Aluminum Cartop Boat Transom Gussets (jakeru's #16)

[jakeru]

It seems like I've been doing a lot of marine work lately.

I did some welding work on a small aluminum boat, which the customer plans on using for recreational crab fishing. This was pretty light weight, I think you'd call it a "car topper". The hull was about 1/16" thick aluminum.


The owner was modifying/beefing up the transom, probably because he got a new motor with different shaft length, or more power. He snapped the original transom gussets off and installed a pressure treated lumber to reinforce the transom, and wanted me to weld the gussets back on, as well as to fill a couple holes in the aluminum transom.


I prepped the aluminum to remove old welds (kind of nasty, factory MIG welds on aluminum boats seems to be common) which I did using a flap wheel (and light pressure and care where it sanded away material, to keep the aluminum hull material from thinning out.) I used some big "F" clamps to position the transom gussets against the transom for welding.


Since the gussets were not a perfect fit to the hull with the new/modified transom, I tack welded the gusset to the hull where it fit tight, and then used a hammer to bend the gusset's welding flange down close to the hull for final welding.


Then I TIG welded down along one side of the gusset on each of the two gussets. I used my foot pedal for current control and 5356 filler rod. It was kind of an awkward position, as I had trouble getting my head down to where I had really good vision of the puddle. I extended the tungsten out a ways to help me see the puddle. Not the prettiest TIG beads ever, but certainly strong (and good enough for what they need to do.)


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I also filled two holes at the back of the transom.


I prepared them by removing the paint and oxidation from both sides the best that I could, and then clamping a plate of copper backing with the F-clamps. (You can see the copper in the picture, below the wood piece.)


I then welded them up from the outside (inside was not very accessible as it was just behind the wood transom support piece.) It took a lot more welding current than I would have guessed to fill these holes (probably because of the copper backer!)


I got this job done for less time and cost than originally estimated. (Originally estimated 2 hrs, actually took only 80 minutes.) Since I just charge for the time I actually spent, you wouldn't believe how happy the customer was! He gave me a really nice "tip" consisting of a really nice looking piece of smoked salmon (he had caught and smoked himself), and a really hefty, 50 pound bag of lawn fertilizer which I will definitely put to use (as the customer installs lawn irrigation systems for a living.)

[Powertig]

Thanks for sharing this job with us. I was wondering how you advertise, if you work out of your home and how you charge your customers? It souunds like you bill by time, Do you ever charge for materials?

[Jake98]

You gave that boat a new lease on life. I bet down in the bilge is never a good place to weld.

[jakeru]

Thanks for sharing this job with us. I was wondering how you advertise, if you work out of your home and how you charge your customers? It sounds like you bill by time, Do you ever charge for materials?

I have advertised with various methods, such as word of mouth, a running craigslist advertisement, a web site advertisement, dropping off flyers at local businesses, dropping off business card piles at local businesses and to people who I meet, and once I even set up a booth at a model hobby expo where I not only met people and handed out cards, but I actually brought in a bunch of welding and metal preparation equipment including my vertical wheeled air compressor and my Everlast Super200P, and set up in a a corner booth with 240V service behind a custom arc ray curtain I fabricated, and welded up people's new and broken model airplane, battlebot, etc projects they'd bring in.

I am not doing welding "full time" now like I once was (as I have an entirely different career path in addition to welding, which at this point I have resumed), but I am still doing some of the more specialized welding jobs, for some of my better customers, which are pretty nice to do and to work with. It really does make a difference dealing with good customers. It was a nice challenge and good learning experience to try and solve whatever problem would come my way via the craiglist ad though. With a craigslist ad, you never really can tell what people might ask you to do! (Yes, that means I have some stories, but perhaps the topic of another thread and only if people are interested in my ramblings. )

Oh by the way, I usually charge by the hour/minute and I would charge for any materials which were significant (including any that would need to be arranged ahead of time for me to buy.) I'd need some payment up front for jobs like that. Most of my jobs are with customer supplied parts. For simplicity of billing on most of my jobs, I would include things like common grade filler rod and shielding gas, abraisives, in my hourly rate. I have a shop out of my home which I do the bulk of my work out of, but occasionally did do some jobs at customers job sites (either on my own brought equipment or on theirs.) Mobile was not my preferred mode of operation, however, so I generally don't encourage it, and would only even offer it if it was pretty clearly going to be worth it for both me and for the customer.

[DaveO]

once I even set up a booth at a model hobby expo where I not only met people and handed out cards, but I actually brought in a bunch of welding and metal preparation equipment including my vertical wheeled air compressor and my Everlast Super200P, and set up in a a corner booth with 240V service behind a custom arc ray curtain I fabricated, and welded up people's new and broken model airplane, battlebot, etc projects they'd bring in.

That sounds like a fun (and hopefully profitable) way to spend a day- meeting up with people with the shared interest, hearing their stories and welding up their broken parts. Is it an annual or every-so-often expo? You could imagine people thinking, hey i'll go to the expo, and that welder guy can fix up this part. If you posted pictures of that landing gear rebuild you did some time ago I bet you'd have a line at the door.

Nearby there's an annual event called the Sheep and Wool festival (more interesting than it sounds), and every exhibitor from the 4H-ers to the concession folks to the people selling skeins of wool brought animals or gear on a trailer... I've wondered about how a mobile welding guy would do if he went from tent to tent and offered to fix trailers on the spot, in the parking lot.

PS I think your Craigs List stories would be a blast!