Honwave Air V floor or Aluminium Floor

[hymerbeliever]

The Honwave T38-IE Air V floor and T40-AE Aluminium Floor are both about £920 and I am not sure which to choose. Practically, the Air V floor is best for transportation, storage and assembly but it needs special transom wheels and I have a good set of standard ones already. I have also read (on here) that the handling is a bit wild.

Any suggestions?

I'll be strapping a 2005 short shaft Mariner 15hp 2 stroke to the back. The last time I fitted it to the back of a new boat (Yam 380S), I had to cut a 40mm notch in the transom to lower the engine as it cavitated badly. Anyone had any similar issues with Honwaves?

[Max...]

An age old question discussed so much on here (Which SIB? etc) but it all comes down to hassle (assembly faff/time) and weight factors. Rarely does someone go from an air floor to a solid floor but many go the other way and never look back. A 4m alu floor SIB is a very heavy cumbersome lump that is much better suited left assembled on a trailer and if doing that a RIB is better in many ways.

[Fenlander]

As Max says... an age old question that can only ever be truly answered if you own both in a short space of time.

I've had the 3.5m T35AE Honwave alloy floor. A well built very stable SIB with a nice flat level floor. When those attributes were crucial to me it was great.

But when assembly and carrying became my sole responsibility and a flat floor was less important I got a bit fed up with the effort and moved to an air floor. The T40 is of course even more of a lump... 83lbs more than the 3.8 air floor... that's a lot! The T40 is about 9" longer and 2" wider internally than the T38... that extra space might matter to you.

I've had the Mercury/Mariner 15hp 2-stroke short shaft on many SIBs and only ever experienced cavitation/ventilation with a problem prop... never needed to cut a transom. Having said that air floor SIBs can be more prone to cavitation/ventilation than alloy floors

I did find the T35AE/Mariner 15 combo was the most reluctant to plane with a few folks in compared to all the air floor SIBs I've used with that outboard. I assumed it was the weight and dumpy face it presents to the water. The T40 is often paired with a 20HP.

As you have transom wheels already the extra cost of the special ones for the air floor is a factor.

I wonder what you use the SIB for and how many folks you take out?

Note: My comments are based on carrying a SIB in the car and inflating at each use.

[Landlockedpirate]

They are both big boats for packable sibs, but the T40 is seriously big. I lasted 2 outings with mine before i bought a trailer.

If you dont want to trailer, stick with the T38 and buy the correct wheels. Yours existing ones should sell easily on here or ebay.

[hymerbeliever]

Thanks all. I'll go for the T38-IE Air V floor and will buy the wheels when I need them.

[dave3235]

Hi all

You could try inflatable tube rollers there is a thread on here some where .I think they were £20 each from force 4 chandlery.

[kaman]

Originally Posted by Landlockedpirate

They are both big boats for packable sibs, but the T40 is seriously big. I lasted 2 outings with mine before i bought a trailer.

If you dont want to trailer, stick with the T38 and buy the correct wheels. Yours existing ones should sell easily on here or ebay.

Spot on Landlocked pirate.
I have a Honwave 3.5ae.
I too ended up trailering mine after a few trips to sea.
As I wanted it to go fishing the flat aluminium floor was better than the v shaped inflated floor of the T3.8.
I much prefer the solid floor but the hassle of loading it into my vehicle unpacking at launch site, assembly, disassembly, repackaging into vehicle.
Removing from vehicle, wash / dry, repack for storage soon becomes tedious!
Unless your trailering the airfloor is definitely the way to go.

[Max...]

Originally Posted by kaman

I much prefer the solid floor but the hassle of loading it into my vehicle unpacking at launch site, assembly, disassembly, repackaging into vehicle.
Removing from vehicle, wash / dry, repack for storage soon becomes tedious!
Unless your trailering the airfloor is definitely the way to go.

Add that to the sticky!