Detachable Tubes

BogMonster · 13 January 2007, 15:51

Looking to the future .... I know there are some makes of RIB out there which have some sort of detachable tube system.

From an article in RIB Intl I know the Halmatic Arctic 24 has, because there's an article about a lifeboat RIB with this feature. But I guess Halmatics are probably "not in my price range by a long way" as I think they are heavy duty commercial stuff.

Do any of the "affordable" RIB manufacturers do this, or at least offer it as an option? It seems like such a good idea for somebody in my situation, because at the end of the day if you do end up with a set of scrap tubes for whatever reason, you can order a complete new set and fit them relatively easily. Apart from the one article in RIB Intl though, I've never seen anything about it?

jwalker · 13 January 2007, 16:23

Zodiac. A flange with a piped edge slides into a groove.

toby4594 · 13 January 2007, 16:25

Stephen the tubes on my zodiac come off ,I have never bothered but i was talking to a guy with a zodiac and he said he often takes them off for cleaning etc they come off easy enough,but you need another pair of hands to get them back on .

Stoo · 13 January 2007, 16:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwalker

Zodiac.

Yup. My Hurricane tubes are bolted on, but I understand it's quite a job to replace them. I think the newer ones use a slotted flange system which is apparently much easier to use...

jwalker · 13 January 2007, 16:28

There are also a few manufacturers who bolt their tubes on. Normally there is a clamping strip to distribute the pressure along the tube flange.

Oops, Stoo got in there first.

Pete7 · 13 January 2007, 17:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by BogMonster

But I guess Halmatics are probably "not in my price range by a long way" as I think they are heavy duty commercial stuff.

New, don't even ask, however ex RN then they are quite reasonable.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sealine-Envoy-...QQcmdZViewItem

Pete

Donnie144 · 13 January 2007, 18:26

I don’t know how popular they are on the other side of the pond but Nautica also offers removable tubes.

Nos4r2 · 13 January 2007, 21:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete7

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sealine-Envoy-...QQcmdZViewItem

Who stole the tubes?

BogMonster · 14 January 2007, 09:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwalker

Zodiac. A flange with a piped edge slides into a groove.

Interesting. All Zodiacs, or just some of them? Will have to look into that...makes a retube a lot easier and gives me a boat with a much longer useful life if the cost is just about bearable. I don't know anything about Zodiacs though (except for that CZ7 which is on my "lottery list"

)

PeterR · 14 January 2007, 09:47

I can say they do have crack problems with some of their ranges of hulls, you will find some posts i,m sure

BogMonster · 14 January 2007, 10:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by no fear

I can say they do have crack problems with some of their ranges of hulls, you will find some posts i,m sure

They don't seem to have a UK website with anything sensible like prices on.

But I did find a Zodiac not much bigger than mine with twin 90s with an asking price of £59000 so I think that may be a bit outside my price range...

I could buy a few spare hulls from Humber for that price

PeterR · 14 January 2007, 10:10

59000 sounds like a bargain

J S · 14 January 2007, 11:16

They no longer have a Uk office it is all been moved to France and any warrantry claims are handled through Avon as they are part of the same group apparently.

James

Poly · 14 January 2007, 11:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by BogMonster

All Zodiacs, or just some of them?

Just had a quick "skim" through an old brochure - and it looks like all of them do (2005 brochure). I notice they claim to have a patent on their removable tube system - so its unlikely anyone else will be doing it exactly the same way.

Sorry no prices in it...

Neil Harvey · 14 January 2007, 11:27

If i remember correctly, Bombard also did removable tubes, but not sure what the system was that they used. This is quite some years back, when they were definitely part of the Zodiac group. don't know who owns them not, so maybe they no longer do them.

wavelength · 14 January 2007, 12:50

valentine class rib lifeboats as used by KNRM in holland (and also Cromer independent I think in uk) tubes attached by webbing straps. They had one in for service when I last visited them-just dropped the tubes off before taking it into the workshops to save some space in there.

toby4594 · 14 January 2007, 13:01

No problems with cracks thus far, no problems at all in fact ,and I,m not in the habit of showing much mercy when out on the water so in fact its coped rather well .With mass produced goods i,m sure you will always find the odd one that isn,t up to scratch.By the way I thought that head office for Zodiac was south of the Midlands unless its no more .

pathalla · 14 January 2007, 13:16

The tube set on my boat simply bolts on, there is a flap of material at the bottom of the tube running the length of the sponson, this flap is through bolted to the boat using clamping bars on the outside and a flange on the hull which is drilled out about every 6 inches. It takes about 1 1/2 hrs to bolt them down or remove them. This is an effective and simple way of securing them to the boat, any manufacturer could do this if they wanted to.

paul tilley · 14 January 2007, 13:27

try carson ribs from fawley marine (steve harvey posts as pressman) he did have an ex demo 6mtr for sale he also posted the full build of one of their ribs on this forum

Milan · 16 January 2007, 08:33

[QUOTE=BogMonster;181722] Looking to the future .... I know there are some makes of RIB out there which have some sort of detachable tube system.

I thought you all ready had one