floatation in boats

[onemorecast56]

Well I want to know if there is any floatation out there that don`t soak up water. I`ve rebuilt 2 bass trackers,,,on my 3rd and all of them their floatation is like a sponge. I`ve lighten them up by a couple of hundred pounds by removing it. It`s not working so why have it in there. Thats also why all the fiberglass boats floor roit out. It gets wet and never drys out. So the wood under the fiberglass floors roit so fast. I still put back all the floatation where it don`t get wet so it`ll still float if need be....

[sam8772]

All foam in one way or another will "soak" in water if exposed for extended periods of time. When looking for replacement foam make sure that your get "closed cell". Typically it is like a two part mix that expands when mixed together. But ClOSED CELL is the key. I poured new foam under the rotten floor of and old tri hull and it worked great. It was so good it firmed up all the runners so all I had to do was put new wood down on top vs replacing all the runners and the top floor. I only had it about five years after that and never once had the "wet sponge" effect with it.

[floatman]

yah everything Sam said, just be careful a little goes a long way, I read a story about Ranger in the early days they were putting closed cell in their hulls and as it would expand too much would make the hulls warp and get wavy, closed cell is the way to go just experiment a little so you don't get too much

[billm_usa1]

The best thing I've found is plastic water bottles and 2 liter soda bottles. the water bottles are great because you can make them confor to about every nook and cranny by letting some air out. They are impervious to water and gasoline and kerosene. You can always put a little silicon glue between them to keep them from jossling about.

[HURRICANEBOB]

Onemore: Here's some links:

American Micro Industries, Inc
http://www.marinefoam.com/flotation-...YmA&lcode=AB37

Boston Whaler Boats: Talks to there use and results.

http://www.whaler.com/why-whaler/

[onemorecast56]

well i`m rebuilding another Tracker ,,this one a Pro 18 and alllll the floatation is just water logged, so I`m taking it out and leaving it out. It`ll still have the floatation in the sides, bow and in the rear on both sides. It`ll still keep the boat afloat I beleive. But I bet I removed alest 3-4oo lbs of water logged foam. So it`ll float alittle higher and run alittle faster..lol

[peter]

Yes--closed cell.
I got mine from the factory.

[CTFSHWHISKER]

just wondering out loud,but in todays sue happy world if you remove some flotation foam in someones boat and it later sinks and someone drowned there is probably a lawer that would love that fight,and also,if you remove the foam and the boat sinks,even if not to the bottom i would think the insurance co would love that excuse so as they don't have to pay any money.i think it may be better to replace it than leave it out,unless it's your personal boat.

[onemorecast56]

just wondering out loud,but in todays sue happy world if you remove some flotation foam in someones boat and it later sinks and someone drowned there is probably a lawer that would love that fight,and also,if you remove the foam and the boat sinks,even if not to the bottom i would think the insurance co would love that excuse so as they don't have to pay any money.i think it may be better to replace it than leave it out,unless it's your personal boat.

we`ll you have a good point, what I`ll do is have the customer sigh off on the removal of the foam. I`ll have to talk to him, if he wants some back in I`ll do that. But it`ll just get waterlogged again. This is bonefish`s boat on here. The boat wont sink with what I still have to put back. But thanks for the reply, it gives me something to think about. But I`ll talk to Roy and see how he wants it done... BUT THANKS

[CTFSHWHISKER]

we`ll you have a good point, what I`ll do is have the customer sigh off on the removal of the foam. I`ll have to talk to him, if he wants some back in I`ll do that. But it`ll just get waterlogged again. This is bonefish`s boat on here. The boat wont sink with what I still have to put back. But thanks for the reply, it gives me something to think about. But I`ll talk to Roy and see how he wants it done... BUT THANKS

yeah it will,and like you said probably won't do it's job,hell my dad has an 89 vision that the livewell line broke on him and guy at t-ville,when he noticed what happened by the time he got close to shore he said it was going down motor first and would have likey stopped on bottom,he got close enough it bottomed out shallow enough he whittled a plug and put in the line and set til it pumped out,so i wonder what the foam really does in some cases.
and it couldn't be water logged in his boat..i was just thinking of the liability standpoint,when i had my mower shop that was some of the training stuff they told us,any kind of small modification to the machine from factory specs can make you liable even if not directly related to the accident.