Need advice on front anchor for driftboat

[Wade Rivers]

I bought a front anchor system to mount on my old Slide-rite. The thing seems to fit well but I need advice on where to reinforce the fiberglass. Once I get the holes drilled and the bolts run thru, should I reinforce the front outside fiberglass? Is a washer enough or do I need something curved to match the nose?



Looks OK



Seems to fit snugly.




Once I get the holes drilled and the bolts run thru, should I reenforce the front outside fiberglass? Is a washer enough or do I need something curved to match the nose?

 

[CRO]

I would suggest you build up the inside of the boat so that the mount sits flat on a flat surface. On the outside you should reinforce it also. A piece of hardwood, such as oak, contoured to fit on the inside.

 

[Matt B]

Is it just to use for a second anchor in lakes? What anchor are you going to hang off it?

 

[Wade Rivers]

Is it just to use for a second anchor in lakes? What anchor are you going to hang off it?

Exactly Matt. Not sure of the exact anchor but prolly 15-25 lbs.

 

[Matt B]

Exactly Matt. Not sure of the exact anchor but prolly 15-25 lbs.

In that case, I would probably do like CRO suggested and cut a piece of wood to fit on the inside, then bolt it on up, and not trailer it with the anchor hanging off it or anything like that. I don’t think it needs to be bomb proof for a second anchor for Stillwater. I tend to do things just good enough, though. Some people like to over engineer everything and really do it up, which is fine too.

 

[Jake Watrous]

Not an expert, but I don’t like putting holes in hulls.

For the inside, you could cut a piece of hard wood (ash is fairly cheap and nice and hard) to width and length, clamp it in place, mask the bottom gap, and fill the void with epoxy. I'd probably also fiberglass over the top of the ash and epoxy and varnish it, but just varnish or teak sealer would be fine. Call it an hour of work if you don't glass it, and maybe two hours if you do glass it (plus cure times of course).

Once cured, you could screw into the wood to secure the anchor hardware and have no need to put holes in your boat. Epoxy is crazy strong and quite bombproof. If I recall correctly, the shear and peel strengths of most epoxies are way above a thousand psi.

 

[O' Clarkii Stomias]

I would get a piece of UHMW polyethylene round with a diameter matching the inside radius of the stem of your boat. Saw it in half to provide a flat surface to mount the anchor bracket to.
Then find a piece of aluminum pipe with an ID matching the exterior radius of the stem of your boat. Section a piece of the pipe to act as a curved backing plate to keep the bolts from pulling through the hull.
Just guessing on diameters:

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[Draketake]

If it were mine, I’d do Jake’s idea.

 

[Wade Rivers]

Great input...thanks! Appreciate the advice.

I'll let you guys know how it goes.