"-rick-" wrote in message
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Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:

Riveted aluminum boats tend to be sounder than welded boats and as a
general rule, easier to repair. The better aluminum boats, like Lund,
Starcraft, Princecraft, are riveted boats.

Um... Are you at all familiar with the type of heavy duty welded aluminum
boats the poster inquired about?

For example:

http://www.precisionweldboats.com/

http://www.weldcraftmarine.com/

http://www.duckworthboats.com/

http://www.roguejet.com/

http://www.customweld.com/

http://www.thunderjet.com/

http://www.motionmarine.com/

http://www.hewescraft.com/

http://www.fish-rite.com/boats.html

http://www.northriverboats.com/

etc.

As to the original question I'm no welding expert but I did examine a lot
of boats before buying one. I liked the neat consistency and smoothness
found in the North River and many others with a few notable exceptions
(this was 8 years ago). I've had some major rock hits since then and only
required one repair for a crack at the jet-pump intake seam. The .25"
bottom thickness helps.

I do see a lot Hewescraft on the Columbia river lately for what it's
worth.

0.25 on the bottom, don't have to worry about hull damage if you park in a
mess of logs. Going to take a look at Hewescraft.