aluminum boat repair needed

[yj-guy]

i was given a 14 foot jon boat with motor and trailer. getting ready to take it out and looked it over and to my surprise it was riddled with patch work and some unpatched holes. anyone have advice on the best way to fix it without throwing the boat away

 

[MarkM]

Ill fix it for you and the only payment i ask is an aluminum jon boat.

 

[Brandon]

dibbs on trailer in that case!!

 

[huntall50]

JB Weld

 

[yj-guy]

Ill fix it for you and the only payment i ask is an aluminum jon boat.

well i guess im back to shore fishing

 

[Mrmonte]

This brings back some memories. We used to repair ours as kids by taking a lighter to a plastic worm and filling the holes with the melted pieces. I really recommend that you dont do that

 

[yj-guy]

This brings back some memories. We used to repair ours as kids by taking a lighter to a plastic worm and filling the holes with the melted pieces. I really recommend that you dont do that

and did you try this while the boat was in the water? lol just dont see that working out very well.

 

[mrjarrell]

Here

 

[dave29]

JB Weld

Agreed, I had a 12'er and I used JB Weld on it many times with success.

 

[clt46910]

When I was a kid, we had a couple old metal boats with leaks. We would clean and tar the whole bottom every spring. Was cheap and easy.

 

[ironjaw]

i was given a 14 foot jon boat with motor and trailer. getting ready to take it out and looked it over and to my surprise it was riddled with patch work and some unpatched holes. anyone have advice on the best way to fix it without throwing the boat away

lantz' tank service in indy has some awesome aluminum welders there. call them and see if they will fix it. tell them you know Tom Lantz and he said for you to call them since you're closer to indy than evansville. they might give you a discount.

 

[JBob77]

Would a fiberglass repair kit bond to the aluminum? If the resin would bond, the matting could be used to cover the hole, and seal it with the resin. I fixed my canoe like that, but it is fiberglass. I did not, however, grind down to the old matting material, just spread it out over the top.

 

[indyjoe]

I purchased a couple aluminum brazing rods at the Wood Working Show at the Fairgrounds. They can be used with Propane torch or MAPP gas if you need to heat a large area, like the boat. Then you just spread it between the cracks.

You can drive an awl through the bottom of an aluminum soda can and patch across with the rods. Works great. Not sure where they are at currently, with the move. That is what I would use for it.

 

[BURNSURVIVOR725]

your best bet would be to find someone who does tig work at a reasonable price. if you lived closer to fulton county i could hook you up with my buddy. you can see some of his work in the august issue of diesel power. he welds SMT's valve covers that are in the hot new product section. if you feel like road tripping i can give you his number.

 

[rugernut65]

their is a welding shop in rockville across the road from the stockyards they fixed mine it had a major hole 3.5 in reasonable too

 

[Chance]

Use the green hot melt sticks

These are great! Can get them from Bass Pro and maybe others. This is a light green epoxy material that you heat with a torch and it bonds permanantly to aluminum. Used on a 10' jon that had leaky rivets and a 6" tear. Never had trouble after putting it on. Takes paint well too.

 

[blackoak]

lantz' tank service in indy has some awesome aluminum welders there. call them and see if they will fix it. tell them you know Tom Lantz and he said for you to call them since you're closer to indy than evansville. they might give you a discount.

Good advise, if you want it fixed right, but since he said riddled with holes, it might not be worth the cost.

 

[yj-guy]

These are great! Can get them from Bass Pro and maybe others. This is a light green epoxy material that you heat with a torch and it bonds permanantly to aluminum. Used on a 10' jon that had leaky rivets and a 6" tear. Never had trouble after putting it on. Takes paint well too.

i found these on cabelas website, gona give them a try. if it doesnt work i will try the aluminum rods with a torch.
Thanks everyone for the help. i will post the results when i get the time to fix it.