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Dgram36's 1852 Lowe Olympic Duck Mod
- Thread starter dgram36
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Pweisbrod said:
Tidal waters is all I really hunt here. I live in the Delaware River and hunt the jersey coast. It's fun but its different. In the morning you can have 7 feet of water underneath you and 8 hours later your beached! Forget about the decoys, seems like they're always either keeled over or floating away. It can be a challenging environment!!
Well slow going today. Exposed the transom wood and its just as rotten as expected. Just need to remove the bracket underneath the wood and slide it out. Then ill use it as a template for the replacement.
Removed the center bench and side console as well. Progress is slow but it's still progress!
Removed the center bench and side console as well. Progress is slow but it's still progress!
Lookin good. Keep picking away at it. On the note of decoys, do you use long lines? You could add extra weight to the keels of the decoys and use 20 or 30 lb weights on the mother line. Just a thought.
Take your time with the boat and don't over think it. Keep it simple and open, and it will be more functional.
How many dekes do you hunt? Are you a diver guy? I loves me some black and white ducks.
Take your time with the boat and don't over think it. Keep it simple and open, and it will be more functional.
How many dekes do you hunt? Are you a diver guy? I loves me some black and white ducks.
Flat Bottom
Well-known member
I hear ya on the money thing. Ide rather have my current boat than an expensive shiney new financed one.
Pweisbrod said:
I'm not a diver guy mainly because I've never had a bay worthy boat so maybe ill try that out this year. Thinking of repainting some of my old mallards, should do the trick. I've never gang rigged puddle duck decoys, just cause they look pretty funny in a line
We use long rigs here which is helpful when the tide is coming in but doesn't help much when the tides going out. That's when all the moving and repositioning becomes a pain. Thanks for the advice. I'm thinking of scrapping the whole gun box idea and just removing both benches to get the most space possible. We'll see what happens.So after some elbow grease today, the transom wood is out! I had a welder take a look at the aluminum on the transom and be says the only way to fix it is to cut it out and weld another sheet of aluminum in. Gonna be too expensive for me to have done I think. Think I'm gonna clean it up really good and just rivet a sheet of 1/8 inch over the existing aluminum. Does anybody have any experience in doing this? Any alternative methods I should consider before doing this?
You're doing great.
You could do that, just use a butt load of 3m 5200 in between the two. I'd also self etching prime, and then paint bot the cleaned up transom, and the new piece of alum before doing so.
Well maybe I will take a road trip this year. I want to kill some sea ducks! LOL
I've seen video of some of the tidal puddle duck hunts, it looks amazing.
For decoys, you can do shorter (40) foot long lines and put six decoys on or so, and use regular string and weight dekes to fill up and break up the marching line look. This is what I do for divers. The main reason is for ease of putting out and picking up, especially in sketchy weather. I plan on long lining all my dekes this year.
You could do that, just use a butt load of 3m 5200 in between the two. I'd also self etching prime, and then paint bot the cleaned up transom, and the new piece of alum before doing so.
Well maybe I will take a road trip this year. I want to kill some sea ducks! LOL
I've seen video of some of the tidal puddle duck hunts, it looks amazing.
For decoys, you can do shorter (40) foot long lines and put six decoys on or so, and use regular string and weight dekes to fill up and break up the marching line look. This is what I do for divers. The main reason is for ease of putting out and picking up, especially in sketchy weather. I plan on long lining all my dekes this year.
NLaudy
Well-known member
You going to rivet the new metal to the outside or inside? Reason I ask is that when putting your wood back in for the transom you need to make sure there is enough room to wedge the wood in. If you rivet the metal inside you probably wont have the space for the wood. Also make sure you clean the rotting/pitted aluminum or it will just transfer to the new piece.
