TopShot25
Well-known member
News Break from the Horndog. “You can seal the big fish hold hatch in the floor.”
Mine is water tight now and it sure makes things a whole bunch better. Of course when you open it, any water around the edge will drip in. Not a problem to me because I use this as a fish hold and ice chest. Because it’s below deck in a place that regularly gets wet in my boat, I wouldn’t put anything that can’t get wet down there.
I’ll bet for as little as about 150 bucks, you can seal the hatch. Maybe less if you can find the pull down latches cheap. It’s not really even that much work to do unless you go overboard like I did. Basically install two latches, a seal around the opening and I would guess you would need to make some kind of block for each of the latches to pull down on.
I used two Taco F16-3026 latches. These latches pull down the hatch when you fold them over. They are expensive, but they are very good stainless steel latches and should last forever. I also moved the hinges on my hatch so it opens toward the front of the boat instead of long ways toward starboard. It should come that way if you ask me. Doing this you will need to fill the old holes and touch up with gelcoat. Well worth the effort if you ask me. The only thing different than mine would be, needing to build something for the latches to hold down on. I wouldn’t use the bottom lip of the opening as I think these latches can apply a lot of pressure. I would guess a block the fits under the deck about an inch or two thick or so. It would need to be shaped to fit well and glassed in place.
You can see in the picture how the latch can swing in and out at 90 degrees to lock down on the underside of the deck. Mine is built up because of the 2” of insulation I used on the hatch lid. I don’t think the latch can adjust up far enough to reach the lip of the opening anyway. So some kind of block for a spacer would be necessary.
The seal was very easy to install. I used 1/8” adhesive backed foam seal I got from Home Depot. I’m going to replace it soon with a much better seal. I just needed to know it worked first. I want something that doesn’t absorb water or any smells.
The only other thing I had to do was to sand the back bottom edge of the hatch round. If the edge is squared off it will tear the seal material. I actually rounded all the edge to smooth it out, but the back has to be done. I still need to get some more gel coat to finish the project. But now that it seals my ice lasts forever. Well almost. :wink:
2- Taco F16-3026 latches, 119.39
1- Roll of foam seal, 4.00 or so, I’m sure the new seal will be more but not a big deal.
Some fiberglass resin and some gelcoat.
Mine is water tight now and it sure makes things a whole bunch better. Of course when you open it, any water around the edge will drip in. Not a problem to me because I use this as a fish hold and ice chest. Because it’s below deck in a place that regularly gets wet in my boat, I wouldn’t put anything that can’t get wet down there.
I’ll bet for as little as about 150 bucks, you can seal the hatch. Maybe less if you can find the pull down latches cheap. It’s not really even that much work to do unless you go overboard like I did. Basically install two latches, a seal around the opening and I would guess you would need to make some kind of block for each of the latches to pull down on.
I used two Taco F16-3026 latches. These latches pull down the hatch when you fold them over. They are expensive, but they are very good stainless steel latches and should last forever. I also moved the hinges on my hatch so it opens toward the front of the boat instead of long ways toward starboard. It should come that way if you ask me. Doing this you will need to fill the old holes and touch up with gelcoat. Well worth the effort if you ask me. The only thing different than mine would be, needing to build something for the latches to hold down on. I wouldn’t use the bottom lip of the opening as I think these latches can apply a lot of pressure. I would guess a block the fits under the deck about an inch or two thick or so. It would need to be shaped to fit well and glassed in place.
You can see in the picture how the latch can swing in and out at 90 degrees to lock down on the underside of the deck. Mine is built up because of the 2” of insulation I used on the hatch lid. I don’t think the latch can adjust up far enough to reach the lip of the opening anyway. So some kind of block for a spacer would be necessary.
The seal was very easy to install. I used 1/8” adhesive backed foam seal I got from Home Depot. I’m going to replace it soon with a much better seal. I just needed to know it worked first. I want something that doesn’t absorb water or any smells.
The only other thing I had to do was to sand the back bottom edge of the hatch round. If the edge is squared off it will tear the seal material. I actually rounded all the edge to smooth it out, but the back has to be done. I still need to get some more gel coat to finish the project. But now that it seals my ice lasts forever. Well almost. :wink:
2- Taco F16-3026 latches, 119.39
1- Roll of foam seal, 4.00 or so, I’m sure the new seal will be more but not a big deal.
Some fiberglass resin and some gelcoat.
