[CBintheNorth]

Originally Posted by Oldan Grumpi

I’ve had welded boats and I’ve had riveted boats - and I much prefer riveted.

Aluminum thickness isn’t the only criteria; welds can be brittle and crack, where rivets don’t change the composition of the metal at the seams and rarely crack. My last welded boat, built by a well known manufacturer, developed two pronounced cracked welds in the first 18 hours of use (whereupon I sold it).

Welded boats can be built by almost any shop with very minimal investment and modestly skilled labor. Riveted boats demand a high investment, highly skilled and expensive manufacturing process that few small manufacturers can afford.

There’s a reason aircraft floats are not welded, and that Lund’s stouter boats rarely leak after 40 years. Certainly there are some awful light ‘tinnies’ sold to very casual users, but it takes an awful lot of abuse to harm an Edo float on a Twin Otter, or a Lund Alaskan or Starcraft Islander on Great Slave Lake. Almost none are thicker than 0.10”, or in extreme cases .125 on the bottom.

I’m sure some welded boats are good, and if you need a big power, big weight, 100 mph inboard jet I don’t think you can get away from a welded boat. But if your needs are more modest, I seriously believe rivets are superior to welds.

What a load of malarkey.

There is a reason most welded hulls offer "Leak-proof for life" warranties on the entire hull, where riveted boats are almost all "leak-proof for life on the hull, 10 years on the rivets."
Nuff said.