The Renovation of Aussiefool II

[aussiefool]

As some people may know I have been thinking of replacing the axle on the trailer of Aussiefool II. Well Yesterday it started, easy enough to drad the boat off the trailer as it is only light and drop onto some tyres, then just a matter of getting a couple of mates to flip it over hule side up. I turned it turtle as a few people have been naging me to repaint it as it looks rought, but as I say it is a fishin' boat not a show pony.Just as well I did as the exter work I have now found is enough to make a man cry.(or a good learning experence)
To start with the trailer, I knew that the axle had to be replaced and just a quick repait. ha ha ha . I Started with using the angle grinder to cut off the U bolts holding the axle on. to easy,quick change of blade as just gring off the flaking paint again to easy ....... or so I though as soon as the paint was gone a bit of rust started to show ok grind that off aswell S%#T where that hole come from and then another and another ... before I knew it more rust hole that paint
Ok either a new 2nd hand trailer or weld???? what to do mmmm I know I put up an add on here, about 1/2 hour after doing so a mate come over to have a look at the damage and said .. "we should be able to fix that" cool.

ok so this morning I started to sand the hull back as it was covered with a powdery black paint that I wanted to get rid of for a while.
Again I think ok to easy bugger this paint that comes off with your hand will not move, so off to the shop for some rougher wet and dry
The new stuff works well but to my dis-belief I start to see CRACKS under the paint .... not just your little hair line ones big deep ones, you know the type where both sides move. This surprised me as it is a single hull and I have never had any leaks.
So in the comming few days weeks or even mths. I'll be working on re-doing Aussiefool II with plenty of pics to come

Here is what I started with

[aussiefool]

the trailer and axle
mmm you think it needs to be replaced?

[aussiefool]

axle just a bit of rust

[aussiefool]

hull and bow

[disorderly]

Good luck mate,
As long as you realise that boats seem to be like houses when it comes to renovation.Sometimes easier and less hassle to buy(build)a new one.
The upside is(if you followed smelly's recent marine mechanic apprenticeship)that no doubt you will learn plenty along the way and have the satisfaction of having done it yourself and have a sexy looking boat at the end of the ordeal.
Cant wait for the progress reports!
cheers Scott

[finga]

Mate, looks like your off the water for a week or two. Bummer about the unforseen problems though.
I hope your mate has a lot of welding rods. Looks like a few patches to be put into the trailer.
Should look Mickey Mouse when your done though and then back into the flathead and bream
Cheers Scott

[murf]

Looks like your land based for a while aussiefool

Your trailer looks the the same model as my old river boat trailer minus the rust. Got it from Umina. I think Noah used to make them.

Replace everthing on the trailer except the numberplate

Lot of elbow grease and a bit of blood and she will be good as new.

Cheers Murf

[Stubbie Holder]

Good on you for jumping in and doing the work yourself. Don't worry if the project is bigger than you first thought, you'll have greater satisfaction when the job is finished. Good luck with it all and I hope you have a sweet looking rig when you are finished.

By the way my parents used to own the Chinderah Lakes Caravan Park until a couple of years ago. Lots of good fishing in the Tweed.

Stubbie

[aussiefool]

[quote=Stubbie Holder;563808].

By the way my parents used to own the Chinderah Lakes Caravan Park until a couple of years ago. Lots of good fishing in the Tweed.

Stubbie[/quote

Small world... I live in the park next door to Chinderah lakes

[aussiefool]

thanks for your words of encouragement everyone will keep you updated as I go along.

[charleville]

Why would you want to do anything to that trailer? It looks perfectly fine to me!

Reminds me of the day that I took my old rusting box trailer to get some sand from the landscaping supply place. The front loader gently lowered a half metre into the trailer and the trailer collapsed.

So I was stuck with what to do with the trailer. One of the staff there said that he would like its mudguards - which were about the only unrusted bit - I left the whole thing there for them to worry about (minus the rego plates) and borrowed one of their trailers to take home the sand.

Leaving the trailer there where it collapsed for them to dispose of it was just about the best piece of negotiation, I have ever done.

[disorderly]

Charleville,
That story would be quite funny except that my trailer is in a similar state of repair and requires sheets of mesh and heavy duty plastic put in place each trip to the landscape supply yard.Max of about 0.5 t each load and no tamping from the bobcats bucket or else the arse would totally fall out it .
My wife has been telling me for a couple of years that I need to do something about it,ever since we were returning from a plant trade show and I heard a noise, looked in the mirror and saw a line of pot plants bouncing along the highway behind us.
cheers Scott

[charleville]

My wife has been telling me for a couple of years that I need to do something about it,ever since we were returning from a plant trade show and I heard a noise, looked in the mirror and saw a line of pot plants bouncing along the highway behind us.

Yeah - in 2007, traffic is such that we should not take unnecessary risks with rusting trailers, of course. I think what Aussiefool was saying is that he did not realise just how bad the damage was until he turned it upside down.

Likewise, I did not realise just how bad things were until the box trailer just dropped like a bullock does in a country slaughter house when they put a gun to the front of its head and pull the trigger. There it was with the coupling still connected to the towbar on the car but the rest of it has just collapsed in a heap - well except for the mudguards, that is.

I did look at buying a new one but when I visited the sales yard of the then most popular trailer, all of the brand new hammertone painted trailers were showing rust so unless one is going to undertake a regular maintenance program for what should be the most utilitarian item in your back yard, one of their trailers will last a few years only. That is unless you spend the extra 50% to get a galvanised one.

These days, i just hire them. Can be less convenient sometimes but more convenient in other ways.

[mowerman]

Hey Charleville

A couple of months back I saw 2 blokes shovelling about a metre of gravel of the outside lane of one of the main roundabouts in Cleveland.

Their car and box trailer(minus bottom) was sitting on the footpath.

[aussiefool]

With it being the w/end and the park that I live having a rule that no power tools be used on the w/ends, I had little choice yesterday but to work on just the hull.

So armed with just some 80 grit wet and dry I started rubbing and rubbing. The black paint on the bottom that wipes off on your hard diddn't want to come off to easy but with a bit of elbow greese the job was done. ( that reminds me must g up the the hardwere shop and get an other can of elbow greese )

In my last update I said that I found a few cracks , I now believe that I'm more than lucky that Aussiefool II diddn't snap in 1/2 the the amount of cracks in her.(see Pics.)
I think the real reason she diddn't was because of all the coats of paint that were on her, I think I counted at least 5 different colours that she has had over the years with more than one layer of paint per colour.

With to-day being Sunday and still can not use power tools I think I might go about fixing the cracks.
My plan of attact to day is to lay some f/glass matting over each crack and cover with resin. When that has gone off I plan to put one or two coats of just resin over the whole hull to seal up any leaks.

The pics below, first one shows the different colours that I found and the other I drew lines near the cracks to show just how bad the cracks are.

Till next time
Aussiefool