BaitDropper

I sold a single cab 2003 nissan, was the old 3Ltr engine, pulled like a train. I preferred that to tow the boat, especially as I could climb on to the tray and step onto the bow of the boat and down thru the hatch and vice versa after I have driven the boat back on the trailer, no wet feet, Cant do that with the Ranger duel cab. Single cab utes, as Noel illuded too, are brilliant, picking up large stuff, dump etc. enough space for 3 to squeeze in when heading down the ramp, but not if one of them is the Dog, so my wife kept informing me..

I'm hearin you Fab. I do all my own maintenance, so I have no issue there, but the prices for a new 4x4, have just exploded, even before the Crud virus. I had to have my previous vehicle, prized from my posession when I got this Ranger, but it was only a 2 seater ute, which when heading away with boat in tow, her indoors never enjoyed the ride or the fact it was only a 2 seater. Neighbour up the road has a new ranger I went in the other day, Wow, next level comfort, BUT, I'd rather spend the extra 50k on something else, my old bus does everything his does, maybe not as smoothly, but I can forgo that... Heard of a few issues with the latest Versions, with all the new u-bute electronics on offer nowadays, well, just more potential for things to go wrong me thinks..

Funny you say this, was only just thinking whether or not to upgrade my 2011 ranger, last of the PK's, only done 120k's, thought about it for a week or so, then the same as you by the sounds, I'll save myself 60-70k and keep driving my 1 owner for another decade..

Didn't appear to be any waxed coating as such, however, cursing for not at least prepping inside a bit more, not that I had ever done so before. I remember when I bought the rubber, a year or so back, the manufacturers detailed product compound make up was on there, never paid to much attention to it, but it was a pretty detailed list of it's compounds.. I'm going to leave the Gunwale rubber on now, just keep a good eye on it over my next few outings, but I'm going to do a few tests with the off cut purely for my own inquisitive mind. I'll rough up one section, heavily acetone another and as it stands now, not heated up. be interesting to see the outcome. But your right, it feels like a product that nothing will stick too.. However, I missed cleaning up some "oozage" on the underside of the rubber, which I only smeared when I wiped it over, that bonded, I basically had to saturate it with acetone and use a scrapper to remove it. Hard to figure out really.

Thanks for your reply mii11x, I've never actually used the primers with 291 before, always did within the trade I worked in, but never before in the marine situation. The compound of the new Gunwale rubbers, as mentioned, is so plastic like, you couldn't bend the stuff easily, very very stiff, hence the need to heat it up. I fitted a few with a mate that owned a fibreglass shop, his method was the old school way, mixing up a batch of resin, having the rubber itself in a barrel of boiling water. At 55c, as I got it too, it then becomes possible to actually stretch the rubber, which needs to be done to fit it correctly, by the time Sika was pumped into the rubber, it would have already halved that initial heat up temperature, It cools down extremely quickly, by the time one half was fitted to the boat and clamped, maybe 5 minutes, it's already cooled down so much that it isn't pliable or able to be stretched as such. It had already cooled by the time I the end securing screw was put in. As mentioned, in all the ones I have done with Sika before, I haven't used primers. The transducer, pictured above, was done the same way, both surfaces cleaned with acetone masked up then glued without primer to the bottom of the hull, I would have to cut it off if I ever wanted to remove it, it is well and truly bonded and has been well and truly tested on the water, a mate of mine has had his on under the hull for at least 6-7 years, hasn't budged. After re looking at it before, I have sealed the chrome end cap, so I'm not going to remove it now. I again went all the way around the boat, trying to pull the rubber off, with force, and it didn't budge... You would swear the Gunwale rubber was just a hard unpliable plastic before starting.. Yes, the inside is a very smooth surface,, If I was to do another, or have to do this again, I would do some sample tests, by literally roughing up the inside with a heavy grit paper and spot testing it first...

