Boat Repair ???
 

I have an aluminum boat that has a crack in the front part of the V-bottom. I put some J B weld on it last summer, but it is now leaking a gallon or 2 of water per hour.

Who in the Lake Charles area would you recommend to do some aluminum welding?

I have taken the front deck off and cut a hole to get better access so the crack can be welded from both top and bottom directions.

Hawes and Son in Sulphur does all my work now. Good people.

Thanks........I see that they are on E. Napoleon st.

Anyone else know someone they would recommend.

Southside welding on Gulf hwy, across the road from old Honda shop.

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Southside does good work.

Aluminum absorbs Jb Weld and who ever welds it will probably tell you Jb weld and fiberglass are the worst things you can fix a aluminum boat with unless its an emergency, they will probably cut out the area you put jbweld on if it doesn't weld. aluminium has to be clean as can be to bond a weld good.

Southside in LC. Joe does some of the best aluminum welding ive seen. This is what they primarily do over there.:)

Back when I was working at one of the plant.........Southside did most of our fabrication welding. Yes, they are good......but there prices are a little higher than other places.

Tim.......I did not know J B weld is not good for repairing Al. I did patch a small hole in a 12' AL boat that I have. It is in a non-stress spot and has held up good for several years. I know about needing to be cleen.....I got the cracked area cleaned this evening. A neighbor is getting me a small grinder tomorrow so I can grind out the crack a little so it will be ready to weld. The original weld has a 3" long spot where the weld did not penetrate very much......causing it to fail.

Bruce......thanks for the PM.

I second Southside welding.

When I lived in Cameron, welders were a dime a dozen. Just buy them a couple cases of beer and they would hook you up. It sux to move where you have to pay for everything.

Southside, bring ca$h and a 6 pack;)

Forget the 6 pack.......2 bottles of Whiskey and they might give me better service if I would be there early in the morning.....then I might still be late for "happy hour"......and that is for the main office.

I all ways thought southside welding was pretty reasonable, now southside machine works is right around the corner and they are pricey, they do alot of our work at the plant.

I took the boat to Hawes and Son in Sulphur right after lunch to day. They looked at what I needed welding and said that they probably could get to it this afternoon.

They welded it up both inside and out and had it finished by 4 PM. The cost was only $ 30.

Clinton.....they have not started working on your boat. He indicated your job would be kind-of hard and take some time to complete.

I had an a/c stand built. He had a cash price and a price if paid by check.
Cash price was almost half. But they are busy busy.

Having "Keg Stands" made Clinton???????????:)

LOL, nope fixing a transom issue on a boat.

Most of yall know this but..............

Jack plates compromise the integrity of the transom.

Most boats need extra reinforcments to handle the stress a jackplate produces on the transom.

The boat I'm speaking of did not have the reinforcments.:(

I was right about the price, I'm glad they took care of you.

Jason is a good dude at Hawes for sure...