DIY POLYETHYLENE REPAIR TO WILDERNESS SYSTEM TARPON 160i KAYAK USING AN OLD RAIN X BOTTLE

I WAS OFFERED A FREE KAYAK THAT WAS ON ITS WAY TO THE DUMP.....IT HAD BEEN STRIPPED OF ALL ITS HATCH COVERS,SOME RUDDER PARTS,FOOT PEGS...AND YEAH IT HAD A SIGNIFICANT HOLE IN IT.THIS REPAIR USES A RAIN X BOTTLE FOR REPAIR MATERIAL....THE KAYAK IS A TARPON DIY 160i.....CONFLUENCE WHO OWNS WILDERNESS SYSTEMS KAYAKS WAS NOT HELPFUL AT ALL WITH AQUIRING REPAIR MATERIAL...I HAVE NOT HAD MUCH LUCK IN THE PAST WITH THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE...I HAVE OWNED 6 OF THEIR KAYAKS AND AM DISSAPPOINTED WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE AND THEIR LEAKY NEW HATCH COVERS.

[@3mfuqua]

Fantastic fix! Too many people are of the mindset that if it's broken, toss i. Good to see a great effort paying off. Looks great, too.

[@wingxxzero]

Dude all you need to do is melt it back together with a soldering iron.Simply put the soldering iron in the crack and press them together as they melt. If you can't do that you add more PE to the seem as you go making sure that ALL materials are molten. whatever side that isn't molten will not bound since you are basically mixing them together and then having them cool interwoven. Another thing, the heating of the area with a heat gun is pointless and in the end will only permanently turn the High density polyethylene into lower density/non aligned molecules that will be less rigid/hard. Even more of a reason to keep the heat isolated to the crack lines themselves.

[@juliovideo1]

Good job and very professional,now the kayak is stronger and safer than when it was new.

[@theamericanoath8188]

Great Job brother in save the kayak and bring it back to life. There are types of buckets and plastic that will work great it takes time. But you did a great job man. Good job. Thumbs up

[@randyo308]

I like it. Nothing at all wrong with extra effort and material for a super hold.In a Kayak there is a lot of flexing and torqueing of the structure between use, loading and unloading and transportation.Great fix.

[@Kevinthekiller82]

Awesome! Thank you for sharing. I'm in the process of patching up a Wilderness 140 that was given to me by a buddy. Will make a perfect spare yak when complete.

[@TheSoCalPipeSmoker]

Best repair video I have seen. I am going to keep this handy incase I ever need it. Thanks for taking the time to share.

[@AndyMcCavish]

I'll probably never have to repair a kayak but thanks for the lesson, appreciated.

[@MichiganHiker]

hey my man, just came across the video and was wondering now a few years down the road how did it hold up? always good stuff as usual from you, thanks for taking the time to share this.

[@RimfireRat]

I wouild have drilled a 1/8" hole at the ends of the crack b/4 starting that keeps the crack from trying to spread

[@federicolicomijares]

Just like a bumper repair 101.

[@Cwhammocks]

Nice job. Sorry to hear about the poor customer srvc from Confluence. Really nice to see you getting some life out of a decommissioned yak. Wish someone would give me one to try this on. Really enjoy the videos. Keep the coming.

[@pisgah45732]

fine job, patched a crack in my 120 with some HDP nut can lids, a putty knife and a propane torch, a little faster but way dicier and nowhere near such a large area, or nice finish-congrats!

[@ChuckRichardsHandmadeKnives]

You and Mike are the kings of fixin stuff. Chuck

[@GenericUserUnknown]

You say you're not saying it's permanent... that's a permanent fix. Almost surely overkill, but it should last for sure. Most repairs I see, for a tear like that don't add in NEARLY as much material, and only along the cut. That patch should outlast the rest of the kayak! Good work.

[@homersimpson2620]

you should check out Seam Grip, i first got it to repair a tent and was shocked by how strong it is. I have been using it for years now for all sorts of things and its never let me down. If i had this kayak £20 worth of Seam Grip 24 hours drying time job done

[@aussiecamperman8382]

My Yak is Polypropylene aswell, what i did was skuff up the area really well with a wire wheel on the end of a drill, then spread some Resin to cover area and let it dry, then when it was dry, i scuffed it again with course sandpaper then procceded with fibreglass cloth and Resin.So the trick is to scuff area really well and prep it with Resin 1st.

[@TaffenFelspar]

Nice job. You may wish to use a orange Tide bottle for the patch next time. It's a better color match.

