A hi-tech philosophy has been adopted at the Swanwick workshops of renowned yacht builder the Moody Group.
The company has created Moody Deck Ltd – born from the previous success of the Moody Decking Division which now operates as a separate entity – to produce teak decking.
To speed up production a Boere Elite 1300TKKK machine, which cost more than £40,000, has been purchased.
After manufacture, the decks are delivered in sections to the factory of Princess Yachts International plc, Moody’s yacht-building partner. Until about eight years ago, decks were still being hand-laid on yachts during their construction – an expensive and time-consuming process.
The Boere is a top-working sander with three contact rollers. Teak is hand-selected and calibrated through the Boere before being laid on templates for gluing.
A more powerful 30hp motor was specified for the first head, with standard 25hp motors on the other two heads. The first head also has a chromed steel roller rather than rubber.
Once decking is laid up and glued in sections it is fed into the sander on a 700mm table to emerge onto a 1200mm outfeed roller table after passing under a brushing head.
Feed speeds are variable between 3-18m/min, designed to meet customer requirements. Sections then undergo a caulking process between the joints, and are finished on the Boere before final deck assembly.
Other Boere features include air jet groove cleaning devices and belt dimensions of 1310mmx1900mm.
Scott Moody, director of Moody Deck Ltd, said he chose Dutch manufacturer Boere for quality and technical capabilities, and its extensive experience in the boat industry.
