Aluminum or wood frame for platforms in a 15ft Vhull?

What is best to build a frame out of for platforms/floor for a 15ft Vhull Starcraft mod? It seems like wood 2x2's would be easier and cheaper but how will the extra weight be? Will it not matter? Also is it neccesary to add some sort of flotation under the floor and what kind? Thanks in advance!!!! This site is the best.

The wood will be heavier, but also cheaper and easier to do yourself. It depends on your budget and what you want as a finished product. Is the extra weight going to affect your boat? Will you have 3 batteries, livewells, alot of wieght....

I built a very large wooden platform for bowfishing, and it weighed a ton. Much more than aluminum would have. On my new build, I will be using aluminum framing and wooden deck.

I vote for all aluminum. Wood is heavy. I will agree that wood is much cheaper and simpler to work with but if you do your homework, you can do it cheap with aluminum and I found that allthough its more difficult to work with than wood, its still not bad. I would have spent more money on my build if I had gone with wood. I'll explain. Onlinemetals.com has super great prices on aluminum angle. I spent less than 100 bucks on enough angle to frame my front deck and the various other places I used it. For flooring and decking material, I used aluminum signs. If you search in your area, there are places that rent signs, arrow boards, barrels, cones, etc. for road construction. I went to one of those places (PSI) and asked if they had any old signs that were damaged or for some reason they couldnt use that I could buy cheap. I explained to the guy what I was doing and he was so intrigued by me wanting to use construction signs on a boat build that he gave me an entire skid of signs for the awesome price of FREE!! My payment is that I have to bring my boat back and show it to him when its finished. Even if I had to purchase them, they would have sold them to me at scrap prices and I would have gotten them really cheap. By the way, my boat is about finished and I have enough to do a couple more builds I think!! The sign material is almost twice as thick as the material used to make the hull. After rivoting the floor in over foam, there is zero flex in it even with my fat butt walking on it!!

BassBlaster said:

I vote for all aluminum. Wood is heavy. I will agree that wood is much cheaper and simpler to work with but if you do your homework, you can do it cheap with aluminum and I found that allthough its more difficult to work with than wood, its still not bad.

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x2 on that!

Go with aluminum, it's not hard to work with. Pick up a rivet tool for around $20-$30, some rivets and get to it, it is easy once you get the hang of it.

Aluminum would be the material of choice. Light weight, minimal occupied space, no rot issues.

It is, however, more expensive than wood and you have to either rivet (buck or pop) it together or weld it.

I went with wood for my 12 footer and only added about 40-50 lbs.

But my plywood is thinner than what most use and I have a designed support system under it made from 1X1 spruce. No flex. It's also a "friction fit" installation and floats on the seats and hull. No holes int he ribs, stringers or hull at all.

It's all in how you design it.

Wood or aluminum is pretty close to equal in working it. Aluminum is a touch bit more difficult, but the difference in tooling is so close that the benefits outweigh the extra hassle.

Cheers

I'm leaning towards wood for cost and ease. Plan on treating it and will keep boat covered. Just not sure best way to build level base for floor and platforms on stern and bow. Does it all have to be tied into boat itself or could I basically lay cpl 2x4s length wise on ribs for a base?

Aluminum - do it ONCE and do it RIGHT.

bass427 said:

I'm leaning towards wood for cost and ease. Plan on treating it and will keep boat covered. Just not sure best way to build level base for floor and platforms on stern and bow. Does it all have to be tied into boat itself or could I basically lay cpl 2x4s length wise on ribs for a base?

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No pressure treated wood or wood preservatives. They react with the aluminum and corrode.

Paint, varnish or resin coatings only unless you you isolate contact from the aluminum and the treated wood.

While aluminum is a preferred material, I often get a little giggle when guys trash wood installs; entire boats are made of wood and last decades or more. It's in the build and care. Aluminum lasts longer while tolerating more neglect, but it also has it's own issues.

Check my signature link to my 12 footer build for some ideas on how to build it if you want....my dad was a shipwright and although I am not one he taught me a fair bit so I might have a tiny advantage in wood, fiberglass and aluminum/steel work......

I was in the same boat...going to choose wood for price and ease of use. But in the end, I went with Alum and couldn't be happier. I had no prior experience working with alum but after a couple rivets...I felt completely comfortable.

Take the advice of me and alot of others that have already posted here....go with alum. Trust us. Also, wood isn't necessarily cheaper. After buying spar urethane, $17 per quart, and the fact of all the extra time it takes to put three coats on...man, you will wish you would have went with alum!

onlinemetals.com is super cheap when you buy it all in one shipment. I bought seven 8 ft lengths of 1x1 angle (1/8" thick) for around $70.

great white said:

I often get a little giggle when guys trash wood installs; entire boats are made of wood and last decades or more.

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Said boats that last for decades arnt built out of cheap construction grade lumber either. They are made from teak and other woods that are extremely hard, heavy and virtually impervious to water and rot, etc. All woods are not created equal. Teak and pine arnt even remotely close to the same thing other than they both come from a tree.

BassBlaster said:

great white said:

I often get a little giggle when guys trash wood installs; entire boats are made of wood and last decades or more.

