Island Built: Silver Streak vs Lifetimer

[trophywife]

I have a 24' Northwest Aluminum Craft and absolutely love it. They are based out of Langford and Doug the owner is an awesome guy. Highly recommend them.

lol, i saved for one and got a kingfisher.

 

[AndrewH]

Huh? Tig welding is not rare for properly built custom aluminum boats. Ya cheaper cookie cutter production line aluminum's are mig'd but not well made custom aluminum's.

I guess we should let coastal craft, NWC, SS etc know they are doing it all wrong...

pulsed mig vs tig for production of a boat is a no brainer. Cosmetically you would have a tough time deciphering the two

tig just takes way too long for anything of significant size.

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

I guess we should let coastal craft, NWC, SS etc know they are doing it all wrong...

pulsed mig vs tig for production of a boat is a no brainer. Cosmetically you would have a tough time deciphering the two

tig just takes way too long for anything of significant size.

Lol you might want to look at the company's you are referring to before posting that info
Their main photo on their "manufacturing" tab is a photo of their employee tig welding



And if you read my whole post you would notice I said that Mig for bulk welds. Two of my friends are custom aluminum boat manufacturers and yes of course they mig a lot of the welds on the boats but they also Tig a lot of stuff too and not just cosmetic stuff, but structural stuff. Check out the link I posted about Tig vs Mig. Good Tig welders can weld very quickly. But like I said not every Mig welder can Tig weld and especially not the majority of them can Tig well. And Tig also has pulse not just Mig. I have a pulse Tig myself.
I have posted lots of pictures of their builds and their welds on the forum before. And they aren't the only ones

I think we have covered this subject enough and should let this OP have his thread back with the questions he has asked about cause this boat is going off course quickly.

 

[walleyes]

If I have one complaint about my KF and honestly it’s the only one so far and that is that some of the welds are a bit goobered. Not that a goobered weld is a weak weld no more than a neat weld is a strong weld. It’s just cosmetically some of the welding could look better. I love the design of it and the care taken into the fit and finish and from what I have seen it looks structurally well built. Anyone can wreck anything built. Believe me I know this to be true. I’m an equipment man and there is nothing built that is idiot proof. Take care of your equipment and it will take care of you.

 

[ship happens]

I think this thread went in the direction is was always meant to. Island built. There alot to be said about that. The poster asked if there was any in higher esteem as he put it.

Theres alot to be said about that. Not only for new boaters and buyers, but to educate anyone who reads this thread about the process and material that go into building an aluminum boat. It's all cool stuff. Everyone does it a little bit different. We all might learn something here

I dont think an 18ft boat can be considered an offshore boat for our weather conditions. It better be self bailing and have sealed bulkheads. My opinion is 26ft is a starting point for a boat to be considered offshore worthy nominally. I have buddy who runs a thunderjet alexa they claim is an offshore boat. Lol. It's a tub that has a plywood deck. Nice 140k boat with a plywood deck.

 

[macro]

I think this thread went in the direction is was always meant to. Island built. There alot to be said about that. The poster asked if there was any in higher esteem as he put it.

Theres alot to be said about that. Not only for new boaters and buyers, but to educate anyone who reads this thread about the process and material that go into building an aluminum boat. It's all cool stuff. Everyone does it a little bit different. We all might learn something here

I dont think an 18ft boat can be considered an offshore boat for our weather conditions. It better be self bailing and have sealed bulkheads. My opinion is 26ft is a starting point for a boat to be considered offshore worthy nominally. I have buddy who runs a thunderjet alexa they claim is an offshore boat. Lol. It's a tub that has a plywood deck. Nice 140k boat with a plywood deck.

Thats my problem with a lot of the production aluminum builds. If I am paying major money for a hull - I dont want a plywood floor. I dont want a foam injected hull that's constantly having water against the foam. Thats a boat thats designed to fail. Take the same boat, give it a sealed aluminum deck, and it will last a lifetime as long as you look after your zinks.

 

[ship happens]

Not a lot of boat builders do sealed aluminum bulkheads anymore. I personally hate foam. Especially when I have to cut it out to make a repair or a change. Nightmare.

