New and DAMAGED boat, HELP!

[ifishhard]

Well I hit a stump field in my new xpress boat today, and it left its mark!
JUST bought the boat last weekend. Will these dents cause any performace out of my rig?? OR should I not worry about it? My pad of my boat didnt have any damage, but my main concern is the dents! Also, can you bring your boat somewhere so they can remove them??? Thanks! and God bless!

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: New and DAMAGED boat, HELP!

If you can get to the inside of the hull at that location, take a look to make sure there are no broken welds at any internal structural members. After other inspections, you may also be able to pop the dent out from that location.

You could also strip the paint in the area of the dent to look for cracks in the aluminum. This may or may not be necessary. If you do find a crack, take the boat to a welding shop that has experience in TIG or MIG welding on thin aluminum and have them fix it. The same shop can fix the internal problems, if you find any. This will cost you a few bucks but it isn;t all that big a deal.

 

[5150abf]

Re: New and DAMAGED boat, HELP!

First of all my condolences, never fun to jack up your boat and now you have learned lesson #3, just because it is covered with water doesn't mean you can go there, I have given several lower units to this rule.

Kind of hard to decipher what and where it is damaged is but you may be better off just leaving it go, I can see a welded seem and they are very strong until you start whacking on them then they crack and you have a whole different set of problems.

If you do try to get them out it will be a 2 man job, you will need a guy inside with a hammer, I would recommend a plastic dead blow and a guy outside with a heavy backer.

I have repaired alot of dents i boats and can tell you if you do take it out you will go from one big dent to 100 little ones as you will never get it really straight again and you will more than likely chip paint off.

run the boat and see if it affect performance and think about not messing with it.

 

[mthieme]

Re: new DAMAGED BOAT! HELPPP!

Re: new DAMAGED BOAT! HELPPP!

The one on the bottom might pop back out with a suction cup.
If you have access to the ones in back, you might could tap them out with a hammer.

 

[steelespike]

Re: new DAMAGED BOAT! HELPPP!

Re: new DAMAGED BOAT! HELPPP!

I can't make head or tail of the pictures.It has been my experience that many times when you pop the dent back out pressure just pops it back in.
You could pop it out and add some sort of reinforcement to hold it in place
Its also possible when yopu pop it out you will end up with a convex spot instead of concave.
I can't tell what size they are in relation to the boat.Its possible they won't affect performance if not too big or in a critical area.Be sure the boat is sound and see how it runs.

 

[mickjetblue]

Re: New and DAMAGED boat, HELP!

Remember that a dent includes a stretching of the metal.
Any pop repair will further and significantly weaken the affected area.

I wouldn't mess with it. Biggest problem would be forgetting about it,
but that will take place with time, too.

 

[ifishhard]

Re: New and DAMAGED boat, HELP!

thank yall for yalls responses!! The dents arent too big. they are located on the side of the boat...underneath/side. one is about the size of a softball, and one is more rectangle shape then round and is about 8 or 10" long. Like I said, all are on the underneath/side away from the pad. I think I might not mess with it. O, and I wasnt running my boat at all. I was Idling when I made these dents..I saw a stump feild where I was fishing n about 8' of water and idled by them and ran up on hidden stumps....I was SURPRISED running up on dents while idling would do this......FYI this is a Xpress boat.....

 

[nightstalker]

Re: New and DAMAGED boat, HELP!

thank yall for yalls responses!! The dents arent too big. they are located on the side of the boat...underneath/side. one is about the size of a softball, and one is more rectangle shape then round and is about 8 or 10" long. Like I said, all are on the underneath/side away from the pad. I think I might not mess with it. O, and I wasnt running my boat at all. I was Idling when I made these dents..I saw a stump feild where I was fishing n about 8' of water and idled by them and ran up on hidden stumps....I was SURPRISED running up on dents while idling would do this......FYI this is a Xpress boat.....

It's an aluminum boat. The fish gods won't allow you to catch anything while fishing from it until you get a few dents in her anyway. Dents like that only add to the character of the boat (you should see mine). Leave um alone and be thankful that you bought aluminum rather than glass.
Nightstalker