The lids on my Grady are starting to crack and come apart on the side. I understand I can purchase these from Grady at about $500 a pop but I'm looking for someone who can more reasonably repair or rebuild them. Do anyone have any recommendations for someone who can do this reasonably? I'm willing to drive. Thanks again for the suggestion.
Repair person for hatch lids on 1999 fisherman.
- Thread starter jasonburrwc84
- Start date
Anyone...any tips? come on somebody has had to experience the same issues. Any types on how to rebuild hatch covers? My thought is to start with marine ply and then wrap with fiberglass. Any tips?
I'm not sure just what covers you are talking about. I went to the gallery and didn't see any 'fisherman pics . If you have those small covers in the transom area that are having problems it shouldn't be much of an issue starting from the underside and if they are cored, cutting out the core and replacing it. Then over laying the whole bottom with a layer of mat for strength and then a layer of fabric to smooth things out. once you have a good firm foundation you can use faring compound or epoxy to clean up the topsides and make them look good. If it's hatches you walk or stand on then it may require a bit more care to make sure end up with something strong enough to take the load but the method would be very similar. It's dirty work but not that hard.
Good Luck
Good Luck
Your local fiberglass guy can do it but still not cheap at about $100/hr. Just go to any local marine dealer/service and they can give you some names. Mine were cracking all along the front from standing and climbing over the transom. About $400 to have both grinded down and built back up with glass and gelcoat reapplied. I just don't have any desire to mess with that stuff myself. Next time, I may check with my local surfboard maker and then just do the gelcoat myself. I know those guys work a lot cheaper as long as the waves aren't breaking.
There's at least a few of us on this forum that have done fiberglass work. There's a number of threads about this topic and you can likely find them by searching for them. However, the bigger question is not how to repair it, but why it happened in the first place. If it's because the hatches (which hatches... better despcription of what's going on... pictures?) are not fully supported in the closed position, it's just going to happen again. There may be no reason to add wood as an all fiberglass hatch is preferred. But again, we don't know which hatches you're referring to and size of hatch dictates construction.
Let me know how it plays out for you. I just purchased a 2000 Fisherman. The boat is in excellent shape, with the exception of the hatches. The Fisherman that year had a flat deck up front with three separate compartments below it. Two that are symmetrical on either side, and a larger one in center. In addition to those three, in the corners of the stern are smaller hatches, each with a "cutting board" mounted on the top. The hatch hardware is in great shape. But, the hatches all have chips around the outside. Some are very deep. I am advised from some local salts that good gel coat repair should take care of it. But, it's a lot of work. It's frustrating; Grady has a great reputation for soundness and durability - but the hatches did not hold up well. I traded in a smaller Seastrike that was made the same year as the Grady. That boat held up much better on the gel coat side of things. I knew I was going to need these repairs when I bought the boat - so - I can't complain too loud. But, it is surprising.
I have a 1999 Escape that my son and I purchased as a replacement for his outgrown metal jon boat. The boat is pristeen with only 200 hrs on the original Johnson. The problem is the port bow hatch. Water must have entered through the hinge screw(s) and entered the core as the hatch flexes with pressure near the hinge and the gelcoat has a few spider cracks developing. I presume it is cored with 3/8 or half inch plywood, given the date of manufacture. I can handle the fiberglass lamination and gelcoat spraying. My question is how are they cored. Large hatches like these it seems to me would require something stronger than 3/8 to 1/2 plywood. Anybody cut one open?
captain swag said:
Not familiar enough with your setup to say for sure, but many times the coring is NOT extended all the way to the edges of a hatch. However, 1/2" plywood is typical and, structurally, anything larger is not needed. It can even be done with foam.
Take a better look at the underside of the hatch - you'll be able to tell where the coring is quite easily. There's at least a few threads on this forum about repairing coring/hatches and you can likely find them through a search.
The spider cracking is NOT indicative of absolute core damage (although it could be). You'll have to look closer.
Underside of the hatch has no noticable demarcation ridge to indicate where the core ends. It is smooth. The amount of flex in the hatch when pressure is applied is significant. Something is wrong and I suspect it must be rot.
Hmmm. Can you post some pictures? I'm curious to see what you have, there.
Edit:
One thing I wanted to add... If this isn't a very large hatch, many manufacturers have been moving to using all composite construction. You can often tell by the 'finished' (or at least nicer looking than normal) and smooth appearance of the underside of the hatch. Given you don't see any telltale signs of a wood core, I suspect this might be your case. In other words, you may not have a wood core, at all. The "fix" could range anywhere from simply adding something like a nylon shim in the drip channel where the edge of the hatch rests to take the strain of being stepped on... to full reconstruction of the hatch and strengthening with extra glass such as 1708.
Going on the assumption that there is no core, it sounds like there simply wasn't enough support for the hatch when it is closed. Another option (to try and allow the hatch to be better supported when closed) is to put a spacer (assuming regular hinges) between the hinges and the hatch to allow the hatch to, in essence, sit lower and make contact with the floor structure.
You can easily/quickly check the thickness of the hatch with either a caliper or even just your fingers. A non-cored hatched is typically 1/4" to 3/8", or so, thick.
If these are, indeed, regular hinges... changing over to a full length piano hinge should also solve the issue.
Remember - gelcoat cracks do not necessarily indicate damage to the fiberglass underneath. Glass is much more flexible than gelcoat - meaning gelcoat will crack WELL before any damage to the glass.
And... where are the spider cracks emanating from? Just the screw holes, or other places?
Edit:
One thing I wanted to add... If this isn't a very large hatch, many manufacturers have been moving to using all composite construction. You can often tell by the 'finished' (or at least nicer looking than normal) and smooth appearance of the underside of the hatch. Given you don't see any telltale signs of a wood core, I suspect this might be your case. In other words, you may not have a wood core, at all. The "fix" could range anywhere from simply adding something like a nylon shim in the drip channel where the edge of the hatch rests to take the strain of being stepped on... to full reconstruction of the hatch and strengthening with extra glass such as 1708.
Going on the assumption that there is no core, it sounds like there simply wasn't enough support for the hatch when it is closed. Another option (to try and allow the hatch to be better supported when closed) is to put a spacer (assuming regular hinges) between the hinges and the hatch to allow the hatch to, in essence, sit lower and make contact with the floor structure.
You can easily/quickly check the thickness of the hatch with either a caliper or even just your fingers. A non-cored hatched is typically 1/4" to 3/8", or so, thick.
If these are, indeed, regular hinges... changing over to a full length piano hinge should also solve the issue.
Remember - gelcoat cracks do not necessarily indicate damage to the fiberglass underneath. Glass is much more flexible than gelcoat - meaning gelcoat will crack WELL before any damage to the glass.
And... where are the spider cracks emanating from? Just the screw holes, or other places?
I can tell you this! per the very experienced fiberglass repair guy I had repair my anchor locker hatch. Grady is using crap "composite" on these hatches. Its not fiberglass. I saw for myself while he repaired it. Cost $300.00 I am quickly losing my positive opinion of the Grady quality..and I have had three of them. The older the better it starting to seem,, :uhm
Fishtales
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