convert soft bottom inflatable to hard bottom dinghy

[pistnbroke]

this is getting crazy ...two posts in one ...we are not talking about making a boat with giant pool noodles but edging some ply with them for a new bottom ...they can be a very tight fit if the boat is deflated when they are fitted and then pumped up ....


Quote ...any ideas to repair the bottom

[CaptBill]

Didn't mean to go off topic. Was more suggesting how simple it might be to do the whole lot just as quick and as easy plus end up with a tougher RIB for no more effort.


edit
..oh you mean just a hard floor.. not building a RIB.Sorry, I was thinking RIB.

[Submarine Tom]

Originally Posted by ancient kayaker

- but he already has this boat and by the sound of it has had it some time.

I agree there would be a concern over the potential for abrasion with a ply floor. My approach would be, first take a look at a RIB boat and see how the problem is dealt with there. I would certainly consider using the idea of pool noodles between the ply edge and the air bags to prevent rubbing.

However if noodles are simply split and fitted on the ply edge that will leave a gap between the ply and the fabric of a few inches. Maybe half-round noodles could be glued to the top of the ply around the edge. Alternatively the noodles could be edge-fitted as suggested previously but some thinner (or half round) noodles added fore-and-aft under the floor to support the fabric.

Any ideas on ply thickness? Based on typical wood boat practice I would suggest about 1% of the beam, but there may be reasons for something else that I don't know about, never having owned a zodiac.

Perhaps he should then sell it and buy the right boat the second time...?

-Tom

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by Submarine Tom

Perhaps he should then sell it and buy the right boat the second time...?

-Tom

Thats what you would do with a car isnt it? I mean if you got fed up with your ford 2 door and you wanted a 4 you would'nt convert it.

[CaptBill]

'cause I likes me some RIB's

[ancient kayaker]

Why do it?

Cost of sheet of ply + few pool noodles + couple hours of work vs cost of another boat (less value of existing of beaten up boat)

not hard to compute; it's cheap and easy, and reversible.


The comparison with a change of car, or house or whatever else you want to throw into the mix is hardly relevant; the amount of work involved in cutting 2 extra doors in a car - well, there's no point in discussing it further really.

This is somethig he can easily do, try it out, then keep if it works or toss if it doesn't. He's looking to us for advice on how to proceed, which we've done, and he also needs a heads-up on unexpected consequences. I've done about as much as I can to help, if anyone has experience with these types of boats and knows of potential problems,please speak up . . .

[Frosty]

Done it been there, its a slight improvement on the slats (emphasis on slight) it still wont plane it just folds up on you because you cant get a full piece in it will neeed to be in 2

even if you put hinges on it. Ive lost count now, wised up. Bought a hard and chocked it on the swim platform. Hard at lunch time soft in the evening, they havnt invented V1agra for dingies yet.

RIP RIB

[pistnbroke]

why does it need to be in two bits frosty ...let the thing down ...put it in ..blow it up ...???

[Frosty]

You have obviously not tried to squeeze one in.

[pistnbroke]

if its deflated where does the squeeze come from its all flopsy bunny ...

forget that when are you on the telly ?/

[sailingdaniel]

A frend of mine found a wrecked rib , got it for free , cut the hard bottom out to fit his old dingy whit soft flor , ripped the soft floor out his dingy. Glued the hard bottom on. It was done in a day and has lasted for 3 years now. it was a succe. l. He used glue from a dingy produser and his dingy was made of hypalon.. I find old pvc hopless to glu so make sure u have a glu thats work...

[Frosty]

Yeah done that too exactly how you described it. I chucked it in the bin a month ago.

[Wavewacker]

I have two inflatables, one is a cloeman kayak, not a bad little boat for a cheapie and a 12' military style, not Zodiak but can't remeber at the moment. I cut out 3/8 ply to form under the tubes above the existing floor, screwed 1x2s on top starting about 2" in from the sides equally spaced sanded the ends forming a taper to the deck at the ends. Paited it with kills. Covered the edges with an old black soaker hose, it's what I had, soft, plyable, cutting a slit in the hose and slipping it on gluing it about every foot (didn't have much rubber glue left). Put it in the boat while deflated. Inflated it the next day and the tube expanded over the edges. Pushed the boat with a 20# thrust trolling motor, worked great. I was concerned that it would pop up in the chop on the lake as it got rough, but it stayed in place taking care.

Now, it's a boat that is hard to carry, car top (truck bed), heavy and afraid to drag it since the bottom won't flex up as it hits the hard floor and may rip or cut from objects, but so far not. It's been used about five times and sits because I don't have a proper trailer. And I knew the kills paint job would not last long, it needs paint now. No noticable problems around the edges.
Kids rode in it being towed with my Searayder jet boat....slowly.

Another project is to do the same thing with the kayak as it's terrible with its floor as is. It will be smaller and lighter to carry too.

That said, I agree with Frosty, I bet no one would buy this contraption for what I have in it or close to it, if at all! I probably should have sold it and gone for what I needed/wanted. A used one off Ebay.

I also used the noodles for stablizers/amas on my canoe. Stuck some aluminum conduit pipe in the length, bent the pipe to form and bent the pipe up to the gunnels and attached with clamps. The pipe went across side to side so I can rotate it changing the pitch in the water. Didn't work too well and looked pretty silly. Perhaps with some fine tuning it could work better but it is functional, that's about all.

[DennisRB]

I have fitted ply floors to 2 different zodiacs which had slats as standard. The performance was much better and it was 5 times nicer to stand in. On one of the zodiacs I had to cut the ply into 2 pieces, it is very hard to get the ply in even deflated. This was a really cheap one from BCF, I would call it a 2 person as with 3 we swamped it.

The other one (genuine 3 person Zodiac) I managed to fit one piece in (well the front section which is triangulated still has no ply). This is my girlfriends tender for her yacht. I used marine ply and epoxied it. I made sure to round all the edges and corners first to prevent chafing. I then put strips of black grip tape on it. The result looks really good. It almost gets on a plane now with the 2hp and you get better buoyancy/load carrying as the bottom does not balloon inward. Certainly a big improvement in performance anyway. I'm sure with a couple more HP it would really plane. But the best part is the stable footing.

I would never own one without this mod. The difference is massive (compared to busted slats). Also since they are meant to have slats anyway the rubber is re-enforced in the areas where the ply sheet touches. The slats are cheap compressed particle board or ply and fall apart in a few years. I actually thought of using a shaped pool noodle under the center of the board act as a keel and give even more buoyancy.

[pistnbroke]

Thats great so the aussies can do it and Frosty carnt !!!! Great job dennis