is this a good price to build this boat?

Discussion in 'Boat Design' started by TheChillPrince, May 2, 2016.

  1. TheChillPrince
    Joined: May 2016
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    TheChillPrince Junior Member

    so i was gonna build the glen l fisherman http://www.boatdesigns.com/13-Fisherman-utility-boat/products/323/ but i decided to look for someone who can build it for me instead.

    they gave me a price of ''around $7000'' for the boat to be built, id expect to add 1000-1500 for the custom stuff i want done to it, do you think this is a good deal or should i look elsewhere?

    it seems fine to me but i want to get the opinions of people who are more experienced with this sort of thing then i am.
     
  2. Mr Efficiency
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    Mr Efficiency Senior Member

    Crazy high price I'd say.
     
  3. waikikin
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    waikikin Senior Member

    It really could depend on the level of finish that you require.
     
  4. Mr Efficiency
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    Mr Efficiency Senior Member

    Give it the de luxe finish, even, and it will be only worth a fraction of the "around" $7000 you spent. I'm struggling to see where the satisfaction is in that. You could buy a pretty good alloy hull for less, and it would hold its value well. You either build it yourself in ply, or buy an alloy boat, imo.
     
  5. tom28571
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    tom28571 Senior Member

    Building boats for a living is one of the less profitable jobs to be had. Sure $7K sounds like a lot of money for this boat but when considering the hours required to finish it to a decent level, it gets much more reasonable. In a job that you depend on to feed a family, how much is adequate per hour? Added to that is the fact that building boats is not a low skill job.

    Say that it takes 500 hours to complete, is $14/hr adequate to amortize shop equipment, furnish overhead, buy materials, other supplies and receive a reasonable return for your labor? You can perhaps reduce the hours, but the equation never gets rosy.

    I'm sure Mr efficiency is efficient but maybe some re-thinking is in order.
     
  6. Mr Efficiency
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    Mr Efficiency Senior Member

    500 hours ? It is a 13 foot open boat, 275 lbs ! It would be unsaleable for a quarter of that price where I live, brand new. Employing someone to build it for that amount of money should be enough to bring the men in white coats round to the door ! Makes no sense at all.
     
  7. gonzo
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    gonzo Senior Member

    That should take about a week and a half to build and paint. It is designed for amateurs and has no fancy interior or trim.
     
  8. JR-Shine
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    JR-Shine SHINE

    Doesnt really make sense to pay someone to build a simple skiff like that. To do a good job requires time and skill, which costs $. For $6k you can get a fiberglass boat thats ready to go.

    Building yourself is another story, you dont count your time and its a rewarding experience.
     
  9. tom28571
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    tom28571 Senior Member

    That is why there are so few people building such boats for a living now. No money in it. Gonz says that it should take a week and a half or 60 hours. In the days when there were assembly lines with multiple skilled workers for building such boats, it probably took even less time. That was then, this is now.

    A simple skiff? No way. This is a V bottom pointy bow with a lot of shape that will require a framed mold to measure, set up and build, not just wrapping some boards around another board. Doing a one off like this you have to study the plans, decide on material, buy it, etc, etc. But you are certainly right in that it does not make much economic sense to hire someone else to build it for you.

    Everyone I know who had built small boats has made the same mistake in greatly underestimating time and cost estimates and by about the ratio that Mr efficiency says. Sure, 500 hours (three months) is way too much but I see builders exceed that on similar jobs all the time.

    I agree that $7K is high but I simply wanted to point out the it was not as bad as some think. Mr Efficiency is right that a home builder will be lucky to recover their material and supply costs when trying to sell such a boat which matches the one quarter price he gave.
     
  10. upchurchmr
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    upchurchmr Senior Member

    Boats are relatively skilled tasks.
    A one off does take longer than having one in series production.

    The fact is that even working at McDonalds wages the labor drives the cost significantly.
    That doesn't include research, tooling building, special features and trying to sell your product, as has been said above.

    To each his own, but hand built is going to be expensive, no matter what you do.

    I think $7K is high, but not real high, and I don't expect anyone to buy at that price.
     
  11. Tad
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    Tad Boat Designer

    As was stated above, unless you absolutely must have an old design built in plywood it makes no sense. This http://www.silverstreakboats.com/catalogue/open/open-14-sw will save you money initially, and hold value for a really long time. Alternatively, find a vintage glass boat on craigslist, a Hurston or a Sangster, restore it and add a new motor, all for half of the cost of a wooden newbuild. And the restored glass boat will be worth something when you're ready to sell it. These economic realities are why no one is new building plywood boats commercially today.
     
  12. Stumble
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    Stumble Senior Member

    My guess was about 60 hours of labor, at a boat yard price of $100/hr that comes to $6,000 plus $1,000 in materials. So $7,000 sounds like a pretty fair bid for the job to me. On the other hand it sounds like far to much to pay for this boat. My advice is either build it yourself or buy something else.
     
  13. gonzo
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    gonzo Senior Member

    That is about my guess too. In a shop the 60 hours would not count time waiting for resin to set or paint to dry though.
     
  14. Mr Efficiency
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    Mr Efficiency Senior Member

    I should have said crazy price to pay, no price is too crazy high to charge, if the buyer is willing to accept the deal. But an ethical builder would up-front advise the OP of the lack of economic sense, to the buyer, in paying $7000 to get such a boat built for him. I don't know what the case is in Canada, but where I am, boat ( almost always alloy)-motor-trailer packages in boats this size are far cheaper than buying the individual items yourself separately, anyway.
     

  15. Mr Efficiency
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    Mr Efficiency Senior Member

    I don't know whether this link will work, but it shows a new package, 175 kg, 4.1m, 1.8m beam open alloy boat, complete with 30 hp Yamaha outboard, trailer, all registered, for AUD $ 7390. Not Canada, but might explain why I think even building this ply boat, but especially paying someone else big $, does not appeal.
    http://www.marinetune.com/new/boat/2016-stessco-409-catcher-1140
     
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