WTB Small Plastic or Alum boat

[JT26]

im just looking for something someone may have laying around in there yard or something that they dont use or need to get rid of. im not being picky at all, it could be the most beat up piece of crap ever.
Plus im looking for something extremely cheap. A 14 yr olds budget haha.

[A9]

Keep your eye on craigslist.....Aluminum boats (atleast the reasonably priced ones) go real fast. I'd check multiple times per day...

[Anonymous]

Another thing you might try (if you have good people skills) is try looking around houses near your local lakes. A lot of people have small boats just laying around their yards that they never use. Sometimes people don't know how to get rid of them or just don't care. Keep asking. Craigslist is a good spot to start. But keep asking people, you never know what you might find. Try looking in The Little Nickle and your local paper as well.




fishnislife

[JT26]

Another thing you might try (if you have good people skills) is try looking around houses near your local lakes. A lot of people have small boats just laying around their yards that they never use. Sometimes people don't know how to get rid of them or just don't care. Keep asking. Craigslist is a good spot to start. But keep asking people, you never know what you might find. Try looking in The Little Nickle and your local paper as well.




fishnislife

thats what gave me the idea to ask. i saw this little aluminum boat old and neglected with mold and all of that right up the hill from my house.

Thanks for the info btw.

[fishnislife]

Another thing you might try (if you have good people skills) is try looking around houses near your local lakes. A lot of people have small boats just laying around their yards that they never use. Sometimes people don't know how to get rid of them or just don't care. Keep asking. Craigslist is a good spot to start. But keep asking people, you never know what you might find. Try looking in The Little Nickle and your local paper as well.




fishnislife

thats what gave me the idea to ask. i saw this little aluminum boat old and neglected with mold and all of that right up the hill from my house.

Thanks for the info btw.

Don't be afraid to go ask someone if you can take it off their hands for them. Just getting that out of their yard would probably make them happy. Look around too, you might find a better looking one. Take someone like your Dad or another adult with you when you do this. But don't ever be afraid to ask. The worse thing someone could tell you is no. Best case is, you end up with a new boat.



fishnislife

[kevinb]

Take fishnislife's advice..I just gave away a 12ft. alum.flat bottom. I needed to make space,fast and had a buddy who needed one. Check around,people are giving things out or super cheap...especially when remodeling.

[Gisteppo]

Just thought Id throw one other option out there.

Why not go down to Home Depot, get some 1x2 furring strips, a 12' piece of redwood, and 2 sheets of plywood. With these, a handful of nails, and some construction adhesive, you can BUILD your own boat. Think of how you would not only have your own boat, but have the satisfaction of building it. I built an 11' rowboat for $68 including paint. Great boat to fish out of, and ironically you have to row slowly to troll, as its so easy to row it goes too fast.

Learn some skills, have a little pride in your ownership, its a ton of fun! Takes about a week if you work a couple hours a day.

E

[Rosann G]

Gisteppo, can you post a picture of the boat you made? I would love to see it and I'm sure everyone else would too.
R

[Gisteppo]

Here is a horribly crappy photo, as I use the boat FAR more than I take pictures of it:



And here are some from the website:





Mind you, my boat is much simpler in that I painted everything (no need for varnish that way) to make it a little more durable. Spatter some fish blood inside, keep an anchor nearby, and you are off!

I built the oars as well, using curtain rod and some scrap pine blanks I had laying around. Keep things cheap that way. This is my utility boat to go to the neighbors houses, go fishing in the shallows, and most recently, to rescue stuck deer with.

Best part is, if it falls apart, Ill build another one!

Here are the complete plans and building notes:

http://www.simplicityboats.com/summerbreezetemp.html

E

[kevinb]

Nice work,Gisteppo

[Gisteppo]

Hah, thats nothin:

Rowing shell


The Tug


Picnic boat (nearing the fnial paint stage)


This is why I reccomend building boats. I love it, and its a fantastic skill to have, as you will be much more able to take care of things around the house and stop paying so much for furniture when you can make it at home.

E

[The Quadfather]

JT

I've been looking at a aluminum maybe 10' in my neighbor's backyard for 5 years now... I've never seen it move, and it's stored upside down, so no rain water. Let me know if your interested, I don't even know if they would want any $ or what? Or maybe they just like to let your their yard stay cluttered. I assume your dad would be able to get it home, because I'm most certain that it doesn't come witha trailer.

