What are the benefits of each material? I have seen some people with Seminole bateaus and heard of hydroflats and they both seem like very quality boats, why do most people seem to have aluminum?

I had a Seminole Bateau once

I put a hole in it.

But if you don't run stumps very often is it better?

Jake colonge has a hydroflat. Look him up

The reason most boats are aluminum is because the materials r almost the same price but it takes 3x as long to build a glass boat. And u can't build a glass boat without a mold. U need a mold for each hull u build, so if u have a 16' mold, u can't make a 17' boat unless u make another mold. Molds r very labor intensive to build. Now people say u can't compare apples to oranges, but y not they are both fruits. I've done extensive research on this and what I found is a glass boat compared to an aluminum boat of the same thickness is 3x as strong if its hand laid. Not many people hand lay boats today because it takes months instead of a chop gun which u can crank out a lot faster. Fiberglass gives, aluminum doesn't. Everyone heat talks bout stumps. If u hit a stump hard n an aluminum boat, it will cave n , dent, r in rare cases come through. If u hit a stump n the same circumstances in a glass boat u barely will gouge the gel coat because the glass gives. It flexes. Lots of people say no no that's not right, it is. Fiberglass actually has a stronger tensile strength than steel. I've run several glass and aluminum mud boats. I've hit logs so hard that I expected it to have busted the hull and never seen water come through. Put her on the trailor and looked and had a scratch, r sometimes a scuff. Great application for salt marsh with oysters. Aluminum boats r great, but there's nothing wrong with a glass boat built to b a mud hull. Different materials and methods used than ur ordinary Carolina skiff

Who in the fuk told you that??








Just joking

Fiberglass with polyester resin doesn't rot. I'm not talking about fiberglassing fiberboard which is nothing but foam like the floor of a bay boat. 100% glass will out live us all

If u put a hole through a glass mud boat an aluminum boat would b fucked too.
I'm telling u it's stronger than aluminum google it its no secret

Fiberglass can take a hit.

When we were kids my brother had a brand new heavy duty custom built aluminum boat we used for commercial fishing. Frame every foot. Heavy ass boat. He hit his brother inlaw head on in a fiberglass boat. One was doing about 25 mph and the other about 30 mph. Both with about 2000 lbs of shrimp.

Guess which one came out of that mess ok. The fiberglass hull had a small hole about the size of a golf ball right on the upper rub rail. The aluminum boat's bow was folded back about 3 feet and the welds in every rib was about 50 percent cracked.

I am a believer in Fiberglass. Only reason I am running an aluminum boat now is because I am to lazy to build another mold. And that HydroFlat has to be the ugliest boat I have ever seen.

We used to build a hand laid 15' mudboat in a 3 day weekend easy. 18' boat is easily done in the same time.

I have no idea how they would do in the cypress swamps with continued stump hitting.

But for the delta and SELA it would have no problems.

Handlaid is probably comparable or slightly lighter then aluminum. Sprayed with a chop gun could be twice the weight.

They are even making Kevlar available now. You can put a couple layers between the fiberglass and you would never put a hole in it.

Chop is heavy, hand laid is lighter than aluminum. True about the Kevlar.

My 2 cents.....
Fiberglass laid up with the right materials is very durable and can easily take stump strikes with no problem. I think you would bust a hole in aluminum easier than fiberglass. I am older now but I used to fish bass tournaments and can tell you I have hit logs extremely hard that did nothing more than scratch the hull.
People have running inboard fiberglass mud boats for years. I don't understand why someone other than hydroplane hasn't built a fiberglass surface drive boat. Maybe Kirk mud boats in DesAllemands should expand there line to include surface drives.

I'm kinda hooked on this fiberglass idea, any tips on how to make a mold?

I'm kinda hooked on this fiberglass idea, any tips on how to make a mold?

my buddy hit a log with his hydroflat going 30mph with 3 people in the boat, flipped the boat upside down and everything. nothing but a scuff on the gel coat. also put the boat through hell for 3 years straight with not a single problem. my 17x52/48" hydroflat is roughly 550 pounds

There are a ton of books on working with glass, including mold making, mold prep, glass laying and vacuum bagging. My brother had one geared towards making kayaks, but the principles are the same. The vacuum bagging is the trick for highest strength and lighter weight. The resin is heavy (compared to glass) and is used to fill in the glass and bind it together. Vacuum bagging compresses the layers together and removes excess resin. Another benefit of glass is adding extra layers of glass in certain areas where required.

The downside to glass for longevity is UV. Most rotten glass boats are poorly made (chopped glass versus mats) and were not protected from UV.

Final thought on strength of glass vs aluminum.... You can buy bullet resistant glass panels/doors for buildings/homes. You can even buy bullet resistant glass panels for body armor or liners for back packs. (Pack liners are only about 3/8" thick.)

Pulled this out of the mold today. Two of us lifted out. The yellow material you see is kevlar. Its 17' long.

Someone come up here with one, I wanna try it out!

Get video

the log that my buddy hit going 30mph was not a floating log. it was a stationary tree and one of the big roots was sticking about a foot out the water covered by Lillie's, it had no give. and again just a scuff on the gel coat

A log and a pipe is two different things but good luck and nice speeds


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Jake glad u got a boat u like. As long as it works for you, it doesn't have to work for anyone else. They gots some motorless haters on here

Here you go. Aluminum is not indestructible.

Hole in an aluminum boat.

Photo stolen off of another thread. Dude from bachelor Party. ImageUploadedByTapatalk 21374000028.609485.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk 21374000046.079674.jpg

Those Seminole bateaus are solid boats. A bunch of people here around Tallahassee run them. Lake Seminole, right near where they are built, is one of the stumpiest lakes I've ever seen

Fiberglass dont like oysters! Other then that I like em..