Question on welded boats
Submitted by ameehan on Fri, 2010-05-28 01:22.
I'm just curious on your guys thoughts on welded kayaks. What sort of strength do the welds retain generally? I've been offered a cheap Rad, although it has a weld in it, and I'm not sure whether to take it up...
Thoughts/advice?
Cheers everyone
There are a lot of factors to take into account with welds.
who has done the weld? and what they added as a filler?... some paddlers weld their own boats and don't always know what they are doing.
If the plastic has been heated too much it will be weaker than the boat, and will break again (you can see if the plastic looks burnt, black etc)
If the filler weld is a different material to the boat it will not bond with the base material...
You also want to take into account where the weld is and how big it is.... if it is somewhere structural then you will probably what to give it a miss.
A good weld done in the right place etc will be almost as good as a new boat.
A good weld is not just like a sticky plaster on the crack it bonds the crack for the full thickness of the break and adds some extra reinforcing around the area. (if you flex the boat and it pops off its not good!)
You might also want to take into account why the boat broke in the first place, was it a one off impact with a sharp rock etc or is there something wrong with the boat!
Donald Calder 021343980
id think anything youre going to be running decent rivers in, get one that isnt welded.
depends on the guy doing the welding, but most actual welds dont penetrate the full plastic depth so ive been told...?
if its going to be used for park and play or surf then id do it (my tekno is the thinnest most dodgy boat ive ever seen but smokes it in the surf - i use a creeker for rivers though...) but anything with rocks involved id give it a miss?