Wooden Boat People
By McKenzieDriftBoat.com
Poor Guy Drift Boat
I'm not rich...
I have the plans to begin construction on my drift boat. I read here where a few boats were built for around $600... that's what I need to do.
It will cost me another $300 to build a simple trailer. I have a welder and a good used axle-wheels setup, so I am ahead of the expensive game on a trailer.
Any cost cutting ideas will be greatly appreciated... (like oil the interior & paint the outside).
Thanks
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Bryan Bowers on
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You can build a drift boat for less than $600 - but if any way possible I recommend taking a little extra time and spending a bit more. You don't have to build all at once. Spend a couple of hundred to get started and go from there.
B/C exterior plywood can be used for a framed boat, of course many will disagree, but in our neck of the woods it will be OK, just not as pretty or strong as marine. Voids can be a pain to work with as well when using B/C.
Coated deck screws are a good choice and I prefer them to brass or stainless. You can buy a bunch for not a lot of cash and they have super hold. A little long for some applications but a side grinder can get them flush where needed.
You don't have to glass the whole exterior but I recommend at least a couple of layers of glass on the bottom and a coat of epoxy on the sides. Use marine epoxy and no poly resin. Poly resin is not worth the savings and does not work well. Also before putting in any rocky river you will need a couple of coats of graphite epoxy added to the bottom.
Some builders will use high-quality exterior house paint instead of marine paint. That can save you $$ as well. When it was time to paint my DB my brother had not long finished repainting his house. Guaranteed to last 20 years in the sunlight, snow, rain, heat, and cold – figured it should be tough enough. Looks great and besides touching up a few scratches it has lasted without any issues. Not as hard as marine paint though – but the price was right which brings me to my next tip.
Free stuff - get the neighborhood involved. A little help and junk wood for the strong-back etc goes a long ways. Also inevitably no matter how well you think your tool shed is stocked you will need something and borrowing can be a lot cheaper than buying.
Regardless of how much you spend the work involved will be great - so be sure to spend enough so your hard work lasts.
That's all I got - hopefully others can chime in and add to the discussion or at least correct me.
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Permalink Reply by Kelly Neu on
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The most expensive items on my boat were the hardware; bolts, nuts, bow eye, oarlocks, latches, etc...
Buying in bulk off the internet saved me some $ on the nuts and bolts. (boltdepot.com)
Maybe trying to look for marine hardware off of salvages or 2nd hand stores.
Wood was the least expensive item on my boat. If you're gonna need to put a significant bend in the hull plywood just go for the marine grade. If you use regular ply and it snaps or deforms its extra time and $. Also the regular plywood often takes up more epoxy to fill various voids and the epoxy is very spendy.
Good luck on your project. Hope you post some photos as you go.
-Kelly
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Permalink Reply by Riverman on
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I spent about three weeks looking for white oak... then late today someone told me about this guy 10-miles away that has a sawmill - jointer - planer operation. I called him and made a deal for all the wood I need, and tons more if needed, dirt cheap. I can even make my ribs out of the white oak cheaper than buying store-bought pine. smile
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Permalink Reply by Troy Nicolls on
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If you like to build things, I say go cheap. You will be uncontrollably compelled to build another one anyway, so you might as well chock the first one up to learning experience. This is no joke. Just ask anyone on this list if they have built only one boat. They're addicts. As soon as you're chillin after your first build, you will be checkin out more design plans, etc, for your next build. Wood boats...they're like Layz potatoe chips...except better.
The second one you build will be a little closer to what you will eventually like anyway, so you can save your money for that one. I started "just rebuilding" an oldie. Before I had loaded it back on the trailer after my first drift, I was planning my first build. My first complete build was a Trapper for less than $300. I used 1/4" montery pine AC plywood for $23 / sheet for the sides which was unbelivably solid and knot free(almost) on both sides, recycled 1x4 redwood trim from a remodel job I did for FREE, $26/ sheet 1/2 pine ply for the bottom, $20 rough sawn mahogny I picked up from some joker who got lucky and found a log on the beach and milled me a piece for the shear rails and chine cap, a good section of clear #2 2x4 for the stem ($2). The biggest money was in the epoxy resin ($100) and white oak for the chine log ($17). I had some fiberglass cloth so I didn't have to buy that. Epoxy and varnished the outside (free varnish being tossed from friend) and oil on the inside. The SS hardware cost me $50 or so. I didn't use stainless shear bolts. I gave the boat to my son and daughter in law for a wedding gift.