[@kayaktote]

GREAT vid. Thanks for the time and effort that you put into it. I am sure there are plenty of kayakfishing brothers that will totally appreciate it. I know I do. Tote from NorCal Kayak Anglers

[@HellVedaKa]

Nice fix! It wasn't a kayak,but I fixed a similar hole in a basketball hoop base with fix a flat since I didn't have 2 part foam insulator.foam fill might be good for additional bouyancy though.thanks for sharing!

[@tokay999]

Throw a sticker on there, that patch is solid!

[@DestinInshoreGuide]

Great video! I have a Hobie outback that has a small hairline crack in the mirage port that I plan on fixing just like this. Thanks so much for posting.

[@natscorm3009]

Awesome job!

[@thebrian4201]

great repair man! I live a mile away from k and l industries, I've bought dozens of "factory flawed" models and resold on Craigslist for near retail value. I just seal em off! I'd suggest doing this in your area. become friends with k and l......large profit margin. peace. thank you!

[@EconoChallenge]

That was a beautiful fix. Nothing ugly about that. You are keeping from going to the dump. That is ugly my friend.

[@lxoxrxexnx]

A quick trip to you local landfill/recycling center could get you a detergent bottle or the like that would match your repair more closely.

[@JB-gf8qc]

Wow-Awesome job-Congrats.

[@SilverShadow2LWB]

You really need to heat the screen with a torch to have it melt into the kayak. There are probably several ways to mend this. You did your way. By using the screen at least bugs and flying insects won't get into the kayak. Thanks.

[@sionehefa3458]

Excellent repair.

[@cowboyup1251]

How was a hole like that done ? That sucks !! Why did the company not back the kayak ????

[@jaybothebig]

I think you did an awesome job m8.

[@ACTIONDANhero]

Impressive finish

[@pattihall7971]

thanks, great video

[@grumpyg9350]

Great job 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@frankc6430]

you could just melt the repair plastic to 320 deg to liquid and fuse it better by pouring the hot plastic on the seams instead to melting it forever with a heat gun, heat up the spatula then press ... just look at the poly data to save you time....either way took you a long time but still works , good video .

[@sionehefa3458]

How and where do you melt plastic to 320 deg around the home? What method? Is there any health hazards from fumes? Is that deg F or Cel? I would try it if possible. Thanks.

[@charlescain7962]

Went to DynaLab, their specs sheet say poor uv qualities for HDPE, imagine kayak has uv inhibitors in it. Paint is a good idea for long term uv protection as well as looks. Good vid.

[@MrGreenfean]

Have you thought about mixing a similar color tarp to the plastic jug? I'm pretty sure they are made of the same thing

[@matttcoburn]

thanks for the video. Got to do mine now!

[@aussiecamperman8382]

Nice job champ, just wondering why you didnt use a Fibreglass repair kit. I ripped a hole about the same size as your repair on my Kyak and used a Fibreglass repair kit and its held up for over 7 years so far.

[@billyjoedenny]

very good bro,,,,,,,now you have two boats.......one for me,,,,,haha....great job

[@13ClaytonM]

Awesome video. How has it been holding up. I am gonna be melting down a old town loon 111 thrown away on tree lawn in a minute, to fix cracked haul and this video is really gonna help thanks again for posting

[@noeltalley2920]

sweet. thanks for the vid. very helpful

[@la5150hi-lophoto]

Great video...thanks!

[@cwrobinson6363]

Outstanding!

[@Dawgs241]

I have a Tarpon 160 and this thing is a solid kayak. I'm curious how this happened.

[@Ls3guy]

great video

[@dgrfsthrgsergwrtghasefq]

"linear" polyethylene (opposed to cross link polyethylene) cannot be welded beyond a temporary cosmetic patch (which will fall off in short time), no matter how many KZbin videos people make and also cannot be recycled. Make sure to thank most all kayak companies for making the switch to cheap inferior plastic for greater profit margin. Confluence Outdoors (wilderness systems, Dagger & Perception) lead the way.

[@DV-dk5hd]

Why didn't you use a home depot bucket to match the color?

[@cuivre2004]

After all that, you say you "don't recommend it"? Seems like a pretty solid fix to me! (unless you are afraid of getting sued by someone, LOL).

[@thebrian4201]

such an easy fix, what's your price? I'd be interested in buying her.

[@blairguinea1337]

good job man !

[@brdsrtrl]

trying to learn here but should he have drilled the ends of the cracks?

