Aluminum Jon Repair

[bplayer405]

I have seen quite a few different ways to make repairs on jon boats. Aluminum brazing gets the most air play from what I've seen. Heck, I've even tried it. The weld I tried today is actually over Alumiweld rod from HF. Probably should have ground that out first, but it did have a good hold on the base material.

Anyways, I've wanted the setup I have now ever since I first bought a jon boat (Hobart Handler 190 with spool gun). Finally got the welder, so the inevitable had to happen. I had to give it a try and weld the crack that had been bugging me for years. Time will tell if it will hold.

Found out something also during the process, grinding wheels made for grinding concrete works good on aluminum.

 

[bplayer405]

Old flap discs work pretty good also. Will probably do a little more work on this weld. I believe the porosity came from the Alumiweld...

 

[Yomax4]

Looks pretty good. Don't forget to address the reason the crack showed up though. I've done something similar and ended up welding 1/8" flat pieces over the top of the repair. Good Luck !

 

[bplayer405]

Took it out for the first time this year today on the Illinois and caught some channel cat. Weld is holding.

 

[bplayer405]

Looks pretty good. Don't forget to address the reason the crack showed up though. I've done something similar and ended up welding 1/8" flat pieces over the top of the repair. Good Luck !

I agree. The reason the crack appeared was because of rotten transom wood and a low position for the floor brace. These were remedied a few years ago. Took me till yesterday to remedy the crack.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Looks pretty good. I am surprised that you could weld over the alumaweld since it has such a low melting point.
Even though you "fixed the problem", I would still scab on a reinforcing plate on top of that repair. That is good insurance against a future failure. Maybe use it a bit to assure the weld is sound first then scab on a piece of plate. For really good fusion, drill a few holes in the scab plate first then weld them back up by fusing the base metal to the hole like a spot weld.

 

[bplayer405]

Just an update: second time out with the boat yesterday and the weld cracked. I have a rope tie down very close to where the repair for holding an anchor line and I put some good pressure on the anchor tie. Noticed the crack once i got back to shore. I'll be grinding it all down to the base metal and starting over.

 

[Yomax4]

You'll get it. As Gary said above, It's time for additional material. Fix it again and then reinforce with another plate or two. Good Luck.

 

[bplayer405]

I hate the look of a scabbed over repair. Especially one out in plain sight. I realize it would be the strongest repair. I may simply move my anchor hold to alleviate that stress from the area and try a simple weld first. I know. I'm kind of hard headed. I know a weld shop wouldn't think twice about it.

 

[Gary Fowler]

If it is shaped right and welded smoothly, it will look factory. Do the other side to match. If you just put it on the top, then make it a long oval shaped patch with long sides in the middle of the crack. 1/8" thick patch will really strengthen it up. Most transom corners have an L shaped stiffener on the corners. Likely a bad design on that one that didnt include a corner stiffener on top.

 

[Gary Fowler]

While repairing, weld up all those stripped out holes too.

 

[bplayer405]

Started the mods on my "new to me" jon. I want to narrow the wide side ribs, remove the 1/4 seats and add side ribs where they were and add support for the transom (or completely redo it).

Cutting the ribs went fairly well. How I used the top to cap the rib ended up working against me. Made it very hard to actually weld... the other 3 will be done differently.
I won't use a half inch overlap (could have simply riveted the overlapped sides and only welded the top and bottom)

 

[bplayer405]

Found 4 bolts and a popped rivet on the transom. Had to fix those, of course. These grinder discs work very well on aluminum.

 

[Yomax4]

Nice work. I've also seen where guys had removed the ribs and put in a 3" high floor with a reinforcement once the floor was in.

 

[bplayer405]

Nice work. I've also seen where guys had removed the ribs and put in a 3" high floor with a reinforcement once the floor was in.

Guess I did forget to mention I will be installing a flat floor also. Will be using 1.5" .125 angle across the floor ribs to make it flat, adding closed cell foam between the ribs also. Lots to do and the hot weather that's hit here isn't making me want to suit up to weld for sure. Probably get in some evening work... I'm just glad that I'm actually getting this stuff to work how I've imagined.

 

[bplayer405]

Nice work. I've also seen where guys had removed the ribs and put in a 3" high floor with a reinforcement once the floor was in.

Are you meaning for the sides of the boat?

 

[Gary Fowler]

I wouldnt mess with the ribs on the sides of the boat unless you want to make them larger with bigger L brackets at the bottom.

 

[bplayer405]

I wouldnt mess with the ribs on the sides of the boat unless you want to make them larger with bigger L brackets at the bottom.

My issue is since I removed the 1/4 seats from the middle of the boat, which was supporting the sides, I need to add supports where they were. The wide ribs are too obtrusive to floor space to my liking. Its why I'm making them narrower. Its a lot of work, but what I want done.

 

[bplayer405]

A bit more work welding up holes from the old seat mounts:

Front deck is riddled with holes too...

 

[bplayer405]

Decided to check the condition of the transom wood and it was definitely rotten. Rebuilt it to suit my needs; made it taller with solid wood instead of plywood. Had to modify it quite a bit including a new transom brace... Plan on capping whats left of the old transom bracket back to the transom.