Finally got the boat and trailer registered & tagged - what a pain in the rear -I get the big blast of bull 2 different times , my wife goes and no problem. Finally removed all the mobile home roof tar paint crap off the bottom, it doesnt look to bad. I guess Im ready to do a leak test on the V bottom .Not really sure best way to do it. Take it to the lake? Fill it with water on the trailer? Sit the boat on the ground & fill with water? Do you think filling with water might remove some of the dents? Do not want to cause anymore damage to it. Thanks
Be careful adding the water. Heavy at 6 lbs a gallon. You could damage your trailer if you over do it. At the lake I doubt if you'll be able to pinpoint a leak unless its pretty big.
Nothing wrong with taking it to the lake but what you are looking for is exactly where a leak may be. A leak under a rib can be tough to pinpoint from the inside. Often finding a leak is much easier if you are looking from the outside, but taking her to the lake is a good way to see IF you have any problems. Not to mention a good excuse to get in a cast or 50.:wink::smile2: If you find a problem, or you wish to test at your house, I do not advocate "filling" the boat. I don't think the water will pop your dents and may cause new troubles. Use just enough to cover the suspect areas and make sure you have the hull well supported while still being able to see where you need to. You can prop the boat up on one side and the other to check for leaks up the sides.
If you have a relatively light boat and the trailer is in decent shape, i'd fill the boat up just a little bit on the trailer. If the boat is light it wont sit that low in the water anyway, so you dont need to fill it up to the top of the gunwhales. The trailer is sitting still, so the bearings should hold up to a little water as long as the trailer is in decent shape. Just remember, water weighs 8.345 pounds per gallon, so dont overdo it.
I hope the Cabelas stick epoxy you melt with a torch will be here this week. Is this stuff easy to work with? Once I get it water tight thinking about doing a floor and deck from the front bench to the bow & the rear seat to the transom. The deck up front for a trolling motor & battery storage- the rear I think I can brace the transom with the deck and not weld the brace , storage for the gas tank. I think Ill use exterior plywood
It probably won't pop any dents out. If your dent was 2 inches in diameter and you had 4 feet of water in the boat, the water weight on the dent would only be 5 1/2 pounds. You only get the the weight of the water directly above the dent acting on the dent. Think of it as putting a tall glass of water on top the dents. That's all the force that will be applied to the dent.
I wasnt gona say anything but water weighs = 1 gallon 8.34 pounds 1cubic foot = 62.4 pounds, 1 foot of water =0.433 psi, 1 million gallons per day =694 gallons per min. Oh sorry it slipped out just took my water exam Hey talked to guy think hes gona weld my brace and got my bunk brackets today. Gettin closer Ill get some pics when shes all done Hope it ant long I need to go fishin Liver
Ron KUDOS!!!! good answer lol was gonna post that too with my 14 ft alum flatbottom i left on trailer and filled with water to about the water line (where it rides in the lake) and looked for the leaks drippin outside, to me was easier then lookin inside. fill slowly and dont overfill!!!
