TDB owners help needed

T

Tony H

Well-known member
Hello everyone and hope your Holiday seasons are lining up perfectly.

I just got done going through the owners manual and noticed there are some warning stickers on the boats. If anyone's boat still has them I would love to get a photo and measurements of them from you. You can email the pictures to tdbco@tdbco.com

Thank you and happy holidays to all.
 
When you start building them are you going to do a build thread like Duckwater and Bankes boats do. We would love to see the procees on the build.
 
When you start building them are you going to do a build thread like Duckwater and Bankes boats do. We would love to see the procees on the build.
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We may just do that. Hope to be starting them real soon. Going to build the 14ft Sea Class first along with the Black Jack right beside it. Can't wait myself to get one built.
 
Bob, Not yet, still finishing up orders from this season. Then its on to the TDB 14 sea class. We have everything ordered and are ready once time permits. We have to get the molds prepared and keep refreshing ourselves with the build schedule so we can get it right. Were also looking at options for floatation foam etc. We will NOT be filling the floor with floatation foam although I dont believe they ever were but our goal is to keep the foam as far and high as possible to prevent water absorbsion over time.

With such a purchase it just takes time to make sure we get all our ducks in a row before we dive in. Mistakes are very expensive on these types boats and we want to do it right the first time.

Stay Tuned. Hopefully By mid Feb we can get a thread started with updates as we progress and bring TDB back to life.
 
More of a general TDB question. My 14 Classic has a plate mounted on the inside stern area that lists all the max specs (hp, ppl, etc.). You see these all the time on production boats, but usually they look real official and make reference to the USCG. Mine is handwritten in. The boat has a max #of people at 6?? And the max horsepower is 15?

I don't think any of this is USCG issued data cause there is no way your putting 6 guys in a 14 Classic or if you do a 15 isn't moving you very fast.

I run mine with a 25hp by the way and I wouldn't want to go less as the boats are slow to plane out. Boat is a 1990.
 
More of a general TDB question. My 14 Classic has a plate mounted on the inside stern area that lists all the max specs (hp, ppl, etc.). You see these all the time on production boats, but usually they look real official and make reference to the USCG. Mine is handwritten in. The boat has a max #of people at 6?? And the max horsepower is 15?

I don't think any of this is USCG issued data cause there is no way your putting 6 guys in a 14 Classic or if you do a 15 isn't moving you very fast.

I run mine with a 25hp by the way and I wouldn't want to go less as the boats are slow to plane out. Boat is a 1990.
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Got a photo of your USCG plate?

The ratings are based on weight calculations and the TDB boats are a very unique designed craft. And while I cannot say for sure they were uscg certified. I would be willing to bet money they indeed were well within the limits of the plate. You say yours says 6 people? But there will be a max weight as well or should be. And 15HP. that sounds about right.

However all this aside, We plan to retest each model before they are available for sale.
 
A few things about Capacity labels. Boats under 20 feet are required to have a label that says U. S. Coast Guard at the top of the label. This does not mean its Coast Guard certified, only that its required and you are complying with Coast Guard regulations. Boats over 20 feet that have Capacity Labels should not say Coast Guard at the top since they are not required by the Coast Guard.

As far as the label posted above, the Capacity Label numbers can be hand written as long as the meet the size requirements, black print, and legible. The information on the label would raise flags and require the builder to provide additional information to the Coast Guard. I say that based upon the 805 lbs, 965 persons, motors gear and the 15 hp info. In 33 CFR 183, Flotation Requirements, Table 4, motor weight for a 7.1 hp to 15 hp is 160 lbs. If you take the 805 lbs plus 160 lbs for the motor weight, it equals 965 lbs. This label does not account for any gear weight and everyone carries some gear weight with them. This could mean one of two things. The manufacturer did not do the calculations correctly and either has two much weight on the top line or not enough on the bottom number. It could also mean that the manufacturer did the calculations correctly and still decided to go with these numbers. Not likely since you know people are bringing gear with them and that needs to be accounted for when figuring capacity and flotation. Either way we would request more info from the builder to make sure the calculations were figured accurately. The manufacturer is Northeast Fiberglass and according to our records is out of business.

To find the status of manufacuters you can look at our public database found at http://www.uscgboating.org/recalls/mic1.aspx

Regulations can be found at the same website.
 
A few things about Capacity labels. Boats under 20 feet are required to have a label that says U. S. Coast Guard at the top of the label. This does not mean its Coast Guard certified, only that its required and you are complying with Coast Guard regulations. Boats over 20 feet that have Capacity Labels should not say Coast Guard at the top since they are not required by the Coast Guard.

As far as the label posted above, the Capacity Label numbers can be hand written as long as the meet the size requirements, black print, and legible. The information on the label would raise flags and require the builder to provide additional information to the Coast Guard. I say that based upon the 805 lbs, 965 persons, motors gear and the 15 hp info. In 33 CFR 183, Flotation Requirements, Table 4, motor weight for a 7.1 hp to 15 hp is 160 lbs. If you take the 805 lbs plus 160 lbs for the motor weight, it equals 965 lbs. This label does not account for any gear weight and everyone carries some gear weight with them. This could mean one of two things. The manufacturer did not do the calculations correctly and either has two much weight on the top line or not enough on the bottom number. It could also mean that the manufacturer did the calculations correctly and still decided to go with these numbers. Not likely since you know people are bringing gear with them and that needs to be accounted for when figuring capacity and flotation. Either way we would request more info from the builder to make sure the calculations were figured accurately. The manufacturer is Northeast Fiberglass and according to our records is out of business.

