larch hulls

[carthole]

I'm about to look at a 1922 ex-navy pinnace construction is Carvel Larch on Oak I don't know much about timber hulled boats so could any one offer any wisdom on larch in comparison to any other type of timber, it also has a BMC Commander Diesel engine so any wisdom on these would also be greatfully recieved.
Cheers.dave

 

[Forbsie]

Can't offer any advice I'm afraid but is it possible that I viewed this boat locally on sunday?

 

[ray275]

do not know about wisdom but the old girl I am restoring is pitch pine on oak and after being seen off ,price wise ,on planks of pitch pine an old salt advised larch. This bends easily in a steam box and reasonably priced. I bent it then held it in the fixing I devised on the ground and gave it lashings of cuprinol 5 star witrh a little dash of linseed oil( boat yard old salt advice) seems to have worked but dont Know until she is in the water. This might help ( only purchased the "hulk" last year and new to all this) best of luck
Ray T

 

[twisterkai]

Great little boats - a mate had one that was clinker and about 27' fitted originally with a 2 cyl air cooled lister. That got ripped out and a BMC (42hp?) went in.

Not sure how Larch compares to other timbers, but it's certainly used alot for planking, so I guess it's fine.

 

[Mirelle]

Larch is an OK planking timber.

I'm a little surprised, though, as I thought that most naval pinnaces from that era were double diagonal teak planked, not carvel larch.

BMC Commander getting on a bit in years, now; much will depend on how it has been looked after.

 

[alb40]

Your engine is either a 2.2 or a 2.5 BMC engine, the 2.2 being the earlier. Both are very old now but if it starts well and runs smoothly then I wouldnt bother doing anything to it. Sometimes they can be total sods to get started from cold, a good battery and good glowplugs are a big must. If it has trouble starting, stick a blowtouch down the inlet. If it fires up easily, then batteries and glowplugs need attention.

Dont worry too much about smoke on starting, they all wipe out the place no matter how well looked after. As long as it dies down the an acceptable amount it is probably fine

 

[meekumslr]

My hull is Larch on Oak as are most other Scottish built MFVs and according to various shipwrights and trawlermen who have seen her, this combination is a strong as an ox.
I haven't heard a bad word said about Larch, and certainly not Oak frames.
Neil.

 

[snowleopard]

For future reference, if you replace planks, go for siberian larch rather than anything grown locally. It has a denser structure, probably due to the slow growth. STS Tenacious was built entirely from siberian larch.