Trailcraft PLATE

[kpmack]

Does anyone know if TRAILCRAFT are made of structural plate, or is it just another pressed boat ?? Any opinions on their ride in rough chop would be good in the 5-6 mtr class. Has anyone had any structural problems ??.............Cheers.............Paul

[jm82]

Paul, a mate of mine just picked up a trailcraft 6.4m centre cab. it rides really well It handled a good 25knot se chop across moreton bay month ago and we did a overniter around cape moreton on the queens birthday weekend in 30knots of nor wester we travelled in those conditions at around 40kmh wich was quite comfy.have had no strutual problems. good all round boat

Josh

[juju]

Mines only a 475, but it gos well...the level of finish on all the welds is top notch.....i go the option of the foam in the hull now..would be a bit quieter ...you can get a free dvd of thier website...

[brrbear]

hi paul I had a 4.7 which I up graded to the 5 m.
I had no structual problems to speak of.
The paintwork was ordinary on both.
As runabouts they were both very wet boats in not too bad seas.
I thought they banged a bit hard but they were fairly tough.

maybe the cab setup would be ok
good luck

[fish2relax]

i replied to your other post re my 540 profish.
however i will relay brrbear's comments re the paint. in this day and age it is sub par to say the least. Even the dealer when i questioned him about it befor i bought it said "trailcraft's paint work is shit house" lol
cheers

[MJ]

Yes plate alloy.

[saurian]

Kpmack , not a platey as such in my books, gets hard to define whats a platey ??
The hulls outer shell is welded up as a hulk then frames , stringers are welded in , so not a pressed boat , but some of the bits of alloy used in the construction are to say the least ' common", ie; whatever is closest to the bloke welding , wack it in and weld it up. They used to be made of a lesser grade of alloy than 5083, but currently who knows ????
I think they are between the quintrex's etc ... .... and real plateys made by numerous custom builders......
Ta

[Shane Dyer]

thanks saurian for your opinion,as you know i have recently purchased a new true plate boat and after doing my research on all ally boats i have come to the conclusion that there are tin boats ,ally boats and then you have true blue plate boats which is in agreeance to your comments. With my plate boat i get as good a ride as i have in any fibreglass boat i have owned. BBQ is being organised and you will be invited.

[kpmack]

Hi Shane,
Do you have the name, number, or web site of this boat in true plate..................Thanks for your interest....................Paul

[Wayne Holland]

Perhaps an explanation of what is pressed and what is folded and what is hard plate Marine Aluminium (5083) and what is soft plate Marine Aluminum (5052) might help to demystify things a bit.

Pressing might said to be something akin to the way car panels are made by Hydrulic stamping machines.

Folding is the placement of a sheet in to a Hydrulic bender and folding a crease into it.

5083 Aluminium; (the so called Survey grade) is a hard Aluminium with a dull finish that can only be bent in a large radius bender other wise the sheet will crack at the bend if a tight radius is used.

The clinker style sides that are folded in the sides of a Trailcraft is most probably 5052 (soft) or similar, to allow for easy bending.

It is highly possible that they may be using 5052 in the sides and 5083 in the Hull plates; also look at the thickness of the plate being used.

The clinker folds give the sides incredible strength...think of the lack of rigidity of corrigated Iron with out the corrigations.

Trailcraft have in the past employed floating frames in their boats.

Regarding quality of ride...its all about the dead rise...the bigger the dead rise the better the ride.

[finga]

BBQ is being organised and you will be invited.

Where, when!!

Beauty!!

[murf]

Where, when!!

Beauty!!

I will second that finga

cheers Murf