Just ordered a new Weldcraft 1436 to replace my 63 year old Sears riveted jon. I've been taking a careful look at what wear and tear looks like on an aluminum boat, and problem #1 was rivets leaking. A welded boat should fix that little issue. Problem #2 seems to be wear on the chines where the bow sweeps up in the front. I launch the boat solo at not-so-nice launches, and it looks like the prior owners did as well. Seems like over time it just chewed up the "proud" spots on the chines where they contacted rocks/concrete when launching and beaching the boat.
Regular ole department store riveted boats usually use a 1.3mm aluminum or thereabouts. Weldcraft uses 2.13mm, so there's almost twice as much material to wear. That's good. But I'm curious if anybody knows of a good patch or tape that can be applied to those high-wear areas to head that issue off at the pass. Something like a kevlar patch maybe? I don't have the abilty to weld anything over it, and would prefer not to poke holes in the bottom to rivet/bolt/screw a keel guard in place. I know it's a tall order to get something to stick to the bottom of a boat hauling butt down the river, but figured maybe somebody knew of something I could reapply every so often to keep the aluminum away from the concrete.
Regular ole department store riveted boats usually use a 1.3mm aluminum or thereabouts. Weldcraft uses 2.13mm, so there's almost twice as much material to wear. That's good. But I'm curious if anybody knows of a good patch or tape that can be applied to those high-wear areas to head that issue off at the pass. Something like a kevlar patch maybe? I don't have the abilty to weld anything over it, and would prefer not to poke holes in the bottom to rivet/bolt/screw a keel guard in place. I know it's a tall order to get something to stick to the bottom of a boat hauling butt down the river, but figured maybe somebody knew of something I could reapply every so often to keep the aluminum away from the concrete.
