welded aluminum hulls

[J B]

I have noticed on my TV-18 that each weld point on the external hull strakes causes a slight ripple in the bottom surface. I'm talking about the hull strakes, not the internal welds. When looking down the hull, the bottom appears slightly wavy. In one spot, the ripple is more pronounced, possibly from heat stressing the aluminum. I then compared this to other aluminum boats, including Avalanche and XPress, and noticed similar hull ripples along the welded keel seam. I guess this is normal, but could it have any negative performance effects? I noticed the '04 TV-18 models now have molded strakes, making a much smoother hull surface.

 

[Scott Smith]

I own a 2002 TV-18 with the welded aluminum strakes and am familiar with the ripples you mention. I'm sure the welds and ripples do create some extra drag on the hull. I'm sure that this is one of the reasons for the change in the manufacturing process. However, I am also aware of 2 other TV-18's, that had the strake welds fail. This caused the strakes to fold downward and back on themselves. I chatted briefly with the owners of both of these boats, they both reported that when the failure occurred, there boats actually began to list and/or rise up out of the water. One of the owners stated that he was traveling about 40 mph when the failure occurred, he said it was a very scary experience when his boat suddenly rose up out of the water and listed very hard to the right.

 

[J B]

Wow, I never thought of this possibly occurring. I'll bet that is pretty scary. I'll definitely keep an eye on these strakes after each trip. Along with the molded strakes, the '04 TV-18 has an all aluminum "no-wood" transom. So it's good to see Tracker continue to improve on their product.

 

[J B]

Oh, and the '04 models (finally) have Lowrance depth finders.

 

[Bruce Yeaton]

Jethro, where have you read about the no wood transom on the TV-18?

Though they are Lowrance finders, I find them to be the "cheap" models... similar to the Humminbirds.

 

[J B]

Bruce, got it straight from the TrackerBoats website, it says "All aluminum offset welded transom". Unless I read that wrong, I'm thinking this means "no-wood". I think the 175/185 are also all aluminum transoms. The TV-18 now comes with a Lowrance
http://www.trackerboats.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.boat&nav=14&boat=990

 

[Mark Hofman]

Sounds like a lot of improvements have been made...



...but I still wouldn't consider trading in my boat for new until they offer the dual console option again. Taking that option off the boat was a real disappointment for me.

 

[J B]

My '03 did not have the dual console option. If they made it available I'd consider ordering one. I do like having the open floor space though, so it would have to be easy to put in and take out.

 

[Bruce Yeaton]

I found it jethro....very cool to get the wood out of there. I thought the only changes were made to the 175/185 boats.