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The trailer IS 14 years old. And the load IS right at the trailers rated limit. And the frost heaves on Alaska roads ARE really bad. So I don't really have a problem with the trailer manufacturer. And I should take some blame for this too. The week before I had a fuel pump go out mid trip. We got ba...

You can see the dip in the I beam at the crossmember attachment point. I believe it's the weight of the boat bouncing that is making the I beam crack and separate. By doubling up the crossmember attaching point and stiffening the I beam with 6061 C channel and bolting it all together it should hold....

Bunk and inside crossmember

Thanks for the ideas! I did talk to the manufacture and they said anything i do to fix the frame would just be a band aide and would happen again sooner or later. Bottom Liine was they were more interested in selling me a new trailer. So I think I'm going try and fix this by getting the widest C cha...

Location of crack

Crack in frame

The last fishing trip of the season I noticed a crack in the frame of my boat trailer at bend in front of the axles where the crossmember bolts on. The roads in Alaska are terrible and trailers take a beating. I have my own ideas how to fix it but was wondering if anyone else has successfully dealt ...

I forgot to show you a hatch i cut into the cabin floor to give me quick forward bilge access (and to store garbage). You didn't like my fish hold "flat hatch" design so I built this more conventional. I tend to build things favoring the off chance of encountering a Beluga size load, so th...

Just got back from a great, first of the season Valdez trip. Only made a few improvements to the boat last winter and I like how they function and look. This shake down run went flawless, no boat problems. 2 guys and gear, food and drink for 4 days, 135 gals gas, 4 coolers of ice in the bow, and shr...

This is my "Go Too" back gouger tool. You need the tool to be deep and narrow so you can reach in to access inside corners. It looks scary but I've got hundreds of hours running it with no accidents with injury. The tool is Pneumaticly driven which makes it have less torque than electric, ...

Motion Marine has a pretty good product, service and price.

The trips not over yet. This bay has good internet too!

Just a few photos I just took around the boat now.

Hello Kevin! We are on the hook, waiting for weather to pass and I have an awesome internet connection out at Hitchenbrook is. I thought it would of interest to update this long forgotten thread with some of the finish improvements I made over the winter. Hope all is well with you. Im doing fine and...

I bought two of these seats for my boat and I'm happy with the quality and performance

http://m.ebay.com/itm/391218298030?_trk ... mwBanner=1

I've seen that hull stiffer at the local aluminum supplier before but I think it's too wide for my application. I will probably go the square tube route or bend my own on a metal brake at work. I haven't started working on Predator Control yet but I am beginning to think about it. It's still too nic...

I will look to see if small channel is available. But the square tube is a great idea that I know I can buy. Thanks!

If I wanted to build hatches like this into my boat floor what is this perimeter drain channel called? Or is it just angle that you weld together yourself. It seems like you should be able to buy an extrusion that is used for the hatch seal and save a few fabrication steps.

Pjay, I'm glad you found this project fun and a worthwhile read. I think I feel more lucky at how things turned out rather than proud. My building and design methods were pretty crude and I was always "shooting from the hip". But Thank You for the kind words. SAFE boating to you in your wo...

Will do. Thanks Kevin!

oh I wanted to say I greatly improved the bow ice compartment insulation by covering all the aluminum with foil bubble wrap from Home Depot and 1/2" of sheet closed cell "Armaflex" pipe insulation foam. The ice stayed for 5 days in the bow keeping 1/2 of the fish, the deer and our foo...

This thread is getting less and less about alloy boat construction and more about alloy boat enjoyment! I think it's time to end this. It's all been great and fun to share the ideas and experiences of this boat remodel project. But it hasn't been ALL "great fun". There was many times I did...

Disregard all that was said about this boat being overloaded and not able to get on step. I figured out later(by reading the directions) that the trim tabs needed to be calibrated before fully operational and that they would sometime go full down and the control indicated full up! so full down trim ...

I just took this photo of the water line with about 95 gal of gas and my son in the bow tied up at the Valdez harbor. Nice and toasty inside with the heater going and about to make bacon n eggs with OJ n coffee!! We have plenty of storage for everything, seating and cabin layout seems great at this ...

My son and I are off to a rough start so far on our first PWS trip. Not knowing the boat limits yet I took on to much weight. In Thompsons pass we packed about 250lbs of snow in the fish box and bow coolers. Then a 4-5 days of food and beer. All my halibut tackle and spare rods and reels. filled the...