Riveted Hulls...

[duckluv26]

i'm looking for info on these hulls. there are none here in texas and i was just wondering if you guys could answer a few questions for me. i really just want one for a project/cruising boat. here goes: what type of aluminum are they made of? are they lighter than a standard ultra light hull? how do they handle? how well do the rivets hold up? are they more prone to leak? is it ok to put polymer on them? is it ok to run dry land with some bumps or do you need to keep them in the water only? who builds a good riveted hull? thanks for the info in advance...

 

[KR23]

duckluv people use all different types of metal i would recommend 7075t6 125thousands bottom and for the top decks thats on you for what u want my deck is 2024t3 060. and yes u can put poly on it, and you can run dry all you want. as for rivets my boat was built in 1980 and is still kicken it. as for builders there are a couple out there that still use the good materials. some out there will use cheaper materials and still charge the same but i'm sure you'll get all you need to know of this post. if your interested in a couple PM and i'll give you there #s

 

[grant]

We build our boats with 6061 t6 hull 090 or 100 thous...deck out of 050. We work them very hard, put a couple hundred hours a year on them working and probably another 50 to 100 pleasure riding. I just last year retired one over 18 years old. Can't ask for much better service than that!

Grant

 

[cfth]

I just went through the process of looking at riveted hulls for my uncle. Materials are as what is stated above. Billy Kline (Kline Airboats) said one of his hulls would weigh 290 lbs. From what I have learned there are essentially two different styles. The glades style and the Palm Beach style hull. I think if I were going to build one I would buy one from Billy. The problem is I think he is like 6 months out. Diamondback I think will end up building this boat. I don't know if it is the best hull out there but there customer service has been very good. That's my .02

 

[duckluv26]

whats the difference between glades style and palm beach?

 

[grant]

Glades style:

Palm Beach style:

Both styles were designed to run sawgrass, both do it well!
Pretty much a matter of personal preference as to which is best.

Grant

 

[Anonymous]

The biggest difference in the two, you will notice in the pictures, is that the PB hull has very rounded, sweeping sides.

The Glades or Miami boat has more squared-off sides, but there is a slight rounded shape from the flat bottom up to the squared side. This makes the Glades boat slide a lot without banking up much like most airboats. My buddy has one of these boats and it can literally turn 180 degrees and keep going the same direction without banking up enough to notice.

I don't have any experience with a PB boat but I imagine the rounded sides make them bank more when turning, although I think they still slide quite a bit because they don't have turning chines in them. I'm sure Grant and the others can tell you more about how they handle

 

[KR23]

cfth if your looking for a glades style boat my buddy owns WAR DADDY airboats and they do a great job i've got a couple and couldn't be happier they really know how to set the bottoms.