Brazing aluminum?

[Pete Collin]

Hello All,

I have a Happy Troller plate for the main prop.  I want to put it on my new boat, but it formed a crack because of the many times I accidentally gave it full throttle while the plate was down.  Is it possible to just buy some brazing rods and fix it that way?  Or do you really have to know what you're doing?

[thumbburn]

Throw the happy troller away… drag a cpl buckets off the back of your cheap like me or get trolling bags….. that weld won’t hold….. don’t ask me how I know…..

[rolmops]

Right, throw it away. You should either get trolling bags or a little 9.9 kicker.

If you really want to use your happy troller and you want to fix yours, you should get 4pieces of aluminum 1/8 inch thick by 3 inches wide about 3/4 the length of the plate(vertical) and put two on each side. Drill holes through the plate and the strips, bolt them together and fortify it that way. Or you can swing by my place in Brighton and pick up another happy troller plate for free. it is only very slightly damaged and still quite usable. Pm me if you are interested.

[spoonfed-1]

On 11/29/2022 at 8:04 AM, Pete Collin said:

Hello All,

I have a Happy Troller plate for the main prop.  I want to put it on my new boat, but it formed a crack because of the many times I accidentally gave it full throttle while the plate was down.  Is it possible to just buy some brazing rods and fix it that way?  Or do you really have to know what you're doing?

 

 I replaced my happy troller plate with one that was hinged and spring loaded in the middle.  It was made by dyco marine but that was 20 or so years ago. It worked excellent. The bottom of the plate would be pushed up so no damage and you knew right away what happened just by the lack of acceleration.

[pukingdog]

Aluminum can be welded. That's how Crestliner boats are manufactured. I can't remember if its TIG or MIG but most welding shops will know. I have no idea how much they will want to charge you. It may be cheaper to buy a new one, but it won't hurt to inquire.

[glh456]

Tig weld

 

[rolmops]

2 hours ago, pukingdog said:

Aluminum can be welded. That's how Crestliner boats are manufactured. I can't remember if its TIG or MIG but most welding shops will know. I have no idea how much they will want to charge you. It may be cheaper to buy a new one, but it won't hurt to inquire.

The problem with happy troller aluminum ii that it is not just a clean break which can be welded. It is that the metal is weakened by bending and stretching lots of times. The aluminum gets to be (what I like to call) tired and weakened in the bend and/or break area. A large zigzag weld could possibly fix the problem, but the bending would just start happening on a different spot-quite possibly- on the outboard because very possibly, the happy troller is now stronger than the place where the bolts go through the outboard while the force pushing against the troller will remain the same. The happy troller is deliberately made fairly weak just because of that risk.

[Sk8man]

Although trolling plates work for a while Pete no matter which you use they do weaken and wear out. I had both the happy Troller and another one that had springs on each side of the plate on my previous boat. They both wore out although in different spots due to the constant use. The spring type allowed you to accelerate without releasing the plate by hand. They ended up wearing out where they hooked to the plate. I finally took  them off and  just lived with the slight difference in trolling speed and never looked back until I bought my first kicker and that was definitely the best solution possible and added the safety factor, It is one thing in life that is well worth the investment. I guess you can remember the kill switch fiasco the time you were out on my boat. We at least had the option of continuing to fish. I'd never be without a kicker again. The larger motors will troll but many don't like it and most load up the plugs after a relatively short time. I only use my 135 Opti when is is real windy and going against the wind despite the fact that it can troll down to 1.8 mph; otherwise only for running back and forth way above trolling speed.

Edited December 1, 2022 by Sk8man

[Pete Collin]

Les,

My boat does have a kicker.  But I find that with a tailwind I can't get it slow enough that the fish sometimes want it to be.  In the past I used a "blow-troll" method where the wind was perfect to give me the right speed.  The trolling plate kept the boat at the right attitude, bow-downwind.  One thing that occurs to me is my electric motor has two batteries.  On windy days I could troll downwind with that.  I've done it before in the old boat.  It's nice, really quiet and no exhaust fumes.  i got 2 hours per battery per charge back then.  The new boat seems to do better.  I jigged all day off the spot lock feature and it only took the charge halfway down.

