Duck Boat Rebuild

[deskperado]

I have a 14' aluminum hull and fiberglass upper sneak box style duck boat. I removed the glass decking due to some spotty water damage that should have been taken care of by the previous owner, The wooded skeleton is teak that needs to be replaced. The rebuild calls for 130' of 1" x 3". Teak will run me over $1300 that i am not willing to part with. Can anyone suggest a substitute that has the strength, and durability and is light weight like teak??

[Baydivot]

No idea on what to replace the teak with, but looks like an awesome project looking forward to watching it.

[sea_dawg]

what about aluminum tubing? you won't have to worry about rot and its pretty durable. good luck with it i look forward to seeing the finished product.

[tabasco]

douglas fir is pretty rot resistant. could also go with laminated marine plywood and coat with epoxy which would do well. Is the teak that bad? the pics don't look too bad. Could you rip it down and still use it? cool boat. . .

[Capt.Troy Crane]

Try using fir, we use it as our deck frames and carlings and it holds up fine. Just coat it with some west system and you will be good to go.

They sell it in two by fours, two by two. two by six etc.

I built an Arthur Armstrong broadbill several years ago, looks similar to your rig. Great boat but the ice finally did her in after years of use.

Good luck.

[deskperado]

Troy
I am assuming I will have to gauge the fir larger then the teak to keep up with the strength. I noticed there are diffrent grades of douglas fir. I assume you have used the premium?? It is a lot cheaper then teak!!!

[BFThunter]

How about cedar decking? I believe its fairly cheap. It's light and rot resistant- gave me a new idea for my boat....

[tuna 33]

look into cypress,, ,strong,, light and will take forever to rot out on ya,,,good luck with your project

[billschwabe]

I have a 14' aluminum hull and fiberglass upper sneak box style duck boat. I removed the glass decking due to some spotty water damage that should have been taken care of by the previous owner, The wooded skeleton is teak that needs to be replaced. The rebuild calls for 130' of 1" x 3". Teak will run me over $1300 that i am not willing to part with. Can anyone suggest a substitute that has the strength, and durability and is light weight like teak??

No other species of wood will be as rot resistant as teak due to it's oil content but virtually any type of wood will do for that job if coated well, and that means at least two saturating coats of epoxy and filling the knots and seams with epoxy/cabosil too. I dare say no matter how well it's coated and the deck refastened with sealant, there will be screw holes or something that allows water back in but it should be years in the future.

Teak is one of the heaviest woods and from what I see, that structure doesn't demand tremendous strength like a deck or hull section so I'd opt for whatever cheaper, lighter wood is available in your area. Around here that would be Juniper (White Cedar) or Cypress but Douglass Fir ("C and Better" or "clear" is the top grade) or a mahogany substitute (Iroko?) will do very well and be stronger than the other two. Any wood you can find in the right sizes without having to remill will work, just don't use regular pine from the home improvement stores! Look for lumber that is relatively knot free and doesn't feel moist when you pick it up, it will drive you crazy as it dries out and starts warping. Rather than leaving it in a kiln, I think mills these days load up lumber on a flatbed and drive it through one on the way to the stores!

[deskperado]

All most time for the decking!