Broken Tub on Fish Trap Pro

[yellowhog]

 My first post here...love the site. best one I have found on the net, parden the pun...

Last winter while crossing a pressure crack with my atv and my hut in tow,  the rear end of my bike broke through and when i hit the throttle to pull myself out, the front edge of the downhill ski's I had fastened to my hut as runners, caught under the ice, and Tore a BIG chunk out of the bottom of my hut..I was and still am sick about it..I need to repair the bottom somehow, and I had 3 thoughts, 1 just purchase a new tub, but that would be too easy..2 to get some puck board and try to cover it that way..3, make a whole new base frame out of plywood and get some other skis for under it, but it would be much heavier with the wood over the poly of the tub..Have any of you guys ran into the hiccup with your trap pros?? any help will be appreciated

[Reel_Force]

Well ya can try some J.B. Weld - Epoxy ....

[yellowhog]

Well ya can try some J.B. Weld - Epoxy ....

it's way beyond just glueing it back together..it's ripped and torn with a chunk missing..I had large SS pan washers on the inside to hold the skis on, and when it pulled, it tore it up bad.

[tbfisherman]

Do a Search under this Heading.....My Homemade $15 Sled!
This Sled will get your Shelter up above the snow and it will be very easy to tow it out onto the Ice.
Lots of people have done this even with Flip Over Shelters and Thanks is Due to Smitty....Called the Smitty Sled now.

Bob

[yellowhog]

Thanks TB, and he did a nice job and it's a very simple set up. In my opinion, the whole idea behind the flip overs is portability, and I'm not a fan of having to undo hold down straps, lift it on and off every time I want to move. I want a portable to be just that, flip it back, throw the cover on and away we go to the next spot..

Smittys set up is a perfect solution for the suitcase huts, but thats the reason I didn't but one because of the length of time it takes to pack up and move..some of my buddies have them, and in my opinion the are a pain in the butt..

I thought maybe someone has revamped their tubs after damaging the bottom in theirs

[JohnF]

Are all of the parts there?

I believe it is HDPE, which is easily welded.  You can use plastic from 5 gal. HDPE buckets for filler.  (most are HDPE)

Google plastic welding.

[DEADONDYLAN]

I've done the plastic welder on a few tubs so far. works good, It's stiffer than the original plastic but holds together rather well. Harbor freight sells the kit and some sheet plastic. there kit is more like a soldering iron comes with metal screen material, put metal screen down melt it into existing plastic on both sides and fill in with the sticks, if it's a bigger hole donor plastic can be put in between existing plastic. let the iron do the work,the tips are fairly fragile if you go heavy handed. good luck to ya. Dylan

[Layne]

Buy a new tub if its a big hole, take it to a plastic repair shop if its not.

[yellowhog]

Fairly sizeable piece tore out of the bottom, and I had called Clam corp in regards of a new tub..they said it would cost about asmuch as double to ship it compared to the price of the tub..I'm almost tempted to build a new base out of plywood with another set of downhill skiis under it..Might be the cheapest, not the lightest solution..

[cold_feet]

Try this:

 Take plastic like Plexiglass or even CD jewels. Break them into pieces and load them into a Quart mason jar with steel lid (not plastic). get some MEK (methyl Ethyl Keytone) From Lowes its a form of paint thinner. very strong smell though. Pour it over the broken plastic and agitate shake and stir till this all dissolves(about a hour or so). It will turn into a heavy liquid like syrup. Now cut and place a Piece of plastic over the hole and along the cracks overlap about 1". Take the liquid called Propionate and saturate the area and one side of the plastic patch and glue the plastic to the tub. This stuff dries fast trust me. When it dries flip the tub and coat the bottom of the sled where the cracks are then redo the inside coating it well. We use this for making lures and also used in pool repair for mending plastic stairs.

[yellowhog]

hey cold feet. you wind the prize for the best answer so far..I'm not sure if I can purchase MEK up here in Canada, but I will look for it..What are CD Jewels?? . I'm thinking plexi could be a bit stiff...those huts at 40mph, take some pounding..I'm wondering about a material somewhat flexible..

