# Old boats with problems



## Dave Frank (Oct 14, 2003)

No


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## Andy H. (Oct 13, 2003)

No.


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## caverdan (Aug 27, 2004)

No.


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## sea hag (Mar 24, 2006)

Sell it as an antique!!! I hear old avons hold their value pretty well


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## BruceB (Jun 8, 2010)

*No*

No.


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## TuffGonG (Jul 10, 2007)

Naw


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## dirtbagkayaker (Oct 29, 2008)

I say Hell ya, Just put $6K into it and you'll easily get another year of boating! {,:


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## Pro Leisure (Sep 19, 2011)

You should look for some new rubber


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## jkr61 (Mar 13, 2015)

Lol
I think that's the first time I've seen everyone agree on something!


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## sammyphsyco (Aug 15, 2012)

Seriously are you going to give up a primo poverty raft?


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## mtrafter (Aug 13, 2007)

Make some dry bags with it


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## jakebrown98 (Mar 4, 2008)

If it's a bucket boat it might be worth about an hour of effort and five bucks worth of glue to make a bitchin kiddie pool for your front yard. Otherwise huck it in somebody's dumpster.


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## DoStep (Jun 26, 2012)

No.


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## dragonflyboater (Jun 18, 2015)

You could inject it with expanding foam like "gaps and cracks" and it would be unsinkable!!!!


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## Fishn (Apr 8, 2012)

I have wondered if a bladder like those used in Aires could be installed in some of these rafts and extend their life say another 10 years. Thoughts?


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## TonyM (Apr 17, 2006)

No. And definitely No.


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## Panama Red (Feb 10, 2015)

Museum 

You know, Frederick Fucking Chopin.


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## zbaird (Oct 11, 2003)

Theoretically, yes, you could extend the life of the boat. The longevity however would depend on several things. If the material is failing apart and the seams are failing it wouldnt be worth it. The material will still continue to fall apart and will be weak and prone to punctures exposing the bladder which is not very abrasion resistant. Failing seams would likely continue to fail to UV and under the pressure of the bladder which would pose the same problem of the bladder hanging out, leading to a puncture. Cost is another prohibitive reason. Bladders are several hundred each so by the time you put a few of them in you would quickly get up to the cost of a decent used boat, which would be a better overall idea. Having to repair seams that kept failing is expensive and once the boat material has degraded to a certain point it just wont hold glue anymore due to the solvents more less disintegrating the material. There are other reasons that it isnt the best idea but no reason to get into them. Bottom line is, if you brought a boat that was ready for the dumpster into my shop and wanted to dump a bunch a cash into it by adding bladders, I would try my best to talk you out of it. 

That said, I have installed Aire bladders in non bladder boats before. The customers have been very happy with the results. Typically it is boats that have several baffles blown catastrophically and the owner wanted a back up chamber inside without the cost of fixing multiple baffles to gain one one chamber. Nrs and Sotar have used a similar idea in their catarafts where they built a smaller tube in the big tube as the second chamber. I installed the bladders in newer boats that didn't have seam and material issues. There are some issues with this approach, such as getting a hole in the tube and bladder and the boat becoming a one chamber boat again which is a real risk. Overall I don't think it is the best option but it has worked for some and in certain circumstances it made sense cost wise so I suggested it as an option.


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## bloodhound (Oct 26, 2013)

No...Hell no.


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## ColePowered (Apr 7, 2015)

*Kinda the response I was thinking*

I figured it would be a wash trying to fix. I now have an idea to cut it in half and make some sort of weird floaty. Thoughts on that? For fun mostly...


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## ColePowered (Apr 7, 2015)

something to add to this... poverty boating at its finest


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## jakebrown98 (Mar 4, 2008)

1. Cut it in half crosswise (where a center thwart would attach).
2. Pinch down the cut tubes and glue them air tight.
3. Bring the cut sides of each tube together and sew or glue them together.
4. Sew or glue the now combined pinched ends of the two tubes together.

At this point it would look like a figure 8 if laying flat on the ground. However, what I'm thinking is that all four cut, pinched, and glued ends would be pointing skyward and the two raindrop shaped tubes would be right next to each other. 

5. Take the thwarts and attach two of them crossways, a cooler's width apart from each other, between the two rain drops at the bottom. 

You and a couple buddies could float down the river sitting on the thwarts and cooler with a bunch of useless rubber above your heads. Sound's kinda dumb now; I'll stop typing.


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## ColePowered (Apr 7, 2015)

something to add to the couch-mo-ran


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## OregonRafter (Jan 30, 2013)

That raft is dead. Don't even try to bring it back to life or it will fail catastrophically again on either you or the poor sap you sell/give it to.


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## AIRE Inc. (Feb 11, 2011)

ColePowered said:


> something to add to the couch-mo-ran


Brilliant!


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## CoBoater (Jan 27, 2007)

dragonflyboater said:


> You could inject it with expanding foam like "gaps and cracks" and it would be unsinkable!!!!


it would be perfect as long as you trailered the boat, and you never have to worry about punching a hole in it!

do it!


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## villagelightsmith (Feb 17, 2016)

ColePowered said:


> *Kinda the response I was thinking*
> 
> I figured it would be a wash trying to fix. I now have an idea to cut it in half and make some sort of weird floaty. Thoughts on that? For fun mostly...


Any kid will tell you, half a boat is better than no boat at all!


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## zbaird (Oct 11, 2003)

I am always interested in how people find these necrothreads to bring them back to life. Village?


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## caverdan (Aug 27, 2004)

I bet it comes from this new format and the recommended reading below each thread.


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## zbaird (Oct 11, 2003)

ahhh. Yes, makes a lot of sense.


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