Just picked up a new NDK Rommany. It came with a 33" bulkhead. My question is one of the guys in my paddling group says it`s not a good idea to pad out the bulkheads and take out the foot pegs because over time with hard bracing you can weaken the bulkhead. I was going to take out the foot pegs and add 2-3" of minicell foam. Will this weaken the bulkhead?
no
lots of folks use them just the way they are. go for it!
steve
What about footpumps?
Same could be said about the many boats with footpumps mounted on the bulkhead. But they do just fine.
A couple of our boats have foamed out bulkheads and footpumps…lot of pushin and pressure on em for years and they’re perfectly fine.
Damon…
I’ve seen a bulkhead ‘pushed’ out…
When braced against hard, after the foot pegs were removed.
I think the boat was a Wilderness Systems composite… possibly a P&H…
Not a problem
– Last Updated: Jun-11-10 11:21 PM EST –
Jim and I have had feet on foam blocks against an NDK or a Valley boat for a lot of time now, also a P&H. Nothing has moved.
If there is any issue, it'll be because of a problem with how the bulkhead is installed (which is fixable). Properly done you don't have to think about it.
My NDK Explorer LV, the first composite boat I got, never even had rails and foot pegs installed.
There are boats about which I'd be concerned because of the material they use, but the NDSK boats aren't one of 'em.
No
We’ve been doing so in our NDK and Valley boats for years and many have done so before us.
Wilderness Systems bulkhead failed…
It was a WS Tempest that had the bulkhead pop out from foot pressure…
NDK
There is alot of bad things that could be said about NDK’s build quality, how they install the bulkheads though isn’t one of them. They are VERY securely mounted, you’re not going to have a problem pushing it out of place, ever.
Bill H.
Glass or plastic
While it shouldn’t happen with a glass boat, one shouldn’t use the bulkheads in plastic boats as footrests.
Glass… nm
Probably not
In my Explorer LV, the bulkkheads have what looks like glass tape fixed around the circumference on the side that you’d press on.
If you are worried about around-the-edge glass tape, you don’t want to think about how footpeg rails are affixed to the hull.
Have you heard of an actual failure using foamed-out bulkheads?