New Tubes

[Matt]

Who would be recommended for a retube job these days? And anyone know what the current lead times are like?
Thank you
Matt

[beamishken]

Dave Cowal north west ribs and inflatables
No idea on lead time

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by beamishken

Dave Cowal north west ribs and inflatables
No idea on lead time

+1 for Dave Cowal. Dave makes tubes for a number of third party (southern based) outfits that stick on a hefty markup. Might as well buy direct from the source. Great guy to deal with & quality work.

[Dry Run]

We use Paul at Ribbit based in Portsmouth harbour, or Kieran at Rib Shop in Hamble Point.
Both are extremewly busy, so lead times are long. Your best bet to "jump the queue" is to offer to tke the boat to them.

[Matt]

Thanks all. And I suppose the next question then is, is it ever worth retubing a hull, or does it tend to be good money after bad?

[beamishken]

Cheaper than a new one if you realy like the boat! but you wont get your money back when you sell because it doesnt make the boat worth much more. Only worthwhile if your going to keep the boat for the long haul.

[fastasfox]

Originally Posted by Matt

Thanks all. And I suppose the next question then is, is it ever worth retubing a hull, or does it tend to be good money after bad?

Been there, Done that!

5m Tornado = re-tube £5000 so it's not a cheap solution. But it doesn't stop there...you will want to polish and repair the hull, making sure that your hull is 100% ( no point continuing if your transom is crumbling and deck is soft) the flange needs to be checked for cracks so the tubes can be securely attached. You will want paint the deck too, whilst the hull is bare. Having stripped the hull of all it's part's including the outboard (removing the outboard will make it much easier for the re-tubers to work on it, but they can do it if you leave it mounted)

So you now have a hull with new tubes and it looks brand new....you're not just going to pop all your kit back on and sail into the sunset...nope, you will want to replace fuel lines filters service the outboard clean and re-paint stuff. New battery and that upholstery now looks tired , so you will pull the trigger on all that and get the seats re-covered.....New lines anchor and chain cleats and fixings...and don't forget the trailer...New hubs tyres and wheels.

So the purchase price of rib would be 2-5k and depending on the size of your rib (£1000 per meter to re-tube) let's say yours is 5m, your cost will go north of 10k fast.

So am I trying to put you off.....NO....not at all, just trying to bring reality to doing a project.

So this is the good part. Having spent all that time and money fixing up your old rib you now have a boat that you know every inch of and you know what you have got. You have transformed a tired old boat into something you can be proud of and what is more, you will learn new skills along the way.

You now have a boat that looks pretty much brand new and you can stand back and say....I did that.

All this will have cost you £10k +, to get a brand new equivalent rib you will need to spend another £15k on top of that...and that is a lot of money for a toy.

Your other option is to buy a rib that doesn't need new tubes but that's a minefield because you never know what you are really buying...because you haven't been forensically through it...how long will the tubes last? State of outboard? You get the idea.

No matter what direction you go, you will never get your money back and if you do it for any other reason than just for the love of it, then I would say don't do it.

There are quite a few of us that have gone down the refurb route on here and have documented the transformations....have a read through the posts.

Whatever you decide...best of luck.

[beamishken]

The other thing to consider is look at the humber web site they have a keep building policy & often have heavily discounted stock boats on their web site. Currently a brand new 5m with single jockey seat for 8.5k puts the prospect of spending 5k+ on tubes for an old hull into perspective. A lot depends on the owner & how hands on they want to get. I've tubed a few boats myself & had some tubed. If I was intending on a retube I'd strip off everything inc tubes myself , check for flange & transom repairs & flowcoat the deck before I sent it for retube . The nightmare begins when the boat is sent for tubing & the tube company finds issues & your then probably stuck paying full rates for repairs you might do yourself. In general the bigger, more valuable the boat is the more cost effective a re tube becomes.
What size & type of boat are you thinking of?

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Matt

Thanks all. And I suppose the next question then is, is it ever worth retubing a hull, or does it tend to be good money after bad?

I think it depends entirely on the base hull. If it’s a quality hull, in good condition then it’s probably worth it. If the hull needs work, or is starting to fail, then imho no.

[Matt]

Cobra Nautique 7.5 is the candidate.
Have emailed Henshaws, Tilley's and Dave @ NWRI - will call them tomorrow.

[Chris Caton]

yes, it is worth doing if you like the boat, but not if you're thinking of selling! we chose Tilleys, they did a great job on our Revenger715

[Matt]

Thanks all.

[Orwell boy]

Originally Posted by Matt

Cobra Nautique 7.5 is the candidate.
Have emailed Henshaws, Tilley's and Dave @ NWRI - will call them tomorrow.

