10 foot pram design

Discussion in 'Boat Design' started by itskens, Aug 11, 2012.

  1. itskens
    Joined: Aug 2012
    Posts: 26
    Likes: 1, Points: 0, Legacy Rep: 20
    Location: Springfield, Oregon

    itskens Junior Member

    10 foot pram design help wanted

    Hello!
    I'm wanting to design/build a multi-purpose pram. I realize it will be a compromise. I weigh ~ 220# and my dog ~100#. I would like a pram that I can take out 'round the lake margins for ducks or fishing, or/and across and down the river (no whitewater). I think the flyfishing, drift prams are too much of a driftboat for my purposes. And the basic/typical pram design needs a little alteration for what I want out of it. I would like to load 400#- 450#, safely. This would be a stitch 'n glue project.

    I plan to build something like the Hudson Springs Pram: http://www.duckworksbbs.com/plans/messer/hudson_springs/index.htm

    I wouldn't put the seat in. This would be a more basic/simple design.

    But, I want to put more rocker in it, especially the narrow, upstream transom. And I plan to rake the wide transom back and rocker it up, for rocky river use.

    Z's Drifter looks nice!,, but I want a lighter boat:
    http://www.woodenboatpeople.com/forum/topics/z-s-drifter-pram

    I'm seeing 10' prams with about 46" bottoms. Can/should I go narrower?

    How much should I raise/rocker the two ends?

    I would appreciate any/all thoughts on my concept, so far!

    Many thanks,,, Ken
     
    Last edited: Aug 11, 2012
  2. troy2000
    Joined: Nov 2009
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    Location: California

    troy2000 Senior Member

    Take a look at the plans for Stubby, a 9' pram designed by Edwin Monk and published in his 'How to Build Wooden Boats: With 16 Small-Boat Designs.' You can pick up a paperback copy from Amazon or Barnes & Noble for less than ten bucks, and it's money well spent.

    My nephew Justin wanted to build Stubby a few years ago, but was worried it might not be big enough for him (his build is somewhere between a Samoan football player in the NFL and a Japanese Sumo wrestler). So I lofted a stretched version for him by extending the station spacing, to create a boat that was 11' overall. He used MDO plywood for the bottom, but went with traditional lapstrake sides -- mostly for looks, but also because he happened to have a stack of boards just begging to be used. Plywood sides would have worked just fine.

    Justin wound up with a relatively burdensome craft, that moves easily under oars or a very small outboard. And it's still light enough to manhandle easily when it's ashore.

    Our original intent was to add a small sail, a rudder, and a centerboard or leeboards. But I took a job that keeps me out of town for a ridiculous percentage of my life, and he didn't feel confident enough to tackle the conversion without me looking over his shoulder.... maybe we'll get around to it when I retire in a couple of years.
     
  3. messabout
    Joined: Jan 2006
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    Location: Lakeland Fl USA

    messabout Senior Member

    If you intend to take your dog, decoys, and other gear, then think in terms of a longer boat. Twelve feet will make you happier than ten feet and a lot depends on the disposition of your canine companion.

    Take a look at some of the iterations of Barnegat Bay Sneak Boxes. These were/are classic designs for duck boats. An authentic sneak box is a decent sailing, rowing, sculling boat that knows how to make itself inconspicuous in a blind.

    There are numerous designs for the squareish pram types that have been thoroughly proven over a long time span. I may as well be the first respondent who advises against designing your own. Plans for a proven design can be had very cheaply. Plan sets from an established designer will positively, absolutely, save you time money,and disappointment.
    You have asked key questions in the OP that make that advice all the more important.
     
  4. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
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    Location: Eustis, FL

    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    The PDR and PDR's bigger sister, the PD Goose would be the logical choice. The PDR is an 8' by 4' concrete mixing tub (you there Mik?), but well suited to big loads, sailing, modest motoring, rowing etc. The Goose is a 12' version with lots more room and likely what you'll want. An 8' Duck could easily be stretched to 10' if desired. Duckworksmagazine.com has plans cheap.
     

  5. lewisboats
    Joined: Oct 2002
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    Location: Iowa

    lewisboats Obsessed Member

    Here is a 10 ft version I built this spring...an ED or Eider Duck

    [​IMG]

    I'll be swapping the current rudder mount for one that has an interchangeable gudgeon board/trolling motor mount. It is very stable, pretty much unsinkable unless you went at it with an axe, sails quite nicely and I expect moves well with a trolling motor too.
     
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