The only problem is they are full of foam and weigh a ton, probably water logged. I’ll have to cut em open and get all the foam out. I got it on my list of someday things to do….