[Sk8man]

Sounds like a plan worth a try Pete.

[ifishy]

What size boat and what size kicker? How slow are you trying to go? Trolling plates add a lot of ware to a motor over time bags or buckets are much better buta kicker is usually the gold standard if the kicker is to fast maybe a different prop is In Order. For my boat I find there is a minimum speed to be able to steer but it's usually not an issue at salmon speeds

[fish whistle]

Hey Pete,

Seems like you got your boat figured out and your plate is a part of it.

I have a lightly used Happy Troller that I would be happy to send you if you like.

Not sure what shipping would cost from Maine but it's yours if you want it.

Send me a PM if you like......Dan

[Pete Collin]

Just now, fish whistle said:

Hey Pete,

Seems like you got your boat figured out and your plate is a part of it.

I have a lightly used Happy Troller that I would be happy to send you if you like.

Not sure what shipping would cost from Maine but it's yours if you want it.

Send me a PM if you like......Dan

Dan, thank you so much for the offer.  Rolmpos offered to give me one too...and he lives much closer!  But I am originally from Fort Kent.  Nice to hear from a fellow Maine-iac.

[fish whistle]

Right on Pete,

The offer stands if needed

I got friends in Fort Kent and Madawaska and love fishing Long lake.

Nothing like chasing Landlocks and moose up in "The County"

 

[Pete Collin]

23 minutes ago, fish whistle said:

Right on Pete,

The offer stands if needed

I got friends in Fort Kent and Madawaska and love fishing Long lake.

Nothing like chasing Landlocks and moose up in "The County"

 

Small world.  My family owned a camp on Long Lake from the mid-70's up to just a few years ago.  Want to know something funny?  I never caught a trout or salmon out of LL.  We didn't have a boat, and on the north end where our beach was, you could wade out 100 yards and still only be waist deep.  So we caught minnows, perch, and the occasional whitefish.  When you're a kid that is just as fun.

[fish whistle]

We stay at Long Lake Camps in Sinclair

We fish first week of June and now last week of September.

Great place in the middle of no where  

Some of the biggest Landlocks come out of that lake, 10+ lbers !

Big brookies also. Gonna go there in January for the first time ever to fish for smelts and maybe a salmon or two but it can be brutally

cold with temps 20-30 below in the mornings, nice and warm in the smelt camps though ..

Good luck with your boat project my friend

[lrg355]

On 12/1/2022 at 2:32 PM, rolmops said:

The problem with happy troller aluminum ii that it is not just a clean break which can be welded. It is that the metal is weakened by bending and stretching lots of times. The aluminum gets to be (what I like to call) tired and weakened in the bend and/or break area. A large zigzag weld could possibly fix the problem, but the bending would just start happening on a different spot-quite possibly- on the outboard because very possibly, the happy troller is now stronger than the place where the bolts go through the outboard while the force pushing against the troller will remain the same. The happy troller is deliberately made fairly weak just because of that risk.

Your observance of the characteristics of aluminum is correct.  A quick discussion on metallurgy.  All metals have what is called an "elastic limit".  That means if you exceed that stress or bend the metal will not return.to a useable state.  Aluminum has additional peculiarities.  Metals such as steel can regularly be stressed near their elastic limit and return with no harm.  Aluminum cannot be stressed continuously near elastic limit , it will fail.  A few times occasionally is acceptable but not often.  Even if aluminum is stressed at 10 % of its limit it will eventually fail.  It  may be a considerable time but it will fail.  Things such as fuselage cracks on aircraft and cracks in an aluminum boat under the windshield area from pounding waves are examples of this.  It may take many years but will eventually happen.