Hi All,
A couple years back a buddy and I went in together on an 18.5' Aluminum Jon Boat that came with a Mercury 115hp 2-stroke and a bow mounted trolling motor. We've been using it for duck hunting and fishing, but want to take it on some bigger rivers for salmon fishing. We have picked up a 9.9 4-stroke kicker motor to use for trolling and to have as a backup engine to get us off the water in a pinch.
When we bought the boat it had a couple cracks in the "cap" of the rear transom. The cracks haven't grown in the 3 years that we've owned the boat, but we want to get it repaired before mounting the kicker motor. I'm hoping to get some advice on the best way to repair a couple cracks like this. My first thought would be to drill a hole near the tip of the crack to prevent them from running, and then have a fab shop weld it close?
I'm also not quite sure how cracks like this formed in the first place and want to avoid them returning once the repairs are done. Do you think it could be from previous owners not using a transom brace when trailering?
PS the photos make the cracks look worse than they are because the boats paint is peeling a bit as well.
Any advice is much appreciated.
A couple years back a buddy and I went in together on an 18.5' Aluminum Jon Boat that came with a Mercury 115hp 2-stroke and a bow mounted trolling motor. We've been using it for duck hunting and fishing, but want to take it on some bigger rivers for salmon fishing. We have picked up a 9.9 4-stroke kicker motor to use for trolling and to have as a backup engine to get us off the water in a pinch.
When we bought the boat it had a couple cracks in the "cap" of the rear transom. The cracks haven't grown in the 3 years that we've owned the boat, but we want to get it repaired before mounting the kicker motor. I'm hoping to get some advice on the best way to repair a couple cracks like this. My first thought would be to drill a hole near the tip of the crack to prevent them from running, and then have a fab shop weld it close?
I'm also not quite sure how cracks like this formed in the first place and want to avoid them returning once the repairs are done. Do you think it could be from previous owners not using a transom brace when trailering?
PS the photos make the cracks look worse than they are because the boats paint is peeling a bit as well.
Any advice is much appreciated.