Cost me $1800 Plethora. There was a fair bit of sewing work needed as he shaped around my 6 tubes of the rocket launcher, I can take some more shots of his work when the rain stops if needed, my side on Pic doesn't do it justice. Had prices range from $2200 thru to just under 3k, with photo's provided, but they couldn't confirm a price until I towed the boat in, fair enough. This bloke received a photo then said $1800 was the average price, clears all round. When finished he said yeah, my average price stands. I was pondering over the idea to give this whole thing a go myself ( sucker for punishment ) I'm glad I didn't follow thru with it..

Having used Sika products for many a year in different trades, including Marine, I was quite amazed on it's performance recently when I was putting new Gunwale rubber on the boat. I used Sika 291, as I have on many occasions, including recently when glueing a 3 in 1 transducer to the bottom of the hull, which has stuck like the one would expect. It works perfectly and I dont have the worry of putting splash shields on it or the fear of my intelligent Deckies using it as a step.. Now, using the same white Sika 291, I replaced my old Gunwale rubber, I made up a heat box, heated the rubber to around 55c, which made it supple enough to stretch, I was doing this job on my own, mate never turned up !! So, all went well, managed to get enough stretch from the stern to the bow, clamped it, had it screwed off at the stern, re heated the remaining rubber and finished the other side, screwed it off again and left it for 2-3 days before removing the stern screws and fitting the chrome end caps,, All good.. Well, Kind of, I was pumping the rubber with the Sika before fitting it on, rather that putting it on the lip which works out a neater way of doing it, as I have done previously. The last excess piece of rubber that was cut off, had Sika pumped into it, it got put to one side ( about a meter ). So job finished, Gunwale rubber appears to be holding firm, tested it all around trying to pull it off, but it feels firm. So I picked up the excess piece of rubber yesterday and started playing with the Sika that was inside, much to my amazement, the Sika, pulled out of the rubber, even from the internal finns, in one pull, It had not bonded with the rubber at all. I've not seen this before and am probably a little concerned that this has happened. All 4 tubes are within the expiery dates, I prepped the boats lip with acetone and wiped down the rubber internally prior to starting the job, but there was absolutely no adhesion of the Sika to the gunwale rubber at all. I've completely re checked the rubber around the boat and you can not get any movement at all pulling on it, it feels well stuck down. I've not had this happen before, mind you I have never really checked the Sika to guwale rubber adhesion before either. I've probably done 4-5 Gunwale re do's on mates boats over the journey, without issue or failures before. I'm going to remove the end cap and try and see if indeed the end section, has indeed stuck, I thing I will find it's well and truly bonded to the fibreglass lip on the boat, but on all accounts, the bond to the gunwale rubber, dunno. I will say that the feel of the new gunwale rubber, was very very plastic like, much more than what I remember of the last gunwale rubber I swapped over, but as mentioned, very surprised at the Sika not bonding to it.

No, it was Matt from mobile boat covers... He's based in Ulladulla...

I was impressed with there truck set up, there sewing machines inside. had a huge collapsible table, then the 2 sides of the truck, were hinged, which when opened, gave them more room for bigger stuff, kind of like an awning. There pipe bending machine, fitted on the side of the truck, which gave him plenty of room for the larger pieces of tubing to bend. I wanted to take some photo's of his set up, but didn't want to appear to be getting in his way. It takes a lot to impress me, but this bloke and his set up, certainly did. It's just great that there are still businesses around like this, offering this type of service. The first mobile guy that I was given a number for, I started ringing in May last year, leaving messages etc, a few months after first ringing him, I rang again, to hear a message saying he was no longer answering his phone and to Email him, which I did,, I still haven't heard back !! he was based near Albion park from memory. It's nice to see that there are some businesses out there, doing quality work and that do get back to you when you ring...

