Aluminum Boat repair?

Hey guys! New to the forum and semi new to florida. A little background before I get into my boat repair question 🤣, grew up crappie fishing with my old man in upstate New York, haven’t fished in some years and moved down here with family last December, now that we’re settled in I have been doing research on crappie fishing in and around my area (Vero Beach) and been gearing up to be able to crappie fish all winter. I have a 21’ center console and wanted something smaller and not as nice to ram in to the weeds or hit the smaller lakes near me in fellsmere so I picked up a 1994 17’ tracker boat and took it out for the first time the other night on stick marsh and noticed she had some leaks. Did the ole garden hose test and found multiple pin size holes and pitting from corrosion underneath where it sits on the bunks. Needless to say it wasn’t the best boat to buy but we’re past that and I am now looking to see if anyone knows of any aluminum boat repair shops near Vero area to repair the leaks ,as I probably could do it myself but want it done as nice as possible , and to last as long as possible .Also looking for anyone wanting to get out this winter for some crappie fishing! A little long winded , sorry about that but sometimes it’s better to give some background info before asking questions. Looking forward to chatting with some of you guys in the surrounding areas! Thanks!
-Jake

I had a 16' John boat I used in saltwater that got ate up with electrolysis around the stern. I used brazing rods and a map gas torch to patch the holes and it did the job. There are a few YouTube videos on how to do it.

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I believe they make some bottom paint that will seal up those pin holes.

Thanks for the responses guys! I have done ample research on this and really wanted to find someone to do the repairs only due to the fact I’m limited on time and would have to strip the motor , console , batteries and fuel tank before I would be able to flip the boat over and clean all the leaky areas and prep it for brazing. Totally doable on my part just lack the time part of the equation. I have considered cleaning the areas up well from underneath and trying to JB weld some of the spots with some 5200 on top of that but I’m afraid that won’t hold up very long due to it being where the boat sits on the bunk so anytime unloading and loading it would be scraping that repaired area.

Many years ago Dad fixed some holes in the bench on an aluminum boat with JB Weld It stood the test of time.

Good to know, I May just take my time and prep the areas really well and clean up the corrosion as best as possible and jb weld it and seal it up just to get through the winter. Summer time I can tear the boat apart and fix it up if need be. The boat is strictly going to be used on stick marsh and Garcias and occasionally may take it to okeechobee.

Maybe one of these places.

Attachment 440021

Jb weld and marine tex gray have both done the job you describe. My thought is to leave the boat rigged and gain access to the bad areas. Prep with a wire wheel in a dril or something else suitable and spread the weld material in a small area around the hole and put a piece of packing tape over it to keep it from dripping or sagging. If you can remove the tape easy when done that would be great. I’ve sanded JB with a square vibrator sander to smooth it out and then go fishing.

My thoughts exactly on what I was planning to do! As thick as JB weld is , will it drip and sag down? I guess it’s easy enough to use the tape which seems like an easy way to ensure you get a good seal. Thanks for the ideas!

It will sag or run. Tape is a great idea to keep it in place.