welding a deck onto aluminum boat?

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derekdiruz

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hey everyone, question,

has anyone ever used aluminum for decking their jon and welded it?

I've got access to someone's skills that welds aluminum professionally, and he said he'd weld anything on the boat I need, only charging me scrap price for the aluminum used. My idea for this stems from my 12' jon boat being used solely for duck hunting and I'm constantly climbing in and out of the muck from the boat, so I'd love to have something I knew wouldn't mildew or rot ever. Thus not smelling, and not needing replaced.

Also, I know I could just frame it, but this would save me time and effort to just brace sheet metal for a floor and front deck that is to be welded rather than riveted. Also to be noted, I don't know much about welding at all, so is this even feasible?
 
You may want to use lap joints in the design, as this type of joint is less prone to fatigue cracking. Butt joints have high localized stress & aluminum is fatigue prone already.
 
Yes. I even welded a deck into a riveted boat. I say "I" but I mean the fab shop did it for me after I drew up the plans for the deck. You can see it in my 1448 build that is listed in my signature below.
 
My front deck is all welded but you will see need framing underneath to support the floor I used .125 gauge for the floor and some scrap 1" aluminum square tubing for the framing
 
I was just considering designs for my Tracker III customization and I'm looking at 1 piece aluminum floor sections, but being a riveted hull if I ever needed to re-buck rivets it will be an awful headache to undo everything I'm planning to do. Not sure what type of tinny you're working with, but if it's riveted it's a fair bet that in time it will need some maintenance & a welded deck might be a nuisance.
 
Thanks for the insight guys,

I think I'm going to have a deck welded on with storage beneath it. This way, if the rivets ever need worked on I still can reach them, though it'll provide the function I need.
 

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