Is this repairable?

Is this repairable? It is on a 2008 Revo.

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Duncan

Looks pretty knackered to me though I am not claiming to be an expert in this regard.

You might be able to repair it with a lot of plastic welding or (and I don't know if this is a viable solution) find another knackered hull with a good seat area, cut the seats out of both using the same cutting template and plastic weld the good seat in the place of the bad one.

Either way it looks like a reasonably major plastic welding job - though there are those out there who will tell you that a skilled plastic welder can build/rebuild you pretty much anything given enough welding rods...

It can be fixed but will take someone with enough plastic welding experience to do it. I doubt you can buy a "welder" and get it right on your first attempt.

Try This- These guys saw a kayak in half and then bond it back together.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... PxqnDbdLmc This is the Gugeon Brothers repair.

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2015 TI Hibiscus " Bazinga"
Harbor Freight modified trailer with TI cradles
Heavy duty scupper cart with cradle
Hobie tramps- black

That kayak will be difficult to repair. The crack is large and complicated and dives down into three holes, and any repair will be stressed by the pins that attach your seat to the kayak. If you want to try to repair the kayak, in order to prevent the crack from spreading further, drill a small hole at each end of the crack, to spread the stress at the tip of the crack over the diameter of the hole. A 2-3 mm or 1/8" hole is all that is needed to keep the crack from lengthening.

Actually I was hoping to pay someone to do it but so far the dealers I've spoken to don't want to try it. I used to be able to plastic weld but it has been a long time and I never did it much.The welding kit was originally developed to repair plastic bumpers on cars. I owned a supply shop that sold paint and supplies and I must have sold 10 or so kits so I had to learn to demo how to weld with the kit.

I had thought about buying a regular kayak seat and using that with a solid piece of plastic or some such stuck under it for support. Or I might just sell it for what I can get and buy a 2015 Outback.

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Duncan

For sure that can be fixed. What's the alternative; throw the kayak away? Look on the internet, there's plenty of information. Before you fix it, you'd better eliminate whatever caused that crack.

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Waterman at Work - Kayak Fishing Photos, Video,Kayak Rigging - Blog

I like the look of that West system g/flex. It seems I saw a repair done on the seat peg hole using a pvc cap. That's where the crack started. Is there a repair kit for the peg hole that anyone knows about?

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Duncan

If it were my kayak, I would opt for using thin sheets of HDPE salvaged from laundry detergent jugs to melt the sheets and bond to the deck. Then melt weld some strips of stainless steel wire mesh for integrity, and then melt some more HDPE sheets on top of this.

I patched a 2 x 4 inch hole in the stern of an Emotion kayak using this technique and my niece has been using it without issue for 3 years now. Howdver, the seat peg & scupper area you depict is an entirely different animal

If it was me i would use hot water and try to get the crack openings back together again before doing anything else (basically back to its original shape befor doing anything else. You can put temp plugs in to lign up the seat plug holes. Once I had it close to the original shape. I would get some 4 lb 2 part expanding urethane foam. Put it in a garbage bag or baggies then place it under the seat. When it goes off it will expand and fill up the space between the seat bottom and hull bottom with a stable rigid base platform (kind of key to the repair). The foam in the hull is out of the way and is very strong, and very light (about 1 or two lbs max). Now you can take a Hobie welder and weld the crack back together. The joint will never see stress so it only needs to seal.
To be doable sure you could always lay in a 1/2- 3/4 inch thick layer of silicone (probably 4-5 tubes, it will take 4 or 5 layers and a few days unless you use two part silicone. Might help keep your butt dry (strictly optional).
Hope this helps
FE

Thanks for the replies. There are some really good suggestions. The crack looks wide but will come together with light finger pressure from underneath. I am mostly concerned with the seat peg hole and getting a good seal. I think I have two plans.

Hobie has a repair kit, 81265100

http://static.hobiecat.com/item_attachm ... 100z52.pdf

for just such an occasion consisting of ¾ pvc caps which fit over the peg holes from underneath and give them extra strength. This is an existing problem with the seat peg holes cracking and I’m not the first to have this happen. I upgraded from the push in pegs to the expanding pegs and I probably should have glued the caps underneath the holes but I didn’t know.

So, starting from underneath and using the G/Flex, some fiberglass cloth or screen, and the caps, I intend to epoxy the crack together and lay strips of reinforcing material for several inches in each direction so that the crack has reinforcement for it’s entire length. Then epoxy the caps on. And I like the idea of expanding foam underneath the area to take the load off the crack.

For the top I will either G/Flex the top with some extra reinforcement or if I can find someone with a welder, weld it with some screen for reinforcement. Appearance isn’t important since it will be under the seat.

Hobie makes a third type of seat peg ,81276203, http://static.hobiecat.com/item_attachm ... 203z52.pdf

that is a twist and lock type and it has a threaded insert. After making sure the hole is solid using either welding or epoxy I will the install the threaded insert and use the new seat pegs..

I think this will work and with the new seat peg reinforcement should keep it from happening again.

Or, I’ll just put it up for sale for $800 or so and let someone else repair it and I'll buy a 2015/16.

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Duncan

Just FYI from my perspective (I'm a plastics engineer), I have had dismal luck trying to use any types of epoxies or foreign adhesives (foreign meaning any other material (ie... Urethane, epoxy, etc). It seems nothing sticks to the cross linked polyethylene well at all except via melting to itself that I have found anyway. I always try to fix things mechanically first (like the foam under the seat deal, put the sleeves over the peg holes before adding the foam). I then try to do all my sealing by re-melting the PE itself (kind of the only thing that sticks to the PE I have found is molten PE itself. But thats just my experience, maybe others have had better luck.
Hope this helps
FE

You would also want to support the seat from below with some foam blocks stuffed in between the seat and hull... otherwise the sitting loads will stress any type of repair.

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

I have found a dealer that thinks they can weld the crack so my new plan is to have them weld the top, use the pvc caps and screw in inserts on the seat pegs, still use the g/flex and reinforcing colts underneath and use the foam for support. I need to take a second look and see how close the rudder lines are and make sure any foam doesn't interfere with steering and up and down.

I know what you mean about epoxies and plastic but this repair seems to have a good track record and West Systems have a good reputation in boat repair and if it is a back up to the weld I feel it will be OK, maybe a little overkill but that's OK.

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Duncan

Our Hobie Guru Roadrunner has posted many times over the years on how to repair cracks using epoxy. His extensive testing reveals only two work well :3M Scotchweld DP8010 or Loctite 3030. GFlex is not recommended. A search of the forums using 'Scotchweld' and author 'Roadrunner' will yield a stack of useful info.

Just out of interest, how thick is the plastic around the crack area? Is it up to spec?

Once you have repaired the crack, reinforcing with the caps and then tapping a thread for the twist lock screw fittings is a good idea. Hobie used to sell an upgrade kit but I think they may have pulled it due to operator error?

If you are careful though it's not difficult to upgrade:
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