Canoe repair
 

Hi all,

I recently came into a Mad River Teton R-Series that needs some significant repair. Wondering if anyone has experience repairing one and can give me some tips/tricks? I was reading up on the JB Weld PlastiWeld and PlastiBond products which look like they may be an option, combined with a keel kit.

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SS

Plastic weld if you can find a compatible filler. If it has a hole through , maybe some UV curing resin?

Totem outfitters may be able to steer you in the right direction. They rent canoes so I am sure they have to do repairs on them.

I fixed a canoe that was broken right in half with a healthy dose of Fiberglass mesh and epoxy I bought at Canadian tire.

Not so sure that would work on a plastic type Canoe. I think that particular canoe is a plastic shell with a foam core

The damage to your boat looks pretty extensive. Unfortunately, plastic canoes are notoriously hard to repair- thankfully in most cases they are also tough as nails.

I’ve patched my fiberglass canoe a few times after run-ins with rock on the Miette and Athabasca rivers, and fiberglass canoes are very easy to fix with more fiberglass and resin.

In your case, I think that a product like this may help:

https://midcurrent.com/2009/08/18/zm...thylene-canoe/

An accomplished river paddler once told me that melting down LEGO plastic and patching with it is an old trick amongst the whitewater crowd. Never tried it myself, but might be worth looking up an online paddling forum to see what they suggest.

Good luck as it’s a good looking boat!

Thanks all. I reached out to Totem Outfitters, as JB recommended. They seem to think that they can fix it. I sent them photos and I'm waiting for them to get back to me on it. I am willing to try to repair it myself if I know what to use, but I have also heard that poly boats are tough to repair so if they are confident that they can get it done I may just go that route.

I got the boat for free, so as long as the repair isn't too expensive and it lasts I am willing to spend some $$ to get it back to useable.

SS

Problem is the rigidity of your repair patch. If it doesn’t match, it will breakout at the bond. If repair was deemed necessary, I’d cut out the damage and weld in replacement poly, then sculpt the foam fill. Short of that, it’s how much you want to bail.

Repairing canoe.
 

I have repaired a crack in my Coleman Ram X canoe using a plastic welder.

Here's a link you may find interesting.
https://goneoutdoors.com/repair-plas...e-6390299.html

Quote:"Scrub the exterior surface of the canoe surrounding the hole with soap and water.

Wipe down the surface with a commercially available plastic surface cleaner. These are commonly composed of a mixture of naptha and petroleum distillates and removes wax, grease and slick mold release agents from molded polyethylene structures.

Cut a piece of wire mesh material large enough to cover the hole or split and overlap the edges by approximately 1 inch.

Melt the wire mesh into the surface of the canoe around all edges of the hole with the plastic welder. Allow it to cool.

Cut a piece of supplied polyethylene filler rod sufficient to cover the hole or split and overlap the edges by approximately 1 inch.

Pre-melt one end of the filler rod material with the plastic welder. Flip the rod over and apply the melted side to the repair area.

Apply the head of the plastic welder to the filler and melt it into the wire mesh already in the surface. Spread the melted filler out using flat surface of the plastic welder. Cut off additional segments of filler rod and melt and spread them to cover the entire area. Make sure the canoe surface and the melted filler plastic get hot enough that they thoroughly melt together.

Continue melting and applying filler rod until the entire repair area is covered."

This system worked well on my Coleman. I picked up a plastic welder at Princess Auto $79.99.
https://www.princessauto.com/en/plas...t/PA0008699134

Good Luck
Phil

Plastic welding with nitrogen or Argon blend is much stronger but having a shop do it would likely be cost prohibitive.

Thought I would do an update here. Totem Outfitters patched the worn spots, added Kevlar keel strips front and back, replaced the seats, replaced the thwart, added new carrying loops, and replaced the end cap rivets for $600 and it took 3 weeks. I was pretty happy with it and just picked it up today.

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Did you reach out to Boat Craft in Edmonton.
https://boatcraft.com/collections/advanced-elements