Quote:
Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey
20,600 - gross cost for boat
24,720- add in 20% buffer
Anyone want to take a crack at labour cost per hour? Think it all can be done for under 50k?
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Alot of boat can be purchased for this kind of
money in this market. I am the first to say be cautious about used steel boats. I didn't find one that I was comfortable with but I did find my first choice (which I thought I never could afford), aluminum! Different set of problems but set up correctly, far less
maintenance, stronger and a little more leway for weight carrying....and yes, for less than 50K. And it even has a new
yanmar and things like a dickenson
stove,
autopilot, lights, lamps, sinks, heads, and other goodies that all add up. I do plan on making new
sails and
rerigging her and perhaps even changing her color (with
aluminum paint above the waterline is optional but yellow is a bit much for me) but for the cost of materials and the
engine I got a whole lot more.
The hours in building the boat I wanted are aproximately 800 hrs of welding (less with aluminum) and 14-1600 for the
interior and fitting out. This is from the designers experience and over 700 of them have been built. Of course if you are building a "frameless" hull it can be far less time but the strength and weight issues will be there. Also, as mentioned before, interiors come in all styles and perhaps yours will be simpler and require less time. Just thought the figures would be helpful. These hours are for a 42 foot on
deck boat.
As for welders, in steel about the thickest material you will be welding is 1/4 inch (aside from some that use masive keel floors) so most small machines will do fine. Although duty cycle as rated won't be that important because small welds help to keep distortion to a minimum as has been pointed out, a sturdy machine will last through the job. If stick welding becomes your choice (as most builders use because one lead is much more convenient to drag around the
project and you move alot to keep ditortion to a minimun) the old lincoln "buz boxes" can be found used and
cheap and are hard to kill. A DC welder is nice but un nescessary unless you are going wirefeed. If you choose wirefeed (mig) I asume you are doing so for the cleanlyness of the weld as laid and would be using CO2/argon, I would strongly recomend a spool gun. Carrying a five pound spoolgun around is easier than even the small 110 machines but you will feel it at the end of each day as compared to the stick. Someone mentioned a
diesel powered welder that might be installed as your
generator when you are done. Great idea but they are extremely heavy. I have a gas powered miller which weighs less. It is older but weighs almost 800 lbs. Unless you are building a big boat that will be a considerable load, more than your
engine probably (if you install one). I have been reading about and talking to people about,
alternator welders. They are made from 12V alternators with the regulators basically removed and put out a high frequency
current (frequency machines are an expensive option on upper end dc welders to inprove weld quality-used with most serious
aluminum welding). There are several companies who produce readymade machines with alternators rewound with heavier wire.
Premier Power Welder high-frequency on board welders, high-amp alternators, charging systems, Ready Welder, trail, off-road is one. amperage is controled by
rpm. Brent Swain is one who I spoke with about
alternator welders and I believe he said he has directions on how to build one in his book...Others have said that they weld very well and are dependable. They charge your
batteries too!. Any DC machine can be used for stick as well as wirefeed with the addition of a wire speed controler and gas solinoid and
regulator. Also mentioned but not discussed much is
battery welding. There are several spoolguns specifically made for it and attaching leads for
arc welding is possible. By using 12, 18 , or 24 V by hooking up your
batteries in series you control the amount of
current and with arc length and speed you can weld different thicknesses acurately. DC
battery power is good clean stuff and what the transformers in
plug in machines are trying to get. 100% duty cycle but capacity is of course limmitted.
Readywelder.com | There's nothing like it! or just hook up some leads for stick welding.