Aluminum jon boat holes

[deanh]

I have a 10 yr old 14' Xpress jon boat. I noticed that there was corrosion going on where the paint was rubbed off by my trailer sideboards. Assuming the same was happening to the bottom of the boat, I flipped it over. I found small wart looking spots directly on the "peaks" of the longitudinal ribs. When I started playing dentist on them, I found they went all the way through the hull, about 15 of them. They were all (probably non-coincidentally) located under the two bench seats. They are all "8 shot" to BB in size, and pretty much perfectly round. I bought some Marine-Tex to fill them, but I cannot access the back side of the holes (under the seats) to properly clean them, or back the Marine-Tex. What can I do? Just clean the holes from the bottom and push the epoxy through, then sand and prime/paint? Is this sufficient?
I've read a lot of this forum and haven't seen this directly addressed. Thanks.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: Aluminum jon boat holes

Cabela's sells a product that can be used to patch aluminum. It's made by 3M and I used it to seal leaking rivets and other issues. As far as open holes go I'm not sure if it would be the best, but if anyone is trying to get a leaking boat to stop leaking I recommend this.

It is a green stick that can be melted with a propane torch and dripped into cracks and will harden into a strong bond. I've repaired a 12' aluminum boat that no lnger leaks using these and they only cost around 10 bucks. I edged my entire transom/stern and bottom hull and had some left over.

Good Luck

 

[5150abf]

Re: Aluminum jon boat holes

What he said, I have heard good things about that stuff and it is the easiest most cost effective fix.

Are you inn saltwater?

Aluminum corroding through is pretty rare, do you have a battery grounded to the boat by chance?

 

[deanh]

Re: Aluminum jon boat holes

Yes, I,m in salt water. The problem is definitely my fault for not keeping the area in the "channels" under the seats clean. I basically had mulch under the seats. The main problem is that I can't get to the back side of the holes, because they're under the bench seats, which are welded in place. Will this green stuff work good by me approaching the holes from the bottm side only? Some of the holes are 1/4" in diameter, but the surrounding metal is in relatively good shape.
No battery involved.
Thanks again.

 

[5150abf]

Re: Aluminum jon boat holes

Ya it should do fine just make sure you mush enough in and maybe don't sand it completely flat and you should be fine.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: Aluminum jon boat holes

Yes, I,m in salt water. The problem is definitely my fault for not keeping the area in the "channels" under the seats clean. I basically had mulch under the seats. The main problem is that I can't get to the back side of the holes, because they're under the bench seats, which are welded in place. Will this green stuff work good by me approaching the holes from the bottm side only? Some of the holes are 1/4" in diameter, but the surrounding metal is in relatively good shape.
No battery involved.
Thanks again.

For a hole as large as 1/4" I would suggest taking an aluminum can and cutting a square/oval shape that is 1/2-3/4" in diameter. Then take the 3M stick and attach the piece by dripping it around the edges. Afer letting it cure for a day you should do another thin coat after lightly sanding(not too much though like the other guy said).

This will give you a stronger patch that should hold up in normal conditions. Gluvit would be more permanent but that is much more costly and time consuming.

Good luck keepin her dry this summer!

 

[88BLiner]

Re: Aluminum jon boat holes

I used to have a 15 foot aluminum boat that I used to get in to some really shallow ares with. Needless to say I was always having to fix small holes "sometimes big holes", in the hull.
Anyway I found that jb weld worked very well for me.
Just prep the side you can get to as well as possible and it should never give you a problem.
By the way, I did not know it untill a friend showed me but JB weld also works really well on plastic.