wrote:
Finally going to make the plunge and buy an aluminum boat, but i am
confused. Our goal is to buy a boat that will last for many years to
come and also turn heads when on the water. The more i talk to
salesman the more BS i hear. What should i be looking for as far as
the quality of the welds, some look like art and some look like my son
who is 12 tried to weld for the first time. Does the apperance of the
weld matter? We are looking at a 200 Sea Runner Hewes Craft right now,
any comments would help at this point

Thanks

www.blacklabmarine.com

plate welded aluminum boats

high quality, great welds, definitely turn heads

"HK" wrote in message
...
wrote:
Finally going to make the plunge and buy an aluminum boat, but i am
confused. Our goal is to buy a boat that will last for many years to
come and also turn heads when on the water. The more i talk to
salesman the more BS i hear. What should i be looking for as far as
the quality of the welds, some look like art and some look like my son
who is 12 tried to weld for the first time. Does the apperance of the
weld matter? We are looking at a 200 Sea Runner Hewes Craft right now,
any comments would help at this point

Thanks

www.blacklabmarine.com

plate welded aluminum boats

high quality, great welds, definitely turn heads

I guess so. Those things are butt ugly. You can't help but notice.

Eisboch wrote:


The OP should research why the skin on aluminum airplanes are riveted rather
than welded.
Hint: It has something to do with preventing the wings from snapping off.

Eisboch



Next time I buy an aluminum boat with wings, I'll keep that in mind.



--
George W. Bush - the 43rd Best President Ever!

"HK" wrote in message
. ..
Eisboch wrote:


The OP should research why the skin on aluminum airplanes are riveted
rather than welded.
Hint: It has something to do with preventing the wings from snapping
off.

Eisboch


Next time I buy an aluminum boat with wings, I'll keep that in mind.




Cute, but not the point. Thin welded aluminum is subject to stress cracks
in anything that flexes. Rivets allow flex without losing structure. You
knew that.

The boats you provided a link to are designed from the get-go to be welded,
using large, continuous panels with welds that I am sure are reinforced and
placed in minimum stress areas.

Eisboch

Eisboch wrote:
"HK" wrote in message
. ..
Eisboch wrote:

The OP should research why the skin on aluminum airplanes are riveted
rather than welded.
Hint: It has something to do with preventing the wings from snapping
off.

Eisboch

Next time I buy an aluminum boat with wings, I'll keep that in mind.




Cute, but not the point. Thin welded aluminum is subject to stress cracks
in anything that flexes. Rivets allow flex without losing structure. You
knew that.

The boats you provided a link to are designed from the get-go to be welded,
using large, continuous panels with welds that I am sure are reinforced and
placed in minimum stress areas.

Eisboch




Yup. Black Labs are some of the toughest boats around. Almost bought one
when I was considering what to buy after selling my Parker 2520XL.

I've been an admirer of the work of Louis Sullivan for many decades, so
when I look at boats, I always have "form ever follows function" in
mind. That's why I like the looks of Parker Boats, too.

"Calif Bill" wrote in message
...

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...
"Calif Bill" wrote in message
...

Joe, your boat is not in the same league with the boats he is looking
at.

How so?


Thickness of aluminum. Bracing. General construction. I have owned
riveted boats. Valco. The rivets will loosen over time. The aluminum
will flex. The Northwest boats were designed to run white water rivers
with rocks. Jet drives required. But since then people found out how
good they were and wanted propeller drives for efficiency or what ever.
So the same construction methods for the boat are used in the propeller
boats. My boat is 3/16 thick bottom. Welded I-beam reinforcements inside
the bottom. Depending on the manufacturer some are using boxed stringers.
All aluminum. Lund makes a great boat, they just do not have the strength
of the Northwest boats. The NW boats also weigh more. My 21' Chevy
engine boat with the 67 gallon tank full scales about 3300#. I have
higher sides than a lot of the pure river sleds, so probably 300# more or
less extra.



OK. This makes sense. Where does the OP live?

On Jan 12, 6:38*am, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote:
"Calif Bill" wrote in message

...







"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...
"Calif Bill" wrote in message
...

*Joe, your boat is not in the same league with the boats he is looking
at.

How so?

Thickness of aluminum. *Bracing. *General construction. *I have owned
riveted boats. *Valco. *The rivets will loosen over time. *The aluminum
will flex. *The Northwest boats were designed to run white water rivers
with rocks. *Jet drives required. *But since then people found out how
good they were and wanted propeller drives for efficiency or what ever.
So the same construction methods for the boat are used in the propeller
boats. *My boat is 3/16 thick bottom. *Welded I-beam reinforcements inside
the bottom. Depending on the manufacturer some are using boxed stringers..
All aluminum. Lund makes a great boat, they just do not have the strength
of the Northwest boats. *The NW boats also weigh more. *My 21' Chevy
engine boat with the 67 gallon tank full scales about 3300#. *I have
higher sides than a lot of the pure river sleds, so probably 300# more or
less extra.

