Rotted Ribs?

[JamiesonC]

Good afternoon everyone,

I recently purchased a very used 16ft Bass Tracker from 1987, this afternoon I pulled the old plywood out and a handful of the ribs underneath are rotten through, some are so bad the foam underneath is showing through. The plan is to make a duck boat out of this ol' girl and my question is has anyone either rebuilt or do you have a place to go a and get aftermarket/replacement ribs. It is too bad in most spots to weld another angle piece over it.

Thanks,
Jamieson

 

[GTS225]

Can't help you with the rebuild, but out of curiosity, was the plywood you pulled out pressure treated?

Roger

 

[MN Fisher]

That would be my first guess as well.

Pressure treated wood and aluminum don't play well together.

 

[JamiesonC]

Thanks for responding and I believe it was but I asked a good friend specifically about it and the ribs had foam running throughout the inside of them and became water logged, he said its a specific type of corrosion in the aluminum if its continuously touching water. I can't remember the name of the corrosion but it is basically like rust to steel, it looks like swiss cheese!!!

 

[eeshaw]

Was it galvanic corrosion?

 

[GTS225]

That could very well be. Metals in constant contact with water don't usually fare well over time.
However, your first post in this thread suggest just the tops of the ribs are shot. Am I understanding that correctly?
I suggest that if the sides of the ribs aren't corroded to the extent of the tops, then the waterlogged foam doesn't sound like the culprit here.

Just trying to break down the problem.

Roger

 

[LDUBS]

Foam inside the ribs. Is that a common practice? Isn't floatation normally between ribs? I may be missing something.