DIY

[beau]

Dave gave us a pretty good rundown the other day of his costs to date to built his 50 ft cat.
I would like to hear of some other experiences.

I am planning to build (very soon) a 39ft Trimaran motorsailor in aluminium plate.
I am very familiar with fiberglass and foam sandwich (having built 15 boats out of those materials.
However Aluminium plate is so much cheaper in Australia. I can buy all the aluminium cut to shape on a cnc router and bent wherever necessary for under AUD$8,000 or USD $6,000.
All thats needed is to tack it all together and then have a professional welder complete the continuous welds (a professional aluminium boatbuilder will supervise the whole job)
Ok insulation is going to be a big job but I can do that myself.

I have costed "everything" "fully fitted" at AUD $50,000.
It all seems too cheap what am I missing. ( I am not including my own labour)

[northerncat]

your 8000 sounds very very cheap, i would say that this is where youve gone wrong one of my to do projects is to build myself a 6 m centrecab aluminium boat from scratch, the aluminium alone was going to cost me 6000$ thats without cnc cutting
sean
other than that i have no idea where you have gone wrong also are you specing marine ally as this makes a big difference both to boat longevity and price
as for figures i believe i already posted mine somewhere on here but briefly my 38 will cost around 70000
sean

[Boracay]

Just how much plate does your design use and how thick is it?
When I last checked $8,000 would not have done the cutting.

[Stevens 47]

Beau,

I am doing a complete rebuild of a 47' mono hull below is a partial list of items and materials. I say partial because I have missed some things. My original budget was 75K as you can see it has grown. Hope it is of use.

Jack

Radar 2,500.00 Estimate
GPS & Chart Plotter 1,700.00 Estimate
Auto Pilot 5,180.00 Actual
Speed Wind Depth Gauges 2,385.55 Actual
Stove & Oven 1,300.00 Estimate
Watermaker (self build) 1,750.00 Estimate
Windless 2,100.00 Estimate
Batteries 6 1,200.00 Estimate
Lights exterior 800.00 Estimate
Anchor 0.00 Estimate
Transom Ladder 250.00 Estimate
Stanchions 1,400.00 Estimate
Lifelines 570.00 Estimate
Pulpit 1,500.00 Estimate
Stern posts 2,500.00 Estimate
Mast, Boom and Rigging 18,500.00 Estimate
Roller Furler Head and Staysail 4,500.00 Estimate
Rope Clutch 600.00 Estimate
Lazy Jacks 700.00 Estimate
Boom Vang 400.00 Estimate
Port Lights 5,400.00 Actual
Toe Rail 2,212.08 Actual
Hatches 4,102.13 Actual
Genoa Track 393.60 Actual
Genoa Track Hardware 1,169.60 Actual
Thru Holes 0.00 Estimate
Sea Cocks 0.00 Estimate
Resin 4,000.00 Actual
E-Glass cloth 1,500.00 Actual
Head 500.00 Estimate
Repair Hardware 5,600.00 Actual
Plywood 2,000.00 Estimate
Veneer Wood 1,000.00 Estimate
Wood trim 1,000.00 Estimate
Washer Dryer 1,200.00 Actual
MarineBottom Paint 600.00 Estimate
2 Part finish LP Paint 1,000.00 Estimate
EstimateDeck Paint 800.00 Estimate
Micro Wave 100.00 Estimate
Refrigeration unit 2,000.00 Estimate
Refir box and Insulation 1,000.00 Estimate
Sound Proofing 650.00 Estimate
Lights exterior 0.00 Estimate
Lights interior 600.00 Estimate
Sterio System 800.00 Estimate
Flat Screen TV 0.00 Estimate
Hand Rails Extior 600.00 Estimate
Hand Rails Interior 0.00 Estimate
Valley Marine Various Hardware 2,162.09 Actual
Hardware 600.00 Estimate
Wire 1,000.00 Estimate
Inverters Charger and bits 3,000.00 Estimate
New Sails
Genoa 5,087.00 Estimate
Main 4,322.00 Estimate
Asso 2,981.00 Estimate
Total 107,315.05

[mudnut]

And the ENGINE,dont forget to put that in(first).Dont even tell me how much.Everything but the kitchen sink.OK,tell me how much for the motor.Mudnut.

[Stevens 47]

Got an engine a Lehman in good condition. Way to big and heavy for you multi guys.

Jack

[beau]

I am using approx 1.3 tonne of aluminium At $5.00 a kg.ex Brisbane
6mm bottom everything else 4mm.
The main hull design is very narrow at 39ft X 7ft 6ins.
So it fits into a 40 ft shipping container.
I must admit I did not cost Marine grade alloy, which of course I will have to use.
The boat is a trimaran motorsailor
For engines: (I have already been chastised for this by this forum)
I will be using Two waterproofed Honda fourstroke outboard each with a snorkel. And I have plenty of inbuilt storage for Petrol. 1,500 nm.

Sail rig is very basic.

Thanks guys I appreciate your help

[hellosailor]

"Tons" are how aluminum is shipped from a smelter.

To specify aluminum plate for a boat, perhaps you should specify the specific *alloy* and *thickness. That might account for the differences in price. And, determine how well the boat holds together.

[beau]

In Australia aluminium is sold by the Tonne, $5,000 a tonne or $5.00 a kg. is pretty normal.

The thickness of sheets is not a factor whether it be 1mm or 10mm thick.It is all sold by weight.
Yes marine grade does cost more per tonne than commercial grade.

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

And, determine how well the boat holds together.

That's ASTM 5052 to 5056 and it's the corrosion factor that needs to be taken in consideration. ASTM 6061 is actually more stable/flexable but turns chaulky in a short time.........................................._/)

[northerncat]

so this would mean that the boat which i plan to make one day which weighs 500kilos should only cost about 2500$ &%$#@$%# bloody rip off merchants wanted me to pay them 7430, i dont know what the worlds coming to nah seriously i would say that your ally costs would be a bit more but maybe its cheaper as you are getting a bit more than waht i woulsd have wanted
sean

[Alan Wheeler]

There is a lot of waste in building. So you may have a boat that weighs in at 500Kg but you may have been charged for a tonne of Alli. Then there is machine costs and welding costs and so on. Then the labour goes on top again.