Hull thickness

[1960 yellowboat]

What is considered to be a good material thickness on an aluminum semi vee?
My Richline Challenger is .067 gauge.

 

[DaleH]

Depends on lenth ,,,

 

[turbotodd]

.080 is considered "decent" on a lot of the 15' duck boats, with .100 or .125 preferred, but they are going to be obviously heavier-and that means slower speed. Mine is .100 (1548).

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Depends on lenth ,,,

And rib spacing/over all construction.

 

[coosa]

It's interesting how much this has changed over the years. I bought an aluminum boat in 1977 that was .064, and that wasn't unusual. The next one I bought a few years later was .072 and I remember the salesman talked about the hull thickness as a great selling point. I have been researching boats lately and planning to buy one soon, and it seems like most of the bass type boats are .100.

I guess thicker is better, but I never had a problem with the hulls on any of my aluminums except for a couple of really small ones that I abused on creek rocks.

BTW, I kept running across this site when researching boats, so I decided to join. Thanks for all the great info here.

 

[LDUBS]

Gosh, I had no idea what the hull thickness is for my boat. I suspected it wasn't super thick because I don't think my boat is very heavy for an 18' windshield walkthrough. I looked up the spec's and it comes in at .080 on bottom and sides. Well, now that I know I"m not sure what I'll do with the info. Haha

 

[surfman]

What are you going to do with it? If you are just going lake fishing then the .07 thickness is just fine, if you want a jet boat and plan on running rocky rivers then the thicker the better. Thicker usually means heavier.

 

[turbotodd]

Thicker is always better. It's heavier, but if you're trailering the boat, that's not as much of a concern as it'd be if you was throwing the boat in the back of the truck like I used to do. That's when lightweight tin foil boats are nice to have--at least until you run into a barely submerged cypress tree stump or knee. The difference between a .100 jon and a .063 jon is evident as you're running across the lake running a tiller steer motor with any appreciable chop. With thin material you can watch the front of the boat flex. With the thicker stuff, not so much. Also most riveted boats are thinner material because it takes less material/money to build the boat. It's more flexible which over a long period of time and/or rough water operation will tend to loosen the rivets.

 

[ppine]

Are you planning on any rock crushing?
Lake boats can be built lighter than river boats.

 

[turbotodd]

Gets rough on the lake sometimes too. Hunting out of a boat is also a consideration for some (though I do not hunt-at least not from the boat).

Once you've been in a thick welded hull, you won't want to set foot in a tin-foil built jon again. Trust me. It's not quite as easy to rivet a thicker hull as it is on a thin one (like .063). But you don't have to, most of the thicker hulls are welded. They're welded because it's easier, safer, lasts longer, and MUCH stronger.

There is a price difference, yes. If it's in the budget, spring for the thicker hull. I understand if it's not affordable--I've been in that situation. Resale on a welded thicker material hull is a LOT higher than a riveted tinfoil hull.

Either will float, or they should anyway. After a few years the difference becomes obvious. You'd notice the difference right away if you nave never had a welded boat which was my experience.

 

[MacCTD]

.1875 or .250, preferably 5086 as well.

 

[LDUBS]

.1875 or .250, preferably 5086 as well.

1/4" is getting pretty thick & heavy. I could see it for a work boat. Way beyond what I need in the lakes I frequent.

 

[LDUBS]

Gets rough on the lake sometimes too.

The main body of one of the lakes I go to is about 10 miles long. Wind coming down the length of the lake can make for some pretty rough conditions. I see large glass bass boats zipping across the tops of some pretty decent sized whitecaps. When waves build up, I slow way way down to keep the fillings in my teeth. Haha.

 

[BigTerp]

.1875 or .250, preferably 5086 as well.

1/4" is getting pretty thick & heavy. I could see it for a work boat. Way beyond what I need in the lakes I frequent.

Yeah, .250 is way overkill. Guys around here that build custom river jet boats use .190 at the most.

 

[MacCTD]

.1875 or .250, preferably 5086 as well.

1/4" is getting pretty thick & heavy. I could see it for a work boat. Way beyond what I need in the lakes I frequent.

Yeah, .250 is way overkill. Guys around here that build custom river jet boats use .190 at the most.

