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Pram Build

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7K views 37 replies 19 participants last post by  Lance Magnuson 
#1 ·
Starting research into building myself an 8’ Aluminum Pram for watching bobbers on the local lakes. I’ve never stepped foot in a pram but I’ve always been jealous they look sweet and I think it will be a fun project to tinker with. Any nudges in the right direction as far as available plans, details to consider, dimensions etc would be appreciated. I want to keep it light, strong and stable and only intend to fish lakes. So far my initial layout seems to be 53” wide, 8’ long and 17” sides. I see depending on manufacturer you get more or less rocker, some have a pretty squared off footprint while others taper considerably. How do these design differences translate on the water?

Cheers.
 
#2 ·
No idea on aluminum pram plans, but if you can't find what you are looking for you might post the same question in the "Boats" forum on Kiene's site.
They always seem to have a lot of discussions there regarding various types of prams.
SF
 
#4 ·
This is a poor picture of my 8' aluminum pram - its home made - and 50 plus years old. Used every year. I was lucky my dad was a journey man welder, sheet metal fabricator, and draftsman. Didn't hurt he was also a part owner in a sheetmetal fab shop.
Aliminum pram great investment, I'm looking for better pictures but can't find.
Wheel Tire Automotive parking light Plant Car

Water Boat Boats and boating--Equipment and supplies Naval architecture Lake

And at 10 years old I held every one of those rivits fast as he beat them tight - and still no leaks. Unfortunately it will still be under snow for another 3 months or so

Doug
 
#8 ·
Thanks for the comments guys, especially regarding the oars, that wasn’t something I considered until you said it. I will definitely try to design something that allows for easy storage of the oars, whether inside or outside of the boat. If I hung them off each side of the boat it seems like it would eliminate something to tangle fly line around?
 
#10 ·
suggest build your pram with a wide bow and stern aka the Koffler pram example I posted..not only provides the most stability and room inside, tracks better when rowing with the straighter outline, which also supports sliding the oar handles just inside the gunnels leaving the blades hanging off the stern ..had use of an 8' Koffler pram one season, worked fine this way.

Loved the Koffler stability, disliked the weight, which was understandable as it was rated for class 3...of the firm opinion too many lake prams are over built for the task...to reiterate from another post, best two tidewater salmon pram fisherman I know fish from 8' 40# graphite prams built 30 years ago..200# guys who stand when casting...out of the water, the hulls can be flexed with a firm push...fortunately, water pushs back
 
#11 ·
Thanks for the reply. Many of the builds I'm seeing seem way overbuilt (sacrificing weight). I'm not convinced I can't build with 1/4" sides and 3/8" bottom and with appropriate gussets in the right places not be plenty strong? My Pram won't ever see moving water, I just can't see a need for going heavier than 1/2" anywhere....
 
#12 ·
Thanks for the comments guys, especially regarding the oars, that wasn't something I considered until you said it. I will definitely try to design something that allows for easy storage of the oars, whether inside or outside of the boat. If I hung them off each side of the boat it seems like it would eliminate something to tangle fly line around?
Outside would theoretically help reduce tangles....but then I am an expert at getting tangled with pretty much everything in my boat.
1/4" 5 ply marine mahogany- nothing heavier.
 
#15 ·
Pram discussions from past thread.


I brought two Almarco's from California six years ago. A 10 footer and a 8. Pictures below.

Last summer I brought an original 10 foot Metalhead pram from just south of Sacramento.

I have the two 10 footers still and the 8 went to a buddy of mine that was looking for one at the time.
 

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#18 ·
Thanks for posting that link that's a great read and is making me reconsider the amount of rocker I give the boat. I'm gonna make some cardboard templates and play with dimensions until I'm happy with my first design. I plan to keep it fairly square to maximize interior floor space. I'll stick with a 3/8" AL floor and transom and build a reinforced bracket for an electric motor, for sides and bow I'll go 1/4" with ribs to stiffen. Loving the handles on the Almarco I will definitely borrow that feature. I'm gonna put some effort into a rail system around the boat and machine some rod holder mounts that will slide around the perimeter so I can move holders wherever needed. Bow and stern anchors. As far as a seat I think at first I'll sit on a cooler until I find the right balance for rowing and fishing and then commit to a final design. I'd prefer my seat swivels 360° and would like for it to be removable and drop into place to reduce carry weight. But we will see when I get to that point.
 
