Addictive Fishing Forum / Addictive Fishing / Rigging and Repairs / Push Pole Repair 101 / Latest Posts

RE: Push Pole Repair 101

fish4reds — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 06:17:30 GMT

That's the way to think positive.:P

RE: Push Pole Repair 101

Cracker11 — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 03:05:14 GMT

Looks Great Austin :D

If it brakes,and I fall in..........at least the water is warm :Whistling:

RE: Push Pole Repair 101

fish4reds — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 13:01:58 GMT

Well she's finally complete and I now have a nice 18' push pole back on the boat. I put the last coat of paint on the push pole this morning:D and everything looks pretty good. There are a few spots where the nats got to close before the paint had time to dry and there little legs got stuck in the wet paint. But I figure that after a few times on the flats those spots will blend right in with all the other dings and dents that are to some.

Well here is the final tally.....She took 4 coats of paint, 3 layers of fiberglass, a few coats of resin to smooth out and eliminate any air pockets between sandings, and one final sanding of the entire pole before paint. And just for good measure I had to throw in a few kinks, such as finding the original cracks in the pole hiding under some cleverly placed duck tape:angry: and of coarse the big breaking off of 2 feet or so on a trial run after 2 coats of glass were put down:w00t:. From that point on it all I could do to get this thing done before MM. Now I just hope that the 7+ hours (including the repairs from the break) will hold up and give me a year or two at least on the flats before it has to be replaced. And here she is in all her glory

The tip that broke off in the mud at the whale tail, epoxied in and good to go

[IMG]http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii305/beccarouse/pushpole012.jpg[/IMG]

Shiny glossy paint just waiting to be scratched up

[IMG]http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii305/beccarouse/pushpole013.jpg[/IMG]

About as round and true as one could get fixing this thing in not so great conditions

[IMG]http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii305/beccarouse/pushpole014.jpg[/IMG]

So that's it, the push pole repair is done and I am so happy to be done sanding fiberglass. I'm still itching from that crap.

If I had it all to do over again I would have just got one of those fancy carbon poles:) for $300, but in the long run I will use the trolling motor more then my push pole.

I have to thank Cracker11 for the supply's and all of the helpful info and advice and I have to thank the inventer of the orbital sanded, without that tool I think I would have gone crazy from sanding and it damn sure wouldn't look as good as it does.

Thanks again Cracker11 and don't worry I'll let you be the guinea pig:P at MM.

Later,

Austin

RE: Push Pole Repair 101

fish4reds — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 10:33:54 GMT

Third coat done....only one left now.:D

RE: Push Pole Repair 101

fish4reds — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 08:34:55 GMT

3rd coat of paint is getting ready to go on. I got the 2nd on just after the storms last night and sanded this morning. So, just one more coat after this one and I hope the pole will serve its purpose other wise you may see a very pissed of m-fer:w00t: at MM if it breaks.

RE: Push Pole Repair 101

Cracker11 — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:46:13 GMT

Good As New :Whistling:

I hope :D

Looks Great :cool::cool::cool:

RE: Push Pole Repair 101

fish4reds — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 15:22:21 GMT

Well, step 4, 5, 5 1/2, and part of 6 are done. I spent the better part of the weekend sanding, fiberglassing, and painting the push pole. I started yesterday afternoon with more sanding and then proceeded to add more fiberglass to the cracks on the foot end of the pole, and did the same ting again this morning. I sanded down the new glass and then the entire push pole to be ready for paint. Once the pole was all cleaned up and dry I added the first coat of paint. I soon realized that this is the part that I've been waiting for, the paint went on with ease (other then the nats that had to land on the fresh paint).:angry: But they'll come off with the sanding between coats.

So there you have it...Step 4 sand, step 5 glass, step 5 1/2 sand and glass, and finally on to step 6 with the first coat of paint.

[IMG]http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii305/beccarouse/pushpole008.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii305/beccarouse/pushpole009.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii305/beccarouse/pushpole010.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii305/beccarouse/pushpole011.jpg[/IMG]

Thanks God no more sanding fiberglass, I am sick and tired of the itching.:w00t:

RE: Push Pole Repair 101

fish4reds — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 05:24:06 GMT

Cool, I appreciate it Cracker. The trolling motor is working perfectly and you'll love the co-pilot, just course and it will keep you on no matter what. Hands free and out of the way....bad to the bone.:P

RE: Push Pole Repair 101

Cracker11 — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 02:51:48 GMT

As long as the Trolling Motor is in good working order,we should have no problems,it will get more of a work-out than the Push-Poll will anyway ;).......but the Poll will get used on the flats :D

Got the Map in the Van :D

RE: Push Pole Repair 101

fish4reds — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 05:20:56 GMT

Now I'm just hoping I can get it complete before MM. I have a to do list a mile long that's gotta get done before I can leave. I still need to sand, one more coat of glass, sand again, and finally paint, and that's just the push pole. This rain every afternoon is holding me up big time and we only have two more weekends before MM. So you got that right...crossing my fingers

RE: Push Pole Repair 101

Cracker11 — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:07:34 GMT

18 1/2 ain`t bad,and like ya said........T.G.F.Trolling Motors ;)

Keep your fingers crossed :P

RE: Push Pole Repair 101

fish4reds — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 11:02:03 GMT

Well step 3 1/2 is done. Hacked off the cracked fiberglass and cleaned up the end and epoxied the spike back in. Now I have about an 18 1/2 foot push pole.

