Wood? - Maxum Boat Owners Club

TBarCYa · 05-23-2008, 11:54 AM

Can anyone tell me if there is any wood in the construction of my 2008 1800MX? The Maxum website says composite stringers and fiberglass liner but doesn't mention the transom. I'm assuming that the liner they mention includes the sole.

I know that there is at least some wood under the sole where the batteries mount and I assume the same around the seats but does the fiberglass liner sit on a full plywood deck?

Thanks.

racer2c · 05-23-2008, 02:01 PM

I've wondered this myself. When I was researching new boats I first started looking at Taylor as an acquitence has one that I thought was nicely equiped.

I ran across a message board that had thread after thread about how Taylor used balsa wood in the transom and how owners had big problems with weak transoms due to the balsa wood. I could never verify what Maxum used.
One guy did post about the Taylors that balsa was commonly used in boat manufacturing and probably not the cause of the owners transom problems.

Of course things get spread around the internet like wildfire. Take Bayliner reputation. An 18' Bayliner bowrider is essentially the same as the Maxum and the legendary Sea Ray but the bad rep steer many away from the name alone. But I digress.

TBarCYa · 05-23-2008, 02:15 PM

One thing I was told by a Bayliner/Maxum dealer is that the Bayliner has a wood sole (floor) covered in carpet and that the Maxum has the fiberglass liner with snap-in carpet. He also told me that the Bayliner has an angled windshield and the Maxum has the curved windshield. I've seen a couple Bayliners with the curved windshield so I'm not sure how accurate his information was.

racer2c · 05-23-2008, 02:37 PM

The Maxum dealer I bought my bought from sold Bayliners also and I couldn't tell them apart other than the appointments were upgraded but you could tell they came from the same suppliers. Boats builders build the hull and then screw on all the goodies from suppliers.

I closely compared the BL, Maxum and SeaRay 18'ers and the similarities were amazing. The seats in the BL were all white with blue piping, the Maxum had two color seats with a third color piping and the Sea Ray had three color seats with a fourth color piping. The bayliner had cheapish latches for the engine hood. The Maxum had a nice recessed swivel latch and the SR had an even better latch. And the lists goes on and on. I chose the Maxum as it had most of the premium bolt ons that the Sea Ray had but for 10K less. It's kinda like the GM model of old, Chevy = everyman car, Pontiac = same car but higher grade appointments and Caddy = still same car but with all the bells and whistles.
But this is getting away from your original post. Sorry!

TBarCYa · 05-23-2008, 06:01 PM

No worries, I'm open to talking about anything...

Ok, so it's not just me then. They definitely all appear to be very close to identical. I just emailed Maxum to ask this question so if I get a response I will post it here.

Brit Rider · 05-23-2008, 07:10 PM

Maxums use woods pretty extensively. I know they use wood in the keel as I've drilled holes in them and have the bungs to prove it. The transom is also wood I believe and then much of the internal structure is built with wood.

Used properly wood isn't a bad thing, it's gotten a worse reputation than it deserves in my opinion by the big wake board boat builders. One thing to note here is that a 20 foot wakeboard boat is 3 times the price of a 20 foot Maxum... so to expect the same level of materials is somewhat unrealistic....

So in answer to your question, yes your boat has a lot of wood in it, but no this shouldn't worry you. The internal stuff may rot out in 10+ year sbut its easy to replace. the encapsulated keel and transom should last many times longer....

TBarCYa · 05-24-2008, 02:37 AM

Having replaced the floor and stringers in one boat and had a recent boat in need of at least a floor and transom due to rot, I believe that the bad reputation wood has in boat building is warranted. In both of my cases, previous owners had modified the boats and not sealed things properly which allowed the wood to get wet and rot thus the reason I'm asking is that I don't want to cause some of the same issues in my new boat.

When it came to mounting the transducer I avoided drilling holes in the transom which appears to be a wise decision. Anything I can do to avoid rot now will make my experience with this boat last that much longer.

Thanks.

racer2c · 05-24-2008, 02:23 PM

That's one reason I haven't installed trim tabs. :wink:

Gazjen · 05-24-2008, 03:38 PM

Sorry to hyjack the thread a little bit but on the subject of wood

On my boat where the battery goes its rubbed and exposed the wood any ideas how I can make sure its all dry before I re-seal it?

