used boat leaking?

[Bobby B.]

I'm in the market to purchase a used 12 ft. aluminum fishing boat. Is it common for a used boat to leak? Can a leak be fixed?

Bobby B.

[Bound2Fish]

Boats sometimes do leak, but have a look at Glovit by Marinetex. It will seal up those leaks and it is pretty durable. Thats what I did to mine a couple years ago and it hasnt been an issue since.

[gramps73]

bet it is not welded

I have heard that the 2 part apoxy works well

[dkrhome]

Fingers and toes work well too I hear...at least they did in all the cartoons I watched as a kid.

[fish gunner]

get the hull good and dry on a warm day. grab a few spray cans of bed liner spray the interior of said hull.job done and a nonskid surface to boot.

[Bobby B.]

Originally Posted by fish gunner

get the hull good and dry on a warm day. grab a few spray cans of bed liner spray the interior of said hull.job done and a nonskid surface to boot.

Smart idea. Thanks.

Bobby B.

[HunterDave]

Bobby, I refinished an old Sears aluminum fishing boat last Fall but I haven't had it on the water yet. I don't know if it leaked before doing it but I don't think that it will now. I chalked all of the seams with UV5000 (I think it was) from Canadian Tire and covered that with rock guard before priming and painting the boat. I have all of the details in a thread on here including pictures:
http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showt...=aluminum+boat

[icefever]

Originally Posted by Bobby B.

I'm in the market to purchase a used 12 ft. aluminum fishing boat. Is it common for a used boat to leak? Can a leak be fixed?

Bobby B.

Only the ones with the holes in them. I've owned a 12' Alum for 25 years and it has never leaked, and it has been kept outside all the time.

[Bobby B.]

Originally Posted by HunterDave

Bobby, I refinished an old Sears aluminum fishing boat last Fall but I haven't had it on the water yet. I don't know if it leaked before doing it but I don't think that it will now. I chalked all of the seams with UV5000 (I think it was) from Canadian Tire and covered that with rock guard before priming and painting the boat. I have all of the details in a thread on here including pictures:
http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showt...=aluminum+boat

The finished product looks great! And works great, too! (no leaks). What more can a guy ask for? Thanks for the link.

Although I'd prefer to purchase a boat with no leaks, I'm no longer overly concerned if it has a leak.

Bobby B.

[GOT1!]

My anchor fell off the bench of my 14 ft. (wonder who put that there????) and punctured my aluminum hull, Toes work OK till you get back to shore with a nasty foot cramp BTW. I had some Electripro Duct seal( some kind of butyl I think ) in my trailer and jammed some on both sides, thinking great for a weekend fix. Now over 3 years later, the same piece of now black butyl hasn't leaked a drop and I have no intentions of pullin it off till it does.

[FishingFrenzy]

Im in the process of sealing up a 14ft aluminum I picked up for $200 bucks. Boat is structurally sound, has some rivets that leak pretty bad.

Your best bet is re-bucking the rivets, if they are loose.

If the rivets aren't loose, IMO rebucking isn't going too do a whole lot.

Im using Marine 5200 from Canadian Tire and running a bead on every seam on the inside of my boat. Once that crap dries it NEVER coming off. Its great stuff.


I haven't put my boat in the water since I started the sealing but im confident it will fix the leaks!

[Bobby B.]

Originally Posted by dkrhome

Fingers and toes work well too I hear...at least they did in all the cartoons I watched as a kid.

OK, if my boat leaks, I'll use your fingers and toes to plug the leaks. Better hope there's not more than 10 leaks.

Bobby B.

[curtis_rak]

I few years ago I have a 14' Naden aluminum that had a slow leak near the rear of the boat. Just a typical slow leak that plagues lots of alum boats...

I went to Home Depot and bought a few gallons of Top Cote by DUCAN. http://www.ducan.com/deck-coating/catalogue.php I bought the Sandy-beige color (part #Part No. 160-51204). Its a thick rubberized deck sealant that has chunks of rubber built right into the liquid.

I degreased the entire inside of the boat, and took some gritty sandpaper and roughed up all the surfaces. It look me about an hour and half to prep the interior of the boat.

I then applied two thick layers of the Top Cote. I specifically lathered on extra Top Cote around all the seams and corners.

Once it dried, the boat never agian leaked a drop, it looked really good inside, and i no longer had problems with the slippery aluminum bottom. It cost me about $90 to do this.

That all being said, if you have visible gouges/large hole etc in the aluminum this will not work. But for the slow leaks the material fills everything in very nicely.