what wood to use in bass boat ?

[northrivergeek]

Im replacing about 90% of the wood in a Hydra-Sports 1986 Bass boat, rot rot and more rot .. any way .. in the hull running back to front is 3 stringers , then along them are 1/4 x 2" or so flat board material glassed in .. the out side pieces are rotted it is some sorta of end grain blocks that where glued together with a mesh glued on to each side, as I was able to see some of the construction of these strips where not completely rotted away then they where glassed into the boat.

But for some reason , prob sorry workmanship on the part of the person at the factory that glassed the outside strips in, they have rotted in sections , so Im replacing them .. my question is what shall I replace these with ?

Will ply wood strips be ok to replace this with cut to the same size as the existing pieces? any ideas, thoughts, help ?

Attached is picture for reference .. lime green are the flat 1/4x2" strips, red line is where the stringer will go.

[rasorinc]

Your in Tennessee where you can find this wood so I would use Black Locust. Find some quality clear, vertical
grain. It is very strong and will not rot. Great wood for what you want to do.

[northrivergeek]

Little too steep for my taste, price wise ! Wow ! anthing ideas that area cheaper ?

[rasorinc]

You should be able to get it for under $4.00 a board ft. I can get it here for $3.00 to $4.00 a BF A nominal 2x6 16' =$64.00 That is cheap for the best wood for your usage. Stan P S that is for clear, dry, vertical grain.

[Jimbo1490]

Basswood maybe? Sorry I couldn't stop myself

Jimbo

[rasorinc]

Basswood is probably what he had originally. It's OK in model airplanes but if he wants strength and zero rot Black Locust is the only way to go with those small stringers. there can't be 14 BF in those. He must have gotten a price meant for tourists. I can provide him a link for the wood if he is willing to take smaller lengths and put in scarf joints. This stuff in # 3 is used as fence posts and lasts many decades. How about Balsa?? it's cheap.
Nice try Jimbo 1490 I like your sense of humor however, your advise might be taken.

[PAR]

Douglas fur is very likely what he had originally or possibly SYP.

It appears as if it's a balsa core build, which means the laminate carried the loads, with the cores (stringers included) offering the skin separation chores.

You can use pretty much any lumber you want for your stringers, though stick with light weight woods, like white spruce. The key to this type of construction is insuring you have two things. First is sufficient laminate thickness over the core elements and second is good adhesion to those core elements and other local laminates.

The balsa could be replaced with foam, though the pour in stuff doesn't have the compression strength of balsa (which is why they use balsa in the first place).

Avoid using pressure treated wood of any kind. The goos we use to apply these laminates don't stick well to this stuff and will sheer off under repeated loading. Polyester resin will work, though epoxy will be much stronger and easier to use for the novice.