Ok guys this might be crazy but tell me what you think. I have a ribbed 1648 war eagle. I got a local aluminum guy that said he would cut the bottom off and put a true flat bottom on. The only reason I want to do this is because I like the way the inside of my boat is rigged out. I know I could have a rig built but redoing the bottom is only a fraction of the cost of just redoing the bottom. Let me know what you think.

I did the same. After one year of hunting the welds had hair line cracks all in them. Getcha a good bilge pump. Bought a new boat this year. Ask your welder about this and see what he says.

I would see the quality of his welds when attaching .100 to 1/8th. I may be wrong, but I've heard it's not an easy task.

I had a 3/16" bottom put on. Metal handled good. Not sure exactly what made the welds start cracking but took a can of flex seal a day to finish out the season.

boat repairs???? That'll cost you thousands!!!!! just get you some flex seal

That's why I said fck it. I'm not a professional welder and he acted like he didn't why why either. Said I was being too rough with it. That's a load of BS. So I got a new boat this year. I'm not tryin to tell ya don't do it but that was the outcome I had. And for seal is some bad shit. Tends to peel off once you dry do I it tho. Good luck with it.

This may sound like malicious engineering. Why cut the whole bottom out?
Why not just cut the rib out and plate over? You could cut a slice from the top of the rib then heat and hammer flat, then plate over. It could be welded from the inside and outside. That should solve flex. jmho
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Sell that boat. And get one built. You'll be fighting that thing forever. There is a couple of builders that can build you a boat fir roughly 4k.

Why not skin it with some 18-20 ga? Wont add much weight will give you the flat without taking away from the structure. Then if it dont pan out cut it off grind it smooth and sell it.

I'd run the boat the way it is before I paid to have it boogered up. IMO your wrecking a good boat someone could use with an outboard. Sell it, take the funds and put some more with it and get yourself a builder to give you the layout just like your current boat.

I have a 1542 tracker topper. It is a fukn pop can. I have sooo many fish hooks and dents. It started leaking bad so I gatorglided it this year. All leaks have stopped. That gg has bought me a few more years

Welding on thin metal makes it even more brittle meaning won't take to much to mess it up. I agree with getting one built


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My old boat was originally ribbed, then had the bottom replaced with slick .125. Didn't have any problems for two seasons with a long tail on back. Still holding up the last Time I asked about it.


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Some of the custom builders can build you a boat exactly as you want as smoke said. There are plenty folks running outboards that would love to have that war eagle.


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so what about just leaving hull and putting another piece right over ribs. I am going to trade some stuff for the metal just have to pay welder. you think it would be a bad idea?

You could just bondo the entire hull....