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zodiac floor

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beer-breath View Drop Down
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    Posted: 26 Apr 2017 at 3:32am
just thought I would see what your brighter minds would come up with.
the boat is my 14' zodiac inflatable. it has the aluminum floor, so it is four pieces that snap down together. they jam against the transom at the rear and a wooden board at the front(that is permanently glued to the bottom/inside of the tubes up front. that front board is at the spot where the boat is still wide, just before it then tapers to the V-point front. then there's a wooden diamond-shaped board that fits into the floor from that board to the front tip.
so, here's the issue.
the boat is old, yet in great shape. but, that front board had always been an issue. where it attached/glued to the boat tubes, it was coming apart there(was that way when I got it)so it would twist up when the aluminum floor got snapped down into place and put pressure on it. it still worked fine, but it was really jabbing down into the bottom of the boat, and you could see it wearing there. I decided to have it fixed, I took it to the nearest river-rafting place to me, and dropped it off with them. the guy even said he had the same problem with the same boat he had(personal boat, not company river-rafting boat). but he had completely done away with the stock floor and built a big two-piece floor out of plywood, and it was bolted solid once laid in.
anyway, he said he could/would completely remove the wooden board, clean it, make new attachment rubber pieces, and glue it back into place. I asked him to move it just slightly forward, as it seemed like it was located too far back to begin with, which caused it to pull apart from too much force. well, when I got it back, I found they had moved it too far forward, and now there was no force at all on the floorboards, they just flopped into place. I was still able to make it work, I just attached a board to the transom to give some of that pressure back to the floor. it worked, but then eventually their patch-attachments, that they made to re-glue that front board back on, separated again. but this time it was because their glue was clearly not the proper type. I wasn't about to take it back to them, it wasn't THAT expensive for what they did, and, it's a half-day drive just to drop it off to them anyway. just wasn't worth the bother.
so, now that front board is completely removed again. what I am trying to figure out is how to make something for the front section to attach to the rear aluminum pieces. I don't know if that's even possible since those aluminum slats need pressure to properly snap together and hold firm.
I just thought I would see what ideas you guys might have/come up with. it's amazing how different minds come up with different ideas and solutions. i may just have to find the proper glue and try to glue that board back in.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Apr 2017 at 4:55pm
I think if you provided some photos then it would be easier to visualise your problem and possible solutions. But that's because I'm a pictures man.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote beer-breath Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Apr 2017 at 8:06am
ask and you shall receive.
took the floor pieces out of storage yesterday and laid them out.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote beer-breath Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Apr 2017 at 8:10am
so, that first wood piece, right after the aluminum sections, that is what is normally glued into the boat permanently. it is what has been the whole problem the entire time. it's flaps that it's glued/attached to the tubes with have always been partly separated from the force on them. it seems, and I have heard others suggest this as well, is that from the factory, the board wasn't quite in the proper location. the boat is from the '80s I think. so once the aluminum sections were snapped down into place, there was more pressure on that board than should have been.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote beer-breath Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Apr 2017 at 8:19am
that's the board I had the company re-glue back in, and locate just ahead a tad farther. but, they moved it way too far forward AND their glue didn't hold either anyway. where this board would have to mount/attach, it would be near-impossible to properly glue it in and manipulate proper pressure, etc while gluing/drying.
so I am trying to figure out a possible way of forming the floor in without that cross-piece of wood glued in. re-make those two front wood sections into one(but then cut that one piece vertically so it can be laid in easier, then maybe bolt it back into one piece with a cross-board or two)
and the front wooden piece would likely then have to be bolted to the aluminum rears. I am thinking that after the floor is laid in, that maybe the whole floor system would need to be all fastened together as one, like with two long metal bars maybe, that run front to back down each side. I think that's what he said he had done with his floor. but he just used two big pieces of plywood.
any suggestions on what might work?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote beer-breath Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Apr 2017 at 8:20am


here's the floor how it would look all tight together.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote beer-breath Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Apr 2017 at 8:21am


and a better close-up of the front pieces.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote beer-breath Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Apr 2017 at 8:24am
actually, there's a reason that front piece of wood is separate. the other pieces all lay flat to form the floor and give the boat rigidity. and that front piece just rests/clips against that other board so that it can then angle upward, which is the shape of the boat when inflated.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote beer-breath Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Apr 2017 at 8:31am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote beer-breath Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Apr 2017 at 8:33am


