Boat Project - Custom ice box

[woody1]

Hi all. A mate of mine gave me a heap of old cold room panels that will be perfect for making an ice box for my fibreglass boat. I plan to cut out the back bench seat and put in the ice box to double as a seat. Before i go cuting holes in my boat, i have a few questions.

There is a support beam holding up the seat which runs accross the back of the boat. Is this bar important to the structure of my boat? or is it just there to hold the seat up

Thanks in advance

Woody

[img size=500]http://www.australianfishing.com.au/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/29042008115_AFO.jpg

[woody1]

Close up of the bar in question [img size=500]http://www.australianfishing.com.au/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/29042008117_AFO.jpg

[woody1]

The plan is to make a box 1200lx500wx400h. Was planning to stick them all together with sikaflex and run some alluminium angle round the outside. Any other suggestions would be great.

Havnt worked out exact details yet, but it will need to be on small feet to allow water to travel out the bung holes, and also be removable for cleaning.

Here are the panels, they have 20ml of styrofoam in between two smetal sheets.

[img size=374]http://www.australianfishing.com.au/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/29042008111_AFO.jpg

[shortie]

It looks structural to me. I can see to pieces of firbgeglass on either side on the diagonal. are they attatched to the tronsom or just to the cross member.

Cold room panels in my experience are not very good for an ice box. I had 1. They seem to sweat on the outside and get cool on the outside making it not a very efficient material to keep the cold in. Would be alright for a day trip but not so good for any longer.

You will also have sharp edges where you join the material with alloy. Its a very hard surface to fall onto if you hit a wake or a wave.

Me personally would look at a poly ice box or fibreglass.

Richard.

[Shrimpo]

Yeh Sikaflex is the go, theirs a cheaper version out though, Its practically the same, Its selleys i think.

[woody1]

Thanks shorty. Its not connected to the diagonal pieces, there is about a 400ml gap(where the seat is) i was thinking if i need to I could move it back that far.(somehow...)

As its a 14ft runabout i only need it to stay cool for a day and good point about falling onto it, i plan to get a cussion seat made up for the top but will need to make sure all edges are covered up.

[bootyinblue]

I am no boat builder, but to me it looks like that cross member holds the rear end of your boat together.

I wouldnt be cutting into them unless you spoke with a fibreglasser who can strengthen the section another way after doing it.

[Shrimpo]

bootyinblue wrote:

I am no boat builder, but to me it looks like that cross member holds the rear end of your boat together.

I wouldnt be cutting into them unless you spoke with a fibreglasser who can strengthen the section another way after doing it.

Just looked at that first pic myself and i have to agree with you booty in blue, It looks like a stregth device.

[Feral]

Probably structural, which in itself is not a problem as long as you built the ice box frame strong enough to do the same job.

However mounting the icebox at the rear will tend to make the boat sit lower in the water, best place for permanently mounted stuff like that would be about 1/3 of the way back from the nose of the boat.

Thats generally the area a heavy load will affect the boat trim the least.

[rayke1938]

I would be contacting the hull manufacturer for some advice before cutting out the cross brace.

Even if it is OK to cut I would still be looking at a poly ice box as they are so much more user friendly . They have smooth edges and are easy to clean.For under $100 it is just not worth the effort. You are going to be up for around at least $60 for the sikaflex and hardware and aluminium edging.

Cheers

Ray

[rayke1938]

Do a searech on ebay for 5-16 day ice rated esky/ice box/cooler, 60LTR, RRP $309

I have a couple of their ice boxes and they are excellent. They have a 12 year warranty. The 60 l ones go for $60 upwards plus $30 for postage.

They also used to be advertised in the trading post but I think that they were more expensive there.

There are other ones in ebay so just have a look to see what size will suit. The 60 l ones are a good size to sit on but are too short to fit a metre barra in.

Cheers

Ray