Bass Tracker Pro 170 Leaking

[MillsapBoyz]

Just found a small gouge in underside of the hull in my aluminum bass tracker pro 170. Can any of you recommend the best way to fix this?

[enohserf]

I had a similar problem to my fiberglass hull. It had a pretty bad inward and outward leak. I had gallons of water in the bilge after each trip. I had about a 20 inch gouge and a 2 inch gouged opening down the centerline. A friend of mine vacuumed out the water and it was still leaking out! While it was leaking he applied bondo on the opening and the leak stopped. Right after that he applied a generous coat of resin and fiberglass, alternating the resin and fiberglass a few times. Rock Solid! I haven't had even 1 drop in the bilge for years. It's been bone dry. Bottom was gouged out from hitting the trailer cross bar. We had to raise the bunk boards on the trailer too. Not sure how it would work on aluminum. I'm not an expert but this worked like a charm for me.

[P.A.W.]

Well, since Trackers are welded I'd go that route. Any decent welding shop can fix it in 5 minutes. You might have some decent luck with JB Weld too. But since I HATE dealing with niggling problems on the water I'd just get it fixed right. Should be less than $50 for sure.

[Ssortasober]

I second the jb weld, it worked for me

[enohserf]

Having it fixed the right way is always a good bet. Just be careful with the gas tank if you get it welded.

[MillsapBoyz]

Well, since Trackers are welded I'd go that route. Any decent welding shop can fix it in 5 minutes. You might have some decent luck with JB Weld too. But since I HATE dealing with niggling problems on the water I'd just get it fixed right. Should be less than $50 for sure.

After research, I was trying to decide between JB Marine Weld and welding. I think your right, I should do it the right way. I was pumping water out of the bilge every 10-20 minutes.I have a friend who owns a shop, so that makes it easy. It's toward the front so the gas tank won't be an issue.

[MillsapBoyz]

Thanks guys.

[HuskerRod]

I had four long cracks on the bottom of my Tracker 170 and they weren't on seams. Just cracks on the bottom of the hull. I was constantly bilging on fighing trips. Had them welded at Metalworx in Escondido a few months back. Most people didn't want to weld aluminum so I had to look around a bit to find the right place. He patched them up and no more water issues. I thought about the JB Weld route, but through my research welding was the way to go

[MillsapBoyz]

I had four long cracks on the bottom of my Tracker 170 and they weren't on seams. Just cracks on the bottom of the hull. I was constantly bilging on fighing trips. Had them welded at Metalworx in Escondido a few months back. Most people didn't want to weld aluminum so I had to look around a bit to find the right place. He patched them up and no more water issues. I thought about the JB Weld route, but through my research welding was the way to go

I ended getting mine welded too. It was underneath, so apparently that's not easy. looks solid, so it should be good. Glad to hear yours went well.

[fishmounter]

When I had my old aluminum 12 ft boat, It had several tiny pinholes that would let water leak in. We fished a lot in Newport Bay. and the boat would occasionally hit or go across rocks. What I fatally did was to put the boat up a couple feet off the driveway on blocks of wood and then filled the bottom of the boat with water. Then by visually finding the tiny leaks on the outside of the hull, I would mark a circle around the leak with a red grease pencil. I found quite a few pinholes. I drained the boat of water, flipped it over and let it dry for an hour or so. The I just simply put a small dab of clear silicone at each leak that I circled, let it dry, then took the boat out to see if it stilled leaked. Stayed "bone dry" for a long time.. until I traded it to a guy ("candyman") from this website for a new float tube.