i'm just trying to find pics of the boat. to show how the front shapes upward.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote beer-breath Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Apr 2017 at 8:38am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote beer-breath Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Apr 2017 at 8:43am
i'm trying to find a pic of my boat showing the floor. no luck so far. but I found this pic from the interwebs. it has to be a larger one, because it has the four aluminum pieces, plus the front wooden one, but then has another full-size wooden piece as well. mine's a 14', so this must be a 16' or so maybe. now it seems to be a totally loose, separate floor design, so it must work.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote beer-breath Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Apr 2017 at 8:51am


more pics of the old girl and where she's taken me. I packed her away when I bought my RIB, but would like to get her out again this year. she's all old-school, sitting in a lawn chair and running the tiller handle, but I actually miss those days.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote beer-breath Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Apr 2017 at 8:57am
k, I found a pic of how the board looked when it was attached to the boat. then the four aluminum pieces snapped into place, forcefully, jammed between the transom and that wooden slat. and the front wooden piece rests against the front of that board, and the boat tightens that front piece in when inflated, and the tubes pressure against it.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Apr 2017 at 3:49pm
OK so to attach the from aluminium slate to the timber, so it can be dismantled? Why not attach 2 "C" channel aluminium back to back and use that between the timber and the first ali slate?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote beer-breath Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 May 2017 at 4:43am
not quite. that skinnier wooden piece, that's originally glued in place. it's job, being glued solidly to the boat, is to give a wall(basically) for the rear aluminum pieces to solidly jam into place. they get wedged together between that board and the transom, but they need to be stood on to force them to snap down flat into place and have the required squeeze on them to make them solid enough.
but now, with that wooden slat loose, I am trying to figure out a method of forming the floor without that slat glued in solid. but I am thinking it almost needs to be glued back in place. I found a thing online about guys who own "avon" inflatables with the similar problem, and they are using bottle jacks up front(in place of that wooden slat) and they then jack the pressure onto the aluminum slats, once the boat is inflated and holding everything in place. they have u brackets welded onto the ends of the jack for it to grip onto the sections. that seems pretty crazy.
other than bolting all the floor pieces together with a long bar running down each side, front to back, I don't see another way to really hold them solidly together. other then, of course, to glue that wooden slat back into place. the main reason I have been avoiding that, is that even a inflatable boat pro already did that for me, and it failed again. granted, he messed it up right from the start, re-locating it too far forward, and also gluing it back in with too small of patch pieces, which then would not have been able to fully hold the board flat(I just noticed that now, looking at the board).
I think I will have to just give it a go, attempting at gluing that board back in. but everything I have read about it, and just looking at the location and shape of everything, everyone says it is the biggest PITA, even next too impossible.
here's a couple more pics, showing it. I pulled the boat out of storage yesterday and set it all up.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote beer-breath Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 May 2017 at 4:47am
this shows where they lie now, just with laying in place.
and you can see where the wooden slat was originally attached. that's the force those rear floor pieces needed to be snapped down solid.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote beer-breath Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 May 2017 at 7:47am
something I realized. I hadn't inflated the keel yet, and that will snug things up a bit, with pressure from beneath. just did that. it tightens things up, yes, but not front to back, and there's still too much slop.

but something else popped into my brain, while standing and staring at the whole situation. a ratchet strap. figure a way to attach it to the transom(eye-hooks), and run it under the floor, before it's laid in place, then around the front one, and back to the transom. then ratchet it all tight, back against the transom. that will definitely work, if it's possible to connect it to the transom. I don't particularly like the idea of drilling holes through the transom that low down, but I guess they could be sealed up.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote beer-breath Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 May 2017 at 7:50am
I still think a long runner board, running the length, would be needed. and bolt it down into the floor pieces to hold everything together solid.

here's the floor in place, and with the keel inflated, and elevated on wheels.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote beer-breath Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 May 2017 at 7:51am
you can see that front section of aluminum floor and forward isn't solid.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 May 2017 at 7:58am
Don't know BB, good luck with it thoughThumbs Up
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote beer-breath Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 May 2017 at 2:43pm


I pulled the floor out and laid a strap in first, then put the floor back in and cinched it good and tight. this definitely made a big difference.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote beer-breath Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 May 2017 at 2:50pm


but when I elevated the boat, there was still some sag in the front section. not near as bad as it was, but it definitely needs more stiffening yet. so I am going to add a rail board off to each side, running the length of the floor boards(minus the wooden sections), and will fasten it to the aluminum sections. this will definitely make it completely solid and tight. this is easier than trying to glue that darn board back on.
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