Yeah, I was planning on riveting it from the outside, but I am pretty worried about the transference of the corrosion onto the new aluminum. I feel like the transoms so far gone that getting all the oxidation off would be impossible and I don't want to be in the same place 5 years from now.
bigwave
Well-known member
I had the same issue with my transom,extreme corrosion. I used a product called marine-tex epoxy to fill all the holes. It was not that pretty but I dont think I will have any issues with leaking. I also re used my aluminum from one of the seats to cover up the epoxy....primed painted and its done. If I ever re-do my boat I will have the whole transom cut off and make a new one with all aluminum.
bigwave said:
Thanks Bigwave, I looked into Marine-Tex and I think this is gonna be the plan. I'm going to really clean the crap out of the transom and remove all of the corrosion that I can find. Then I'm going to fill the holes with the marine-tex and sand them flat when done. Then I will paint and prime. After that I will paint and prime a new piece of aluminum and rivet that over the old transom. I'm going to use a layer of 5200 in between as a barrier to keep water from seeping in between the two sheets and causing more problems. Then I will cut new transom wood and spar it to seal it. Is it good practice to 5200 between the transom wood and then transom? I'm assuming it would help keep the water out but it might make it real tough to replace it again.
bigwave
Well-known member
I think what bassboy told you was very accurate....the only way to permanently fix the transom is to cut out the old and replace with new....that is the best option, however like you I did not want to spend that much money on this project. My fix is ok, but not the best. I know that it will cause corrosion in the future....at that point I will cut the entire transom off and have a new one replaced. I would not use 5200 on the new aluminum or the wood if you ever plan on taking it off.....it is a real biotch.....use 4200....it will release if you ever need to redo. If you seal the wood properly, that alone should keep all water from coming in.
bigwave said:
In a perfect world, money wouldn't be an issue and I'd be towing my brand new gator trax 2070 to the river right now behind my 2013 ford raptor. I don't live in that world though
If I could afford to chop the whole transom off and replace it I would, but for now my 4 month old eats her weigh in formula every day so looks like we'll be going with plan B.I would 5200 everything in sight, and sell the rig and buy one without transom issues if its going to bother you that much. I doubt you're going to take this thing apart again before you sell it. It's just a duck boat!
:mrgreen:
:mrgreen:
dgram36 said:In a perfect world, money wouldn't be an issue and I'd be towing my brand new gator trax 2070 to the river right now behind my 2013 ford raptor. I don't live in that world though
LOL I have an 11 month old and I hear that!
Like I said, if you get as much corrosion off as you can, and self etching prime (rattle can) and paint (brush or rattle can) both the old transom and the new piece of alums before 5200 the rap out everything you can, then riveting it with zillions of rivets, you will be in great shape. (Personal opinion.)
My entire budget for rebuilding my boat was 1200 dollars, because that's the surplus I had for the purchase price of this one vs the one I just sold. I am hoping to spend around 500 total on mine, but I keep having to buy new tools! Expensive. To be a great duck boat it just has to be structurally sound and functional. And camouflaged. Lol. Don't get over budget, and stay as far away from your credit cards as you can. Bury them in your back yard. You might even want to 5200 those to some aluminum, lol.
Wow, been a long time since I've updated this thread!! I'd like to report that I made a lot of progress, but I don't think that I can. I do feel, however, that I've done a lot of work so here it is. I finished the trailer completely. That took a long time and a little bit of money. Overall I am happy with the results. I removed both benches in the boat in preparation of installing the diamond plate floor. I used a section of the livewell lid as a patch that I riveted into the bottom of the boat with plenty of 5200 in between. Pleased with the repair and I think it will last a very very long time. As far as the transom goes, I decided that it wasn't in the cards to cut it off and have a new aluminum transom welded on. We are all in agreement that that would have been the best outcome. I have done what I hope is an adequate repair that will last for years to come. I re skinned the corroded transom with diamond plate aluminum that I had left over from the floors. I was very careful to remove the oxidation from the preexisting transom. After that was removed I filled the holes in with marine-tex epoxy. I then sanded that down and primed both the old and new transoms. Finally, I used a crapload of 3M 5200 in between the two pieces. I then cut a new piece of transom wood, using non pressure treated ply, which I then put four coats of spar urethane on. 
I will put the rest of the transom together tomorrow and then perform a leak check on the rest of the hull. I ordered 2 gallons of Parker Duck Boat Paint in Dead Grass and 4 rattle cans of cattail brown for the graphics. Borrowing my friends paint sprayer and then ill have to start praying for some rain free days, which haven't been very plentiful in the northeast. Thought I was going to grow gills for a little while there.
I will put the rest of the transom together tomorrow and then perform a leak check on the rest of the hull. I ordered 2 gallons of Parker Duck Boat Paint in Dead Grass and 4 rattle cans of cattail brown for the graphics. Borrowing my friends paint sprayer and then ill have to start praying for some rain free days, which haven't been very plentiful in the northeast. Thought I was going to grow gills for a little while there.