#16 ·
I built a small pram out of 1/4" exterior plywood with 1 X 1 pine glued and screwed at all the inside places where the plywood met. Used exterior grade deck adhesive for everything.
No fiberglass any where, just a good sanding to round all the exterior edges followed by exterior wood primer and then a top coat of two coats of exterior gloss latex paint.
It help up remarkably well in the 3 years I used it. Just needed a light sanding each spring and a new coat of the paint on the bottom and anywhere there was paint that had gotten scraped off.
The inside needed very little, just spot treatment for any scrapes. I did have any seats in it. Used a plastic lawn chair with the legs sawn short. If I had a passenger, i had a small stool for them. Had oar locks mounted in two places depending if I wanted to row face forward or backwards and if I had a passenger or not.
The whole thing was built to slide into the back end of my minivan and pretty much stayed there from May until September each year. i gave it away to an older gentleman who was going to use it to row around his farm pond for exercise.
 
#19 ·
3/8" aluminum floor for a fly fishing pram? That's the thickness of aluminum used on 18 and 20' river sleds that can be driven onto gravel bars. That seems WAY overkill and extremely heavy. I'm thinking that aluminum thin enough for pram building is too thin to weld directly, and would be riveted like a Lund or Hewscraft jon boat.
 
#25 ·
Some pics of my punt. Sorry she is a bit froze in right now so really cant get better until a thaw around Easter - but food for thought
Automotive tire Snow Tread Wood Composite material

Bottom of the boat. Main construction is probably 1/8 Al, maybe 3/16. Notice dents but no structural dammage. The keel if you may call it that is 1 inch Al angle doubled up on the midline, single on the laterals. This is NB for me, it adds support to the boat floor, protection to the hull, and trackability - the boat rows straight. All rivited on , the midline is welded where they meet.
1 inch Al angle also forms the gunnels in all but the stern/transom also rivited on.
Automotive tire Wood Road surface Grey Rectangle

Now the gussets - I think that is what they are called You can see them better in a previous pic, but they adapted perfectly to "Scotty" anchor mounts, and I have 2 stern and bow (hate spinning when fishing chronys). Both mounted port side.
Automotive tire Bumper Automotive exterior Gas Composite material

Snow Textile Automotive tire Wood Gas

The interior of my craft. Fixed seating and stable. The bow and stern seats are unopenable but have 4" styrofoam cut to fit inside (floatation device if I flip her - which I doubt - very stable boat. The mid/main seats are openable for lunches, dry clothes, and fly boxes etc. Not waterproof but quite water resistant. Seats are 1/2 inch birch ply, varathaned. My centre seat is removable but cant show froze solid.
Wood Fixture Composite material Gas Automotive exterior

Bow (Meeshka's) seat
Wood Automotive exterior Composite material Gas Fixture

Like I say just food for thought. I power this craft mostly with oars these days and she oars effortlessly, just have to bring white lithium grease for the squeaks - drive me nuts. I do have an electric and a 2 hp honda gas taht work well, but at my age I like slow and sure. Affectionally named the "MUDHEN" by my buddies, cause she bobs like a coot in the water, she is a great craft and gets admiration from just about everybody, and 50 plus years. Onlt maintenence is I have replaced the woodwork, added the removable seat, and gingerly file the gunnels yearly with an Al file as they do get burred. She is about 60 - 70 lbs, and I can no longer lift it on the roof racks by myself, but put in in the box of the truck is easy.

Run a portable Hummingbird Fish finder off the Stern, and a portable Scotty rod holder off the port side my preferrable fishing side. Just an awesome boat for calm lake waters.
AND
Font Snow Monochrome photography Monochrome Signage


Enjoy

Doug and Meesh
 

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#26 ·
Take a look at the Port Ludlow Pram. You can find the plans on the internet for abut $20. You mentioned that you wanted a 53" beam, 17" sides and 8' long. That pretty well describes the Port Ludlow Pram. I would think about narrowing the boat to have a finished beam of 48" so that it will fit upside down between the wheel wells of a pickup. I would not build any boat with the plywood that you can buy at the big box stores. Look around for Okoume plywood it is a high quality plywood with no hallows in the core. It comes in metric thicknesses. I would use 9mm on the bottom and 4mm or 9mm on the sides. Prams are easy to build using the stich and glue method. Wood or aluminum the Port Ludlow would be a good boat.
 
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