Building a drift boat?

[npauls]

Hey I was just wondering if anyone has experience building a small wooden drift boat?

Me and Erik (guitarplayingfish) are talking and trying to plan out a small wooden drift boat.
We want something that is small, wide, and light weight that can be loaded in the back of a truck or on the roof of a S.U.V. We were thinking something in the 8 foot by 4 foot range that can hold some gear in the front with a rower in the middle and a caster in the back.

I am trying to decide on how much curve I should go with in the bottom of this boat. I know its kind of small but its not like we will be running white water rapids or anything like that. Was thinking the bow,old man, and a few other mid sizes rivers.

If anyone has experience and would like to give us some info or pointers it is all greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Nate

[chubbdarter]

nate.....what color?

[WayneChristie]

http://www.absolutelyfreeplans.com/B...boat_plans.htm

[sonny42]

Nate, Why would you want to build one, you float around in one all spring and summer at the SAWT tournys,, i think it has a red stripe on the sides , the Lone Ranger.

[npauls]

haha Bob won't even take that thing near gravel let alone let me launch it down the old man or the bow. Would be funny to see his face if I did try though.

I am getting really bored just sitting around lately and from the sounds of things I won't be back to work any time soon so I might as well keep myself busy and do something productive.

You find a partner yet sonny? If not get a hold of me on private message and maybe I can help you find one.

[Gust]

Originally Posted by npauls

haha Bob won't even take that thing near gravel let alone let me launch it down the old man or the bow. Would be funny to see his face if I did try though.

I am getting really bored just sitting around lately and from the sounds of things I won't be back to work any time soon so I might as well keep myself busy and do something productive.

You find a partner yet sonny? If not get a hold of me on private message and maybe I can help you find one.

I've worked in boat restoration and know a number of builders with some awesome super stable shallow run boat schemes. I'll PM you some models a little later. In the meantime research West System.

[gramps73]

I seen it done lots...
all you need are some logs cut to size and some vines to hold them together..lay the logs side by side and tie them together..
need more advice just ask..

[kmic]

Search for "Sandy's Honky Dory". That should get you to a drift boat site and if memory serves me correctly he has a plan called "the buffalo boat". Pretty sure this would be very close to what your going for. His plans are easy to follow (I built the honky dory) and if you have any questions he's more than happy to help you out. Again if memory serves the"buffalo boat" was just big enough for 2 and would fit in the back of a truck no problem. Modified drift boat style I guess you could call it.
Good luck, its tons of fun and very cool that first time you float it!

[bryanfewchuk]

bring a bucket

[nicemustang]

I built this as a kid once. 4 wood pallets. Screwed together. Cut 4" foam board in, secure inside pallets. Floats and handles like a dream!

[densa44]

I see your friends have already chimed in with clever advice. My only suggestion is although you don't plan on fishing/boating through white water, build it to be sea worthy in all situations.

Try to figure out how much this craft has to carry that will determine its size.

If you have never built a boat before, it can gain weight fast. If it is all wood even faster.

A cheap Jon boat from BPS is not a bad solution for your needs, although your friends do have some cheaper suggestions.

[npauls]

The problem with a jon boat is that it doesn't have any rocker and is very skinny. This will make for a very unstable boat when someone is moving or standing which is what we will be doing from this boat. The boat needs some rocker in the boat when floating rivers and streams. I have found some blueprints online and am thinking we will kind of been putting something together out of a few different models.

Gramps and stang.

Thanks for the advise but I would like to live to see another day. I know you boys think me and bob are a threat on the trail but that just means you have to step up to rise above. Getting rid of me won't stop bob from fishing hard. I also wouldn't be able to make your plans stable enough or able to control good in moving water.

[densa44]

The clever use of fiberglass with add some weight but will be a blessing in the end. At least fiberglass the keelson. It is designed to rub on the beach when you launch and come ashore.

Make the oar locks as strong as you can. If one breaks on a river you can have a big problem.

Take sometime before deciding on the plywood. Marine is very expensive, but there are cheaper solutions that will work. Have fun!

[npauls]

Hey densa,

Do you think an 8' long boat will be suitable for 2 people to float in moderate paced waters? We are not going to be floating white waters or anything like that and if we were to encounter a small section on the rivers we place to fish then we would just pick up and portage around it. We also won't be packing a ton of gear with us. A couple rods each, net, life jackets, lunches, anchor, and fly boxes is about all we will be carrying.

[incept]

Nate, there are tons of plans on the net to check out and get some ideas from. I think the best wooden drift boats are made be montana boat builders with tatmans a close second. I have a book with a half dozen plans in it that may be of use to look at. I run the rivers all the time in both rafts and the like and if I may recommend, do yourself a favor and put a sheet of UHMW on the bottom. It is a life saver. Most of these boats are bigger than what you are after but may give you some ideas. The cost of materials adds up kinda quick but is still resonable compared to buying one. Let me know if I can help ya out and have fun. I am starting the process of building one myself. Custom boats are the way to go...

