Help with fc470 floor

[Tlmaguire]

Just picked up a zodiac fc470 in great condition. I am replacing my achilles 14' which has a center console mounted to the aluminum floor. The new zodiac has the roll up floor and my question is can I just mount the console to the aluminum slats? Or cut a piece of plywood, mount it with carriage bolts to the roll up floor and use that as a mounting surface for the console? Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks

[office888]

The rollup models are pretty floppy. I'd strongly recommend switching to the aluminum floor in your F470 if you want to run a console

[Squid Boat]

If your handy with wood you could do a epoxied 3/4'' marine ply floor.

Cheers

[Tlmaguire]

Thanks for the replies, I don't have the money now for the aluminum floor. The plywood I was hoping for an inexpensive way to add some rigidity

[Tlmaguire]

I understand this may not be the best way but what I want to know is if it will work as I don't have the money to purchase the proper floor that is made for this boat. My thought is to use a single piece of plywood and bolt it down over the roll up floor with a bolt through each slat and leaving the bow section as is. Would this be a sturdy enough surface to mount a small console and a cooler seat? Attached it a super detailed drawing of what I was thinking. Red outline is plywood sheet, red dots bolts and yellow is proposed console placement. I already have the console mounted in my smaller Achilles to the aluminum rigid floor and am looking to transfer everything over to the fc470. Thanks again for any input.

[Squid Boat]

The slat cross sections will deform/yeild to the crush of the carriage bolt when you hit some average white cap seas unless cored with delrin/nylon or wood plugs in the bolt area. The boat will have the weight of the roll up and the wood floor plus console and pay load, but that shouldn't be a problem with a the wt cap of the black boat.

There is a member RIB4SALE.Com in San Diego that may a Al floor.

Cheers

[Squid Boat]

Here's a girl with a splint.

Cheers

[office888]

Originally Posted by Squid Boat

Here's a girl with a splint.

Cheers

I thought about doing the same thing before my FC gave up the ghost...how'd the improvised stringers work out?

[Tlmaguire]

Do you have more info on the materials used and how they are mounted? How did the splint work out?
Thanks

[Squid Boat]

Originally Posted by office888

I thought about doing the same thing before my FC gave up the ghost...how'd the improvised stringers work out?

Sorry not my boat Richard.

Cheers

[Squid Boat]

Originally Posted by Tlmaguire

Do you have more info on the materials used and how they are mounted? How did the splint work out?
Thanks

Sorry just a pix I found in my files. No idea of the source, my son's boat is a Avon CRRC that has 22' tubes, plus speed tubes with a 3/4''marine ply epoxy/bed liner deck.

I can tell you one thing, if a Al hard deck could have been sourced for the boat, many hours of hard labor and materials would have been saved. But I like to get me hands dirty.

Cheers

[Squid Boat]

Originally Posted by Tlmaguire

Do you have more info on the materials used and how they are mounted? How did the splint work out?
Thanks

1/4'' wall 7075 Aluminum would be my choice if I was to experiment. It is very springy. The properties of 7075 aluminum are high strength, stress resistant, and improved stress-corrosion resistance.

What seas or waters will your boat be used on? Coastal or off shore?

Cheers, Don

[Tlmaguire]

I will be using it mainly as a coastal boat with the occasional run from Oxnard to Anacapa. I do have aluminum stringers and joiners from my old achilles floor and it appears that using those with a solid piece of marine plywood would be pretty simple. I may try and do that rather than drilling a bunch of holes into the roll up. I got it together with a euro helm for now and did a lake test run which really accelerated my desire for a rigid floor.

[Tlmaguire]

Here is the setup for now. Definitely don't want to be going 10 plus miles offshore with that floppy floor.

[office888]

Originally Posted by Tlmaguire

Here is the setup for now. Definitely don't want to be going 10 plus miles offshore with that floppy floor.

Navy SEALS do it all the time...

Use a pressure gauge and check your overpressure valves...I found that mine released air at about 3 psi. The boat performed a lot better at 3.48 psi vs 3 psi...performance took a total crap at 2.5 psi. I'd lose about 20% of the top speed and the operator fatigue was high (flexing made it so you can feel every little wave).

[Tacman]

Office888 brings up the most important part of getting the most out of an FC470 and ensuring it lasts the longest. I started out with CRRCs and have had quite a few...Running a customized H733 now. The biggest issue with the 470 or any other full inflatable is that people do not maintain the correct operating pressure in the tubes(keel tube included).... Get a quality gauge that can be screwed onto one of the valves and left in place. Your boat should be run at 240 millibars or 3.5 psi.... When you run it below that pressure it does not have the rigidity that it needs and the flexing allows seams to be stressed more and can shorten the life of the boat... The solid floor and stringers allow it to flex a bit less when run under pressured( USMC even has a set of longer stringers for its solid floors)....but it is bad for the boat and kills performance. Take the time to monitor pressure and top it up when it drops...Good Luck with it.... Safe Boating

[Squid Boat]

Golden words day.

Cheers

[Tlmaguire]

Thanks for the replies! I will take your advice and get a pressure gauge rather than the by feel method which is what I have been doing.

[Tlmaguire]

Some more pics of the current setup

[Squid Boat]

What model Yeti in the first image mate?

Cheers