No problem

Hi Donna, I thought so too.. He's been doing it for near 25 years, after initially operating from a workshop, he sold that and invested in his mobile truck and has been doing that for some time now. He has a long wait time, as I found out, especially heading into Xmas as well, he told me he hardly advertises as the need out there for a mobile service is huge. I was stunned as to the actual time it took them, most of the shops were quoting 3-4 days minimum, I kept an eagle eye on how things went and wanted to make sure the job they did was good, I couldn't be more happier. A few mates have since cast the critical eyes over their work and all were impressed. The best thing about all this, was not having to lug the boat to someone's workshop, leave it with them then having to return to pick it up. I guess with less overheads, he can afford to be cheaper than other non mobile mobs, but some I got quotes from were up to 1K more....

I I wanted to construct a hard top of sorts, but decided against it in the end and went back to a rag top. Used a local south coast guy, who arrives with his truck, all kitted out with aluminium bending equipment, sewing machines, canopy hardware racks etc and away they go. It took 2 guys around 4 hours to custom make the Bimini at my house, was very impressed with there truck set up and the way they did the job, in my opinion, a quality job. I'd been making do with an old collapsible version, to tight to splash out for a new one, but after a windy and wet night session up the river, getting totally drenched. decided it was time. Not spruking the company or anything, just didn't realise there were companies out there that did these mobile. In Fact, he was considerably cheaper than his competitors which I would have had to take the boat too.. Anyway, just thought I'd share...

Great report AF, As you worked out, knowledge is a big percentage of success. You've confirmed to your self, when the best productives times are to Catch. Hey, this is what fishing is all about, I'm still learning after some 40 odd years... Good luck with your future sessions..

In my opinion, fish oil is one of the better options for boat trailers, it's cheap enough and easy enough to apply. Spraying up inside any enclosed steel, as far as you can go, has gotta be a good idea. Lanolin products and tectal products, are commonly used, but fish oil will penetrate, it's cheap enough and seasonally brushed on has always done the trick for me. In fact, this has prompted me to get out and re do mine again...

Hi Derek, Thankyou for the Welcome as well. I shall keep an eye out for your posts as I learn to navigate the site better. It's all interesting stuff, no matter what your beliefs or practices are, We all do things differently as there's no hard and fast rules to fishing, So I generally try to read others thoughts and methods as much as I can, Sometimes. the penny will drop and I'll say to myself. " Now there's a good idea " and put it into practice. As My Grandfather always told me, " never to old to learn something new "..

That was a great article Derek, appreciate what went into it. Apologies for being off topic somewhat. Well, I've had some really nicely matched Graphite rods to reels over the years, and if it was only me fishing in the boat, all would be good. But, I must have some seriously stupid Deckies, or simply jinxed or have been due some terribly bad luck, cause over a very short period, most of my good graphite rods, got damaged, broken or plainly wrecked ! No one seems to take care of your gear as much as you yourself do. Decision made, remove the remaining graphite rods from the boat I still had, and replace with bog standard fibre-glass versions, now I'm probably doing more offshore work over the last few years, not smaller river fishing, and in all honesty, they have stood up well. I recently got a new 7ft 15-20kg gold series ugly stick for some serious popper and stick bait work and I'm seriously impressed with it's performance. I'll still take out one of my favourite Graphite combo's occasionally, Yep, you can feel the finesse in comparrison to the Fibre glass versions, but in all honesty, they do a dam good job, are less prone to Deckies having mishaps. Still like going down to the local tackle store and having a " play " with the u- bute Graphite iterations, but memories of tears from idiot deckies, prevent me from making the purchase....

Great photo's, Thanks for sharing..

Great video and report Congrats.. They are out there at the minute, forget the hogwash about needing a big boat, at least 3 people, or auto pilot.. Experience is what it's all about, getting out there and giving it a go gets you that experience, for all those wondering.. We tagged and released 5-6 last year on the south coast, 2 up,( in between the crap weather we had and solo I tagged and released 3. Looking forward to the weather being kinder this year...

FG Knott all the way ....