renovations

[breamfisher]

got a 12 ft dingy and want to take the center seat out for more space and casting platform. does anyone know if it will ruin the strength of the middle section.

[Bear]

Not something I'd be doing mate.

These are used by manufacturers as a critical piece of the crafts strength. Unless you plan on replacing it with something I'd have a rethink.

[breamfisher]

i will be raising the the deck higher and if i can afford it 2 ali brackets welded into ots place. I might even shift it forward and use it for part of my casting platform

[Bear]

If you're replacing the seat with more bracing then it's not so much an issue. Just remember that any mods can void the warranty and that you should also notify your insurer as it can void this also.

[madsurfe]

Hi Breamfisher

you don't say what the brand & model of dinghy you have or the age. These are important considerations. We have a 9yo 3.8m Savage Snipe the deluxe model that had the removable centre thawrt seat. The hull could be used with or without the seat as shown by this pic that I took before undertaking my mods. The centre seat is out and you can see the support frame.

[madsurfe]

now this pic shows the finished boat

NB: ribs were relaid and welded to a higher spec, transom was strengthened to take the 30hp Yamaha, grab rails added

It cost $300 for that work. The current Savage Snipe is rated to 25hp and we had to supply evidence of the work to Savage to get the hull rated to 30hp, without the authorisation from Savage we would not have been able to insure the boat. Sure we could have insured it but in the event of a claim we probably would have had it knocked back.

Our livewells are where the centre thawrt seat used to sit and we occasionally use the boat without the centre section.

[madsurfe]

as you can see the dinghy is quite stable and I am standing on the livewells that hold just over 100L of water. Mim is on the rear deck doing her thing. I did all the work bar Ali welding and much thought was put into balancing the boat and maximising space. I basicly measured 6 times and cut once except with the leccie mounts which I moved 3 times during testing. The drilled holes were welded over.

I would say that if your seat is riveted and thus already part of the structure then make use of it don't just rip it out. One of the other breamers, Stevo in Sydney has the Quintrex equivalent of our hull and he put a livewell in his thawrt seat. This is the thread

http://www.breammaster.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2646

pics at the end of page one.

Many thanks to Rod and Rhyss from Access Boating as we did quite a bit of brainstorming and it is from those gathered ideas that I applied the work. Things as simple as looking at what changes a manufacturer makes to a hull in production over a few years can make a difference to how you approach the exercise as they make additions to framework to iron out the bugs.

[breamfisher]

mad surfe,

do you have an ali welder.

[Mim]

Nope.We don't. We had the ali welding done by a guy up in Wangarra. He did a great job

Cheers

Mim

[breamfisher]

mi
did u get it done by millard marine

[madsurfe]

Hi Breamfisher

Mim and JP live 5mins from Access Boating at Wangara so are boating requirements are readily accessable. Rod and Rhyss recommended the local welder, I don't recall his name. You can always call them if you live NOR and they can advise.
Millards are in Bunbury so I won't be running down that way in a hurry, both offer great service.
I did all the work on the boat except for the Ali welding. That is not an exaggeration... absolutely everything. It's not a job to be taken lightly but certainly saved lots of cash.

[breamfisher]

have u got any pics from above

[Mim]

Here is a couple

[Mim]

and...

[breamfisher]

Thanks alot guys thats helped me alot. I have now decided to keep the middle seat