[IMG]http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii305/beccarouse/pushpole.jpg[/IMG]

Next: sand and paint.....and I hope thats it:crazy:. NO MORE SURPRIZES

RE: Push Pole Repair 101

fish4reds — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 13:48:55 GMT

[quote][b]Cracker11 (7/3/2008)[/b][hr]WOW.......Those are some ugly cracks,but they run Long-Ways with the Poll and not across the grain...Thankfully ;)

And I`ll be glad to Pressure-Test it around the Flats with ya.........Lord knows I`ve got enough weight to put the Full Test to it ;)[/quote]

Stress Test...Other wise known as SON OF A B****:angry:

Cracker it was a sad day on the flats:crying::crying::crying:

The crack at on the spike end made it two pushes and snap:(, damn near waked my brother in law in the head with the foot. Dude it sucked so bad that was a few hours of work (not painted yet) and that was all she wrote. I pushed one, all is good, second push...snap, two feet snapped off and now stuck in the grass. Circled back around and found the broken off peace and tossed it in the boat. That sucked so bad, I thought I had enough glass on it and I hadn't even sanded it smooth yet so there was even more glass/resin then there would have been once it was finished.

The one thing I am glad about is that it broke now rather then after I had sanded and painted. So, now I will have about an eighteen foot long push pole. Unless someone would give me $800 for a new 20' hybrid:P

Well I will get step 3 1/2 done and remove the cracked end and remount the spike and sand and paint and post some pictures. I hope there will not be another 1/2 step added in to this process. Thank god for trolling motors at least.

Until next time I'll be working on step 3 1/2.....Later ya'll

RE: Push Pole Repair 101

Cracker11 — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 04:06:49 GMT

Sweet.....I`ll be waiting on the Pic`s :D

RE: Push Pole Repair 101

fish4reds — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 06:30:50 GMT

I knew what you meant, still damn funny.

I put the first coat of fiberglass on and sanded it yesterday. I am going to do another coat of resin and sand it down nice and smooth before I paint. I'll post some pictures before I lay down a coat of paint. So far so good, everything is looking like I expected it to.

RE: Push Pole Repair 101

Cracker11 — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 04:36:11 GMT

Actualy.....That was a Jab at my own weight,I can put about 210lbs of Thrust on that Poll for a Test :w00t:

Heck,you and your Weener Dog together still weigh less than me :P

RE: Push Pole Repair 101

fish4reds — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 05:22:42 GMT

[quote][b]Cracker11 (7/3/2008)[/b][hr]Lord knows I`ve got enough weight to put the Full Test to it ;)[/quote]

LMAO, thanks Cracker for the compliment

RE: Push Pole Repair 101

Cracker11 — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:38:24 GMT

WOW.......Those are some ugly cracks,but they run Long-Ways with the Poll and not across the grain...Thankfully ;)

Your doing great Austin,keep us updated with Steps 3,4,and 5 as you get em done :D

And I`ll be glad to Pressure-Test it around the Flats with ya.........Lord knows I`ve got enough weight to put the Full Test to it ;)

RE: Push Pole Repair 101

fish4reds — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 05:23:11 GMT

You should be able to buy an insert kinda like what comes with a 2 piece push pole and epoxy it back together. Central Florida Marine in Maitland is about the only place I would think that may have it.

RE: Push Pole Repair 101

irl jeff — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:29:44 GMT

nice, i need to know how to fix a snapped pole, i aciddently snapped rons the other day goin over some stupid guys wakes in a no wake zone. the pole fell off, but i caught it, and the other half wrapped around my platform and snapped, i bought a 1 inch pvc pipe, liquid nailed it, and slid it in, but the liquid nail never set good with this florida humidty, so ron broke it again.

Push Pole Repair 101

fish4reds — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:50:41 GMT

The boat I bought a while back came with a 20' fiberglass push pole. The push looked to be in good shape but the fiberglass was starting to shed. I of course talked to Cracker11, the go to person for boating questions, and he recommended to do a light sanding and repaint. Well, Cracker went the extra mile and got all of the materials to do the job for me for my birthday. (thanks again Tom)

Well here is step one and two in this thread:

Step one...

The previous owner had wrapped two sections of the pole in duck tape so that had to be removed. I didn't think much about the tape at the time of purchase seeing how I was there for the boat not the pole.

So , after the tape was removed I found out the tape was hiding something, some nice cracks, nothing major, but there were cracks under the tape. On the spike end there were 3 cracks with one of the three being the worst of all the cracks that I discovered. The foot end had a crack every quarter to half inch all the way around the pole all ranging from 8" to 12" in length.

Spike end

[IMG]http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii305/beccarouse/pushpoll004.jpg[/IMG]

Foot end

[IMG]http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii305/beccarouse/pushpoll002.jpg[/IMG]

Set two...

I took Crackers advice and sanded down the area around the cracks so I could lay some new glass down. The new glass is just for extra security, where the cracks were there wasn't any more flex in the pole compared to where there weren't cracks. But I'm always airing on the side of more is better. So I sanded and sanded and sanded. I sanded the pole about 1/16" smaller in diameter so I can build up some new glass and then sand it down to be smooth with the rest of the pole.

Spike end

[IMG]http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii305/beccarouse/pushpoll005.jpg[/IMG]

Foot end

[IMG]http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii305/beccarouse/pushpoll006.jpg[/IMG]

Well that's it for this time. Next step laying down some new glass and sanding the hell out of it again. After that I'll sand the entire push pole and slap a few coats of new paint on it to finish it off.

Last step...Cracker you ready to push me around the goon?:P

I'll keep ya'll posted on the progress.