[buddy]

Anybody put herculiner on the bottom of their boat? I want to put some sort of truck bed liner on the bottom of my boat and was considering the Herculiner kit. I was just curios if any of you have done it.

I got a quote of $375 on Line X. There isn't anyone local that does Rhino Liner. So that is why I am considering the herculiner.

 

[firecat1981]

The roll on herculiner kits are junk and they will chip off. I used roll on bed liner for my rub rails on my last boat, and it would chip badly just by looking at it.
Get the Line-x as long as they will do the lifetime warranty. Or you can do an epoxy graphite bottom coating.

 

[buddy]

Epoxy graphite bottom coating? Hhhhhhmmmmm let me check that out. Never heard of that.

 

[firecat1981]

do a simple google search on graphite epoxy bottoms. They use a fancy version on airboat bottoms now called slick bottom, or frog spit.

 

[buddy]

I read something about frog spit. I didn't know it was classified as a graphite epoxy bottom coating.

 

[firecat1981]

They have there own formula but it's a similar concept.

 

[DuckNut]

Frog spit is not epoxy, it is poly based. It is made for sliding over vegitation but is not the best for oyster beds.

Epoxy/graphite will not give much protection from oysters either.

 

[firecat1981]

I used the epoxy graphite, but I really can't tell you which one is better, I know they demo the slick bottom by driving airboats down the street. But it's funny how demo items always seem to work better then when you buy them

 

[buddy]

This boat won't see any oyster beds and if I am driving it down the street there are bigger problems!!

It will see the occasional stump or log only at trolling speeds. See this boat will spend most of its time in ponds and occasionally in the river (2-3 times per year) and the lake (2-3 times per year).

I just that would withstand the occasional stump or log and that if I needed to I could still repair the fiberglass underneath easily. Thats why I was thinking herculiner.

However, I have had my other boat, my 13' Waterbug, for 18 years and only had to patch it once where a rock flew up from the truck and went through the hull at the front. So I probably wont need to make very many repairs.

 

[DuckNut]

I have had frog spit on my duck boat for more than 10 years and now it is time to redo it. I recently put another brand on another duck boat and will compare the two.

Here is the problem you have. Unless you can buy the stuff locally then the shipping will kill you. Forget the herculiner and do the job yourself.

There is two types of additives that can be added to epoxy. Graphite wich makes the surface a little slicker and aluminum powder makes a more abrasion resistant surface. I have used both on my boats and for these boats they don't usually see vegitation but rocks, sand, and logs and I much prefer the aluminum powder. When it is time to recoat the graphite, they will be done in aluminum.

Call the Gougeon brothers at West Systems as they have extensive tests and they have some info on their website.

http://www.westsystem.com/ss/product-selection-chart/