Recommendation : Poly Repairer ( Brisbane )

[sheebaridgeback]

All,


I recently decided to get my hull tidied up with some plastic welding/repairs. I find the plastic to be a little too soft in the Polycrafts, which can be good in some respects, gives the boat some flexibility. Problem is they scratch very easily getting them on and off the trailer.

I grazed the bum of my poly quite badly a few weeks back, took 10mm off the inside of both the rear pods ( basically dropped the ass onto the ramp, the gradiant on the ramp was less than I first thought ). Must have been very close to going through the outer skin and putting a hole through the hull.

I searched high and low for a poly repairer in Brisbane, tried plenty of plastic bumper repairers, nobody wanted to touch it. One panel beater was prepared to take on the job, problem is he wanted to fiberglass it. ( No way )

As a last straw, I phoned Cunninghams Marine, they didn't do any repairs on site, but contract out to a guy who works in the industry of plastic welding, so they gave me his contact details.

If you are after a Poly welder/repairer in Brisbane ( Cashmere ), this guy works from home on weekends, he does a lot of Polycrafts and has all the Polycraft welding rods to match the colour right. I highly recommend his work, I left the boat with him for a couple of hours, he repaired the pods, fixed all the other scratches and some large gouges around the front of the hull, filled in a couple of screw holes where I removed some rod holders. All up $80. I couldn't be happier with the result and the price. You would never know by looking at the boat that it had received some fairly major repairs.

Name : Ben Peart ( Queensland Pastic Repairs )
Mobile : 0402 288 384
Email : qldplasrep@optusnet.com.au



Thanks,
Jason

[Pirate Pete]

Did you get any pics of the before & after??

[sheebaridgeback]

Pete,


I didn't get any before pics mate, I was that discusted in myself when I did it, all I focused on was getting the boat fixed. I had the repair done within 24 hours. The attached picutre will not give any indication of how big a chunk i took out of the the inside corners of both pods. I'm certain the outer hull is thicker than 10mm in the corners, because I took a good 10mm off when the boat dropped.


Jason

[Pirate Pete]

There is no way you can tell any thing has happened to the boat looking at that.

He has done a top job yippy yippy yippy

[sheebaridgeback]

Pete,

I actually mentioned to Ben that I'm fortunate I've got a white boat, due to being easier to colour match. He shook his head and informed me that White is the hardest colour to match when welding plastic. He said he prefers coloured boats. He said that even using Polycraft supplied rods, the colours are never a perfect match, every boat that comes out of the factory is a slightly different shade.

I was a little concerned about the strength of the hull where its been repaired. Ben assured me its as strong now as it was before it was damaged, unlike welding metal.


Jason

[Andy]

I had the turnbuckle let go on me on my boat. Turned a corner and began to accelerate and saw the bow of the boat rise up on the trailer. Unfortunaty at that same time I had a dodgy winch. End result, a few millimeters of my outboard skeg ground off and a good 10mm of the keel ground off. Would have been dragging on the ground for maybe 4-5 metres. Anyhow, I dont care, boat still goes, does not take water. Still have the same broken turnbuckle, but a new winch now. One day I will replace the turnbuckle with some chain and a shackle.

[sheebaridgeback]

Thanks Andy, I don't feel quite so bad now.

Lucky you weren't travelling at speed when your boltscrew broke. I don't have any faith in the strap over the bum holding the boat on the trailer in this instance, its more for lateral movement.


Jason

[sweeden]

There are plenty of other tie-down options that help. The one I use is two turnbuckles on the back corners to the trailer. Seems to stop any rear-end movement. See pictures in this thread:
http://www.polyboatowners.com/2010/vb/showthread.php?t=365

[DvrDve]

gentlemen
dont save money on the poor stepbrother trailers
good chain in conjunction with winch -never rely on winch strap ,to hold it on front, and tie down back can save somebodies life
-the bloke behind u on the freeway- or your family when, u braek suddenly and end up with a boat thru the back window-CORONERS COURT SUX
sheeba
lucky to have a poly welder -by the looks doing excelent work
i had to buy myself a welder and some rod- pleasures of living in the arse end of the world

[Andy]

I only travel a couple of km's to the ramp, and its at slow speeds, hence the reason the old turnbuckle is still there. Only a couple of months till I head for my annual fishing trip, will be replacing it then plus a new set of bearings. Good as gold.