[@yakinsc9082]

No

[@williamsollicito3305]

yes, using a small drill bit at the ends of the crack will help prevent the crack from continuing after the repair. But this is still a very good repair. this repair should hold up for quite a while. And i agree with Author No1 adding a High Density Foam support in the are would most likely make thes repair permanent. sousaville i like what you have done here and it was a great tutorial. Keep up the good work. and using a mesh is great in order to give a repair more rigidity.

[@wacka2]

to be fair , the act of melting the crack will take any stress thats there right out immediately , no need to drill stop holes at all .

[@808strykr]

thanx for posting :)

[@NearlyNativeNursery]

Great repair video. Thanks form Ga. Way too bad the america no customer service reared its ugly head again.True quality controls, standing behind ones products and customer service is a thing of the past. We now live in a mine, log, and drill disposable linear model and system of commerce which destroying everything in its path only to make inferior products to maintain high profits. One would think after spending that kinds of money for a name brand fishing yak from Wilderness Systems that they would offer you a free repair kit. Weak spots are a on going problem with improper roto molding. It appears your heal found a weak spot?

[@ReeperzOutdoors]

You did it bro, I didn't do anything......lol But uh wait a minute. Don't matta what mine looks like any mo, REEPA YAKIN NOW........LOL

[@Monica-qu7fo]

Will a milk jug work?

[@cowboyup1251]

How well did it hold so far ?

[@canallivrevitoria]

cara como isso foi acontecer

[@jadekayak01]

i dont see a kayak;just a shaped surfboard

[@Snicke22]

+++++

[@ModelARider]

Thanks for taking time to record your repair. I had to repair an orange kayak and decided to use a piece of Home Depot orange bucket. Turned out good too!

[@jimmiebrayll1859]

A better way to repair the spot would be to dremel out the crack and then use a wood rasp to shave a 5 gal bucket for the plastic. you will want to get a steel cup or a ladel and slow melt the plastic over a flame and pour it onto the area, then run a heat gun and use a putty knife to smooth it out and sand after that.

[@Manuel_Z_Kayaks]

Step 1 clean with denatured alcohol Step 2 if available apply aluminum tape to underside /inside Step 3 lay out wire mesh Step 4 melt center of mesh in place with welding iron (no heavy pressure!) Step 5 work outward very slowly from center (it'll look like a "*") Step 6 start melting on plastic with iron.. Spray with cool water after finished Step 7 sand the surface smooth after its cool. Step 8 using heat gun in small sections smooth with wet cloth (t-shirt) pressing and rubbing lightly. You bent the hell out of your iron! You heated the surface way to hot without the mesh. Best plastic is a little tykes or playschool toy close to the same color

[@30mofishing]

great work bro... thats a super fast yak... luv it...

[@drewolm]

I don't know why there's 7dislikes, thought the video was very informative and the patch looks real strong. Good job. Surprised a shop wouldn't want to fix that and sell it as is. One thing I wondered about was, if the hole size allowed, take the chunk out and mount a flush mount rod holder there. The repair would be a lot less labor intensive and structurally should be fine. Good video though.

[@SouthernAceCrafts]

Drew Olmsted That's not a bad suggestion but I would point out that the location of the hole is almost under the area where his right leg would be. So he wouldn't be able to use the rod holder for its intended purpose. He would also have to keep it plugged to prevent water from entering the hull.

[@tingfact]

+Drew Olmsted Don't destroy the integrity of the design. But any time you have an expanse like that - use high density foam between the deck and the hull to strengthen the deck. You should be able to walk all over a deck without it collapsing.

[@JS-qg1ie]

A good trick I’ve done is to drill holes and get expanding foam in the holes to support the crack then just fill the holes and the crack. The foam just supports the flap from bending in and also waterproofs the crack so once repaired it also acts as a secondary barrier to the water.

[@addisonroberts7076]

I had a buddy of mine who when beating the hell out of a tarpon missed and hit a whole in his yak. He took Aluminum plates and bolted one sandwiching the kayak in the center and adding silicone and then heating the plate over and over so the kayak molded back into the shape and after a few weeks he took the top plate off and kept the bottom plate on there and it worked great. I was very surprised. Great vid.

[@cowboyup1251]

yea that putty don t work this is a real 2 part epoxy cost alittle but workes well and i don t think lowes has this !! i got it at plumbing store. The name will come to me it is made for any plastic alum copp good vid

[@cowboyup1251]

That cool !! I know there is a plumbing epoxy it is whites sands paints and even can be tapped when I can't reamber the name i will let u know when I think of it good stuff !!! I fixed a plastic radiator in my car it held till I sold it was over a year later !! I even fixed a hole in a old jon boat never gave me a problem eather . Hope it keeps holding up for u !!

