Large Dent Aluminum Hull Bass Tracker Repair???

[jasoutside]

Re: Large Dent Aluminum Hull Bass Tracker Repair???

Reasoning?

Well, that boat there has a broken back (so to speak).

For around $2K you can find a boat with a perfectly fine back.

Also, if I smashed my boat and could still run it, I prolly would.

I'd also sell it if I could.

Now, would I buy a smashed boat? Nah.

Cheers and happy hunting!

 

[GT1000000]

Re: Large Dent Aluminum Hull Bass Tracker Repair???

Let me start out by saying that I do NOT mean this in any way as a statement of disrespect or the end all to be all...
it is just one guy's opinion and I am only putting it out there for consideration...


Most of the guys here have walked away from cheaper, better condition boats...depending on your location, if boats are rare and hard to come by, this might be a good choice for you, if there are boats a plenty...keep shopping...

It isn't a matter of the guy is using it like this and he has had no problems...

I am giving you this advice from a collision technicians perspective...I work on wrecked cars all day long and I have been working on cars for 39 of my 50 years...I have come to the unwavering conclusion that no two people treat their personal items exactly the same way...what I mean by this is the following...
While John Doe drives a certain way in his car and everything is fine, one day he decides to sell his used car, you come along and find that while the car has a couple of issues, the price is right and you buy it...
BUT, you drive differently than Mr.Doe and in no time at all problems start popping up...doesn't shift right, doesn't seem to have enough power, A/C or heater doesn't work, doors don't close right, whatever...next thing you know, you are thinking, man what a piece of junk...this thing is falling apart...

It is not John Doe's Fault, the car's or yours... it is a phenomenom that I have come to expect from any device made by man...it takes a set...it gets worn in or broken in a certain way, and when someone else starts to use it differently, things start to go wrong...

So my moral to this story is...even if Mr.Doe's car has a bent Frame and he is driving it everyday, back and forth to work...and it is working just fine...

When you buy the car from him, you may use it differently than he did and find yourself in a world of financial hurt...

Now this is not to say, that you have great luck, buy this boat and spend a ton of years using it and having fun and showing us all what goofs we were at trying to talk you out of this, but you are taking a chance that this may not be the case...

The boat in question has structural damage...
Not cosmetic...
Yes, most anything on the planet can be fixed...
When a vehicle, any vehicle, boats, cars, planes...takes a hit that hard, the entire structure of that vehicle suffers some damage...
While it may not be readily apparent now, it is there and it won't fix itself...
You don't want to be more than a few hundred feet from shore and have a major structural failure on your boat...

If in the end you are absolutely certain that this is the boat for you, and you can negotiate a fair price for it, make the deal CONTINGENT on having a certified Marine Appraiser check it out for you...If he says its fine, then go for it...

And by all means, if you do end up buying this boat with the assurance of an an appraiser, Please, post back and rub our proverbial noses in it...

Best regards,
GT1M

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Large Dent Aluminum Hull Bass Tracker Repair???

Bo - Look at like this. If it is such an easy repair why isn't the owner fixing it? And he is asking too much for it with that amount of damage. How old is the boat?

 

[bojango541]

Re: Large Dent Aluminum Hull Bass Tracker Repair???

The boat and motor are a 1998

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Large Dent Aluminum Hull Bass Tracker Repair???

metal repair is just as easy as fiberglass repair. especially if your a metal basher by trade

So, what would a "Metal Basher by Trade" charge for a reliable, dependable and factory correct repair of the damage to this boat. Being a glasser myself, I KNOW what I could fix damage like for on a Glass boat and ensure that it was back to Factory or better standards. So like I said in my first post, I'd be extremely interested in knowing what a "Metal Basher" would ask for the same.

 

[bojango541]

Re: Large Dent Aluminum Hull Bass Tracker Repair???

Well I just got some more information from the seller. He stated that the boat pulls heavily to the dented side, and that as the 2nd owner, he has only had the boat in the water once. Seems a little more suspicious now, and I am leaning more towards not purchasing it and looking for a different boat. I wish the boat was closer to me (2 hours away) so I could see the damage for myself, rather than pictures.

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Large Dent Aluminum Hull Bass Tracker Repair???

The CL ad is gone. Maybe some else bought it.

 

[Decker83]

Re: Large Dent Aluminum Hull Bass Tracker Repair???

Hey bojango541,

In my younger days I worked in the sheetmetal trade for 12 years. I was in the local union here in dallas for 10 of those years. To be in the union you had to have 4 years of school and 8000 hours of on the job training to become a union card carrying member.

