Quote:
Originally Posted by Koleswrath
Agreed! I can't seem to find a lot of info on how close the ribs are spaced on anything except the CLiners though. I know Princecraft uses the H36 Aluminium which has about 25% more yield strength than the H34 that Lund and other premiums use but I would think thickness and rib spacing would have more of an impact on overall strength. I don't even bother looking at the Trackers or Legends, etc.
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Not to get all "engineering expert" on you but some Aluminum sheet stock may have certain properties that trade off against other properties ..... like think of a super strong brittle metal that breaks cleanly (when it does yield as a "catastrophic failure) versus a softer plate that allows more deflection (bending) and may not yield or puncture (bent but not leaking maybe) ..... so, once again, marketing and specs are secondary to real life track records on many brands. Construction of the boat/hull will far outweigh the material in many cases and different construction calls for different specs on the plate/sheet they use.
As far as crossover family boats - Lund, Crestliner, Alumacraft, Princecraft have VERY FEW issues (as a % of the boats out there by population of sold boats) compared to some of the less expensive "package big box" boats that boast a certain thickness/grade of Aluminum. Sometimes these cheaper materials cost far less for thicker plate ..... so, I'd suggest to anyone who would ask me for my opinion, look at real life people reviews and trust the brands that have been trusted.
There is one "brand X" (not going to say the name to tick anyone off) that is sold at one of the "big outdoor" retailers where you will find 50 complaints to every one complaint of the above brands, yet the premium quality brands have sold millions of more boats for decades - yet this "new brand" has way more issues you will find on the internet.
Same is true of welded versus riveted. Depends how it's done and where. To make a statement of one being "better" than the other isn't always indicative of performance, quality and longevity.
As far as smaller production welded boats, Harbercraft (now Kingfisher) is one example of an excellent choice if you like more of a utility type boat versus the "family crossover" type I mentioned above. There are few others in this category that are great like KustomWeld, Woolridge, etc...