aluminum boat hull twist

Hello everyone,
New to the forum, great info here, my problem is I picked up a 14 foot flat bottom boat, wide bottom and the previous owner hit a stump so hard that it flipped the boat over put about a 1ft diameter dent in the front bottom of the hole left side. It twisted the hull so now the front left side of the boat is twisted up higher than the front right side. I tried to put it on a trailer, ratchet down the right back side, and then ratcheted down the left front side so that it was twisted beyond normal shape. i let it sit like this for about a month in 100 degree temp. but when I released it, it basically twisted back to the way it was. My question is, can this be fixed. I wanted to fix the dent, add a wood floor and cover the seats in wood but I would like to get it back to normal shape before I do this. Has anyone tackled this problem and if so how did you repair it. I thought about calling a body shop to see if they would be able to put it on a frame machine but wanted to check here first. thanks for all the help.

Re: aluminum boat hull twist

yep....if it got bent....it can be bent back.

i haven done it on an alum but my buddy that owns an auto shop has.....

basically....hold the thing down on the trailer and start twisting.

dont be afraid to tie it to a tree and start pulling.......the boat is junk now....so you cant hurt it any worse

Re: aluminum boat hull twist

a body guy would be able to do it. if i were going to try. i'ld prob drill some holes in the dent and try to put some wood in it and brace it real good and use a come along to pull the dent out. the twist should come out with the dent. it sounds like you tried to take the twist out not the dent, probably end up strechting the metal

Re: aluminum boat hull twist

Yeah thats what I did, I never messed with the dent, I thought maybe if I drill the rivets out that hold the front deck and the gunnel (heavy tube that runs along the top of the side of the boat), that would relieve some of the tension and I could pull it back into shape and then reattach the front deck and gunnel (I hope thats what its called) but Im afraid that trying to bend the gunnel back into normal shape by itself will be a bigger problem.

Re: aluminum boat hull twist

Call the guy and ask him if he can come fishing and ram a stump on the other side. Even it up some. J/K