Has it ever been done?

This is just out of curiosity but has anyone here ever thought about putting rib collars on a v-hull Jon boat? It would extremely increase the flotation on the rare case of an overturn but for me it would increase the stability. I've got a bad back so I'm not exactly a ninja.

https://www.wing.com/sponsons-tubes-collars.php

Just throwing around an idea

I'm thinking I could make the same thing out of PVC and foam with a little roll on bed liner for toughness and style

these guys have something like what's on the bottom of your link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpFeWX1ER44
i don't think that a PVC RIB collar is the way to go... way too heavy and fragile

I've hunted around and the cheapest one I found was $1,400 which is ridiculous if you ask me

Is this what you're talking about?






These sponsons are made of 10" diameter aluminum tube (.050" wall thickness) It's actually irrigation pipe, a 20 foot length of it weighs around 20-25 lbs. It's a bit of a PITA to weld, because of how thin it is, but these tubes were welded pressure tight, and were pressurized to 15 PSI.

The reason I don't have them on the boat anymore is that they actually serve as turn limiters, I can't bank the boat sharp enough to spin it like a jetboat. That, and the fact that the boat has a flat bow, not an upturned bow like a Zodiac or RIB, and when you go through any type of large swells or boat wakes, water wants to ship right over the top of the sponsons, and flood the boat.

The other problem I had was because of how thin the tubes were, they had some flex. So, anytime I had it tied up in port and it bumped against the dock, the paint would chip off the tubes, requiring constant touch-up.

But, as you can see from the photos, it CAN be done.

Do a search here in the forums and on youtube for "outriggers" and/or "amas" and you'll see all kinds of cool mods. Most of them are surprisingly cheap, simple and effective too.

PSG-1 said:

Is this what you're talking about?

View attachment 1




These sponsons are made of 10" diameter aluminum tube (.050" wall thickness) It's actually irrigation pipe, a 20 foot length of it weighs around 20-25 lbs. It's a bit of a PITA to weld, because of how thin it is, but these tubes were welded pressure tight, and were pressurized to 15 PSI.

The reason I don't have them on the boat anymore is that they actually serve as turn limiters, I can't bank the boat sharp enough to spin it like a jetboat. That, and the fact that the boat has a flat bow, not an upturned bow like a Zodiac or RIB, and when you go through any type of large swells or boat wakes, water wants to ship right over the top of the sponsons, and flood the boat.

The other problem I had was because of how thin the tubes were, they had some flex. So, anytime I had it tied up in port and it bumped against the dock, the paint would chip off the tubes, requiring constant touch-up.

But, as you can see from the photos, it CAN be done.

Click to expand...

:lol: This is exactly what i am looking for! How much did it affect the stability? and how much did it run you to build?

Im running a 14' mirrocraft V-hull that really sticks up out of the water on the front so im not too worried about anything coming over the top up front and its staying in freshwater anyways so no waves to worry about. I just have a hard time with my lower spine being in such bad shape in keeping a great deal of balance at stopped position and I was thinking about doing both sponsons and flotation pods on the rear to really give it a nice spread area over the water so it balances out.

first things first, ive gotta put some weight in that beast and see if it gets any better with a few 300-500 extra pounds up on the nose and opposite of where im sitting to control the boat which brought me to my second conclusion, if i converted from tiller to remote with a stick steer and a hot foot I could right right up on front of the boat which would be perfect because the further forward i went the more stable the boat got when i evened out the weight of me and the motor which was right on the front seat

Stability was EXCELLENT with the sponsons attached to the boat, it gave the boat about a 7 foot beam, and you could even walk on top of the sponsons (try THAT with inflatable tubes!)

If I remember correctly, a 20 foot length of the 10 inch irrigation pipe was about 125 dollars or so.....I had about 250 dollars all together in materials. It was a bit labor intensive, trying to weld that thin metal AND get it pressure tight.

Basically, at each seam (and there were a total of 5 on each sponson) I had to run a pass with the spoolgun, then go back over it with TIG, to burn out any porosity or fish eyes, then pressurizing and leak testing with soapy water.

