Foam Removal Recommendations

J

Josh B

New member
Hello All,

I have long been an observer/reader on the site, but now I'm looking for some suggestions/help.

I have 18' Lund Alaskan that I bought last year. It is roughly 20 years old. I did a lot of work last fall to get it ready for hunting season and it was great. Got me to and from all season in once piece.

However, she felt very heavy. I decided to take the deck back up and look at the foam. Sure enough, it was very saturated. Through today I removed roughly 400 pounds of wet foam. I have about 10% left but it is under the side boxes. I cannot get to it without cutting apart the side boxes and popping rivets out. I am not familiar with replacing rivets so I do not want to pop or cut them and be screwed with 20 holes in the side of the hull and no boxes.

Is there any way to get at the foam and get it out. I cannot get my hands underneath an in there to pull it out. Is there anything that will "melt" it away without making a big mess?

Also, once I get it completely removed does anyone have any recommendations on replacing the foam? Should I or shouldn't I replace it If I should, what should I use.

Thank you very much for your ideas, insight and recommendations.

-Josh B
 
I think Jeff Kraynik recommended using a pressure washer to get that hard to reach foam.
 
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Power Washer will get into every nook & crany & turn it ooze!!!

Northern Tool Supply also carries a curved wade to get into those hard to reach places,

http://www.duckboats.net/...string=power;#122009

And no, it will make a mess.

Get yourself one of those blue plastic barrels, cut it in half, drill about a half a dozen drain holes in the bottom, then tape some window screen material around the top rim.

Let it sag into the barrel about 6 inches.

Place it underneath your drain hole & power wash away!!!


To answer your question about foam, I did not replace it & used floatation pods up in the bow & the transom instead.

It all comes down to how you feel about running a boat w/o floatation.

Many smaller mud rigs nowadays have the option to be built w/o foam.

They are lighter, faster, louder & of course, do not float.

Some insurance companies will not write a policy on a boat that was originally built with foam (then removed), but then again w/o an inspection, how would they know till you made a claim!!!

Many just consider it a commerical type vessel.

This is why many airboats down this was are uninsured (even though policies can be found @ Charter Lakes).

Now the (2) two boats I own w/o foam are regulated to shallow water duties where if they went to the bottom, I could lift bag them up myself.

If it was my boat, I probably would forgo replacing the foam.
 
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THE MOST IMPORTANT THING AFTER FOAM REMOVAL IS A HULL INSPECTION!!!

Electrolosys is an alunimum killer & will usually be found below the waterline where the foam made contact with the metal.

A good sandblasting isn't a bad idea.

Will will find out immediately if the project can go forward or to the scrap yard.

Minor E & holes can be spot & patch welded.

Fillers like JB Weld or Frog Spit can also be used for minor repairs.

If the boat passed the sandblaster, take it home & with a Sharpie maker, cicrcle all suspected E areas both inside & outside the hull.

FIll with water about (2) two inches above the waterline.

Take a welders hammer & using the pointy end, tap suspected areas for through hull damage.

Do't get discouraged!!!

A project boat is always nearer & dearer to your heart & most times, it's cheaper to keep her.
 
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on some of the foams acetone will work well to dissolve the foam. Don't know what kind they put in your boat but if you can find some nail polish remover (the kind with acetone), try it out.

Mark W
 
on some of the foams acetone will work well to dissolve the foam. Don't know what kind they put in your boat but if you can find some nail polish remover (the kind with acetone), try it out.

Mark W
Click to expand...

And then you end up with a huge puddle of hazardous waste to deal with.

A few years ago a fella over on the Refuge had just re foamed with pink EXP under a new plywood floor. Overfilled a gas can that was sitting in the boat. He ended up with a half inch of pink sticky slime under his floor. Flamable pink sticky slime.

There also was a guy that decided to build a surf kayak using the "lost foam" method. Once he had the foam blocks shaped he glassed the outside. Then he used acetone to remove the foam from the inside of the boat. Luckily the apartment he lived in was a rental. The whole back yard was covered in goo once he was done messing around with the lost foam method of molding.
 
I believe he said he only had a little left to remove, not a whole boat's worth built using the "lost foam" method. If it were me, and I only had a little left to remove, I would spray with acetone and then hit the dissolved foam mixture with some water. This would work real well I would think.

Acetone is flammable but is not classified as hazardous. Believe it or not but acetone is a naturally occurring substance. Can even find it in cigarettte smoke of all things (may or may not be from the natural tobacco though - don't know).

Mark W
 
Thanks for the tips guys. I am going to borrow a heavy duty pressure washer from a friend in the coming days and try to blow it apart with that. I tried acetone on it and it didn't melt it at all. Wasn't sure if there was anything else that might work?

Hopefully the pressure washer takes care of it, I have a bad feeling it won't though because I don't have a straight shot at it.

Thanks again for the tips.

-Josh
 
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