Try Nathaniel at Venture marine in Salisbury ,he retubed my nautica and was very good ,also ended up with all the ISO certification ,pressure testing data etc etc ,which many of them dont seem to supply the certification

He tubes for many of the south coast rib manufacturers hence his iso requirements

[Matt]

Originally Posted by beamishken

The other thing to consider is look at the humber web site they have a keep building policy & often have heavily discounted stock boats on their web site. Currently a brand new 5m with single jockey seat for 8.5k puts the prospect of spending 5k+ on tubes for an old hull into perspective. A lot depends on the owner & how hands on they want to get. I've tubed a few boats myself & had some tubed. If I was intending on a retube I'd strip off everything inc tubes myself , check for flange & transom repairs & flowcoat the deck before I sent it for retube . The nightmare begins when the boat is sent for tubing & the tube company finds issues & your then probably stuck paying full rates for repairs you might do yourself. In general the bigger, more valuable the boat is the more cost effective a re tube becomes.
What size & type of boat are you thinking of?

Thank you. It's the "tube" element of this that's new to me. If we were talking mechanics and grp, have done this enough times before, but I've not done tube related stuff since I was a teenager. The cobra has a deck liner so flowcoat is a non issue. Structurally the boat looks solid and there is no cracking or additional bracing etc around the engine well.

And actually thinking about it, I've not owned a "larger" outboard since 2008. I better buy a sevice manual for it!

[beamishken]

Originally Posted by Matt

Thank you. It's the "tube" element of this that's new to me. If we were talking mechanics and grp, have done this enough times before, but I've not done tube related stuff since I was a teenager. The cobra has a deck liner so flowcoat is a non issue. Structurally the boat looks solid and there is no cracking or additional bracing etc around the engine well.

And actually thinking about it, I've not owned a "larger" outboard since 2008. I better buy a sevice manual for it!

If you do decide to go down the retube route which on a large boat like that is probably more cost effective I'd definitely strip the tubes off & clean & check the flanges yourself. Might save you having to pay the tuber to do glass work. I stripped one which looked fine but as I heated the flange tape to lift it off the flange it was lifting the top layer of glass off instead of softening the glue. Didn't matter how much heat I used, a lot or a little the top layer came off with the tape. Fortunately it was a thick flange & I was able to just grind back to sound glass. Could save you a few quid in paying for glass repairs you could do yourself.

[Nasher]

Originally Posted by beamishken

If you do decide to go down the retube route which on a large boat like that is probably more cost effective I'd definitely strip the tubes off & clean & check the flanges yourself. Might save you having to pay the tuber to do glass work. I stripped one which looked fine but as I heated the flange tape to lift it off the flange it was lifting the top layer of glass off instead of softening the glue. Didn't matter how much heat I used, a lot or a little the top layer came off with the tape. Fortunately it was a thick flange & I was able to just grind back to sound glass. Could save you a few quid in paying for glass repairs you could do yourself.

Yep, I totally agree with this, you are more than capable of doing the donkey work for a job like this, why pay the tube maker to do it.
Especially as mentioned if you find any non tube related issues.

Also, why not get them to supply just plain tubes attached to the boat, with the possible exception of perhaps the very awkward to apply rubbing strip added.

It's very easy to add handles, wear patches, and anything else yourself.
I'm more than happy to come and help.

[Matt]

How easy/hard is it to glue the tubes on? It looks a bit like being a plasterer - they make it look easy, but having tried plastering, I know there's a chunk of knowledge & finesse that goes in to it. When it comes to nuts, bolts & grp, electrics and most other boat related things, I am always happy to jump in (e.g. I have all the special rebuild tools & service manuals for bravo drive uppers), but tubes - I think I'm happy to pay someone else for the sake of a better job.

Anyhoo, I have to do a nasty repair to keep it serviceable for the remainder of the season, so I'll see how I go with that, and I do like the idea of removing the tubes in advance, too.

It's not so much "capable" (although I try to know my limits), but is perhaps a bit more "cost/benefit". If I save 500 quid but the tubes look crap because I haven't done it before and don't know all the gotchas - I woulda been better spending the 500....

Although I do have a logistics issue - boat doesn't have a trailer. I'm not entirely sure I want to buy one - would anyone be prepared to rent me a trailer while it's down at tilley's or whoever in december?

[Nasher]

Matt
I did help somebody replace the tubes on an SR4 years ago.
They'd picked up a set of replacement Ex-MOD tubes.

As you suggest it sounds easy.
Blow them up quite hard, place them on the boat and draw round where they touched.
Whip them off, apply the first coat of 2-part glue to both (big) bits and let it go off as usual.
Apply the second coat of glue, wait until tacky etc then plop them back on, pressing down hard.