I have an 18ft raider centre console that we converted into a multi purpose sport fisher work boat. older hull from the late 90s. Sealed bulkheads, one in frontand 2 in the rear. With stainless pipe plugs, into welded NPT bung fittings just incase you need to check the sealed bulkheads. Pretty slick I thought.

We did a refit repair on an Argo crew boat years back, that the captain had hit a can buoy at nighttime. Long story short the foam filling in the bow did not save this boat from taking on water. The can buoy completely can openered this hull. Guy died. Could not get to safety. Boat just filled right up with water. that was the day I learned from the old man what the real difference is between boats that are properly engineered and those what are not. We ended up cutting the entire bow off to repair the hull and created a sealed bulkhead.

 

[walleyes]

Not a lot of boat builders do sealed aluminum bulkheads anymore. I personally hate foam. Especially when I have to cut it out to make a repair or a change. Nightmare.

I have an 18ft raider centre console that we converted into a multi purpose sport fisher work boat. older hull from the late 90s. Sealed bulkheads, one in frontand 2 in the rear. With stainless pipe plugs, into welded NPT bung fittings just incase you need to check the sealed bulkheads. Pretty slick I thought.

We did a refit repair on an Argo crew boat years back, that the captain had hit a can buoy at nighttime. Long story short the foam filling in the bow did not save this boat from taking on water. The can buoy completely can openered this hull. Guy died. Could not get to safety. Boat just filled right up with water. that was the day I learned from the old man what the real difference is between boats that are properly engineered and those what are not. We ended up cutting the entire bow off to repair the hull and created a sealed bulkhead.

All true but I also know this,, a goof can wreck any machine built. I’m an equipment man, I have worked around some of the biggest machines made and I know this first hand there is nothing built that can’t be wrecked. Take care of your equipment and it will take care of you. That’s a motto to live by. You split that glass hull of yours open and that thing will sink like a rock, hit the waves to hard and break the transom off it and it goes down in seconds, We’ve all seen the pics on here too many times. For some reason you have an aluminum boat built without sealed bulkheads and it’s a piece of ****, show me a glass boat with a sealed bulkhead. What good is a sealed bulkhead when it’s ripped open anyways, it’s not sealed anymore is it. Treat any of them like a fool and with in a few years they are full of spider cracks and the fibres pull apart and get loose, then what, throw it away. Not knocking any boat really but taken care of just about any boat can last a life time. I’ve got a 16’ Lund at home that is pushing 40 years old and trust me that boat has been used beyond belief. Father bought it when he first retired out to the island and he lived in that boat for years. But it was treated well, never abused, never over powered to weaken the transom. That boat is as solid today and every rivet in it as solid as the day it was bought 40 years ago.

 

[walleyes]

This is all with in reason of course. There is a difference between a work boat and a pleasure boat. Theres a difference between one built for abuse that has to face the elements everyday and made to pack equipment and men every day through all the crap that can come at it then yes you need a tank. But for me,, I don’t want to ride in a tank when I’m out pleasure boating and fishing with the wife and family. If I’m going to spend North of $100,000 on a boat it better look prettier than a glorified galvanized wash tub which when I look at some of the so called custom builds that’s what I see.
This is not to say there aren’t a good many custom builds that are definitely a step up and on a whole next level than a lot of factory boats. But they come at a hefty price tag that we all know. But there are also a good many that really don’t deserve the respect or reputation they have, cause they ain’t all that. It’s all up the the individual and what’s important to them.

But then again this could all just be the ramblings of someone who’s completely full of **** and is bored to death lol.

 

[RevyG]

^^^^
Couldn’t agree more, use an awesome Silver Streak landing craft for work, built like a tank but not what I went with when I needed a personal SUV style boat that could do way more, and far more comfortable.

 

[Aquaholic]

Walker boats is building my new boat. They work closely with Bruce Cope and I know they've built at least a few of his 18 foot centre console designs. I was most impressed by the quality of their welding when I was shopping around for a builder.

Can you post some photos along the way? Two of the best are involved in your boat, that is pretty special.