Im having a guy build a 17x48 with .125 mudboat. He used 2" sq. tubing ( front to rear ) every 7 1/2 inch center witch is good. My concern is he put 5 1/2 inch long x 2" sq tubing for bracing between every full length runners about every 6 inches. ( about 50 pieces )
My concerns are:
1) getting hooks in the bottom of the boat
2) extra weight
3) being to rigid ( no flex )
Are am I just being too paranoid???
Thanks for any impute.

Brace across the top of the longitudinal bracing. By bracing in between it will end up looking like a washboard. Look at the bottom of a Beavertail Hull that has been run in the rough, you'll see what I mean.

You picked the wrong boat builder.


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I am thinking he means like a crossword puzzle style, 7 1/2" - 2" = 5 1/2"

I know Jack chit about boat building though, but that sounds like a solid hull

1244 Atchafalaya Outdoor Designs W/ 12hp Copperhead

I can just get the tips of my fingers under the cross bracing in mine.
I think I have only 4 or 5 not counting the storage compartments that run side to side.

And IMHO I would always get a better warm and fuzzy if the bottom is at least 3/16th(.190).

2X1 welded in on the 1 inch side is better than 2X2s. Rectangled bracing is better than square.

Full disclosure: never built a boat or had a custom one built. Just done a little bit of reasearch and attention to detail on the infinite build threads here.

Shitty feeling if your getting this thing built and already having buyers remorse. I think the advice crews gave was pretty good, sell it as brand, take a small loss in the short run and start over doing it the right way. I may have never had a custom boat, but I damn sure have had some hooked boats and all these ghetto fixes (filling the hook) seem like a major pain in the ass and temporary at best.

Sounds like a wash board bottom, when it gets hooked. I guess he meant well but did not know the proper building method for a boat hull. More does not always translate to better. Sucks for you, but you've gotten some good advice from Crews. Take it and use it.

how does all of that extra bracing cause more hooks? I'm not getting that....

For some reason ^ doesn't surprise me.

When u put any bracing sideways on the floor of a mudboat then slide over a stump it causes a hook right up to that bracing. All bracing that touches the floor should be longways down the length of the boat.

speed bump reference, got it. good picture painted.

does the bottom of a hull not get dented with longitudinal stringers? guess that's my real question. I mean impacts are impacts, right?

Impacts are impacts and hooks are hooks. Impacts are not necessarily hooks, but hooks are caused from impacts.

Okay, I think I understand, the stiffness of the cross braced floor causes dimples like a golf ball, where as the longitudinal braces allow the dents to be spread out parallel to the direction the boat runs vs perpendicular to the direction.

Correct?

1244 Atchafalaya Outdoor Designs W/ 12hp Copperhead

all makes sense now!

And in MOST applications, cross bracing in between the long runners isn't as rigid as one monolithic joint sat down across the top of the long runners and tied into the sides.


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Well all is going to be good. I sent him pics before he even got started on the bracing and he didn't pay close attention. Knowing it was his mistake so he is going to start from scratch and get another broke out and build another. Thanks

Sounds like a good guy.


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Something along these lines will suffice...


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A mans boat i worked on. If you look real close you can see slight hooks at the rear bracing where the huntdeck starts

Am I missing something, I dont see the slight hooks anywhere........

It's to help the boat plane out


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