Junk junk or fixable junk.

[Sealface]

while at the dump a while ago, i found a kayak that had been used for display in front of one of the local shops. the hull had a 2" by 4" hole cut in it to discourage people from stealing it. seeing that this boat was perfectly free i grabbed it and brought it home. now my question is, can i fix it? and if so how?

[dr.ed]

while at the dump a while ago, i found a kayak that had been used for display in front of one of the local shops. the hull had a 2" by 4" hole cut in it to discourage people from stealing it. seeing that this boat was perfectly free i grabbed it and brought it home. now my question is, can i fix it? and if so how?

Where is the hole????

Not many epoxys bond to SOT's. You could make a two part( top & bottom) patch from plastic, fiberglass, plywood, ect and pop rivet together with marine606/808(whatever correct numbers) sealant between patch and boat.

[phil herranen]

there is a hdpe welding rod you can just cut a patch and weld it in . but i would personally never trust it offshore after a repair like that
phil

[sweatloaf]

there is a hdpe welding rod you can just cut a patch and weld it in . but i would personally never trust it offshore after a repair like that
phil

Like Phil said, weld in a patch, but the lone welded patch can't be trusted. If you can, weld another over-size piece over the repair from the inside, or at least silicone it in place after roughening all surfaces, and heating / bending the inside patch to conform to the curve of the hull. Weight with a bag of sand until cured. A kayak dealer of the same brand will have free cutout pieces from installing hatches.

[Sealface]

ill try and post some pics of it tomorrow. i can weld steel and aluminum but ive never welded plastic before.

[SBH20Man]

If the hole is below the waterline, pretty much your only option is to find a piece of material from a boat from the same manufacturer and use a plastic welder (or VERY careful use of a propane torch) to "weld" the patch to the boat.

In the right hands, this kind of repair can be equal to or better than new.

1. You must use the same type of plastic (they are not all the same) and most mfg's use the same compound on all their boats

2. You must match the contour of the hull hole with the patch. If both are flat, its easy. If it is along a seam or ridge, it is nearly impossible.

You don't say what kind of boat it is, but look around and see if you can find a hatch kit for it. Some circular hatches are as cheap as $30. You can install the hatch and then use the piece you remove as the "patch" for the hole..

I've been tinkering with kayaks for a while, and I would only attempt a patch that size below the water line if it was a very flat surface and I had a patch made from the same boat.

That being said, one yak I've been paddling is a Cobra Tourer with a 2" hole in the nose that I patched with duct tape. It sits above the water line, though. :D

Good luck

-Brent

[Otis Driftwood]

I have a white water kayak that had a five inch y shaped crack in it. I cut a piece of material and siliconed it on and put rivets all the way around, I think about 1/2" spacing.

This has held up well for a long time.