I don't doubt for a second that some of you have 500+ hours in your builds, but to be fair, those are extreme examples. Most of those hours probably weren't for the MAIN build, but rather, constant tinkering, adding, fixing , etc.
Friz, your rig looks very sophisticated and pretty. I'm essentially looking for a step or two above a box on wheels. Something like the ones Runaway puts out, not a canned ham design.
Does everyone realize that 2 or 3 men can raise a barn or build an entire cabin in a weekend or two? Surely 1 knowledgeable person can put together a simple TD in about a month working 6 or 7 hours per day with weekends off. If so, that comes out to higher than $4 per hour. Not a fortune, but NOT $4 per hour either.
Friz, the TD in your photo looks like the ones produced by CLC. CLC offers classes where even inexperienced people can have a mostly COMPLETED trailer in 2 weeks. That works out to about 70 hours, which seems realistic to me. Yes, they're kits, but so what? Let's add another week into my build to source parts, which would bring it to 3 weeks.
https://www.clcboats.com/boatbuilding_classes/704.htmlA SIMPLE teardrop can indeed be built by someone in roughly a month if they put in daily, consistent hours.
I'm not arguing with any of you, we simply have differing opinions. My needs are very basic...bordering on functional only. I think my budget is fair for an experienced person who needs some extra cash, or a backyard builder who's done a couple of these and can knock one out fairly fast.