You might get lucky and buy an old junk wood drifter like I did which came with 2 sets of oar locks and oars which will save you lots. Also, there are cheaper epoxy resins out there. I bought West Systems for my first 2 projects, but I just ordered a 1.3 gallon kit of epoxy resin from US Composites for $70. Much cheaper than West, but I know nothing about the quality. Hum...coated deck screws...not a bad idea if you can keep the boat generally dry while in storage (which is probably the key to longevity in any case).
I'm currently building a cheap Lauan ($10) ply and epoxy resin layout boat for duck hunting. Bargain basement all the way, but encapsulated in cheap epoxy resin. Some guys use the cheaper poly resin, but I really like epoxy, so will stay with it. Next spring I will probably start a 16' DE or with transome, but for this build I will go all quality materials. If this is the boat I decide to keep forever, I will spend the bucks to do it right. But ya always gotta wonder, do those high dollar materials really last any longer? Augh...I'm the perpetual tightwad.
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Permalink Reply by mlwebb on
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I started my Trapper with the idea of being frugal, but soon realized the way to build an inexpensive boat is not to keep track of the expenses.... :) - that way you can buy things as you need them and not really notice the total. I looked hard at plywood, and decided it was the cheapest part of the boat and not worth skimping on. A Trapper is definitely less material than larger boats. I wanted to keep my boat light for ease of handling, the idea of white oak frames seems like it could get heavy, but perhaps that doesn't matter to you. If I wanted to save money on a boat I would keep the amount of epoxy down, and use ringshank silicon bronze nails, galvanized gunnel bolts, etc.
Michael
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I have all winter to get it ready anyway, so more time to earn boat $$$ I guess.
The weight won't really matter to me, since it will be on a trailer all the time.
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Permalink Reply by Kevin C. on
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I'm cringing a bit reading this post because as a first time builder I felt the same way as you are feeling now trying to build a boat for cheap but luckily I was saved from much of my frugality by logic such as Mr Webb is suggesting.If you're going to spend the time to build a boat you should consider the fact that the more corners you cut the more headaches you'll encounter down the road...or river, as it may be.1/4"meranti ply is well worth a few extra $'s and doug fir or hemlock is far better to deal with than oak for the frames.Oak chines, stem and rails will give the boat the structure strength it needs as long as you keep your frame cuts tight.3 1/4 oz. glass on the hull will provide ample protection as well as a solid paintable surface and triaxial cloth and grafite flow coats on the bottom will give you the bottom that will withstand lots of abuse both on and off the trailer.Ring shank nails are cheap and can be used for most of the fastening but I would recommend screws for any parts that may later need to be replaced such as the chine caps. I'm very glad I spent the extra time ,effort and $'s to build my first one and it really paid off.Just my two cents but I still feel proud every time I take my boat out to the river...
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I agree Kevin... Now if I could only find some Meranti plywood and Douglas fir lumber within 300-miles of me... I'd go get it.
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Boat number one cost thousands to make and I love it but recently I've been thinking it would be fun to make a "disposable boat" Kind of like the original idea of a sweep scow. -When you get to the take out, you have a big bon-fire, destroy it for scrap wood, or sink it.
Would it be possible to run a river like the Colorado through the Grand Canyon in a boat of only plywood?
-No Glass
-Minimal Harware
-The oars could be nice as well as the oarlocks which could be removed
Could you make it cheap enough? No hassel of taking a trailer down diamond creek! No repair work! You could just hitch a ride with your toothbrush and drybag in hand. It would be so fun to shove the empy boat out and watch it dissapear around the bend!
Would house paint applied right to the ply have any waterproof-ness? Would the boat be a soggy floppy mess too quickly? hmm. What do you think??
-Kelly
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Permalink Reply by lhedrick on
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Disposable boats.
I have friends who built a dory out of CDX plywood in a weekend. They used polyester resin and not epoxy. It made 2 trips down Deso before it was retired. It became a flower planter for a few years before being hauled off to the dump.
Wish we had a photo.
L
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Just looked up CDX ply-wood. 23 bucks a sheet. Wow, thats good.
8 sheets ply=184
6 Gallon Epoxy Kit=288
Glass=$200?
Glass Tape=50?
Fillet Material=50?
Carriage Bolts=36
Various hardware=200?
=$1008...not bad
Cheap Paint=100
(the items list on my actual boat is 6 pages long) :)
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