14' x 30" x 18 lb. Pirogue | SouthernPaddler.com

14' x 30" x 18 lb. Pirogue

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Phishtech

Active Member
Jul 30, 2009
42
0
Yep , it's true. Met a gent on the local waterway last weekend paddling a homemade pirogue. Chatted for a while and saw that it was your basic 3 panel boat, only it's empty weight is only 18 lbs. It has a 1/4" Luauan bottom, a framework for the sides, and flat aluminum siding material for the side material. This one was 15 yrs. old. Sez he's made about 30 of them over the years for friends, neighbors, and relatives. The thing doesn't leak, and I had to hurry just to keep up with him and he was using an old single blade canoe paddle. We've been e-mailing back and forth now and he is willing to give me some hands on lessons in this style of pirogue. Looks simple, the epoxy seals the bottom seams and stems, and upon picking it up, it felt like a featherweight. I want to get Matt's plans for the basic 14' pirogue and incorporate this build style to see what I can get. Can you imagin building one of the JEM 15-29 TV's this way? It would have to FLY on the water. We'll see where this goes.

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He sez the aluminum is the same stuff they make house siding out of, and he orders it in 50' x 2' rolls, which will make 3 boats. Can't wait to give this a shot.
 
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Phishtech

Active Member
Jul 30, 2009
42
0
Re: 14" x 30" x 18 lb. Pirogue

Bellybuster said:
18 lbs...wow
is that an Ultimate you're in????
Click to expand...

Yes, that's my U14.5 which will be replaced by my current build, the JEM 15-29 TV. It'll be for sale soon.
 
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oldsparkey

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2003
10,479
123
Central , Florida
www.southernpaddler.com
Re: 14" x 30" x 18 lb. Pirogue

tx river rat said:
And nosier, ever paddle an aluminum canoe
Ron
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YEP... and it is like a drum as you paddle along but with the wood floor in this pirogue it should be quiet unless you like to slap the sides with the paddle.
It's a hybrid , part metal and part wood but I sure do like the weight of it. Wondering what a 16 would weigh. :wink:
 
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shikeswithcanoe

Well-Known Member
Feb 4, 2010
63
0
Re: 14" x 30" x 18 lb. Pirogue

I ran across some thin plastic material at Lowes a few months ago. I think I started a thread about it even. I bet it would be a good substitute for the aluminum. Wouldnt have the noise issue aluminum does. And I found out that surprisingly that contact cement works pretty well on it. Glued a couple pieces together, soaked in water, left in the sun, over and over again and the joint is still holding up. Might even be a smidge lighter than aluminum too. But since Lowes only carries it in 4 by 8 sheets, you would have to have an overlapp/splice unless you made a really short boat.
 
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tx river rat

Well-Known Member
Feb 23, 2007
3,043
2
Waco Tx
Re: 14" x 30" x 18 lb. Pirogue

Some where on the net I saw a 14 ft canoe that weighed 12 lbs, balsa core composite.
I am going to build a foam boat one of these days.
Ron
 
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Phishtech

Active Member
Jul 30, 2009
42
0
Re: 14" x 30" x 18 lb. Pirogue

tx river rat said:
And nosier, ever paddle an aluminum canoe
Ron
Click to expand...

Maybe it's from the years of paddling this thing, but the old man never made a sound while he paddled this thing. Never once hit the side with the paddle. Might be different with a double blade, don't know.
 
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Phishtech

Active Member
Jul 30, 2009
42
0
Re: 14" x 30" x 18 lb. Pirogue

The old man uses cedar fence pickets from Home Depot for the frame work, he must scarf his joints. If I build one I'll use one continuous piece, space the ribs a little closer, and stiffen the sides up with some outwales. He prolly weighs about 160 lbs. so my 250 would require a tad stronger boat. Maybe I can get Matt to sell me the plans to his 14x29 pirogue but get him to put the V bottom on it. I could prolly make one at less than 25 lbs.

I can hear the gears in Chuck's head starting to crank up from way down here in Texas. Let's hear what you're dreaming up Chuck............
 