To find the status of manufacuters you can look at our public database found at http://www.uscgboating.org/recalls/mic1.aspx

Regulations can be found at the same website.
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Thank you darren with your info regarding the label requirements. I dont even know who that manufacture is or was. What is the hin number of the boat?

And this is why we will be retesting all boats before they are for sale and will let steve in md do it for us.
 
From what I remember the tdb classis does not really have a transom for the motor just a motor board. When you do the formula because it does not have a full transom they had to keep the HP rating low. As for the 160 lb motor.
When they were built it was all 2 strokes. Are there any 2 strokes 15hp that are 160 lbs?
 
I was not very clear on the outboard weight. The 160 lbs in Table 4 also includes the fuel tank and battery weight plus pounds for the motor. Sorry for the confuasion.
 
From what I remember the tdb classis does not really have a transom for the motor just a motor board. When you do the formula because it does not have a full transom they had to keep the HP rating low. As for the 160 lb motor.
When they were built it was all 2 strokes. Are there any 2 strokes 15hp that are 160 lbs?
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Bill the size of the motor mount means nothing. You have to take the width of the stern of the boat for the formulas. I am going to go out today and measure the width of stern and length of boat and see what the ratings come up for HO rating of the 14ft classic.
 
Tony,

Would it be possible for you to put together a chart with hp ratings (2 & 4 strokes) for the various TDB hulls?

This could be really helpful.
 
Tony,

Would it be possible for you to put together a chart with hp ratings (2 & 4 strokes) for the various TDB hulls?

This could be really helpful.
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Let me see what I can do for ya.



Hp=length(ft) x Transom width (ft) = Factor

length 14.2 and transom which would be 3ft
And since the TDB classic is a flat bottom hard chined boat and the factor is less than 52 we must reduce the HP capacity by 1 hp capacity in table 183.53 which is 10.
since the boat is a flat bottom hard chine we take .5 x factor minus 15 to get the hp rating.
HP rating is raised to the mearest multiple of 5

So lets do the math and see what we get?

14.3(length) x 3.(transom) =42.9
42.9(factor) X .5= 21.45
21.45 - 15 =6.45
So by the figures above the rating should be 10hp. using the transom measurements. However Since the transom is not full we get to use the width of the widest beam in the atftermost quarter of the transom.

Sorry for the edit. this is correct. Right darren?
 
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Tony,

Would it be possible for you to put together a chart with hp ratings (2 & 4 strokes) for the various TDB hulls?

This could be really helpful.
Click to expand...


Let me see what I can do for ya.



Hp=length(ft) x Transom width (ft) = Factor

length 14.2 and transom which would be 3ft
And since the TDB classic is a flat bottom hard chined boat and the factor is less than 52 we must reduce the HP capacity by 1 hp capacity in table 183.53 which is 10.
since the boat is a flat bottom hard chine we take .5 x factor minus 15 to get the hp rating.
HP rating is raised to the mearest multiple of 5

So lets do the math and see what we get?

14.3(length) x 3.(transom) =42.9
42.9(factor) X .5= 21.45
21.45 - 15 =6.45
So by the figures above the rating should be 10hp. using the transom measurements. However Since the transom is not full we get to use the width of the widest beam in the atftermost quarter of the transom.

Sorry for the edit. this is correct. Right darren?
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Okay Now the same formula using the widest beam of aftermost quarter of the hull due to it not being a full transom. I measured it at 3ft instead of 3.55ft so the final number is still under rated.

14.3(length x 4.2(transom) =60.06 (factor)
60.06(factor) x .08 = 48.048
48.048- 25= 23.048

And now we can raise to the next multiple of 5 which would be a HP rating of 25hp.

Notice since the factor is now over 52.5 we change the multiplier to .8 and the subtraction number becomes 25.
So essentially it would appear the tdb 14 classic is under rated in HP by these figures going by the book.
 
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Hope I got this right. LOL

All this info is on the USCG website in download format. We have the manual thats about 6" thick. Im told you cannot get them anymore so I guess were lucky to have the reference right at our fingertips. Anyway feel free to look it up and use it.

I will be giving a full report once we get started building the prototypes and I assure you the boats will be tested and certified by the USCG.

I will try to get the specs done for the boats and get that info posted on the website as they become available.

Hope this will help clear some things up for everyone.

The sea class models are pretty simple. use the first formula and you can do it yourself by taking the length and transom width and applying them to the same formula.

Tony
 
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Tony,

I own a 1992 14foot TDB Classic. HIN NFKxxxxxK293. The sticker says 6 Persons or 650 lbs. 965 lbs max. Rated for 15hp. It looks like they accounted for motor, fuel, battery and gear. I hope this helps. TDB's are great boats.

I bought this boat new from the late Tom Kondrick along with a Paul Kingyon duck call.

Rod
 
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