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Said boats that last for decades arnt built out of cheap construction grade lumber either. They are made from teak and other woods that are extremely hard, heavy and virtually impervious to water and rot, etc. All woods are not created equal. Teak and pine arnt even remotely close to the same thing other than they both come from a tree.

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Said boats that last for decades that i refer to are made from pine and spruce on the east coast.

There's grand banks dories made from east coast pine plank plying the waterways right now.

I know, i helped my dad build a couple that are still in use.

There are also lots of pine hulled fishing and cruising vessels out this way. No, they're not made from pine or spruce econo-studs, but they are pine and spruce.

Teak, mahogany and oak are nice woods for boat building, but are mostly reserved for the more expensive vessels or hobbyists. Most often if oak is used it is for stem and keel for it's hardness, although I've used maple before as well and plank and ribs are pine and spruce for it's flexibility. Thats why sprue and pine is preferred by many oar builders out this way; jam it into a rock crevice on a stroke and it bends rather than breaks...

Anywho, I'm not here to get into an argument of hardwoods vs soft, exotics vs domestics or plywood vs plank.

My point is wood can be used as a viable alternative to aluminum. But aluminum is also a fine material to make decking out of as well and offers some advantages over wood.

Ive used both. Each has its advantages.

Cheers.

I'm not looking for a fight either, just making a point. I dont know how a boat made out of pine is lasting decades without a whole lot of maintenance. After glueing carpet or some other covering to the lumber, it can no longer be maintained. There was a thread recently where someone was changing thier layout so they removed thier wood decking that had been treated with spar and installed just a year earlier. In the pics, you could clearly see mold and rot allready on the wood. That tells me, a wood deck isnt going to last more than a few years, even if it is properly treated prior to installation because you cant retreat it after it is covered. I dont have a problem with anyone using wood. To each his own. I do have wood on my transom. If I had it to do again though, the transom would also be aluminum.

What kind of pieces of aluminum are good for framework? Aluminum angle but what else to secure it all together to each other and ribs on bottom of boat? Would like to have platforms on front and back up to seat level so I can use brackets that are already there for the bench seats as a guide. Any better way to frame it in or pretty much just buy aluminum and start putting it together?

Also what is the best/cheapest way to cut the aluminum angle? Would hacksaw work fine?

Aluminum angle can work fine if built correctly. Square tube has more strength and is a bit more forgiving than angle if you dont get the geometry right.

Hacksaw with cut aluminum just fine. So will a jig saw with a coarse metal blade and of course hand shears will also work on sheet.

BassBlaster said:

I'm not looking for a fight either, just making a point. I dont know how a boat made out of pine is lasting decades without a whole lot of maintenance. After glueing carpet or some other covering to the lumber, it can no longer be maintained. There was a thread recently where someone was changing thier layout so they removed thier wood decking that had been treated with spar and installed just a year earlier. In the pics, you could clearly see mold and rot allready on the wood. That tells me, a wood deck isnt going to last more than a few years, even if it is properly treated prior to installation because you cant retreat it after it is covered. I dont have a problem with anyone using wood. To each his own. I do have wood on my transom. If I had it to do again though, the transom would also be aluminum.

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Plywood decking is best coated in resin and then carpeted. Lots of fiberglass speedboats use this method (resin impregnated marine ply) and the wood lasts 10-20 years, sometimes longer.

I'm not familiar with the particular boat you've referenced, but if I had to guess i'd say the gent had the carpet wet a fair bit in either use or storage and that will cause any wood to deteriorate. Even resin coated wood. The type of carpet is also and issue. All carpet holds water until it evaporates, even the non backed waterproofed poly stuff i have ok my deck. Paint sheds it immediately.

Pine plank on the dories we used ro build lasts with no more than a coat of paint. Some of the fancier ones made from more "exotic" woods usually gets a coat of spar varnish, mostly because the wood looks "pretty".

Now, you do have to scrape and repaint every couple years, especially if it chips.

We are talking dories here though: they fo in the water, they do thier thing and then they're hauled out of the water.

Pine planked cape islander fishing vessels get antifouling copper bottoms and marine grade paint above the waterline. Those typically are hauled out once a year and cleaned/scraped/painted.

We had a 38 footer cape islander that was oak spine and stem and pine planked hull and deck. It was 25 years old when we bought it and it would now be around 40 years old now. Saw it sitting in its slip at the yacht club last year looking like the day we sold it. We did have to replace the stem in it while we owned it. Wood is not impervious, but lasts a long time if cared for properly.

Cheers

bass427 said:

Also what is the best/cheapest way to cut the aluminum angle? Would hacksaw work fine?

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Hacksaw is fine. I've just been using my sawzall. I also use a hand file to smooth the cut edges as well.

bass427 said:

What kind of pieces of aluminum are good for framework? Aluminum angle but what else to secure it all together to each other and ribs on bottom of boat?

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i used 1.25"x1.25" 1/8" thick aluminum angle & 3/16" aluminum pop rivets in mine except where i have 2 hatch doors meeting I used 2x2 angle, click on the link in my signature if u want to see pictures. hacksaw will work for cuts but take a while, I used an angle grinder with thinnest 4.5" diablo metal cutting wheels

bass427 said:

just buy aluminum and start putting it together?

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yep pretty much

thewalleyehunter said:

use a hand file to smooth the cut edges as well.

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