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oldsparkey

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2003
10,479
123
Central , Florida
www.southernpaddler.com
Re: 14" x 30" x 18 lb. Pirogue

:lol: :lol: :lol: YEP... That awful screeching sound you hear is me thinking , always thinking about a lighter but just as strong boat.
My best , so far is 30 pounds on two different boats , one 14 canoe and one 15 1/2 pirogue. The goal is one around 20 pounds ....... :D sometime. Carbon Fiber is out , the wife , flatly stated , she will not let me mortgage the house to get some.
 
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Phishtech

Active Member
Jul 30, 2009
42
0
Re: 14" x 30" x 18 lb. Pirogue

Yeah, I can see a 14 footer made like the old man's coming in at 20 lbs. without sacrificing strength. 25 lbs. should be no problem at all. I checked "trim coil" on the web and you can get the 2'x50' for $62 plus shipping. You could probably make 6 boats out of that. On e-bay I found some 12 inch x 50 ft. for $42 which would be OK. The sides of a pirogue should fit within that 12 inch perameter. Lowe's also sells it but could not get a price online. I'll look at it this weekend.

Phishtech
 
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shikeswithcanoe

Well-Known Member
Feb 4, 2010
63
0
Re: 14" x 30" x 18 lb. Pirogue

If you want to add strength/reduce weight, you might want to make the vertical side "supports" angled fore/aft so that your wood along the sides of the boat form a series of triangles rather than a series of rectangles. If you look at many engineered structures, its usually a seriers of triangles, not rectangles, and for good reason.

Another place to loose weight.

Take your boat and lean sideways until the water is about the enter at your side. If you look at where the water line is at that point, its highest near the center of the boat and arcs down to the normal position waterline at the bow and stern. If you paddle where waves aren't a problem, all that stuff above the tilted waterline is wasted material. Of course, you'd still probably want a couple inches for a margin and maybe a ultralight canvas deck/cover fore and aft for the once in a great while wave/boat wake. I suspect you could make a boat 20 percent lighter give or getting ride of that excess.

Just some ideas.
 
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Phishtech

Active Member
Jul 30, 2009
42
0
Re: 14" x 30" x 18 lb. Pirogue

shikeswithcanoe said:
If you want to add strength/reduce weight, you might want to make the vertical side "supports" angled fore/aft so that your wood along the sides of the boat form a series of triangles rather than a series of rectangles. If you look at many engineered structures, its usually a seriers of triangles, not rectangles, and for good reason.

Another place to loose weight.

Take your boat and lean sideways until the water is about the enter at your side. If you look at where the water line is at that point, its highest near the center of the boat and arcs down to the normal position waterline at the bow and stern. If you paddle where waves aren't a problem, all that stuff above the tilted waterline is wasted material. Of course, you'd still probably want a couple inches for a margin and maybe a ultralight canvas deck/cover fore and aft for the once in a great while wave/boat wake. I suspect you could make a boat 20 percent lighter give or getting ride of that excess.

Just some ideas.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. I had it in my head to add wood strips between the rectangles going from top of one to the bottom of the other side like you suggested. I may now just do without the vertical pieces altogether. I need most of the strength on the sheer clamp and bottom so weight reduction won't hurt the sides a bit. Thanks again.
 
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gbinga

Well-Known Member
Nov 7, 2008
736
2
Hoschton, GA
This is a heck of an interesting idea. You could do anything with sheet metal that you could do with plywood, in terms of shapes. And combining wood with aluminum, putting each material in the place where it works best.... 8) I might have to build another boat!

If you used one of these in a river you would end up with a bunch of dents and creases. That trim metal isn't very thick. And if you ordered it thicker, then it won't be very light.

But for a lake/pond/swamp boat, I can see where this could make a lot of sense!

One thing that occurred to me - I'm sure he is using stainless or aluminum fasteners. You wouldn't want to use bronze or copper.

I'd really like to hear more about this.

George
 
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Hydrophillic

Well-Known Member
Feb 11, 2011
60
0
I was looking for a pirogue plan on the internet and this thread came up so I registered. I am a yak fisherman in Atlanta.I recently completed my second Greenland paddle and his boat would fit perfectly with it. This fella you found is a genius. At 18 pounds the boat could fly. I was wondering if you have gotten together with him on any plans. I would love to make one with his permission. Could you please send me a shout back. Thank you.
 
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Freddie

New Member
Aug 17, 2010
1
0
Welcome- if you go down about 3 or 4 posts there is an update. Has much more info. I am getting things together to build one.
Freddie
 
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