Oh yes it sounds easy, but after a dry run we ended up with 6 trusted people on the job.
Applying that much area of glue takes time, 6 of us did it in sections to make sure the first bit wasn't too 'dry' by the time we'd finished.

Then even with a small set of tubes pumped up really hard to make them controllable it was a complete nightmare with the 6 of us putting them on the boat in exactly the right place all round.
Remember that glue is a one time opportunity to get it right, you can't slide it around or move them if the tubes go down in the wrong place.

Now you know I'll try or do almost anything, but I'd have to be really stuck to fit a set of tubes again.

But as mentioned, I wouldn't want to pay somebody to fit out the tubes afterwards with handles etc, or pay anyone to strip off the old tubes.

[whiskylee]

Originally Posted by fastasfox

Been there, Done that!



5m Tornado = re-tube £5000 so it's not a cheap solution. But it doesn't stop there...you will want to polish and repair the hull, making sure that your hull is 100% ( no point continuing if your transom is crumbling and deck is soft) the flange needs to be checked for cracks so the tubes can be securely attached. You will want paint the deck too, whilst the hull is bare. Having stripped the hull of all it's part's including the outboard (removing the outboard will make it much easier for the re-tubers to work on it, but they can do it if you leave it mounted)



So you now have a hull with new tubes and it looks brand new....you're not just going to pop all your kit back on and sail into the sunset...nope, you will want to replace fuel lines filters service the outboard clean and re-paint stuff. New battery and that upholstery now looks tired , so you will pull the trigger on all that and get the seats re-covered.....New lines anchor and chain cleats and fixings...and don't forget the trailer...New hubs tyres and wheels.



So the purchase price of rib would be 2-5k and depending on the size of your rib (£1000 per meter to re-tube) let's say yours is 5m, your cost will go north of 10k fast.



So am I trying to put you off.....NO....not at all, just trying to bring reality to doing a project.



So this is the good part. Having spent all that time and money fixing up your old rib you now have a boat that you know every inch of and you know what you have got. You have transformed a tired old boat into something you can be proud of and what is more, you will learn new skills along the way.



You now have a boat that looks pretty much brand new and you can stand back and say....I did that.



All this will have cost you £10k +, to get a brand new equivalent rib you will need to spend another £15k on top of that...and that is a lot of money for a toy.



Your other option is to buy a rib that doesn't need new tubes but that's a minefield because you never know what you are really buying...because you haven't been forensically through it...how long will the tubes last? State of outboard? You get the idea.



No matter what direction you go, you will never get your money back and if you do it for any other reason than just for the love of it, then I would say don't do it.



There are quite a few of us that have gone down the refurb route on here and have documented the transformations....have a read through the posts.



Whatever you decide...best of luck.

Very true, great advice [emoji106]

[beamishken]

Originally Posted by Matt

How easy/hard is it to glue the tubes on? It looks a bit like being a plasterer - they make it look easy, but having tried plastering, I know there's a chunk of knowledge & finesse that goes in to it. When it comes to nuts, bolts & grp, electrics and most other boat related things, I am always happy to jump in (e.g. I have all the special rebuild tools & service manuals for bravo drive uppers), but tubes - I think I'm happy to pay someone else for the sake of a better job.

Anyhoo, I have to do a nasty repair to keep it serviceable for the remainder of the season, so I'll see how I go with that, and I do like the idea of removing the tubes in advance, too.

It's not so much "capable" (although I try to know my limits), but is perhaps a bit more "cost/benefit". If I save 500 quid but the tubes look crap because I haven't done it before and don't know all the gotchas - I woulda been better spending the 500....

Although I do have a logistics issue - boat doesn't have a trailer. I'm not entirely sure I want to buy one - would anyone be prepared to rent me a trailer while it's down at tilley's or whoever in december?

Last tubes I paid to have fitted were done by henshaws when Chris was there & it was £1k cash for a 6.5m boat which I thought was a good deal considering the time input required during lockdown I fitted a set from SIT to a 4.5m myself & whilst its not technically difficult its time consuming to say the least. My pal was a boat builder years ago so helped fit plenty of tubes back then so been involved in the process more than most. Even a 4.5m boat took 3 of us to manipulate the tubes into position for the first stick. It almost has to be done in one go which gives rise to a lot of sweating & swearing. Once positioned it gets easier & if you were good at cutting out & colouring in at school you'll manage fine its just about being accurate & careful to get everything symmetrical etc. Whether its worth paying or not is up to you but a professional would probably say 40 hours work to fit & complete a bare tube I know it will take me significantly longer than that so it boils down to how you value your time. On a bigger boat like yours I'd be leaning towards getting them fitted preferably by the guy who makes them. Pretty sure you'd manage yourself but not without some twitchy bum moments & a lot of time & space required remember you need 2x the boats footprint plus a bit.