# anyone know how to build this item?



## MaryTS (Aug 17, 2017)

Hello. I'm not sure what the "captain's floor" is actually called. The raft floor that is suspended above the vinyl boat floor and used by the raft captain as a firm place to stand, attach ammo cans, etc. Does anyone know of construction of this type floor with a lighter weight material than marine plywood? Instructions? Thanks.


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## drewski (Jul 5, 2017)

If you search “beaver board” you will find a lot of discussion around this topic. Plywood is common but there are other options. Whatever material you choose, it needs to be strong enough to support people standing on it with or without more gear attached.


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## Electric-Mayhem (Jan 19, 2004)

I prefer a wood floor just because I like to go bare foot and don't like standing on Aluminum.... but an aluminum floor is probably half the weight of a suitably stiff plywood floor (I prefer MDO personally but its about the same weight as Marine Ply).

Plenty of folks could make you an aluminum floor. Some do a pipe/tube surround on others just make it out of bent sheet aluminum.

Not sure if I've seen a captains floor done this way...but chicken coop flooring is popular and would be stiff enough and probably a bit lighter then plywood.

I have a buddy who used a plastic shipping pallet for his flooring and seems to work allright.


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## dsrtrat (May 29, 2011)

I used 3/4 inch EMT electrical conduit, it's easy to bend with a hand bender. Decked it with .100 thick aluminum decking pop riveted and surfaced it with Gatorskinz non slip surface product. Welded it with a center support to prevent flexing and painted it to prevent rust. Used the same system for beaver board in the stern but didn't need a non slip surface for the beaver board. I also surfaced the hatch cover with Gatorskinz, for a non slip surface that has held up great. 









GatorSkinz Non-Skid


GatorSkinz™ is a traction and mat material made out of 70% recycled material featuring a black pebble or grit texture. Guaranteed to grip better.




www.gator-guards.com


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## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

I used 6063 1" sch 40 pipe decked with diamondplate. It's light, solid, and since I always raft with sandals, I don't mind what little bit is exposed when it gets warm. I like this over wood as it's not slippery at all.


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## stony2275 (Apr 26, 2010)

MaryTS said:


> Hello. I'm not sure what the "captain's floor" is actually called. The raft floor that is suspended above the vinyl boat floor and used by the raft captain as a firm place to stand, attach ammo cans, etc. Does anyone know of construction of this type floor with a lighter weight material than marine plywood? Instructions? Thanks.


I have used a white plastic sort of a cutting board material for years on self-bailers for a captains floor. You see it used as decking on DRE frames. I think it is called HDPE. It might not be lighter than plywood, but there is no maintenance, none. I don't hang it from the frame with a self-bailer, I strap it directly to the bailing floor holes/rope, so it is tight against the floor with a few strips of thin ethafoam glued to the bottom. It is easy to cut, route slots for straps and drill holes in. Three ammo boxes strapped in the front, the center is a foot rest and pelicans to the sides. It is bomb proof and will keep your feet dry. I've had this setup for decades without any issues damaging the floor or tubes in all kinds of water. Plastics Distribution & Fabrication - Colorado Plastics or check with Down River Equipment


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## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

stony2275 said:


> I have used a white plastic sort of a cutting board material for years on self-bailers for a captains floor. You see it used as decking on DRE frames. I think it is called HDPE. It might not be lighter than plywood, but there is no maintenance, none. I don't hang it from the frame with a self-bailer, I strap it directly to the bailing floor holes/rope, so it is tight against the floor with a few strips of thin ethafoam glued to the bottom. It is easy to cut, route slots for straps and drill holes in. Three ammo boxes strapped in the front, the center is a foot rest and pelicans to the sides. It is bomb proof and will keep your feet dry. I've had this setup for decades without any issues damaging the floor or tubes in all kinds of water. Plastics Distribution & Fabrication - Colorado Plastics or check with Down River Equipment


Yes, HDPE = High Density PolyEthyline.. Cutting board material more or less. I'd wonder how slippery it is when wet using it as a floor. It's not cheap either, but will last for years and years, which dependant on your outlook is either a good thing, or a bad thing.


