Star Board polyethylene sheet.

[Ozzie]

I was poking about on youtube when I came across this joker in Florida ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPvMLKMz9NM

....who put a 5hp motor on a peddle boat, yes peddle not paddle. Now let’s pretend for a minute that we have never wanted to try that but that’s not the point of the post (relax Emrys no tug boats ahead) . The thing that interested me about his conversion other than his workmanship was his use of a product called Star Board, a high density polyethylene board he had lying around all over his workshop ( I hate this bloke for his workshop and it’s location) . His original idea was an electric trolling motor which he built entirely from Star Board. He then decided too much power is never enough and went to the 5hp Coleman OB. For this he built a wooden mount with Star Board reinforcement.

AA0E90EA-C600-43CA-9321-A1166F75D424.png (87.01 KiB) Viewed 843 times

Anyway this stuff seemed ideal for marine use and an obvious substitute for wood. I’ve used bits of cutting board for stuff before but it’s not very strong and subject to UV degradation. I researched the stuff and was surprised at the specs. Under the photos on web site below.

https://www.kingplastic.com/products/king-starboard/

Then I checked and it is available in Aus .

https://www.plaztek.com.au/collections/ ... oard-sales

Even better, theses dudes sell offcuts.

Just throwing this up FYI and wondering if anyone has ever used it or similar . My orange “cat” in one of my earlier posts and my Duraplas hybrid canoe that preceded it were both poly and it’s great material. According to the spec sheet this stuff is UV stable, comes in colours and has a myriad of uses in marine applications.

And yes the pEddle boat went like a scalded cat with a 5hp donk .