There or alot of guys qualified to do the repair to this boat. Take a look at some of the work weldzilla has done.
This boat can be repaired and be safe.

In my opinion I would not invest the time or money to have this done unless you can do it yourself.

Like all the rest of the fine gentelmen here on i-boats have said, find another boat and use the money you would have spent on the repair of this one for something useful.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Teamster]

Re: Large Dent Aluminum Hull Bass Tracker Repair???

The boat and motor are a 1998

I wouldn't pay $2000 for that boat in mint condition,.........

Sorry dude, I just don't think it's worth it,...

 

[bojango541]

Re: Large Dent Aluminum Hull Bass Tracker Repair???

The CL ad is gone. Maybe some else bought it.

The ad is not gone. Here it is:

http://newlondon.craigslist.org/boa/2824015560.html

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Large Dent Aluminum Hull Bass Tracker Repair???

Everyone saying $500 or walk away, what exactly is your reasoning?

Because...

(this is going to be rude, crude, obnoxious, sarcastic and funny, all a the same time,,, sorry...)

He's going to take the $2000 you paid for his boat, and go spend that $2000 on the boat you should have bought.

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Large Dent Aluminum Hull Bass Tracker Repair???

The ad is not gone. Here it is:

http://newlondon.craigslist.org/boa/2824015560.html

"This posting has been deleted by its author.
(The title on the listings page will be removed in just a few minutes.)"

Looks gone to me.

 

[5150abf]

Re: Large Dent Aluminum Hull Bass Tracker Repair???

If you found a guy that had a history of working with aluminum dents like that they could fix it, having said that there are very very few of them and you aren't going to get it done for even close to $150, first of all you would need to pull the deck to be able to get to the back side, that is pretty thick metal and it won't just pull out.

Everybody thinks it is like the fender on a car and it just isn't, you can dent a car fender with your finger but try doing that to the hull, I don't think so.

I have never done it but it would require heating to a very specific temp and banging it out, someone put up a video of a guy doing it but it was a fender of a car, not the transom of a boat, heating would cause the aluminum to be anealed and soft metal in the transom would be really really bad.

I am the repair guy at Bennington and am a master level tig welder and have worked with aluminum for 23 years and I personally wouldn't touch it, to repair or own, you aren't going to be able to cut that out and replace it, especially at the transom.

If you are going to get it get it cheap and leave it like it is, trying to fix it without the proper knowledge will crack the aluminum and cause the transom to fail, walk away.

 

[oops!]

Re: Large Dent Aluminum Hull Bass Tracker Repair???

5150 is one of our top aluminium repair guys......

there is your answer

 

[jasoutside]

Re: Large Dent Aluminum Hull Bass Tracker Repair???

Tell ya what bo, if you are looking for an alum rig on the cheap, hang out over here...

http://forums.iboats.com/forumdisplay.php?f=53

Those guys will find ya one

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Large Dent Aluminum Hull Bass Tracker Repair???

Soooo, am I correct to assume, that damage like this to an aluminum hull, pretty much "Totals" the boat, but... On a Fiberglass boat it can be fixed for a few hundred dollars???

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Large Dent Aluminum Hull Bass Tracker Repair???

Soooo, am I correct to assume, that damage like this to an aluminum hull, pretty much "Totals" the boat, but... On a Fiberglass boat it can be fixed for a few hundred dollars???

Read my signature!

 

[GT1000000]

Re: Large Dent Aluminum Hull Bass Tracker Repair???

Soooo, am I correct to assume, that damage like this to an aluminum hull, pretty much "Totals" the boat, but... On a Fiberglass boat it can be fixed for a few hundred dollars???

Gooooo, Glassers...itch and all...

Kinda makes me want to get a plasma torch...LOL

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Large Dent Aluminum Hull Bass Tracker Repair???

JNG, You need to read Mine!!!!!!!

 

[jasoutside]

Re: Large Dent Aluminum Hull Bass Tracker Repair???

Soooo, am I correct to assume, that damage like this to an aluminum hull, pretty much "Totals" the boat, but... On a Fiberglass boat it can be fixed for a few hundred dollars???

Already crossed that bridge WOG (post #10). But, you guys earned a well deserved rub it in, eh!



Course, if this conversation were a glass boat....

"Should I buy this glass boat that's all smashed in at the transom for $2000ish?"

...I can't see anybody making that recommendation.

Cheers!