Wooden Boat People
By McKenzieDriftBoat.com
10 ft pram design help
Hello!
I'm wanting to design/build a multi-purpose pram. I realize it will be a compromise. I weigh ~ 220# and my dog ~100#. I would like a pram that I can take out 'round the lake margins for ducks or fishing, or/and across and down the river (no whitewater). I think the flyfishing, drift prams are too much of a driftboat for my purposes. And the basic/typical pram design needs a little alteration for what I want out of it. I would like to load 400#- 450#, safely. This would be a stitch 'n glue project.
I plan to build something like the Hudson Springs Pram: http://www.duckworksbbs.com/plans/me...ings/index.htm
I wouldn't put the seat in. This would be a more basic/simple design.
But, I want to put more rocker in it, especially the narrow, upstream transom. And I plan to rake the wide transom back and rocker it up, for rocky river use.
Z's Drifter looks nice!,, but I want a lighter boat:
http://www.woodenboatpeople.com/foru...s-drifter-pram
I'm seeing 10' prams with about 46" bottoms. Can/should I go narrower?
How much should I raise/rocker the two ends?
I would appreciate any/all thoughts on my concept, so far!
Many thanks,,, Ken
Views: 6570
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by tungsten on
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I built the 9' version from duck with a few mods,i took a little rocker out.i talked to a fellow who built the 10' one,his thoughts were that the floor needed to be wider and less rocker as he found it hard to stand and cast in.He also was a big guy at 240lbs+
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Permalink Reply by Ken Shindledecker on
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Do you mean less rocker the entire length? If rocker's taken out on the downstream end, won't it bang rocks?
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Well i guess this depends on what kind off water your floating,I simply just put less curve in the ends of the floor from what the plans said.
For me anyway less rocker was more stable to stand in.the water it was intended for is not shallow
you mentioned more rocker in the stern, is this for back rowing or maybe a motor?
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Yes, I was thinking of a good amount of rocker in the narrow, upstream end, so I could anchor to fish.. maybe little rocker is needed?
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I've done some research and measured other boats and came up with about 8" of rocker on the stern for my little boat.about 4-5 at the bow.
One thing you can do Ken is build a scaled model.then scale the weight that you think you'll be and do a float test.
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Thanks!
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I think Dave Z's plans include a frameless S+G version. It would be lighter.
I strongly recommend building from existing plans for your first boat.
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Permalink Reply by Randy Dersham on
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I agree with your statement about building from plans for a first boat.
Frank, please give some specifics about why you believe a S+G boat would be lighter than a framed boat.
I believe that the weight difference between S+G made of wood and framed boats made of wood is small enough to not be a factor in the decision of which building style to use.
The more important question about weight is if a boat uses a plastic core material rather than wood.
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Permalink Reply by Sandy Pittendrigh on
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I agree with Randy: the weight difference between framed and S&G is relatively small. Although, in my experience, small as it is S&G is a small bit lighter. The real difference is strength. I'll defend that line in sand enthusiastically. S&G is an order of magnitude stronger. Far less likely to break up into pieces if swamped and pinned, for instance.
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I agree with that too Sandy. The taped seams and bulkheads make a S&G boat much stronger at every joint.
We should work together on compromise list for the decisions of the styles of build for wood boats. I think that together we have covered most of them; however, it's been on random forum topics like this. It might be worthwhile to collect the conversations in one location.
I'd be happy to work on that with you. We could post it on both sites.
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That's a cool idea. Woodenboat Magazine seems to regard cold-molded boats and stitch and glue plywood boats as "wooden boats." Some of us have substituted CoreCell foam and Plascore honeycomb core for plywood. And perhaps that's no longer a wooden boat. They are, at least, homemade.
The arguments against stitch and glue are substantial. It costs a lot more, both for materials purchased and for time involved to finish the boat. I would argue the "time involved" ratio evens out over time. Stitch and glue boats are not maintenance free. But it's at least a little easier to be lazy with S&G.
Another argument in favor of S&G is the lack of a chine cap. A widely rounded chine produces a squirrely boat that is hard to manage. A sharp chined S&G boat tracks better. Chine profile and bottom width effect all that too. Chine caps on a framed boat are no big deal to some people. Others (like me) don't like them at all. In my view they make the boat too slow to turn. And they create the infamous "chine dip" when you get a framed boat suddenly sideways to a current.
They're all good boats. Framed boats are faster, easier and cheaper to build. And probably a lot more fun to build too. Fiberglass is powerful. But it's hard to regard it as in any way fun.
So framed is better suited to many first time builders. I'm sure the above is not in any way a comprehensive list. It's just what slid off the tip of my fingers right now.
I'd like to experiment with honeycomb core glued together with 3M adhesive out of a caulking tube, and then covered with hot spray truck bed liner. That might be a way to avoid fiberglass, in a way that cranks out a basic hull in a day or two. To make that work you would need a male mold. So any potential convenience to that idea would exist only in a mass-production context.
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I have a pretty well-defined, structural chine on my boat. Eddies can be interesting, but overall, I like the ability to cut with my driftboat.
I was hoping to build a fairly lightweight craft. Some of the things I've looked at come in ~60-70#.
I don't have any experience actually building a driftboat, but now that I'm retired, I would like to apprentice, gratis, and a couple-few boat builds sometime.
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