Fiberglass vs sand bottom and stump/logs

C

clinton andrus

Active member
Ok gents, Here is a question I have.

My lake I hunt has sent and maintained boat lanes but the waters I will be hunting in has lots of stumps and logs and the bottom in some of those ares will be sandy, no rocks on the bottom just sand.

I wont be running fast in those areas but how do yall think a fiberglass over wood boat would hand being hunted in a area like that?
 
If you think you might ever hit a stump or log with substantial force, get an aluminum hull. At low speeds a fiberglass hull slides off stumps and logs better than aluminum. With more force the aluminum will dent when the fiberglass will split or crack.

On the other hand, fiberglass is more easily repaired (in most cases) than aluminum.
 
No sir wouldnt be hitting anything with any speed at all, wouldnt be doing much more then idle speed in the ares where I would be hunting.

Was thinking of taping all the outside seams with six once tape then lay a layer of kevlar with a layer of six once glass over that, do you think that would be good way to go and have some durability.

I have thought about going with a aluminum boat in the style that im thinking to build only problem with that is down here the cost to build in aluminum is almost twice what it would be to build it fiberglass over wood.
 
No sir wouldnt be hitting anything with any speed at all, wouldnt be doing much more then idle speed in the ares where I would be hunting.

Was thinking of taping all the outside seams with six once tape then lay a layer of kevlar with a layer of six once glass over that, do you think that would be good way to go and have some durability.

I have thought about going with a aluminum boat in the style that im thinking to build only problem with that is down here the cost to build in aluminum is almost twice what it would be to build it fiberglass over wood.
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I have found that that layup does offer better resistance to damage from scrapes and rubs than similar fiberglass alone. It is a bit more expense/work, but not horrible. 2 layers of slightly heavier glass will do the same thing if weight isn't a big issue.
 
So if im understanding you correctly, your saying two layers of lets say 6 once glass would give the same protection as going with a layer of kevlar under 6 once glass.

Im not so much worred about weight being as this will be a trailer launched boat.
 
So if im understanding you correctly, your saying two layers of lets say 6 once glass would give the same protection as going with a layer of kevlar under 6 once glass.

Im not so much worred about weight being as this will be a trailer launched boat.
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I did not intend to say that. 6 ounce glass over 5 ounce Kevlar is better than 6 and 6 glass.
 
Sorry guess I worded it wrong wasnt trying to put words in your mouth.

Much to think about on how I want to go about it.

Thanks for the replys so for gents.
 
Just remember that the glass is doing almost all the work. The wood is just filler. I would think taped seams and two layers should work for most small boats. If you are travelling at low speeds I wouldn't worry about glass vs. aluminum.
 
Clinton, how much surface area of the hull's bow area would be potentially subject to collision? If you opt to go the Kevlar route, Kevlar 49 is the boat building material. If you have extra, a two-ply application in the bow with the cloth weave in the plys oriented at a 45 degree angle, relative to the previous layer, will give you the most "bang" for your bucks.
 
Here in AK, I run my wood/glass boat over floating birch, alder, and cottonwood trunks often. None of them are stumps sticking up like in many flooded reservoirs, so they are pretty worry free on the hull. They can and have smacked the motor hard enough to kick it all the way up into locked position.

The seem taping advice here is good.

Paint the bottom of the hull with a hard high gloss paint or coating. The stuff for airboats is popular. As is graphite thickened epoxy. Makes for a fairly slick surface. I used a high gloss latex house paint tinted the same as the topside paint. Its pretty hard stuff.

Depending on your hull design where ever the boat will be resting on the sand you will want some kind of wear surface: metal, UHMM, or really thick epoxy/graphite coating. Most wooden boat designs for duck hunting have some kind of skeg/keel system that is capped with metal. When sitting on the bottom its these pieces that will contact it first and not the hull surface.
 
Thanks for all the replys gents, much to consider.

Hey Ray as for as the sand bottom goes its not your normal type course sand you would find along a coast and are coastal marsh.

The lake i live on and hunt on is a man made reservoir and the sand bottom comes from it once being dry land as in fine sandy soil that is now a bottom of a lake.

The stumps I had talked about luckly break very easy being they have been in water since the lake was made in the 60's.

The boat will half runners on the bottom and was going to glass them in after i glassed the hull.
 
Woody stream debris in freshwater, fully inundated, with no air exposure can hold its structural integrity a very long time. Stream cover device arrays can survive for nearly a century. Draw downs and fluctuating water levels in a reservoir system like yours likely hastens decay of the upper sections of those stumps,but in low water intervals I would still encourage you to be careful when navigating through them.

Good luck with your project!
 
Thanks for that bit of info RLLigman, yea they draw the water dwn once or twice a year depending on rain fall amounts through the year.

The water level for our teal season is normally five to seven feet below pool level and then for big duck it can be anywheres from that low level to five to seven feet above pool level.

Idle speed is bout as fast as I will be going when out of the maintained boat runs, dont really need to go any faster then that even when running down a cripple.

No body up here uses sneak boats so I think it will give me a much needed advantage.
 
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