Weeding the Pumpkin patch

8122pbrainard wrote: Greg, You have crossed that fine line on this one!!!!!

Shhhh, don't tell anyone?!!?   LMAO

It's a heavy boat...and they'll get used again!

Pete, I guess it's a good thing I didn't tell you that they're adjustable!

Buffalo,

I think I'll post that picture in my garage and save myself from all those "overkill" comments I've received over the years. "Compared to this guy . . ."   BKH

Ok, sorry I couldn't see the grade markings on the bolt heads!! Grade 8 has a psi tensile of 150,000 and grade 2 60,000. You didn't feel the 60,000 was good enough?? I thought that I was the only one who over designed before knowing you!! Socket head caps have a 174,000 tensile. I think you need to change out the bolts!

Nice job on the stands. I am about to build something similar for my boat project. Are these just to brace the hull while the boat is still on the trailer? Make sure to post some pics once you have the boat on the stands.

Kris

if your lazy like me and dont want to make stands, spare tires (on the rims) make a great workbench to set a boat on, they offer support and spread the weight depending on how many you use, and it does feel safe when working in the boat

My plan at this point is to put the stands under the 4 corners with just a bit more than static support and then start on removing foam. So far I've only removed the long sides of the floor on each side of the engine well. They were already loose, so I don't think I've made any problems for myself yet...or at least not any new ones.

This is Bill's post that concerns me. IIRC he removed 1 stringer at a time and still had this hull movement.

SkiBum wrote: One thing I wish I would have done: After I cut the floor and removed the foam all that remained was the rotting stringers partially attached to the hull. What I did not realize was that despite the fact the boat was on the trailer, it was not shaped correctly. I found out (quite by accident) that I had to raise the sides of the hull foreward of the engine compartment in order to bring the boat back into the proper shape. At the factory it would be in a mold. I ended up placing blocks of 2x4 and small wedges to raise the bottom of the hull until it matched the bottom of the stringers. It is important to level the boat as much as possible. Try to get it level left to right and back to front. I suppose the best thing would be to brace the boat before you cut out the floor and remove the foam.

i will put tires under the keel, i have some tires with no rims on them and innertubes inside them and you put the desired air in for support, and then solid stands on the side.....any updates greg?

She's up on stands. I'm happy that the engine cradle came up dead level, but I do still have to level it front to back. We'll save that for tomorrow because somehow 1 project always seems to lead to another. I had to move the fridge, workbench, and the cabinet above it for the boat and car to fit in the garage and for me to be able to work around it. The lighter side is that the cabinet had to be cleaned out and it was overdue!




P.S.-That is Amy's hard hat on the wall...not mine?!!?

JoeinNY wrote: Well lets see the damage....

Are you looking forward to seeing how much trouble I'm having?!!?   LOL

The hawk must be patient whilst the grasshopper forages!
(ancient southern proverb!)

Its that old misery loves company deal, I cut out part of my floor over the weekend... have I ever mentioned how very much I dislike the use of wood in foam filled floors...

Greg are you digging into your stringers?
Im waiting for you post to where you kneel on a straight up sticking screw....be patient if it has'nt happened yet.....it will

i wish i was there right with you, but i gotta hang nail so i wont be able to make it

you may get a thigh badge of honor too when you get the grinder out..
I'll keep up the pep rally

Pete, I said what I did because it looks to me like the foam was picking up any 'slack' left behind by the rotted wood. In my other related thread, Chris(79) said I might have just caught it in time when he saw the old cam; the same can be said here. Most of the wood in this hull has gone back to what it grew in.

If I step in between the secondary stringers, the floor flexes a little. I didn't put my 200lbs on it of course, but it does move a bit. I know glass flexes, but I expected the bottom to be more rigid.

An old friend made the 6' ramp I use at the dock out of a dock box lid. It wouldn't have been strong enough even for a little kid until he glassed in some pink foam(in sheet form and looked like 3/4" insulation) on the bottom. When he brought it over I was skeptical, so he grabbed a full 28 quart cooler and jumped up and down on it. It acted just like a diving board. My point is, why couldn't I cut foam like that and then glass it in? I might even want to glass some flat to the hull to increase strengh?

I still have a long way to go, and I'm sure to learn more as I go; but I'm thinking I don't want to put wood back in it after seeing this mess.

Buffalo,

I've stepped between the stringers with the full force of my 230 lbs many times over the last year with no damage. As you suggest, the hull flexes a bit sometimes, but I've seen no gel coat cracking, etc. I don't climb in and jump up and down, but I've not worried about stepping on the bottom of the hull.

FWIW. BKH

Pink or blue insulation foam is cheap, seems stiff, easy to find, no problem to work with... and yet... A huge risk. One drop o gas makes it to that stuff and you then have hollow stringers or whatever else you made out of them. It can be used as basically a molding tool but you would need to be sure to have a layup that would take the entire load as that foam cannot be counted on.   

Now if you wanted to go with what I would consider a structural foam, one that can be counted on long term to add strength and stiffness what your really looking at is Crosslinked PVC's, tricky to work with as they dont bond well with all epoxys without foambond or the like added but the real issue here as this stuff makes coosa board look like a deal.

In my mustang I used 1/2 inch Crosslink PVC for the secondary stingers, covered with 5 layers of 10 oz glass oriented parallel,45,parallel,45,parrallel, the first three wrapping the stringer, the second two overlapping the floor after I bedded and beaded using expoy,epoxy mat and chopped strand filler. I then ran a layer of 6 then 8 inch tape over the joints. The resulting stringer is incredibly stiff for a secondary stringer, however they were incredibly expensive I didnt do the math but you can use that layup and you will find out what it is. The floor was also the same foam, two layers of 10oz glass on the bottom, 3 layers 10 oz on the top, plus a layer of stitched coremat material one up from the foam. This was pretty stiff, but no more so than a 5/8 inch sheet of plywood with layer of glass on both sides... still should be supported with cross supports. Again very expensive and this was a small boat. For the primary stringers I cheaped out and used heavily glassed blue insulation, here I did not wrap the foam as I was working more for a structural hat section of fiberglass, there are a dozen layers of althernating woven roving and 10 oz cloth there, more towards the center, less towards the bow/stern, a good quarter inch buildup, with 5/16 aluminum backing plates at mounting points.

All that adds up to a lot of time and expense, every bond is critical and you still dont have a floor you can screw things down to (have to glass in blocks or inserts to attach seats and the like). This time I try the coosa...