[npauls]

I have been doing alot of reading on the net about building them but like you said all of them are alot bigger then what we are looking to build. We are also looking to keep costs down which I think we can. I can get the wood at discount and hopefully the stainless steel hardware also. The problem we are having is trying to figure out how much rocker to put in the boat, how wide of a bottom to use, and how wide of a flare to go with at the top of the sides. We don't have much to go with for sizing since everything is alot bigger then what we want. I am thinking we will be doing alot of figuring out on our own along the way. I also am not sure if we should go with a frame on the inside or make it frameless. We want to keep it light weight so I was thinking frameless would be better but we would also like to make it sturdy and able to last for long time which is why I think a framed boat would be better.

So many things to think about and figure out and not enough time to read and learn how to do everything.

[incept]

Frameless is the way to go. Opens the inside up so much more especially in a smaller boat. As for the floor, you'll want to go 4' wide, the rest will be up to you. I can look in the book I have and see what the rocker and bow flare is like {if any on the flare} and let you know. I think the best thing to get accurate results would be to find a plan you like and down scale it. Personally I think you will want a boat no smaller than 10 feet. After rowing them anything smaller is really cramped, even for two guys. By the time you add the cooler, gear, net, dog if you take one, it really takes up the space. You'll also find the smaller boats wil not track as well and are quite squirrly on the water. I'd look for 8.5' oars as well. I fish a 13 foot raft and it is great on our rivers with 2 guys fishing and one rowing. It puts the guy in the stern right up on the tube though. The last boat I used was a 15.5' and I liked it. I think for just 2 a 10 to 13 would be perfect. I will have to check my bookmarks but somewhere I have a link to a drift boat that I think is exactly what your after for two guys... I'll see what I can find.

[incept]

Perhaps something like this would work? Simple, it is a framed boat, functional. They have some other pictures of different boats on this site as well. I myself would stay away from the skiff plans though. I think you will find yourself taking on more water than you would like to.

www.spirainternational.com/hp_mack.html

[npauls]

Ya let me know what you find. I am not to sure how you make a 10 footer and attach the piece of wood together or if you order special sized plywood so that the bottom and sides are seamless.

I plan to use a cooler with a seat mounted to the top as the rowing seat. The cooler will be secured in so it won't move and will have cup holders built into the top of it. I am also thinking about putting a pedestal seat set up in the back for the caster since I already have that set up and it can be removeable for travel. Other then that we were thinking of maybe a small wooden bench across the front or leaving it wide open and possible a removeable leaning rail for the caster in the back. I will just have a normal boat cleat on the back of the boat for anchoring and a small digger type anchor with 50 ft. of anchor line and a small chain. I can store this in a small tote inside the the cooler when traveling and in the back behind the caster when floating.

I was thinking about an 8 footer or a bit less so I can just use a normal sheet of plywood to make the whole boat without having a jointed seam in the bottom and along the sides of the boat.

Thanks for all the help so far and I can't wait to see some links that you have in mind to some boats. I have contacted laird plastics about a sheet of UHMW but haven't heard anything yet. I am thinking if I get a sheet of that for the bottom and some strips for bump rails along all the edges it would be good. I have been reading different things on how to attach the plastic to the bottom of the boat. I am not sure if I should glue and screw it in, glue and bolt it in, just glue it, just screw it in, or just bolt it in. There is a ton of mixed opinions on the net. Also roughly what is a sheet of that stuff worth and what is a good thickness to use to keep it solid but also light enough to hand bomb where ever you need to?

[densa44]

The rocker is for manouverablity in white water. As you don't plan on that type of boating you won't need much rocker. 8' is too short IMO for 2 men and gear. Have look at a Mirror on line, they are a small (8') sabot design, easy to build and used for children to learn to sail. They can be rowed but are pretty piggy.

If you use plywood, you are kind of stuck with the lengths that it comes in, IMO the longer the better.

Since we don't know how much you and Eric weigh, or may weigh in the future you want to build as much spare flotation into the design as possible. The usual way is to increase the length. If you increase the beam, you run into the problem of plywood size options, plus a 4' beam is very hard to row.

Something like a Dory design will row well and is very seaworthy, a good Newf can row, sail or skull the craft.

I'd recommend longer and less beam.

I don't know your experience with canoes but a Clipper tripper would do everything that you are looking for, plus you wouldn't need to row, you could eddy out and fish spots the drift boats can't reach.

You can build a great canoe too if you want. Long cedar 2x4's ripped into 1/4' widths and then laid up make a great canoe!

All boat building is worthwhile even the ones that you don't like after you finish!

[incept]

The joint for the wood is called a scarf joint, the plastic from what I have found is anywhere between 1/4 and 3/8" thick and it is screwed on with stainless steel screws as nothing will stick to the plastic surface. The bottom is sealed using different products {west marine seems to be the most popular} and the water should run out from between the boat and plastic. Tatman boats sells the plastic in 4x8 sheets in brown for around $200.00 plus freight. I would try to source it closer to home though, cause freight is a killer these days. I gotta run for now but I will find some more stuff for ya in the next day or two and get it up here or pm ya. Have fun, we'll be in touch.

[npauls]

Thanks for all the help so far Incept and ya we will keep in touch on here or on pm.

We will keep it in the planning stages until we figure out for sure what we want and get everything just right.

[jusfloatin]

Here's a cheaper route.

[npauls]

I have seen that one a few dozen times.

Pretty tough to get 2 guys and all our gear on it.

[the local angler]

yeah and where is the beer holders???