Plastic bass boat

[reelfishin]

This is a different one, I picked up a pair of those 11' plastic pontoon bass boats today, both look pretty good but have been sitting in a garage and have had water in them for some time. There is no outer hull damage, but my question is that do these use the same type of yellow foam that we all dread or is it a more durable foam that won't absorb water? I drained both hulls out, the one has two plugs, the other has a top drain in which flipping the boat over will drain any water inside. The water looks to have entered around the aluminum handles that are molded in. There is so seal between the aluminum and the plastic upper hull.
The one is bonded top and bottom but the Coleman has visible staples showing and a rubber rub strip. They seem to have drained completely since the weight is withing a few pounds of their advertised weight. I am concerned though whether or not the foam may be rotted and if so it may be part of the structure of these boats?
Has anyone ever opened one up? I think that one of these would make a great small pond boat for places that I can't get with my larger jon boat.

 

[JB]

Re: Plastic bass boat

I have been thinking about one of those for my new pond, reelfishin. I have no experience with them at all. I did use a Dayton Sportyak II for several years. Its best feature was that it would float more weight than you could get into it.

Tell me about that "yellow foam" we are supposed to dread. I don't know of any foam that rots.

If it is a petro derived plastic I don't think it will rot, but many will become very brittle from prolonged exposure to UV. That affects the outer hull and is what eventually killed my Sportyak.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Plastic bass boat

i worked on one several years ago that was holed. contacted the manufacturer, it was made with the same material as a coffee can lid. dow make a caulking tube if the materal, i just cut a patch out of the coffee can lid and glued it on. has worked great ever since.

 

[drewmitch44]

Re: Plastic bass boat

A buddy of mine has one of those bass hounds. Its a plastic 2 man boat. That thing is great IMHO. He bought it new this past spring. Those things come with pretty much everything that expensive bass boats come with. The model he got was like a DLX with the front casting deck. It had the livewell already hooked up, the controlls for all the electronics are all already wired and man im telling you i was not sure about it at first but we fished from it all day one day verry comftorably. I was supprised in the features it had. This one was 12'. It has compartments for batteries and storage and came with the running lights also. He mounted foot controlled troller to it and was so nice to be able to get into such shallow water. I was supprised also on the weight capicity. I dont remember what it was but it was over 1 thousand pounds. Thats crazy for a little plastic boat like that. JB is right about being able to load those things with more than can fit in them. The only way to overload them is if you stacked cinderblocks in one. The guy that has it put a 15hp merc short shaft 2-stroke. Its not rated for that but it does good with it. I was a little nervous when he fired it up being that the boat was so small but thats the only OB that he has so he just takes it easy. Its amazing though that that 15hp dosent even make it sag 1 bit. He throttled it up a little 1 time whyle I was with him and it didnt even seem that scarry. It stayed on track, got on plane and turned without the back end sliding. We got checked out by the marine police and the guy didnt say anything about the 15 being on it. Maybee its rated for that but i doubt it. The cop said he had never seen one that was 12' before and said that it was a nice little rig and went about his business. I love that little boat i wish i had one. I live in delaware and there are a lot of small less than 100 acres ponds and lakes and that thing is perfect for those ponds and lakes. Here is a place where you can see what one has. I cant find the 12' DLX model anywhere but here you can see the smaller ones. You got to cut and paste into your browser. "http://www.funtimeinflatables.com/Products/Boats/klbasshounds.htm"

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Plastic bass boat

yes the one i patched as the 10'2". it was rated for 7.5hp.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Plastic bass boat

I have been thinking about one of those for my new pond, reelfishin. I have no experience with them at all. I did use a Dayton Sportyak II for several years. Its best feature was that it would float more weight than you could get into it.

Tell me about that "yellow foam" we are supposed to dread. I don't know of any foam that rots.

If it is a petro derived plastic I don't think it will rot, but many will become very brittle from prolonged exposure to UV. That affects the outer hull and is what eventually killed my Sportyak.

The yellow foam I am referring to is the type that turns to dust with age, I cut apart an old Galaxy a few months ago, the foam was dry and would crumble to powder in your hand, when it got rained on, it soaked up the water like a sponge and got soggy, much of it melted.

What concerns me is whether or not they use the same foam in these plastic boats. If so, I need to somehow find a way to open the hull halves and dig it out and replace it. What gets me is that they really didn't seal this thing from the elements all that well. It has hand rails on each side that look to be just exposed sections of a perimeter tubing or rail inside the upper hull. Rain can enter all around the hand grip area. It does have a bilge drain plug on each side, but if its the type of foam that holds moisture, it may never dry out.
If they gave it bilge drains, then they knew water could get into the lower hull, but why didn't they take some precaution to keep water out? The way the hull is shaped, the only way to drain the water completely is to stand this thing on its stern against a tree with both drain plugs out.
I was looking at the way the hull is made, there are staples all along the seam which go through a rubber cap that covers the seam, I am wondering if the hull is also glued or just stapled?