Boat stretching

[Martin Kedian]

6 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

You could add 7ft and get a whole engine room. 

 

LUXURY!!

The per foot price doesn’t work below 8 foot because some of the work needs doing regardless  the per foot figure allows for all material etc  

 

[Alan de Enfield]

2 minutes ago, Martin Kedian said:

The per foot price doesn’t work below 8 foot because some of the work needs doing regardless  the per foot figure allows for all material etc  

 

I remember going into a 'Little Chef' (many years ago) and asking for a 'full breakfast' but without the tomatoes and mushrooms - we cannot do it, its a standard meal and we must serve it 'complete'. After a discussion I said, rather than waste the food, I'll pay the 'full price' but just don't put the Mushrooms and Tomatoes on the plate.

 

I can fully understand that much of the cost you incur is 'fixed' (lifting out, chocking up, cutting in half, etc) so proportionally the longer the stretch the cheaper per foot it becomes as the fixed costs are apportioned over a larger 'footage'.

Likewise, I'm sure you would do a 4 foot stretch as long as the costs (inc the minimum 8 foot of materials) are covered and the quoted price has a 'bit left over to feed the kids'.

[Martin Kedian]

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

I remember going into a 'Little Chef' (many years ago) and asking for a 'full breakfast' but without the tomatoes and mushrooms - we cannot do it, its a standard meal and we must serve it 'complete'. After a discussion I said, rather than waste the food, I'll pay the 'full price' but just don't put the Mushrooms and Tomatoes on the plate.

 

I can fully understand that much of the cost you incur is 'fixed' (lifting out, chocking up, cutting in half, etc) so proportionally the longer the stretch the cheaper per foot it becomes as the fixed costs are apportioned over a larger 'footage'.

Likewise, I'm sure you would do a 4 foot stretch as long as the costs (inc the minimum 8 foot of materials) are covered and the quoted price has a 'bit left over to feed the kids'.

Put better than I can compose exactly right 

[MtB]

2 hours ago, Martin Kedian said:

The per foot price doesn’t work below 8 foot because some of the work needs doing regardless  the per foot figure allows for all material etc  

 

 

Forgive if I'm understanding the way your business works wrongly, but why not accept orders for boat stretching under 8ft but say the price for any less than 8ft stretch is the same as for 8ft? 

 

I'd have thought people would understand the work is the same. You might be turning away work unnecessarily.  

 

I have a minimum charge too. I charge one hour for ANY visit even if I fix the boiler fault in five minutes flat and people accept this happily. People often grateful I turn up at all when so many plumbers are so totally unreliable! 

[Graham Davis]

Perhaps Martin has more than enough work Mike, so doesn't need to do it?

[Martin Kedian]

7 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Forgive if I'm understanding the way your business works wrongly, but why not accept orders for boat stretching under 8ft but say the price for any less than 8ft stretch is the same as for 8ft? 

 

I'd have thought people would understand the work is the same. You might be turning away work unnecessarily.  

 

I have a minimum charge too. I charge one hour for ANY visit even if I fix the boiler fault in five minutes flat and people accept this happily. People often grateful I turn up at all when so many plumbers are so totally unreliable! 

I do offer this I am happy to do any length of stretching for a quoted price 

I usually charge for seven foot to try and help a little most stretches are eight to ten foot. Longer than this often means that the engine is not powerful enough to push the boat which makes it uneconomical 

1 minute ago, Graham Davis said:

Perhaps Martin has more than enough work Mike, so doesn't need to do it?

Always happy to quote for more I am busy but who knows what the future holds 

[ditchcrawler]

Here is a stretch taking place https://narrowboatcaxton.blogspot.com/2010/02/caxton-is-cut.html

[alan_fincher]

44 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Here is a stretch taking place https://narrowboatcaxton.blogspot.com/2010/02/caxton-is-cut.html

I'm kind of surprised the cut could be made forward of any existing cabin, as this implies any front swim has ended before that point, and the boat is full width at the cut point.

For a boat with a fairly short well deck at the front it is surely only possible if the boat in question has quite bluff bows.

Looking it up Caxton seems to be a Reeves boat.  I don't know a lot about them, but might have expected a longer front swim than it clearly actually has.

[ditchcrawler]

41 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

I'm kind of surprised the cut could be made forward of any existing cabin, as this implies any front swim has ended before that point, and the boat is full width at the cut point.

For a boat with a fairly short well deck at the front it is surely only possible if the boat in question has quite bluff bows.

Looking it up Caxton seems to be a Reeves boat.  I don't know a lot about them, but might have expected a longer front swim than it clearly actually has.

I didn't want to mention that point and I wont repeat what Roger Farrington said about them

[Alan de Enfield]

41 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

I'm kind of surprised the cut could be made forward of any existing cabin, as this implies any front swim has ended before that point, and the boat is full width at the cut point.

For a boat with a fairly short well deck at the front it is surely only possible if the boat in question has quite bluff bows.

Looking it up Caxton seems to be a Reeves boat.  I don't know a lot about them, but might have expected a longer front swim than it clearly actually has.

This is my Reeves 45 footer

 

 

[haza]

very nice 

[alan_fincher]

14 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

This is my Reeves 45 footer

 

 

Yes,

Modern build narrow boats tend to be a lot "blunter" at each end than those built as carrying boats.

For comparison here is one of ours.......

 

[Alan de Enfield]

7 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

Modern build narrow boats tend to be a lot "blunter" at each end than those built as carrying boats.

Maximising 'living space' - different designs for different usage.

 

The Reeves handled well, calm and predictably in F'ward but not well in reverse.

All my NB's have been 'modern' and the Reeves was one of the better (best ?) ones.