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## jberg421 (Jul 19, 2020)

3/4" ply wood, drill holes for straps, suspend from frame. Load with ammo cans, water jugs etc (holes in board to strap these items down too). Several coats of spar varnish. Hit the water.


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## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

jberg421 said:


> 3/4" ply wood, drill holes for straps, suspend from frame. Load with ammo cans, water jugs etc (holes in board to strap these items down too). Several coats of spar varnish. Hit the water.


Old school all the way, has worked for years and years. One more modern twist is to use Penafin instead of varnish, lasts longer, and works better, so less maintenance.


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## BenSlaughter (Jun 16, 2017)

Ya really only need 5\8" and I used a thin epoxy on my beaver board. MDO all the way.
My captains floor is covered in a marine linoleum of some sort, and has held up to my not-so-dainty ass jumping down on it for almost 20 years.
It's riveted to the frame.


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## Ransomed (Aug 25, 2021)

HDPE is more expensive than plywood. It is easy to work with regular woodworking tool. You can easily abrade the surface with sandpaper or even cut shallow kerfs in it to get what ever level of traction that want.


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## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

Ransomed said:


> HDPE is more expensive than plywood. It is easy to work with regular woodworking tool. You can easily abrade the surface with sandpaper or even cut shallow kerfs in it to get what ever level of traction that want.


Have you checked the cost of a sheet of plywood lately.. it may not be more expensive these days...


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## Ransomed (Aug 25, 2021)

MNichols said:


> Have you checked the cost of a sheet of plywood lately.. it may not be more expensive these days...


 Good point. No I have not priced either lately. I'm just assuming everything is going up in price at roughly the same rate.


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## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

Ransomed said:


> Good point. No I have not priced either lately. I'm just assuming everything is going up in price at roughly the same rate.


Last I heard, lumber was up 114% in the last year, it's reasonable to think that plastics, being made from oil, which has more than doubled in the last year, would be more expensive too.


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## MaryTS (Aug 17, 2017)

drewski said:


> If you search “beaver board” you will find a lot of discussion around this topic. Plywood is common but there are other options. Whatever material you choose, it needs to be strong enough to support people standing on it with or without more gear attached.


Thank you. I'll do a search.
m


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## PDX Duck (Mar 17, 2015)

Go to eddyline welding site and snoop around, they hit this topic pretty hard.

no relation just one of my favorite sites in all the land.


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## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

PDX Duck said:


> Go to eddyline welding site and snoop around, they hit this topic pretty hard.
> 
> no relation just one of my favorite sites in all the land.


Not to mention they turn out some really nice work, and are extremely creative..


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## MaryTS (Aug 17, 2017)

To everyone who responded to my question about the "captain's floor" on a raft, thank you! I'm taking all the advice and ideas and, with my family, thinking on the best approach.
m


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## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

Good luck! Hope you find a solution that ticks all your checkboxes!


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## stony2275 (Apr 26, 2010)

MNichols said:


> Yes, HDPE = High Density PolyEthyline.. Cutting board material more or less. I'd wonder how slippery it is when wet using it as a floor. It's not cheap either, but will last for years and years, which dependant on your outlook is either a good thing, or a bad thing.


You can get some with a rough surface or you can sand off the slippery surface pretty easily. I have had the same piece on 2 different Sotars for over 2 decades.


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## 86428 (Sep 5, 2021)

I used high strength fiberglass board from a buddy who builds drift boats. Then gel coat, and sea dek. Mines a beaver tail but same idea. I'm 235 and it supports me


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## mountaingirlscout (Jul 22, 2015)

We simply set this in our captains foot bay, works well for us!! Murdoch's – Little Giant - VersaPad Flooring


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## Buzkola (Apr 15, 2007)

mountaingirlscout said:


> We simply set this in our captains foot bay, works well for us!! Murdoch's – Little Giant - VersaPad Flooring


I have used PolyMax Poultry flooring as a cat floor, extremely durable, light and maintenance free, stopped using marine plywood a long long time ago . . . It’s available @ Farmtech , I also use it on my trailer yoke voids and as a roof rack on my 4Runner, you can easily cut it to size and round out any sharp corners


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## Billy Frogg (Nov 19, 2012)

MNichols said:


> Yes, HDPE = High Density PolyEthyline.. Cutting board material more or less. I'd wonder how slippery it is when wet using it as a floor. It's not cheap either, but will last for years and years, which dependant on your outlook is either a good thing, or a bad thing.