OK. This makes sense. Where does the OP live?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thanks
That is alot of info.and the links are a great source also.
But the question i am still after is what should the welds look like
and or what do you look for in welds on these boats? Hewes Craft boats
has what they call a Dime stack weld, is this better looking or better
for structure?

On Jan 11, 9:02*pm, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote:
wrote in message

...
On Jan 11, 8:34 pm, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote:



wrote in message

...

Finally going to make the plunge and buy an aluminum boat, but i am
confused. Our goal is to buy a boat that will last for many years to
come and also turn heads when on the water. The more i talk to
salesman the more BS i hear. What should i be looking for as far as
the quality of the welds, some look like art and some look like my son
who is 12 tried to weld for the first time. Does the apperance of the
weld matter? We are looking at a 200 Sea Runner Hewes Craft right now,
any comments would help at this point

Thanks

I own a Lund, and the company makes a big selling point of the fact that
their aluminum hulls are double riveted. Welding is not mentioned anywhere
in their literature, as far as I've noticed. I've been beating the crap
out
of the boat since 1999 and it's as tight as the day it was new.

www.lundboats.com

Thanks for the feedback
I appreciate your coment about rivetted boats but my wife said noway
to riveted boats, he dad had one and it always leaked. Infact you
should have seen the dirty looks she gave one of the salesman when he
was trying to sale us on a riveted boat. What would you look for or
like to see as far as welds?

================

I have no idea what to look for with welds. Tell your wife that her dad
bought a ****ty boat, and she should not judge all riveted boats based on
her father's bad judgement and low budget. If she's such a shmexpert, maybe
she should be designing boats.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I would appreciate it if you didn't talk about her that way. You
don't know her.

wrote in message
...
On Jan 12, 6:38 am, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote:
"Calif Bill" wrote in message

...







"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...
"Calif Bill" wrote in message
...

Joe, your boat is not in the same league with the boats he is looking
at.

How so?

Thickness of aluminum. Bracing. General construction. I have owned
riveted boats. Valco. The rivets will loosen over time. The aluminum
will flex. The Northwest boats were designed to run white water rivers
with rocks. Jet drives required. But since then people found out how
good they were and wanted propeller drives for efficiency or what ever.
So the same construction methods for the boat are used in the propeller
boats. My boat is 3/16 thick bottom. Welded I-beam reinforcements inside
the bottom. Depending on the manufacturer some are using boxed
stringers.
All aluminum. Lund makes a great boat, they just do not have the
strength
of the Northwest boats. The NW boats also weigh more. My 21' Chevy
engine boat with the 67 gallon tank full scales about 3300#. I have
higher sides than a lot of the pure river sleds, so probably 300# more
or
less extra.

OK. This makes sense. Where does the OP live?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thanks
That is alot of info.and the links are a great source also.
But the question i am still after is what should the welds look like
and or what do you look for in welds on these boats? Hewes Craft boats
has what they call a Dime stack weld, is this better looking or better
for structure?

A good MIG or TIG aluminum weld should look like a stack of dimes. Go to
the Lincoln Electric website. They have vids and lots of info on welding.

On Jan 12, 2:32*pm, wrote:
On Jan 11, 9:02*pm, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote:





wrote in message

...
On Jan 11, 8:34 pm, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote:

wrote in message

....

Finally going to make the plunge and buy an aluminum boat, but i am
confused. Our goal is to buy a boat that will last for many years to
come and also turn heads when on the water. The more i talk to
salesman the more BS i hear. What should i be looking for as far as
the quality of the welds, some look like art and some look like my son
who is 12 tried to weld for the first time. Does the apperance of the
weld matter? We are looking at a 200 Sea Runner Hewes Craft right now,
any comments would help at this point

Thanks

I own a Lund, and the company makes a big selling point of the fact that
their aluminum hulls are double riveted. Welding is not mentioned anywhere
in their literature, as far as I've noticed. I've been beating the crap
out
of the boat since 1999 and it's as tight as the day it was new.

www.lundboats.com

Thanks for the feedback
I appreciate your coment about rivetted boats but my wife said noway
to riveted boats, he dad had one and it always leaked. Infact you
should have seen the dirty looks she gave one of the salesman when he
was trying to sale us on a riveted boat. What would you look for or
like to see as far as welds?

================

I have no idea what to look for with welds. Tell your wife that her dad
bought a ****ty boat, and she should not judge all riveted boats based on
her father's bad judgement and low budget. If she's such a shmexpert, maybe
she should be designing boats.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I would appreciate it if you didn't talk about her that way. *You
don't know her.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

That's just Joe, don't worry about it. Anyway, if I were looking at a
welded boat, knowing as little as I do, one thing I would look for is
consistancy. As I would with any fastenings. It is not an end all, but
it will tell you a lot about the manufacturer... Remember in the old
days a car had marbles rolling aound on the seams.. I would look for
consistant seams and fastenings...