I have a crack in the keel of my Tracker, any suggestions ?

[David Heine]

I have a crack in the keel near the bow. It is a 1997 riveted one. It has two strips that are riveted. It is the smaller one that runs the length of the bow that is shot. It starts like hairline fracture and gets bigger where it sits near the bow roller. So I patched it temporarily, but my thought on the permanent fix will be to drill out the rivets on that smaller section and replace the whole thing. But how do I get a replacement part like that ? I mean, it's the strip of aluminum that holds the boat together, how do I find that ? And if I do find one, how do I bend it to make the " V " ?

 

[Jim Brone]

If I'm not mistaken you have to set the rivets from the inside of the boat. That means you'd have to take the floor out so you would have access to both sides of the rivets. If it were me I'd take it to a boat repair shop. That sounds like a lot of work that you'd need some specialty tools for. Good luck

 

[Mebassn]

Muskyman,

Take it to a machine shop and see if they can weld it. If so have them weld the piece closed then add a strip to cover the weld and that should be good.



Eric H.

 

[TOMMY RICH]

If you've got to go to all that trouble anyway it seems...have it welded by a certified welder and have him tack the head of all your rivets inside. Should eliminate all future problems.

Your problem is the foam...it will have to be removed in some areas

 

[Barry Loos]

I had a TX 17 that had a 12" split all along the keel line on the bow where the bow eye is. I took it to Tucker Marine in Cincinnati and they fixed it without taking the deck off. They put clamps all over the boat and then welded the heck out of it. It cost $70 back in 1985. That was more than the boat was worth but they did a great job and it never failed again. Good luck.



Da Bear

 

[Michael Snow]

Y'all HAVE heard of duct tape, right? As long as it ain't on a windshield, duct tape is the only tool a good redneck needs.

 

[David Heine]

Mike Snow ; your killin me dude !!! I did the temporary fix with aluminum bondo/3M 5200/ duct tape already !!! This will get me by on the water friday night. Going for the big blues. Got a 64 lber last week. So then I should contact Tracker with my serial numbers and hopefully they can get me a replacement keel ? Ken Neeley right ? My buddy told me that we should knock the heads on all those rivets, this way we can get more speed. All that drag the rivets are producing is causing me to loose speed. LOL !!!!!! I wanna get to that 50 mph mark !!!! LOL

 

[Michael Snow]

Big blues, as in catfish? I didn't know California knew about catfish . I'm looking forward to this winter to drift fish in the deeper water of Lake Lavon to hook a monster -- hopefully.

 

[David Heine]

I lost a big one the other night. Twice the size of my 64. Got her to the boat 3 times only to have her spool me each time. An easy 100 lbs. Then as we got her in the net, she flipped out and freaked out. Took a last final run into my anchor line and snaaaaaap ! Broke 25lb test like it was nothing.

 

[Dewey Storie]

Musky ... where you fishing ? Fullerton is not that far

 

[Dewey Storie]

yep some big wiskers in Irvine ... if you click on the like and look around you can see Muskyman's big cat
http://www.irvinelake.net/

 

[Edward J. Krummert, Jr]

muskyman,

you are in for a large job. if you get a new part from tracker, you will need to "gut" the boat. JimN is correct you do need to "set" the rivits from the inside. it takes two people to do this. if you do not have the proper tools to do this it is just about impossible. not to mention if you do it wrong you will loosen all the rivits on the hull. your best bet maybe to have someone make a larger "v" and weld it on. you will still need to "gut" boat so it can be welded otherwise it will light on fire. there is no real easy "fix" for your problem, if there was I could make a ton of people happy on a yearly basis.

Ed

 

[David Munaretto]

wow, ironic given the post about a slogan... how about a keelshield? ;-)



David

 

[Rich D]

Hey Ed,



How did you guys hold up in the flood? Pine creek runs right behind you, doesn't it?



Rich D

 

[David Heine]

Good to know Ed. My dad and I are in for it on this one. So I am gonna have to take the deck off and all that to access it from the inside. Oh well. It's a good thing my dad is around. He makes McGyver look like crap. He will love this project. I really need to post the pics of all the add-ons and modifications we have done to the boat. But ya, this one is gonna be killer. My take is that the new keel piece would be much stronger than just having someone welding the crack ? Right ? The spot where this occured is where the bow roller is. I am also thinking of replacing the bow roller to the yellow polypropelene one. What do you think ?

 

[Steve Rizza]

Not sure about yours,but removing the front deck on mine is a fairly simple job.The hardest part is finding and removing the screws.The should be rusted and will strip and break easily.Take your time and be careful.





While you have the front deck off........

any wiring need done?

recessed trolling motor pedal?

new extended front deck?

new storage compartments?

lights?



When you put the deck back down,it is alot easier to drill new holes than try to find and line up the old ones.

Also stainless steel screws.

 

[Bill Johnson]

Muskyman.....David had a good idea..If this is cosmetic and not a structural issue then seal it and make it look good with a keelshield.....You can install them on tin boats just as easily as on glass...I just did one recently on a Pro tracker. If it's not a wide crack and it's within 2.5" of either side of the keel then a Keelshield will prevent it from leaking and possibly help keep it from getting worse....Not sure if this is a remeday but we do have guys that purchase them when it's time to sell their boats to clean up the hull a little..

 

[Rich D]

I agree with Steve, make a list of anything you want to do and do it while everything is apart. You may want to replace the decking as well.



Rich D