Cove Arm, CJ Strike

[idahopanfish]

[fishin]Well I had an interesting day. I called a friend and he said that the crappie had already spawned and that they had really slowed down on the bite.[:/] I decided to see if I could find some that still wanted to play "catch me if you can"[]
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The forcast was indicating T-storms for latter in the afternoon but it was a nice day when I got there. I unloaded as usual and in fact it went very quickly abd I was ready to go. Pushed the toon out so I could lower the motor and swung it around to sit down and put on my fins. As I did both welds on my left side of the frame broke.[shocked]
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Can you believe it both of them at the same time broke. I thank my Lord that it was when I was still in by shore[angelic], it would have been very serious deal if it would have been away from shore.[crazy]

So I loaded everything back up, drove around exploring other possible fishing spots and camping down in that area. Even fished from the bank for a bit. No takers[:p]
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Headed for home, but I made a little detour at tuttle and went to these little ponds there to see if any bluegill want to play, but all that could come out to play was a nice fat carp, good fight on my Light rod[laugh]

I'll include some pictures.
Michael

Keep looking to the East
He will be coming in the clouds.
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[flygoddess]

Bummer! What is the make and Any kind of warranty on the boat?

I imagine the frame is like conduit and will require a special welder.
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[idahopanfish]

On the toon it say fish cat, so I thought that it is by Outcast, it's at least 5 yrs old, but that shouldn't be an issue on the welds. The tubing is thin but should weld up OK.
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[flygoddess]

Would you say that this is a factory defect. I can't imagine a frame breaking like that.
Are you sending it in or just going to have it welded locally?
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[idahoron]

I wat Tuttle today. I went to the state park no fishing for us, too windy. Ron
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[forgiven]

Fish Cat Strikes again?[:/]

It was a Fish Cat 4 I flipped in remember? I have never heard of anybody flipping a tube (exept for me in the FC4)& I have never heard of anybody having welds brake on their 'toon until now
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[pontoonman]

Yes, welding thin conduit is tricky, not to get burn thru and still have good adherence. Most of the US made frames used to be a little heavier conduit and were tested carefully, because of the tremendous fear of liability. Sorry, but I just can't trust my life to thin tube Asian imported frames, so I will only use on mild rivers or very close to shore. If you read customer ratings you will find thin conduit models with several instances of weld failures. Each use of a boat stresses the badly positioned somewhat brittle weld areas until they fail. That's a reason I prefer flat frames where the welds (if any) are not in a high stress location by design.

One of my own travel frame designs uses custom fittings I worked out to fit the longer struts that span the pontoons. That way I only have to pack the compact fittings and can buy the standard length struts (strong 1/2 or 3/4" pipe available anywhere) when I arrive on location.

Pon
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[windriver]

My SouthFork II Frame snapped like that. It didn't take much to weld it back up and I have used it another few years since.

Windriver
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[poky-mon]

Glad you were'nt out on the water. If you can't get warranty take it to a reputable certified welder. About 5 years ago I had mine widened 6" and the welds are still good to go.
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[flygoddess]

I forgot you had yours welded, but your frame was a NFO and USA made all the way. Little beefier frame.
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[poky-mon]

yeah but a good welder can make it work and probably make it stronger
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[flygoddess]

True. Yours was Aluminum?
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