Do the two materials...the poly tub, and another material...will this concoction of MEK and another type plastic bond to each other??

I think you got me on the right path though..

[Striker7]

Not sure of the cost but you might try doing your repairs with ski repair sticks, back in the day I think they were called "P-Tex" sticks. you melted them to fill rock gouges in the bottom of skis, might stay more flexable in cold weather

[Reel_Force]

Try some J.B. Weld .... Skim coat the bottom, a lil thicker inside - rough it up w/ some sand paper first.

http://jbweld.net/products/jbweld.php

[gmoney]

If you do go the MEK route, make sure you are in a well ventilated area or you have a fume hood of some type. That stuff is not good for you to breathe in

[yellowhog]

Try some J.B. Weld .... Skim coat the bottom, a lil thicker inside - rough it up w/ some sand paper first.

I'm needing a plyable material to replace the pieces that are gone..ripped off, they are big holes in the bottom of tub..it's going to take more then some JB Weld..

If you do go the MEK route, make sure you are in a well ventilated area or you have a fume hood of some type. That stuff is not good for you to breathe in

I will be smiling for daze..won't know which day it is...but I will be smiling..

[cold_feet]

The MEK mix I am talking about will be somewhat pliable. Yes it will flex. Jewels are the cases CD's come in if you have a kid around chances are they got spares. My son had about 200 floating around here and I put them to work in lure building. You can also try plastic water bottles. Chances are they will melt too and be a little more flexable. Use a plastic bucket for filler material not plexiglass. The Plexi glass will shatter in the cold but a old 5 gal drywall compound bucket will work just fine. heat it to form to sled..  The MEK is about the same as PVC pipe primer and you know what that does to plastic. Adding the other plastic to this mix will make what we call varnish in lure building but we also use it as glue. Pretty much indristructable stuff. As far as useing JB weld forget it that stuff like any other glue or epoxie on hard plastic just lays on top and can be flicked off with finger, The Propionate I talk about is solvent based and will soften the base material enough for it to adhere and create one solid piece. Make a few phone calls for the MEK and try it out. Please do not smoke or use open flame around this stuff and do it in well ventalated area. Work small areas as this stuff drys fast too.

[SkeeterJeff]

It's a long shot, but maybe you can find a used tub from a shanty that has the material and/or hardware shot. 

-Jeff

[JohnF]

JB Weld does not stick to polyethylene plastic - the PE of HDPE is polyethylene.

MEK is a great solvent.  But not for HDPE. In fact, MEK solvent based solutions often come in HDPE containers. (industrial inks and such)
The MEK solution is awesome for ABS though.  Done right it can be like magic.

About the only choice I know of for fixing HDPE is welding.  I have an older Argo and have learned to weld HDPE on it.

Welding HDPE is an easy albiet slow process.  It's not like welding metal, it gets hot a goopy and you have to apply pressure to get the plastic to meld.  Done right the weld is as strong as the original.

[yellowhog]

It's a long shot, but maybe you can find a used tub from a shanty that has the material and/or hardware shot.  

-Jeff

Skeeter: Yes it's a long shot, and I know some of you fine fellows think we still live in Igloos up here, but last I checked, we didn't any ice hut wreckin yards....I'm just messing with ya..I will keep an eye out for a donor tub.

[eyefish2]

A couple thoughts.   Have you thought about removing both skies and mounting a piece of tin on the bottom.  Could mount the tin via screws.  Potentially screw it into plastic strips or wood strips that would be on inside of shack??? (maybe a sheet of flexible plastic like the roll up sleds that kids use for sliding??) Another thought would be to seach for some type of a replacement sled that would be of similar size or same size??.

Good luck on this one.  Would bug the $&^%#$ out of me until I got a new sled or new shack (whatever the price).

[yellowhog]

eyefish2: I suppose I could indeed screw some tin or plastic crazy carpet onto the outside of it...that would at least get me by..thankfully, I have my fish trap guide to use until I came up with a solution,,,but I miss that little 1 man hut...I just might order a new tub next summer through my dealer, and have him bring it up with next winters order...See how they are priced..

I figured with that numbers of people using this site, that surely someone had suffered from the same dilemma as I have..