Fixing Fishtrap.

[HOGEYE]

I have a fishtrapII that the runner kind of wore through towards the back. I cut some 1X4's and put them on the inside as a backing and then bolted some old military wood skis to the bottom. All bolts are countersunk. My problem is that there are still some small areas that the snow gets pushed into and fills my house. What can I fill these spaces with? I was thinking spray foam, but would like something a little stronger that would actually bond to the sled.

[Uncle Grump]

Hogeye

Couple of ideas come to mind....

Silicon caulking compound

JB Weld

UG

[bry c]

Shoe Goo bonds to everything and dosent get brittle in the cold

[Flatlander]

Two weeks ago I got a pretty good sized hole in the back corner of my Fish Trap as well. I work for a remodelling company, so we have all kinds of good stuff laying around the shop. I found a tube of gutter sealer(extremely sticky chit), and loaded up the corner that got sliced. Then I screwed a small piece of aluminum coil stock over that mess, and cleaned up the edges where the goop pushed out the sides of the aluminum. After that set up, I attached a pair of old skis to some blocks underneath, and she now pulls like a dream. The gutter seal sucks to work with, but man it fills every crack and sets up pretty nice. Hope this helps.

[CNY Tim]

HOGEYE - I tackled this very same issue when the trap base I had wore out prematurely after one season. USL sent me a new base right away and before it hit the ice again I went to the Salvation Army and purchased a set of kids snow ski's for $5. Cut them to size. Epoxied the cut ends and used the bindings, "hardware removed" to attach my ski's. On the front ski tip I drilled one hole an inch down from the tip of the ski and used a round head bolt that sliiped through the hole I drilled and washer and bolt on the other side to secure. I have used it for 2 seasons now and it's great it protects the plastic runners and pulls just as easy. Every two trips or so I spray STP son of a gun on the bottom of it so it pulls easy and the ice does not buld up around the ski's, Good luck.

Tim

[Guest]

I had two pieces of high-density polyethene welded to the bottom of my fish trap and also had the holes welded. Perhaps there is someone in your area that does plastic welding. Good luck

[Steve Foss]

Also, plastic airplane glue works by liquifying the plastic pieces, which solidify together when it dries. You could cut plastic strips and lay them on the inside on a thin bed of airplane glue. Should do the trick.

A note: HDPE, which I believe the tubs are made of, responds to heat. If you can get some HDPE plumbing pipe, heat it with a propane torch and let the molten drips drip onto your cracks. That should seal them too.

[This message has been edited by stfcatfish (edited 12-16-2002).]

[Steve Foss]

Update:

Had to pull the skis off my Trap II because they were too delicate and couldn't stand the pounding. Until I find tougher skis, had to fill the holes so snow wouldn't come in and turn to water and then to ice, and well, you know how that would go . . .

Anyway, most of the epoxies and adhesives at the hardware store said they work "on most plastics." They don't work on HDPE, because polyethylene has oils in it. Not sure if the Trap II tub is HDPE, but I've worked with HDPE in the past, and the tub looks like that.

But I found one adhesive that's working very well.

Made by Goop, it is "Plumber's Weld," a two-part epoxy that works on metals and plastics and is designed to withstand, heat, cold and water. It works on a wider variety of plastics, including ABS, which is black plumbing pipe a lot like HDPE.

I used it and it set up like rock, and is not peeling off. Sounds like a winner for any cracks/patches in the plastic tubs for portables.

[kwkfsh]

Go to a ski shop and get a stick or 2 of P-tex. This is used to fill holes and gouges in the bottom of skis. You just heat it with a propane torchs untils it melts or burns and drips. You can just fill the hole and then scrape it smooth with a sharp edge.

[Surface Tension]

stfcatfish, What pounding? You mean the one from being towed behind my wheeler. LOL.

[Steve Foss]

Yeah, bubba, those ridges and bumps were hel* on those skis with my extra 230 riding on top.