[@ReeperzOutdoors]

EXCELLENT JOB BROTHA!! Phttt DATS PERMINATE! You know I beat my canoe to death on rocks and mind held up. Urs looks MO BETTA THAN MINE DID...lol Great job!

[@tomjeffersonwasright2288]

Part right and part wrong. Cooling between layers is no good. All welding needs to melt both the substrate and the added material to fuse (weld) it. Looks don't mean much. It has to be fused in one solid piece from hull through patch to hull. White areas between layers usually mean trapped air which means no fusion. I weld metals, and it is the same theory, on different materials. Most important. Find out if your kayak is cross linked or linear poly pro. Linear is relatively easy and cross linked is hard if not impossible to weld. I have tried for years with no success on cross linked. The good news is that most kayaks, especially low cost kayaks, are linear. Dont work on your kayak after just this video. Watch several more, and if you have a name brand, call their customer support. Mine is an 21 year old Ocean Kayak, and their tech support is fantastic. They told me how to do it, and what materials. You guys with discount store cheapies……I hope you speak Chinese. If I had one, I would level with a major producer, and ask for their help. The folks I talked to would probably help. Their tech support is one of their big selling points. Good luck

[@flysubcompact]

Looks like a stout repair. Thanks for the video. I have a leaky kayak, so this if filed away for research.

[@luke_lewis1630]

Nice welding. Those plastics are definitely bonded. If you ever weld orange again I would use a Home Depot bucket. They are very close in color and are also made out of HDPE

[@MnktoDave]

Nice job! Now I gotta fix one of my boats...hope it turns out as well as yours! Great how-to video, thanks!

[@dbirdez]

Nice repair !!! I did a kayak last year and some small projects so I'm no pro by any means but I would have looked at auto zone as all their plastic is orange and you could have worked the orange plastic in and not have to paint , just an idea . Still your project looks great.

[@nj4x4fever2]

outstanding repair, thanks for making the video and explaining everything. Looks great, how is it holding up today? Happy Easter 2013!

[@michaelschaller7572]

Finished product was great nice job if it were mine i would say that fix was more than i could have ever expected from a recycled bottle .

[@omarr.378]

How long did the whole process take you, from start to finish? Thanks BTW, how is it holding so far (if you still have it)?

[@osifuentes1]

Using your method looks like It worked VERY WELL! I will make sure to keep this video for any Dings I may get on my Kayak! Thanks for sharing! Good Job! The StarHunter

[@danr2013]

I saw video from tap plastics showing how they use a 2 part resin they make on polyethylene. Any experience with that or any other resin?

[@tiredtridude]

Great video. Thanks for explaining the process. Any estimate on how many hours it took you to do that?

[@ronyerke9250]

That bird poop looking patch looks a LOT better with paint on it. Good job.

[@addisonroberts7076]

Looks like someones foot.. Ashame great vid glad to have this in mind just incase

[@Manuel_Z_Kayaks]

OK, IT''s over a year later, how did it hold up?

[@xplorinms]

Thanks, man. Was totally lost on how to even get started on my canoe. I have a cold one to you on the river.

[@davidjeromedawson]

Looks great. Maybe add some orange to other areas so it looks more uniform

[@steelthrower]

Nice job! I have that boat and good to know how to repair just in case.

[@Labyrnthdom]

How did the hole happen? Looks like a foot heel went in there?

[@GimmieTheGaff]

Excellent job. Thanks for sharing.

[@dixee6498]

I don't know what kind of plastic it is but a Go-jo soap container might have matched that plastic pretty well. Still a great job you did though and thank you for sharing.

[@leesherman8068]

The rain-x spray bottles are very close color wise to his yak. Check if they are hdpe first. High density polypropylene

[@425Lewis]

A suggestion: orange juice cap. Those caps are on plastic jugs and the orange juice caps are plastic and a deep orange color. That may work to melt in to cover the patch with a similar color of orange.

[@ytrew9717]

those are usually PP plastic, I guess they don't work for HDPE

[@1maxinefan49]

Thanks for the suggestions!!

[@totilsom]

excellent!!

[@mbormann6046]

On that hole an aluminum license plate on the inside another on the outside with some 100% high temp silicone inside and outside. some stainless screws to hold it all together and finished

[@chunkyfecalbreakfast]

I had no idea Vin Diesel was into Kayaking