One thing I did NOT do, but I would strongly recommend doing, would be to place a baffle at each seam. Not only does the baffle act as a 'chill ring' to prevent burnthrough on the thin material at each butt weld, but it will also act as a watertight bulkhead, in the event part of the sponson is compromised.



Raw material:
















Pressurized to 15 PSI:




This is a shot of the boat with the sponsons and the winter T-top installed:

That loosk really bad ***


How about filling them with 2 part closed cell foam? That way the welding would not have to be as perfect?

Captain Ahab said:

That loosk really bad ***


How about filling them with 2 part closed cell foam? That way the welding would not have to be as perfect?

Click to expand...

Yes, that is definitely an option. But I think you would have to have the majority of the sponson welded out, then put the foam in one end of the tube, leaving the last 8-10 inches of the pipe empty, so that when you weld the end cap in place, you're not setting fire to the foam or melting it.

Having the foam in there would also eliminate some of the flex in the pipe, which would prevent it from getting dented, or the paint on the tube being chipped when it bumps a dock.

The way I had my sponsons mounted was fairly simple, too. Just some aluminum angle clips that fit under the outside edge of the gunwale, and rivet in place. I would also recommend backing that up by having a few clips along the bottom edge of the sponson that attach to the side of the boat. I didn't do this with mine.....but it really should be done, to eliminate the risk of up-pressure (like from hitting waves) from rolling the sponson upwards and tearing material at the joint of the clip and the tube....especially given the material thickness of the tube.

As I said, my boat was very stable with the sponsons. Myself and 2 friends stood on one side of the boat, standing on the sponson, holding onto the T-top, leaning as hard as we could, and we never took a single drop of water over the gunwale.

But, again, the low-slung bow of the boat itself was the problem. The hull of the boat has a reverse flare in it, so when you hit waves, the water is directed out and away from the boat.

With the tubes on there, the water would go right over the top of the sponsons at the bow. I filled the boat knee deep a couple of times like this. Never concerned me, though, because of all the foam board installed between the outer hull and the inner deck. But without the sponsons, I can hit the same waves, and hardly get any water in the boat.

So, despite all the time and effort I put into fabricating the sponsons, I reluctantly took them off the boat. I plan to cut them shorter, like down to 10 feet, put a small deck on it, put a trash pump on there, and use it to 'propel' myself in and out of my channel on falling tides, to keep the channel clear (instead of eating up props and water pumps on my outboard to do it)

Buddychrist said:

:lol: This is exactly what i am looking for! How much did it affect the stability? and how much did it run you to build?

Im running a 14' mirrocraft V-hull that really sticks up out of the water on the front so im not too worried about anything coming over the top up front and its staying in freshwater anyways so no waves to worry about. I just have a hard time with my lower spine being in such bad shape in keeping a great deal of balance at stopped position and I was thinking about doing both sponsons and flotation pods on the rear to really give it a nice spread area over the water so it balances out.

first things first, ive gotta put some weight in that beast and see if it gets any better with a few 300-500 extra pounds up on the nose and opposite of where im sitting to control the boat which brought me to my second conclusion, if i converted from tiller to remote with a stick steer and a hot foot I could right right up on front of the boat which would be perfect because the further forward i went the more stable the boat got when i evened out the weight of me and the motor which was right on the front seat

Click to expand...

Moving weight forward makes a BIG difference. I recently did a modification to my Triton 1650SC, where I increased the size of the front deck, as well as elevating it. By elevating the front deck, it gave me enough room to put both my fuel tanks and batteries up front.

As a result of moving the weight up front: no more porpoising, no more having to trim all the way down to take off in shallow water, less draft when running on plane in shallow water, drastically increased turning response, smoother ride, in other words, a better boat that what the factory sold me.

Look under boat modifications for the thread on the Triton 1650SC, for more details.

My wife gave me the thumbs up to fix up the v hull but not to keep, she wants me to sell it and get a 16 or 18ft Jon non V just square nose. My problem is that I don't think the 25hp will be the right engine for an 18