TOPIC: Interesting discussion on when to restore...

Last couple of days, there have been a couple of threads on Woody Boater on when to restore, how much to spend, and when to just burn it. The responses run the gamut and include talk of fiberglass boats, also.

With fiberglass and aluminum, there is usually enough of the boat left to restore it. With wood, maybe not. You might end up replacing virtually all the wood and when done, you really have a new boat that used the old boat as a pattern, and spent $10,000-50,000 (or more!) to get there. Then, is it a restoration, or just a modern reproduction boat?

Also, when is a boat too far gone and only usable for fuel in a bonfire? What if a boat has some sort of historical value, but can't find a home where a new owner has enough time, money, and interest to restore it? I know there are lots of unrestored and unused boats out there that just sit in some sort of storage (and that storage may be some field unprotected from the elements!) waiting for someone to come along and actually do something with them.

Things to ponder on a cold winter day.

Anyway, take a look:

www.woodyboater.com/blog/2015/01/21/how-much-will-my-restoration-cost/

and

www.woodyboater.com/blog/2015/01/22/one-more-great-question-burn-or-donate/

Take it from someone who already did this. I rebuilt my Century Sabre over 5 years Had over 8 grand in materials alone not counting my labor, and then ran it for another five. Sold it at a profit but it took over a year to find the right buyer.
Depends on if the boat is for you or resale. If it's for you and you do the work yourself it will be less than $10 or $50 g's. The looks of admiration and thumbs up at the landing and in the water are priceless for those of us who did the work themselves.
If you're doing it to resell than I would say it's not worth it because it's a limited market and there already is a lot out there.
IMHO
Cal

Wood you can burn. Aluminum you can recycle. FIberglass, however, gets chopped up and sits in a landfill forever. That makes disposing of one more of an issue. Which is probably why they sit in fields forever. When to restore (or make useable again) could be somewhat determined by the lack of anything else viable to do with it.

That being said, any good ideas for repurposing or recycling old fiberglass boats that are too far gone? (outside of planters)

thetudor,

Artificial reef???
(I've "toyed with the idea" for 2 decades as a friend used to be a large boat dealer. After his death the business closed & there are probably still 50 "junk boat hulls" sitting out in the woods behind the old store.)
OR
"Floatation" for a large houseboat or floating dock???
(pairs of stripped-out "junk glass boats", bolted together stern to stern, would have a LOT of buoyancy & would be "dirt-cheap", too.)

yours, satx

well....the bows are always good for a table and the 1/4 panel?? of a boat with a nice fin would make a good headboard for a bed at the cabin....rear light could be used as a nite lite...

That all sounds better than the last load I took,,it was 70.00 a ton,, we cut up 3 and filled one,,Bill

There is always the old standby of filling it with dirt and planting flowers in it.

One word, boathenge

I did "donate" (good way of saying getting rid of) an old glass hull to our church many years ago when we were making a play area. Buried the boat over half way into the dirt, put some plank seats in it with a dummy steering wheel and about 10" of sand in the bottom. Kids loved it. Probably brought a few of them into boating when they grew up.

yep...we did the same for a daycare 8 or 9 years ago....was the kids favorite toy

thetudor wrote:

That being said, any good ideas for repurposing or recycling old fiberglass boats that are too far gone? (outside of planters)

I guess its because of the poly and catalyst that shredded old boat fiberglass can't be incorporated into new fiberglass, and re-used to make new boats. Figuring that out would be great....

It's interesting to see the rest of the crews stop and watch while 1 'lucky' guy gets to demolish a boat when I drop one off. I guess they all like tin boats too

If you had a good shredder I wonder if it could be make into insulation bats, they are glass anyway, maybe chopped and poured into a wall or mixed with adobe, we will need it when the zombie apocalypse happens

@ thetudor, I've often thought a boat would make a great lake side boat shed. Bury some 6x6 green treat attach the transom, build a nice cedar weather proof door that when opened allows a drop down set of steps so as to reach the upper shelves and hooks. You could store alot of gear in that. Flipped upside down and you have a fore ever roof for a shed or hunting or ice fishing shack.