If I may, regular HDPE has extremely poor UV resistant properties. They do, however, make a UV resistant HDPE and you may want to source some of that if you decide to go that route. Just a thought.


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## mountain boy (Aug 20, 2021)

MaryTS said:


> Hello. I'm not sure what the "captain's floor" is actually called. The raft floor that is suspended above the vinyl boat floor and used by the raft captain as a firm place to stand, attach ammo cans, etc. Does anyone know of construction of this type floor with a lighter weight material than marine plywood? Instructions? Thanks.


I've never seen anything but plywood hold up to what ends up on yr boat floor, endless sand, fish guts, sun, dropped knives (I still have blood stains on gear from that one and a dandy scar on my right foot). I decked my whole18ft boat excluding the area's for the beaver tail and the front passenger area and I love it. Rigging yr boat made easy easy. Metal down on the Salmon (Idaho) gets so hot it can create burns so barefootin" in yr boat might be a bad deal with a metal floor. I barefoot it most of the time so that is a important consideration for me. Good luck and I hope you find a material that suit's yr boat and you.


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## Still_Boating (Jul 28, 2020)

Sizing question: For captains platform Is it better to make the width match the smallest internal width or cut it wider so there is a smaller gap near the floor. For instance my internal width is 46 inches for purposes of drybox/cooler, but a captains platform could be 50 inches or so.


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## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

Still_Boating said:


> Sizing question: For captains platform Is it better to make the width match the smallest internal width or cut it wider so there is a smaller gap near the floor. For instance my internal width is 46 inches for purposes of drybox/cooler, but a captains platform could be 50 inches or so.


I assume you're talking about a floor, if that's the case it should be big enough so that it fits snugly, without any large gaps. If you do have gaps, the first thing that you drop will go through them. You do not want it so large that it's constantly rubbing on the tubes however. I personally made mine with a half inch clearance all the way around, and put two footman loops on the front of my dry box down low, so that I could strap the floor to the dry box and restrain its movement to some degree..


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## Still_Boating (Jul 28, 2020)

MNichols said:


> I assume you're talking about a floor, if that's the case it should be big enough so that it fits snugly, without any large gaps. If you do have gaps, the first thing that you drop will go through them. You do not want it so large that it's constantly rubbing on the tubes however. I personally made mine with a half inch clearance all the way around, and put two footman loops on the front of my dry box down low, so that I could strap the floor to the dry box and restrain its movement to some degree..


Good advice. I don't really understand the "footman" loops. I'm sitting on my drybox with cooler in front. I'm planning on hanging the platform off the frame from 4 sides and a total of 10 straps. 2 on each short side and 3 on each long side. Maybe that's overkill. and I can go with 8 straps. Still I don't understand the footman loops.


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## Still_Boating (Jul 28, 2020)

Still_Boating said:


> Good advice. I don't really understand the "footman" loops. I'm sitting on my drybox with cooler in front. I'm planning on hanging the platform off the frame from 4 sides and a total of 10 straps. 2 on each short side and 3 on each long side. Maybe that's overkill. and I can go with 8 straps. Still I don't understand the footman loops.


I think I got it now. You attached the footman loops to the drybox itself. Any issues with leaking in case of a flip?


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## MNichols (Nov 20, 2015)

Still_Boating said:


> I think I got it now. You attached the footman loops to the drybox itself. Any issues with leaking in case of a flip?


No, the lid to dry boxes doesn't seal anyway, so in a flip you're going to get some water in it. I used blind rivets to install the footman loops, so there's no place for it to leak anyway. Dry boxes are only dry in theory, most of them will keep splashes out, but when submerged they all leak to some degree, and as they get older they tend to leak even more.

I think you're certainly overthinking it was straps, I have two in the front that go through the footman's loop, and two in the back that enable it to hang from the frame. Never had a problem with this, it's been 20 some odd years...


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