Ideas on what to use to repair the sled on my older clam shanty

[fish boy]

Well I've had it for a long time now and all that dragging over the roads has taken its toll.  I did put those runners on it two years ago but the damage has already been done.  The problem is both back corners have worn away! mostly cause there's a fat guy that sits on the seat every time I take it out! lol  The ends kinda got caved in then the edges wore off.  I tried sanding it real good then plastering it with two part epoxy but it ust won't stick to the plastic.  So now it fills up with snow when I pull it.  Any suggestions would be great. 
Thanks in advance

[missfishylicious]

try patching it from the inside you could use a piece of plastis glue it on with winshield adhesive and rivet it in place. I can't think of anything that would hold up on the outside
good luck

[shark]

There are many kinds of plastic repair products in the auto industry , Try local parts store or auto repair shop.
 
         Mark

[Contender]

I would get a fiberglass patch kit from an auto store and patch it from the inside. The kit comes with fberglass cloth and a can of resin. Put the clothof the holes and smear the resin on. This stuff is tough and can be sanded and painted. 

[Gamalot]

Been there and done that!
Forget the fiberglass, it will not stick. Forget the epoxy it will not stick.
I have had some luck with a plastic repair kit I bought at an ATV show for repairing the fenders of ATVs. It was a bit pricy but it has held up the best of all of them.
www.plastex.net or 775-853-3377. It is called Plastex plastic repair kit and designed for this type of impossible plastic by G.T. Motorsports. Even comes in different colors.
In a nutshelll, the bonding agent must first melt the plastic to make a good bond. Kind of like welding the plastic. The problem is that in the extreme cold, nothing will work great and the best option is a new sled. Clam sells them for the guide model for around $100, less for the one man models.
The plastic is similar to what plastic PVC pipe is made from and if you ever worked with this then you know how the bonding works.
Good luck.

[fish boy]

Gamalot
Thanks for the info.  Yeah I would buy a new sled but the tarp is old too.  Many patches and not the newer cloth so I should really just replace it altogether but I figured there are enough folks on this site that somebody must have had some luck with something.  The epoxy I used basically stuck to itself, and that plugged the hole for a while but eventually came off.  I woudn't be so agaist buying a new shanty but I'm not really all that enamored with the new clams and the frabills drag too hard.  I like the bench seat my old one has,  it was truly made for a guy with a big arse.  Thanks for the info and keep it comin

[Gamalot]

Think what I would do in your shoes is wait to find a nice sale on the same size clam. I don't think they change the sleds themselves much so you could mount your Fat Boy seat in the new one and have everything you need.
The plastex worked OK for me because my sled cracked in about the same place while out in -20. First I rivited a piece of alluminum to the inside that covered the crack and kept it from going any further. I used the Plastex to fill the crack from both in and out and it has held so far. Can't say as I would trust it to fill in missing or worn off sections. The stuff does work great on ATV plastics and it is worth the money for this stuff.
Good luck in your project, hope I gave you some info to work with.
Gary

[dilligaf]

Back to basics!!!  Has anyone suggested contacting the manufacturer, or are they out of business?

[upstateny]

What ever you use to patch it coat it with clear GE RTV, I patched a boat (aluminum) with an aluminum bond mix and coated it with RTV, it was a hole about the size of a half dollar, the patch has held since 1977! I still use the boat on occasion. The RTV will protect what ever you use from degradation due to moisture and RTV is good over extreme temperature ranges.
Jim T

[Webguy]

Hot glue might do it. Put a glass jar in the corner and fill the hole in from the outside with the hot glue gun. When it cools pull the jar away and touch up if needed. They're fairly cheap and just might do it for you.

[Ice the eye]

Forget the glue!!!!  Why dont you just get a piece of sheet metal or aluminum, bash it with a hammer and bend it with some pliers until its approximately the correct shape and then rivet it on.  You might have to buy a rivet gun, but I can't imagine the whole repair costing more than $30 and then you get a rivet gun as a bonus.  Much cheaper than $100 repair kit.

[LoneWolf]

I believe I answered a similar question last season or the season before. The best I could do with mine was to use a piece of plastic edgeing and hot glue. I took a piece of stiff, black plastic edgeing (the hammer in type) slightly larger than the hole and hot glued it to the inside. Then I cut a piece of edgeing (matching the thickness of the sled) to the size of the hole and hot glued it in place. It lasted the season ! ( Make sure the hot glue is rated for plastic ).
If you contact Clam they will sell you the base ... I know the Pro is $65.00 plus shipping.

[fish boy]

Thanks all, many great ideas, not sure what I'll do.  I took a good look at it last night and i'm not sure its worth putting a lot of time into.  Maybe its time for a new one. I'm not sure I may try the sheet metal thing as I have all the stuff for that (just to get me through the year).

Thanks again
Tom 

[fish boy]

Just in case anyone cares I ended up using a piece of real stout plastic sign stock I think it was .07" thick just cut it to size, then unscrewed the runners at the back, slid the piece under the runner and screwed it back in place then heated the sign stock with a torch so I could bend it to fit the shape of the bottom of the sled and pop rivited it in placealong the edges and back.  Had to cut the back corners to get them to fold over, but the whole thing looks great and sure seems like it will last as long as I need it to.  Oh I also shaved the leading edge down so its more of a smooth transition.  Boy that stuff is real stout but works easily when you heat it a little.  Anyway nobody will probably read this but the thing looks good and only cost me about four bucks to do.

[missfishylicious]

good job fish boy.It's always great when you can save some money and leave some room in the dump 

[fish boy]

Yeah I even impressed myself.  used it this afternoon and it works great!  no more hauling back half the lake on the trip home!