I have a 19' skiff with .250 bottom and .1875 sides, it is still a pretty light boat and goes well with a Honda 90, very tough, while it may be overkill for some applications given the choice I would take overkill every time.

 

[coosa]

I certainly appreciate a thick, welded hull on a boat for big lakes and rivers, but I think there is also a place for a thin, riveted boat. This is a 10' creek boat that is made from very thin aluminum. That makes it light enough that I can easily load into the back of the truck by myself and drag it over the rocks in the creek too. If it were made out of thicker aluminum, I would not be able to manage it alone.




I gave a guy $50 for it about 30 years ago, and I think I have gotten my money's worth from it. It's been more than a year since I've had it in the water, but I think it would be ready to hit the creek if I were able to do it.

Now the bad news. All those years of dragging it over the rocks have been hard on it. There have been rivet leaks since I've had it, but that's an easy fix. After about 20 years of creek usage, I started getting separations along the edges. I would beat them back into place and put JB Weld or something on the inside, but that was only a temporary fix at best. But since we always had to get out periodically to drag it, getting the water out never was a big problem.

I have never fixed it from it's last trip, so it will need a little work before I go again:

 

[LDUBS]

1/4" is getting pretty thick & heavy. I could see it for a work boat. Way beyond what I need in the lakes I frequent.

Yeah, .250 is way overkill. Guys around here that build custom river jet boats use .190 at the most.

I have a 19' skiff with .250 bottom and .1875 sides, it is still a pretty light boat and goes well with a Honda 90, very tough, while it may be overkill for some applications given the choice I would take overkill every time.

That is a rugged boat for sure. Out of curiosity what is the hull weight of your 19' skiff? By my rough calc's, going to .25" would increase my boat's hull weight by something like 1,500 pounds! Don't know what the impact would be the bottom at .250 and the sides at .1875 because I'm too lazy to figure it out.

 

[BigTerp]

I have a 19' skiff with .250 bottom and .1875 sides, it is still a pretty light boat and goes well with a Honda 90, very tough, while it may be overkill for some applications given the choice I would take overkill every time.

That is a rugged boat for sure. Out of curiosity what is the hull weight of your 19' skiff? By my rough calc's, going to .25" would increase my boat's hull weight by something like 1,500 pounds! Don't know what the impact would be the bottom at .250 and the sides at .1875 because I'm too lazy to figure it out.

Definitely a rugged boat. I just can't imagine it being a "pretty light boat". The boat I was referencing is a River Rocket. 1860 ModV with a 200hp Mercury Optimax sport jet, .190" bottom and sides and 1/2" UHMW on the bottom. Considered THE boat for shallow rocky rivers around here. It's definitely a tank. Fully rigged it looks like it weighs around 1500#'s. They are getting mid 40's with this setup. Not knocking your skiff. I'm actually impressed that your running a 90 on that thick of a hull. I'm assuming it's a prop and not a jet? I know guys that run 1860 production hulls at .125" with a 90/65 and they are under powered. I'll eventually get a thicker hull, I need it. I currently run a riveted 1648 with a Johnson 50/35. It does great and has been a fishing machine for me, but the bottom is probably .080". I've punched my share of holes in it in the last 6 years.

https://rockproofboats.com/river-rocket/

 

[MacCTD]

Yeah, .250 is way overkill. Guys around here that build custom river jet boats use .190 at the most.

I have a 19' skiff with .250 bottom and .1875 sides, it is still a pretty light boat and goes well with a Honda 90, very tough, while it may be overkill for some applications given the choice I would take overkill every time.

That is a rugged boat for sure. Out of curiosity what is the hull weight of your 19' skiff? By my rough calc's, going to .25" would increase my boat's hull weight by something like 1,500 pounds! Don't know what the impact would be the bottom at .250 and the sides at .1875 because I'm too lazy to figure it out.

I have never weighed it but it is listed by the manufacturer as 1650lbs, the 90hp I have pushes it to 36mph, cruises in the low 20s pretty well which is more than fast enough for where I use it as it is usually pretty choppy.

 

[LDUBS]

MacCTD, that is a bruiser of a boat. The skin on my 18' walk-thru is no where near what you have on the bottom. My dry hull wt is only 750#. Bad chop, I slow way down. Too hard on the . . uh. . teeth. Yeah that's it, teeth. Haha