Inflatable Recommendations??

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fountain27

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exMember
Joined
Jan 13, 2006
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19956
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363
Finally talked the Admiral into a dingy! Our main purpose it to shuttle the 70lb mutt from the boat to shore enabling us to stay out overnight (never have in 2 years!). I think a 3-5 person roll-up should be large enough to carry 2 adults and 1 pouch and small enough to store within a large unused closet.

For now I plan to row, and yes I have heard it is difficult, but I hate the concept of an extra fuel tank.

Any recommendations on brands or do I need to rethink the size / no motor?

Thanks for the advice.
 
Get a RIB and a motor with a built in tank. It's what you'll end up with aft a year or less of rowing a roll up. :-)
 
The admiral and I have been content with our Mercury Airdeck 240 and Mercury 3.3hp engine. Both are easy to handle, and take up limited space. The 2 stroke engine (29lbs) can be stored easily in a locker, and the inflatable (70lbs) stored rolled on the swimplatform or inflated atop our pilothouse.

We're not speed demons in our dinghy, but it gets us from the boat to shore and back without rowing in circles. The Airdeck 240 is big enough for the Admiral, I and the dog.

Keep an eye out, used ones aren't uncommon. Our package cost us under a grand at 1yr old
 
Just bought a Mercury 270 Sport. I cannot find in the manual the size of the outboard shaft; long or short. Do anyone know or does it matter? Thanks.
 
quote:
Originally posted by fountain27

Just bought a Mercury 270 Sport. I cannot find in the manual the size of the outboard shaft; long or short. Do anyone know or does it matter? Thanks.

Click to expand...


Dealer at NE Boat Show told me yesterday that the Sports need a short i.e 15" shaft.
 
While we are on the subject of inflatable boats.
My family and I are looking for one. What is everyones opinion on type of floor. Is a plywood floor better than an inflatable floor?
Also, will one give better performance than the other, or does it really matter? The thinking is stiffening the boat. I am leaning toward the inflatable just from a comfort stand point for the kids. This boat will just be for kicking around the marina, and protected waters.

Thanks, Jimmyboy
 
Speaking of kids and a dink, will 4HP be enough to push along a 10' inflatable with an airdeck floor? I ask because the 4HP outboards have an integrated fuel tank, which I feel better about by 16, 14 and 12 year old boys handling on their own. I've not owned a dink so I have no idea what 4HP...or the 15 that is allowed...will deliver.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Jimmyboy

While we are on the subject of inflatable boats.
My family and I are looking for one. What is everyones opinion on type of floor. Is a plywood floor better than an inflatable floor?
Also, will one give better performance than the other, or does it really matter? The thinking is stiffening the boat. I am leaning toward the inflatable just from a comfort stand point for the kids. This boat will just be for kicking around the marina, and protected waters.

Thanks, Jimmyboy

Click to expand...


The inflatable floor is a much better deal for Kids and everything except rough surface cargo.
It stiffens up the boat. Is added floatation too. But the best reason is no hardware to get sorted out and snap into place before you have fully inflated the boat.

The other good reason is the chafing of the hard decking will cause a weak spot in the fabric of the bottom. eeek a leek!
I had several, but the last and best was a Metzler 13' w/6hp johnson.
It went six mph or so with just me and the camp, but when I had a Moose, the camp, my hunting partner and my big smile of success, it slowed down to Four or five Mph.

The inflatable bottom was especially welcome on those River trips. Going over gravel bars is much easier when the whole boat will float.
 
Is the inflatable floor as heavy duty as the plywood floor? I am a big guy (about 290 lbs) and want a dinghy that is solid. Can I expect an air floor model to "hold up" as well as a wood floor model? Other than the edge of the wood rubbing through the fabric, and having to stow the wood pieces when not in use, which is the best way to go?
 
I had an air floor 11' Zodiac. It was an okay boat. I didn't particularly like the relative softness of the floor. I weigh over 200 and it felt uncomfortable stepping into the boat from a dock. there is a lot of give in the air floor. Also while on plane, the floor seems to ripple. We sit on the floor in chairs and you could definitely feel the ripple affect. It just didn't feel that comfortable for me. I recently bought one of those wood floor Baltik inflatables. I haven't used it yet, but think the wood floor will better suit what I am looking for. I bought a 9.5' one for just over $800. They're for sale on eBay.
 
Jason, I bought a 10'4" inch Achilles air floor a couple years ago. I'm a big guy as well. If the "high pressure" air floor is properly inflated I fail to see much "give" at all when boarding. If anything, floorboards may buckle if you step on a mating seam. The rollup was a priority for me as I was bringing it home each weekend and you do NOT want to deal with floorboards on anything other than a yearly breakdown of the craft. My beef with the airfloor is that boat and transom seem to buckle a bit when I'm on plane, causing the motor to cavitate. Course it's great for lounging around in cause the floor also works as a barrier that keeps the derriere dry. Perhaps I need one of those foil things on my 8 horse (or the max. 10 hp), but then storage on my back deck is diminished as I tow the dingy minus the motor. If you plan to leave your dingy in the water and do not have to lift it aboard-go with a wood floor. If you plan to break it down for storage and/or manually lift it aboard the mothership-get the air floor. If you want performance-get the rigid fiberglass model. If you want to lengthen the thread-bring up the aluminum floor rollup model. :-)
 
Jason the answer is 'Yes' the inflatablle floor will hold the big guy when he jumps from the dock to the bottom of his RIB.

I was 240 in those days, my Hunting partner was nearly 260. The camp must have been 100lbs and the Moose turned out to be 600# or so. (that was the only time I ever loaded the boat that much and if Metzler's are still made, I'd heartily reccomend it as your first choice)

You (**260#) wont have any issues walking around inside the RIB when it's inflated.

If I had to voice a complaint about the inflatable floor, it would be about losing fish hooks down in the crack between the Side Tubes and the Floor tubes.
I had to completely de-flate the boat to get those Hooks.

Also, for de-flating, get a reversable Vacuam cleaner. Maybe they make a re-versable pump by now?

The Metzler was 100 Denier cloth and Hypalon (not sure about the Hypalon) so inflating it was a breeze. It inflated to a certain point. Then the tubes became very Hard and wouldnt take another pound of air.
My boat had a Wood transom all Glued and lapped into the Side and bottom tubes. The Transome had some inflation as well.
The front seat was inflatable, permanantly installed and could be used as a step.
My memory fails on the back seat where I ran the motor from. I think it was inflatable but had a board fixed into it somehow.
The middle seat was a Board that was removable. You could put a whopping big bunch of cargo in that thing.
Rowing it was very easy. I fly fished. I rowed that boat all over Alaska.

The Oarlocks were also glued and lapped into the sides, as were the standoffs for the Safety line. It was a silent boat while rowing.

It was a great haneling boat in the Rivers too.
If your thinking of doing something that exciting with your RIB, pm me and I'll fill you in on some cautions.

The front handle, the bow eye and the two side handles in the rear were all an integral assembly.

My Metzler had some sockets for a Sun shade, something like a Bimini top.
Nawww, I was too rugged to have any kind of sissy shade back in those days.

You have to keep it out of the sun when it's stored. Any good Sun proof cover would be OK for that.
And leaving it out in the Shed during the winter when it froze for several months was probably not good for it either.

I forgot to mention Planing speed. It was about Six mph with two people, the gas n' gear.
With that heavy load I mentiond, it just mushed through the water at a lower speed, so I cut the Rpm's down to match the mush speed and we went 11 miles like that with no other problems.
 
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