Hi all,

I've purchased and been enjoying an older Tarpon 120. However, the bottom scratches concern me a little (pictures). Should I be worried about these kind of damage? If I want to repair / re-furnish to make it look good again, what are my options? I'm pretty handy with stuff overall.

Thanks, guys

The pics you show seem to be normal wear and tear. Id leave em alone unless you have real deep gouges

Wear and tear and just some cosmetic damage.

I'd leave those scratches alone, too.

But, if you want to experiment with mending kayak plastic, what better place to sort of learn how to do it where it won't be seen down there on the bottom side.

I have heard that in some cases you can take a heat gun like those used to heat up shrink tubing . . . and that it will take the sharp edges off of scratches.

Locally, for a repair of more urgency, Kevin Dismuke would be one of the "go to" sources. Kevin is an electrician by day, but he is well known in the kayak community for fabricating and building accessories for kayaks. He seems to specialize on stern mounted trolling motor set ups. Does great work. He is in Fort Worth.

I mention Kevin because I believe he owns a quality plastic welder. He has likely completed the "learning curve" and knows how to weld on plastic.

Brad

A hot iron will smooth some of the scratches down.
But if it still moves well, catches fish & DONT LEAK,
don't fix what ain't broke ).

Enjoy the kayak, and you would be surprised at how easily scratches and gouges can appear when you seemingly have been very careful.
Instead of trying to repair, just try not to make it worse.

Thank you for the input guys! Its not leaking or anything but I guess better be safe than sorry. No deep gouges present, though.
I just recently repair a hole (1.5" diameter) with locktite marine epoxy from Homedepot $5. Worked out great!

Happy fishing,
RD

I consider those as "character" scratches!

I don't see anything concerning

Agree. If it ain't broke.....

That kayak is fine. The new kayaks at Academy have more damage than that. Do not try to fix it until it gets real bad and starts leaking. Then practice on something else. I once got a free kayak that had a cracked hull under the seat. I read some stuff on the Internet and tried repairing it with some plastic strips and a propane torch. The kayak caught fire and burned a big hole under the seat. I got the kayak out of the garage and the fire put out. I placed it on top of our trash cans that evening and it was gone the following morning.

I wouldn't mind trying it again but if I really liked the kayak, I would pay someone to fix it who had done it a few times before.