Fixing a gouge in the bottom of my PA14, caused by cart

Hi there,
My Hobie cart had the common problem where the black retainer rings slip down with the weight of the PA14 no matter how tight you make them. Anyhow, I guess the boat got moved with the wheel rubbing on one side and it wore a pretty good gouge in the bottom on one side. The gouge is not "clear through" by any means but it is a little bit deep and I would like to fill it if possible. Its not a "crack" that would allow for a typical hot air gun / melted plastic crack repair.

I am amazed at how quickly this gouge was created. Thinking about it though, the weight of the PA, sand, and a spinning wheel create a pretty powerful cutting tool! I am also more used to fiberglass boats, and its a learning experience to see how soft the Hobie hulls are.

I understand the Hobies are made from HDPE plastic and if you read about this material it is notorious for being difficult to glue. There is one glue that gets alot of good press with HDPE though, its 3m's DP-8010. Some info here,

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/e ... 8HT14PGTgl

DP-8010 is expensive ($25 for a relatively small amount) and has a very short 10 minute working time, but there are posts here on the Hobie forums that talk about how strong this adhesive is with HDPE.

My question is whether anyone has used this material as a "filler" instead of a adhesive. It looks like pretty good stuff and there are people that have used it to make some make or break structural repairs on their boats.


Here are some other posts that talk about this adhesive, but they don't talk about using it as a filler-

viewtopic.php?t=11245 (this is a really good one)
https://www.hobiecat.com/forums/viewtop ... 69&t=40645
https://www.hobiecat.com/forums/viewtop ... &view=next

If nothing else maybe someone will see this and decide to read more about DP-3010 when they need to glue two pieces of HDPE together. Supposedly the bond ends up being stronger than the HDPE plastic itself when it is done correctly.

Chris

I've filled in holes from an item I moved or changed using propane torch , butter knife. Heat the knife and use spare same color plastic and place the plastic on the hole, touch and rub the knife over it. Continue heating the knife and fixing.

I have had the same gouge now for almost two years. I will get around to fixing it now that I have a piece of Papaya plastic.

You can fix the collars by removing the tightening bolt file down the side with the nut retainer so you can grip the nut with a wrench. Then file the slot a lot wider. Now put the bolt back in and use an end wrench on the nut as you tighten the bolt with an allen wrench.

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Hobie PA14 with a mod or two

Some random Modification Pictures

Had the same issue with my cart so I cut some white pvc pipe to act as a spacers between the clamp and the cross bar of the cart.