Brit Rider · 05-26-2008, 10:02 PM

Paint a little wood-rot treatment on there (get it in B&Q or similar). seems like just about the only way. the wood will be treated anyway though so I'd not worry too much.

Quote:

In both of my cases, previous owners had modified the boats and not sealed things properly which allowed the wood to get wet and rot

- Entirely my point - so long as the wood is used properly its fine. if its not sealed, or is allowed to get damp then that's a big no no.

On the flipside, compared to many rivals, wood is far more environmentally friendly and sustainable, has incredible sound deadening properties, high strength rate (even when flexed time and time again) and also should last 20-30 years minimum if used right - who needs a new boat to last longer than that?! The engines going to need replacing before the wood does in many cases.

TBarCYa · 05-27-2008, 01:14 PM

I agree that wood definitely has it's place but knowing that there's wood in the transom just confirms that I made the right decision to avoid mounting the transducer on the transom.

I looked in the ski locker and the underside of the sole appears to be all fiberglass so other than where the seats are, there's probably not much wood there. Composite stringers and fiberglass sole means no rip and replace the floor for me.

seapuppy · 05-30-2008, 06:43 AM

well..I just got back from a factory tour in NC and from the time they shoot the fiberglass to the time they roll it out the door..we got to see every aspect of the construction.....there is wood in the transome and stringers.....saw the jigs going into one 28ft maxum....what an awesome tour!!..will post more about it all later...

TBarCYa · 05-30-2008, 11:27 AM

Wood in the stingers? That's surprising since the literature for my boat clearly states composite stringers.

TBarCYa · 06-05-2008, 02:14 AM

So, I finally got an answer to my inquiry submitted on the Maxumboats website. The answer is that there is a 1" layer of wood encased in fiberglass and another 5/8" layer of wood that is also encased in fiberglass. Just figured I'd post what I found.

Thanks.

seapuppy · 06-05-2008, 02:55 AM

as for the composite stringers...well...they may have been composite in your models but the ones we saw were wood stringers encased in fiberglass....thus it's technically a composite stringer.....there is definitely wood in the transom....it's about an inch and a half thick.....as long as you seal the holes real well after you drill in..you shouldn't have any issues with any rot...you really must seal them properly....

the Hull itself is fiberglass..bout an inch thick...I did drill a hole large enough to install a portlight in my batcave....the thickness is 1 inch thick...5/8ths in other places.....when we toured the factory ..we all were impressed with the way everything is built in house....all the cabinetry is manufactured in house...all the vinyl is installed in house...right there...it's all custom fit to the spot it's supposed to be placed...the wood is cut by a C&C machine so it's all the same from boat to boat....the showers are all built on site....the engine/drives are sitting 4 tall in thier shipping crates waiting to go into the next boat.....we saw from the initial layup in the molds to the boat rolling out the door...it was a great tour!!....

SP

TBarCYa · 06-06-2008, 12:21 PM

Seapuppy,

Your tour was in NC right? Did they install drivetrains there as well? I was told by Maxum that my drivetrain was installed in Mexico and there's a sticker on the transom that agrees. Maybe everything but the drivetrain is installed in NC and then shipped to Mexico but that sounds like a waste.

seapuppy · 06-06-2008, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TBarCYa

Seapuppy,

Your tour was in NC right? Did they install drivetrains there as well? I was told by Maxum that my drivetrain was installed in Mexico and there's a sticker on the transom that agrees. Maybe everything but the drivetrain is installed in NC and then shipped to Mexico but that sounds like a waste.

Tom,
the smaller boats are all built in mexico...the drives are sent there and installed before the upper shell is flipped over and installed....makes running wires and dropping the engine drive in easier..

on the larger boats we saw being built ..everything is installed before the upper shell is flipped over and installed....engines...drives...wires...heads..cab inets..everything is pre-installed and then the upper shell is installed...rub rail is added to hide the screws and rivets...and final touches are added before it is shuved out the door.....a complete ready to go boat....they are going to add a pool to drop the boats in the building for testing the engines before they stick them on the trailer.....it's really amazing to see them put it all together...