Show us ya curls !!

[Member]

As StevenM says it  , I thought I'd show what a couple of years worth of dragging a yak down river banks and beds does to a plastic hull.

Plenty of curls , but now a worrying depression on the stern that lets a fair bit of water in ( feel free to post thoughts on a fix btw ) .





The new depression which leaks water.








Cheers,
Dave.

[Member]

Surely it's still under warranty Dave 

Have you still got some bits that you cut out for installing rod holders, anchor etc. You could try your hand at plastic welding. Either that or get a skid plate for a boat trailer and silicon it over the top.

[Member]

I have seen some stick on type stuff

Where was that. It was a black thingy.

Hmmm....let me have a look around.

[Member]

This is not it but all I could find at the moment.

The stuff I have seen is Black

http://store.oldtowncanoe.com/products/314095/Skid_Plates

[Member]

Back in the day when I ran a Coleman Crawdad, this sort of damage was normal . As has been mentioned I used to use offcuts from alterations to melt back into deep gouges, those curls can be heated and melted back into whence they came. just use a small brass or Ss brush to get the grit out of the gouge, and using a hot air gun or a blowtorch and metal spatula (old bread & butter knife is good) to melt it back into situ. DONT apply the blow torch to plastic curl or yak...heat the spatula 

Brad

[Member]

Surely it's still under warranty Dave 

Have you still got some bits that you cut out for installing rod holders, anchor etc. You could try your hand at plastic welding. Either that or get a skid plate for a boat trailer and silicon it over the top.

Pulling a warranty claim on that Wayne would be close to fraud Its been a great yak for me and done a lot of work . Craig down the coast reckons going to a good plastic welder for a fix .

I still want to drag the yak  , so that kind of rules out glueing anything in place.

You got any curls on your Coosa yet? Or have you only used it the once?

Cheers,
Dave.

[Member]

As you don't wash it and you don't worry about the appearance of it, just get some plastic'...I'd use some plastic from a wheelie bin', heat it up with a large soldering iron and melt a heap in there..be 'fixed in no time, preferably use someone else's wheelie bin, there is heaps roadside.

[Member]

Car bog ? 

[Member]

As you don't wash it and you don't worry about the appearance of it, just get some plastic'...I'd use some plastic from a wheelie bin', heat it up with a large soldering iron and melt a heap in there..be 'fixed in no time, preferably use someone else's wheelie bin, there is heaps roadside.

Yep - Easy Peasy, just use a soldering iron to melt / weld a plate or two over the area, go back to dragging the old girl around. If its a temp setting one, go for 350 degrees. I've done quite a few "home repairs" on my fleet, including rebuilding two reclaimed wrecks that were tossed out with large fractures in the hull (one of which I still use).

A lump of wheelie bin or any other source of polypropylene will do if you dont have any yak donor material from previously hole cuttings. I generally just add another hatch or two when I get short of material, it goes an awful long way. 

[Member]

I think I've got some off cuts in the shed at sweetwater Dave. Can maybe borrow basser's heat gun & weld a patch on it for you if you like. 

To do it on the run you can light up a bread packet & drip the melted stuff into the hole, gets you going again for a better repair later.

[Member]

Thankyou to everyone for your replies  , they have been very helpful.

Fitzy , I was going to use this as an excuse to ask if I could borrow your Old Town. 

Cheers,
Dave.

[Member]

Over 10 years on, this yak was originally purchased to do the Avon Descent in 2001 which it did with only one portage.
Since then, it's seen a lot of rocks and no leaks yet.

[Member]

Nice work Junglefisher !!

I have Fitzy to thank for the fast repair job on my Tarpon , unfortunately the donor plastic was ocean kayak orange. It does the job though and seems to be tough. Tools used in the fix were , a heat gun , a flat screw driver and a can of WD40 used as a roller.
The repair

After a days dragging on the Dumaresq River

And some blue left beside the Dumaresq river from the last time we visited


Cheers,
Dave.

[Member]

Yeah

Wayne had a laugh about some of the blue we came across a couple of weeks ago from the November visit.

Follow the blue line mate, you'll find us.

[Member]

Well done Fitzy, kayak looks new Dave besides the discolouration.

My kayak met some bitumen recently at speed which in turn, finding myself with the kayak in the kitchen (popular fella that day) heating two butter knifes alternately till glowing red over the gas stove and moulded shavings and the scratches out. Wish I'd had taken before and after shots. I also fixed old war wounds, so now the kayak looks better than ever. The soldering iron that I own wasn't hot enough to do the job. As Andrew stipulated refering to soldering irons, they need to be hot.

Great thread and reply posts fella's.

Cheers Dave