What does wood free hull actual mean

[Toyelectroman]

Seems all newish boats all claim to be a wood free design? So what are the transom's and stringer now made of if there is no wood. What happens if there is water intrusion in the transom and stringers? Is it the same process as wood in which you still need to replace or does water intrusion not affect it anymore

 

[tpenfield]

Go to the Southport and Onslow Bay websites.

no-wood is just that. lots of confusion around the question.

 

[dingbat]

What happens if there is water intrusion in the transom and stringers? Is it the same process as wood in which you still need to replace or does water intrusion not affect it anymore

Just trading one problem for another.....
Instead of rot you know have delamination issues.

 

[tpenfield]

I looked at a 2015 Formula 330 CBR - wood stringers

i have a 2016 Cruisers Yacht 338 - wood bulkheads

 

[racerone]

Many boats are now built with composite materials.-----wood is cheap and easy to work with.------Another case of you get what you pay for.

 

[roscoe]

plywood is a composite

 

[racerone]

If you say so.

 

[airshot]

Many aluminum boats are just that...all aluminum, no enclosed wood inside the transom, there are some that add a small pc of wood or rubber composite just for the outboard to clamp on, but that is normally smaller boats. Once the motors are big enough for bolt on, the wood clamp surface is no longer needed. Many glass boats claim a fiberglass laminate rather than wood but I have no experience with those.

 

[QBhoy]

Very common thing for a fair number of brands to sideline wood in the build, in favour of other less perishable materials. After the mid 2000’s, you’ll do well to find any wood in most of the small boats from popular brands, I’d think.
My 2003 Campion has none at all. It actually has du pont kevlar as one of the alternatives to wood.

 

[Toyelectroman]

My reason for asking was I use to have a 98 fiberglass boat that had a rotted transom so I sold for a pontoon. Now I am back to fiberglass boats and was just more curious how they are currently made

 

[tank1949]

Seems all newish boats all claim to be a wood free design? So what are the transom's and stringer now made of if there is no wood. What happens if there is water intrusion in the transom and stringers? Is it the same process as wood in which you still need to replace or does water intrusion not affect it anymore

NO ROT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Use Synthetics.

 

[tpenfield]

My reason for asking was I use to have a 98 fiberglass boat that had a rotted transom so I sold for a pontoon. Now I am back to fiberglass boats and was just more curious how they are currently made

As time goes on there is less wood in boats. Some manufacturers went wood-free a while ago, but that is not to say that all manufacturers don't use wood.

For those that do use wood they use a rot-resistant wood known as 'KDAT'. Common product names are 'Greenwood XL' and 'Perma Panel'. The change over from plain plywood to KDAT plywood was happening about 20 years ago, so early 2000's.

Since not all boats are made the same, it really depends on what boat and what model year. Of course if you look into the guts of the structure of a boat, you can often tell if there is wood beneath the fiberglass. As a boat ages the wood components often show signs of surface cracks, since the wood often expands as it retains moisture.

Boat companies tend to be vague about the details of their construction and materials, favoring more marketing hype that in reality is not all that significant.

Tell us about the boat in question as that may provide some insight to your question.

 

[Texasmark]

The nice thing about wood is that it absorbs impacts, one reason it was chosen initially besides other reasons. Boating is full of impacts. Non wood composites solve the rot problem, but do they take care of the impact requirement? Do impacts delaminate them?