Pro's & Con's on steel hulls

[SaltyDawg86]

Beautiful boat! International 2 part paint is a really good paint to use. Not sure on the price though

 

[ulysses]

Nice looking boat. Are you expecting a cold winter? Looks like you got a bunch of wood put up.
dan

 

[Daveo]

Florence A is a beautiful boat!

 

[BryanF]

Dan : The boat yard here where I am working on Florence is shared with a log export yard.
It is ok as long as you don't mind bark dust in and on everything. I am thinking that it should work really well for a non skid paint job on the decks.
Everyone of those logs you see in the background will soon be on a ship headed for China.

 

[ulysses]

BryanF: Glad we are exporting something. Really nice looking boat. I would appreciate a detailed pic. of your forward and aft boom/davit arrangement. I have spent a year or so trying to figure out a similar arrangement for mine. What type, if any bearing do you have between the boom and mast? Do you control with elec. or hydraulic?
Thanks
dan

 

[dannc]

A better view of Florence A

She sure is pretty.

From the bow pictures, she looks to have a nice, modest beam.

What is the beam and the water line length?

Later,
Dan

 

[bayview]

The issue as I see it is all the attention goes to the exterior while I expect the problems are interior
Few boats are dry in bilge. Stink is the major problem with wet fg bilge. What about steel

 

[dannc]

Hi all,
Looking at purchasing a Trawler and was looking for the pro's & con's on steel hulls. I ran a search here at TF, however did not fine anything.

Thanks for the insight!

Aluminum is also an interesting metal to use in a trawler so do not discount that metal.

What would really be nice is a Copper Nickel or Monel hull with stainless steel framing. Price might be an issue though but you would not have to paint the boat bottom.

I did try to get some prices on Copper Nickel and if the numbers I found were valid, the price was not that bad. I think this is due to the drop in metal prices over the last few years. Monel prices looked to be very high.

Later,
Dan

 

[dannc]

The issue as I see it is all the attention goes to the exterior while I expect the problems are interior
Few boats are dry in bilge. Stink is the major problem with wet fg bilge. What about steel

Steel boats rust out from the interior which is why proper painting and insulation of the hull is so important. It is critical. The paint keeps the metal from rusting. Insulation protects the paint, prevents condensation, and of course insulates.

The steel boats I have looked at had dust in the bilge.

Later,
Dan

 

[bayview]

Dust in the bilge is remarkable. What do the steel boat guys know that the rest of us don't?




OH! maybe you meant rust in the bilge []

 

[Marin]

We don't have dust (or rust) in the bilge of our glass boat, but we do have a hell of a lot of dog hair.....

 

[Moonstruck]

The zinc plates bolted to the hull is often called a diver's plate or zinc. They can be replaced by a diver without lifting the boat on the hard. Welding is pretty typical.

As far as the bridge painting goes...We had to repaint the steel webbing of a bridge a few years ago after laying a 20" pipe under the bridge. All holes and attachment hardware were painted with some stuff that I do not even think is legal on boats. Ga. DOT supplied coating. Wish I had a few more gallons of it.

Was it dry-fall paint? We hate using the stuff. The solvents are so active that they dry before hitting the ground. It just leaves a very fine dust. You can't stay around it while unprotected. Our guys have to wear full protective suits and respirators to spray it.

 

[funangler]

I own a steel boat and enjoy the endless possibility it has. I rather weld steel then mess with fiberglass. If you want to boat and not worry about ice, rocks, bad docks, or most collision go with a metal boat. You can abuse a steel boat and it will bring you back. Don't buy one if don't like to work on your boat or want the prettiest boat in the marina.

 

[psneeld]

Other than gunnels on poorly made boats with improper rubs rails...fiberglass boats aren't as fragile as people think...


I've pulled a few off the rocks that were back in the water as good as new in a couple days.


While I agree that steel boats are unbelievably tough...glass boats for the average boater are a much better solution.


And I believe the boating industry agrees...because of the direction it went and has stayed for many years.

 

[ulysses]

Moonstruck: Don't know what we used. We mixed and brushed since it was numerous small areas. Hard to stay around though and had about 30 pages of safety data. Went under the bridge a few weeks ago and you can still see it, no rust.
dan

 

[klee wyck]

Steel is also a better heat conductor than glass, so steel hulls need to be insulated or they will have significant condensation problems in colder water.

Construction methods and quality are also major considerations, but that is true with glass boats too. For a steel hull, the grade of steel used is significant. Mild steel will have a pretty short life if the coating system fails. You also need to be concerned with topsides weight. A steel house is heavy where you don't want weight. Many boats deal with this by using an aluminum house, but that introduces new corrosion problems if the paint fails at the steel-aluminum junction.

I own a steel boat so will chime in a little here after first stipulating a couple of points: First, Like Sargent Shultz, I know nothing, and my strong preference for steel hulls is about emotion, not sound reasoning. I grew up in my parents small business that owned 25-30 small boats in fresh water. Ninety percent of the boats were metal but ninety percent of the maintenance was on the 10 percent of boats that were glass. Long time ago and different from what we do now but I am stuck with the bias. Also my comments here are only based on three years of my own experience with this boat in salt but she has lived her whole life there.

In regard to the quote above, my experience may agree with the second point but is in direct opposition to the first. My boat is Dutch built steel and the coatings are old technology and 31 years old on the inside with no insulation below the waterline. Except where the coating have been injured by careless physical activity in the engine bilge, the coatings that I can see are flawless and show no corrosion. We sounded the hull on survey and 100 pings found absolutely no variation from builder spec at 30 years. Outside and above the waterline we chase some coating failures and I suspect recoating to be an every 12-15 year affair.

In regards to insulation/condensation: I am as baffled by this as others here may be but I had never been around a dry boat until Klee Wyck. My geography is cold water for 12 months a year (low 50s) and very damp air for 9 months a year. This boat is spectacularly dry and I am clueless as to why but it does not support the comment above. Have never dehumidified this boat and other than the pilothouse windows when we are cooking in Winter, no condensation anywhere.