I have a 16 ft smoker craft that has a leak. It seems to only leak when I am driving, or in rough water. I would like to leave it on St. Clair this year, but it might sink. Whats the chances of a mechanic being able to figure this out on the trailer and not in the water?
Slim to none.
You could install an auto bilge on a seperate battery.
Try filling the boat with water while on the trailer and see what happens.
Most likely some bad rivets or a loose seem.
Like MadWags said, the only way I know to find a leak in an Aluminum boat is to fill it with water and wait for the drips. A friend of mine had to do this with his Lund a couple years ago.
is it welded or riveted?
Riveted, took it to tri-city marine today. see what happens.
For anybody that cares, 1800$ minimum to fix. Leaking from nearly every rivet. I guess theres some sort paint that may seal it. Anybody know what its called? My only other option is to caulk every frickin rivet, thats a lot of rivets.
What about that stuff they use on the roofs of mobile homes?Coat the inside maybe? Or both sides? Trying to help...
I would have to rip the whole interior out, the foam, gas tank, wiring and so on. Thats why it costs so much. Too me the leak I can deal with and keep pumping it out. Its the not having a tow vehicle, so I need to leave it docked. I used it every weekend on St. Clair last year with it leaking and I got a back up pump just in case. Im thinking automatic bilge pump and leave the battery charging all the time but its a little scary.
For what its worth it is easey to "tighten" the rivets but you need a rivet gun and bucking bar. The hardest part would be getting to them, you could do it in a weekend with a little help. I have a rivet gun and bars if you would like to use them over a weekend but would need them back by monday cause I use them all the time at work, I am an aircraft sheet metal mechanic. ALso check Out a product called Steel flex it is an epoxy that is designed to go on the bottom of air boats the stuff is super slick, gonna put some on the duck boat this year. for a boat the size of yours it would cost about 75 to do the bottom below the water line.
http://www.fascoepoxies.com/ (http://www.fascoepoxies.com/)
Call these guys and ask them they are real nice and deal with duck hunters all the time.
Good luck
Good job DennisB
i've used steel flex before and its good stuff, however, you don't need that product specifically. Its primary attribute is to create a slick, teflon like coating on the bottom of the boat. Airboat guys use it a lot. I would look into just a simple epoxy coat if you're going the painting route (same guys should be able to help you out with the right stuff).
Otherwise, find a buddy who can weld aluminum and tack all the rivets from the outside. I know a guy in GR who is about 50$ an hour... not cheap but i'm sure its cheaper than 1800$ bucks.
I think I am gonna get some epoxy and get to work.
becarefull with the epoxy. Some epoxies get brittle after they cure, you might be better off to use the slick stuff that is designed for the application. Otherwise you may have a bigger problem
REELMAN
I agree, better off doing it right the first time. Just really hope it works. Gotta keep this boat in the water all year, or hope I can find a truck to use every weekend.
Well, it's a year later and I never fixed the leaks. I was thinking about trying some bed liner, like line-x. How bad would this kill the performance of my boat? I think it would do a great job, but would slow my boat down significantly.
Bed liner paint should work but you would prolly need a few coats to make sure it was waterproof. And it is very rough. I'm sure it would create alot of drag. If you globbed it on to much on one side it might "pull" on you. I'm pretty sure it would kill the resale value on your boat by fixing it this way.
I personally would find a good TIG welder to tack up the bad rivets. For a couple of hundred bucks max you should be able to have it repaired. I did this to my buddies 10' flat bottom and it worked great. You could tell the rivet was bad because it was loose and not sitting solid, it vibrated and spun. It also leaked like a faucet before we fixed it. It might not be as bad as you think(one or two rivets). Check and see if you can find the bad ones before any fixing. Post on craigslist for a good welder in your area and see what he says.
JB Weld over the rivets would be the fastest and cheapest fix. Under $10 bucks for a couple of tubes!
GOOD LUCK!
Look into Frog Spit slick bottom or Steelflex, both are for airboat hulls. I used the Frog Spit on mine, I never had any leaks and that hull saw some serious abuse. Do you know how many leaks there are? Life Caulk is awesome stuff, but would take a long time to apply to every rivet.
If you decide to try the bed liner call around, some places can do it smooth.
Thanks guys. I'm gonna get the steel-flex I think. Theres a lot of leaks.