[kzoo]

Wow Gisteppo! That's pretty impressive! You should do some sort of business.

[HillbillyGeek]

Aluminum boats have one big advantage over wooden boats; they are much lighter. I can easily pick up my 10 foot jon boat and stuff it in the bed of my truck.

On the down-side, my boat is butt-ugly.

[Gisteppo]

Actually, pound for pound, contemporary wood boats are lighter for a given size. Plywood (good quality stuff, well painted) has given the ability to make very light boats. For example, my 22' lobster boat is only 1500 lbs. Put that next to ANY 22' aluminum sled. The white rowboat above? 17' long, 95 lbs. Find me an aluminum boat that moves half as well as it does in the water that weighs the same.

Helped a buddy of mine build a 16' johnboat out of 3 sheets of plywood. 16' long, 52" wide (bottom is 48"). Easily cartoppable by him, and he is a little guy. Wood, contrary to popular belief, is the ideal material for boats. If taken care of, it will outlast a fiberglass hull, is much easier to repair than aluminum, and when left to die somewhere, its the only boatbuilding material that is biodegradeable (not only does it go back from whence it came, but it is a renewable resource intially).

E

[JT26]

JT

I've been looking at a aluminum maybe 10' in my neighbor's backyard for 5 years now... I've never seen it move, and it's stored upside down, so no rain water. Let me know if your interested, I don't even know if they would want any $ or what? Or maybe they just like to let your their yard stay cluttered. I assume your dad would be able to get it home, because I'm most certain that it doesn't come witha trailer.

quadradomus that sounds great. Do you think you could talk to them about it? My dad would easily be able to take it home in the back of the pick up.

And Gisteppo those are great boats. Thanks for the idea. How heavy are those boats?

[Gisteppo]

Which one?!?

The rowboat weighs probably 45 - 50 lbs, Im not sure. I carry it around on my shoulder.

Bigger stuff like the tug weighs about 125, but I use a cart that I made from scrap wood and lawnmower tires to move it.

E

[HillbillyGeek]

Actually, pound for pound, contemporary wood boats are lighter for a given size. Plywood (good quality stuff, well painted) has given the ability to make very light boats. For example, my 22' lobster boat is only 1500 lbs. Put that next to ANY 22' aluminum sled. The white rowboat above? 17' long, 95 lbs. Find me an aluminum boat that moves half as well as it does in the water that weighs the same.

Helped a buddy of mine build a 16' johnboat out of 3 sheets of plywood. 16' long, 52" wide (bottom is 48"). Easily cartoppable by him, and he is a little guy. Wood, contrary to popular belief, is the ideal material for boats. If taken care of, it will outlast a fiberglass hull, is much easier to repair than aluminum, and when left to die somewhere, its the only boatbuilding material that is biodegradeable (not only does it go back from whence it came, but it is a renewable resource intially).

E

Hmm... are you making those boats out of balsa plywood? A boat made from aluminum will always be lighter than a boat made from marine-grade plywood. Keep in mind that an aluminum hull only has to be 1/8" thick compared to 1/2" minimum for plywood (4 times as thick).

It may take a few centuries, but technically speaking, aluminum is "biodegradable".

http://www.worldwise.com/biodegradable.html

[Gisteppo]

I regularly build planing hull boats with 1/4" plywood.

1/4" sides, or 3/8" for the larger boats, is plenty thick enough, because the curvature introduces strength. Sometimes the flat bottom boats will use 1/2", but its pretty seldom. Also, wood boats require very little framing thanks to the inherent stability of plywood, making them very strong with just 2 or 3 frames and no longitudinal stiffeners.

I completely agree that aluminum boats are great boats (I currently own one). Its just that for a small, light boat, wood can't be beat. Im replacing my 16' sled that requires 40 hp (70hp jet) to go 22 mph with a 16' wood boat that requires a whopping 15 hp to go 24 mph, saving me massive amounts of fuel. Here is a shot of the boat that was built by the designer:



Beautiful and a fantastically functional boat.

I have different plans and different suggestions based on what type of fishing and what water its being used on if you decide to pull the trigger on a build.

E

[kuttkilla]

Sweet boat E. They are a work of art, take less fuel to run, and handle and look fantastic. Way to go!