Puncture holes..

[The Yeti]

whats the best way to repair puncture holes on an aluminum hull?

[Valv]

What do you mean for "puncture holes" ? Actual holes, or damage from rocks, gravel etc, which can be more in the form of cuts?

Are they underwater or above water level ?

[The Yeti]

underwater in the back on the side. long story. they're actual puncture holes.

[The Yeti]

I heard pound em flat, then rivet or weld a piece of aluminum to cover the area. Just looking for any suggestions.

[Steve Bakken]

I would be a bit skeptical as to the longevity of rivets and a sealant. We've had some of those here at the shop that came along with their own horror story. Welding is by far the most reliable repair. Just be aware that depending on the location of the repair, you may have some warpage of the hull due to the heat.

[BoxMN]

Depends upon the alum thickness as well. We tried to have a crack welded, but the welder said it was too thin. So we just put an alum skin on inside and outside of the hull/crack, put liquid gasket material in between it all, then riveted (true rivets, not po-rivets) it up. Make sure to drill out the ends of any cracks, so they truly stop. Has been working on our duck boat for several years now. We are leary of breaking ice with this boat now, as we don't want to peel the outside layer away, but still tight as a drum so far.

Good luck.

[Ray Esboldt]

Steve could probably verify if this is a good idea or not, but I a 4 inch crack sealed up with fiberglass on a former duck boat. It worked so good we fiberglassed a fair amount of the front end for ice breaking purposes.

[sparcebag]

I took a boat to a aluminum frabrication company in Spicer Mn.It was a cheep thin hulled starcraft with a 14" rip from falling off a trailor hiting a rock,They welded it right up no leaks!It did'nt look pretty but worked.

[Steve Bakken]

Yep, fiberglassing works very well. Especially for duck/jon boats that don't see much high speed wave bashing. Will last forever. On higher speed boats, especially on an area that does alot of flexing, it's a bit more risky, because you have two dissimilar materials which have different flexing properties.