Hunter 170 Repair

Dec 18, 2014
1
Hunter 17 Dallas
Hello,
I am looking to purchase a Hunter 170 that has cracks in the deck, I have attached two pictures for the major cracks I am worried about, Can you please tell me if they can be fixed and stay solid or the boat is a total loss!
Thank you and best regards,
Omar K.
 

Attachments

kito

.
Sep 13, 2012
2,011
1979 Hunter Cherubini 30 Clemmons
And why would you even buy a boat in that condition? Those Hunter plastic roto mold boats are a nightmare. Just stay away.
 
Feb 17, 2013
8
Nauticat 43 Kemah, Texas
We've had a Hunter 170 for years. It's a nice trailerable daysailer, is relatively easy to launch, and is easy to maintain. It has the same small cracks. Repair is possible by drilling a small hole at the ends of the cracks and filling the crack and holes with epoxy. As you may know, such cracks are prodigious with the 170. Hunter wasn't able to solve the cause of the problem and transitioned the product line back to fiberglass with the Hunter 18's. 170's under warranty were not repaired by Hunter but were crushed and replaced.
 

mark2

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Dec 10, 2012
54
Hunter 18 Raleigh
Crack in the stern deck is probably just cosmetic and is repairable - we are currently repairing several deck cracks on our 170 right now (will post some photos when I get a chance). The one near the bow would be a bit more concerning for me, wondering if the structural integrity is compromised. That area takes some stress from the nearby standing rigging attachment and the mast step.

I would want to look at the inside fiberglass lining in that area - if it is solid then you can just repair the surface plastic and be fine. If the fiberglass is cracked I would have some concern.

One way to get a look inside is to remove the forward cup holder and reach into the cavity below with a small hand-held camera (or even a phone with a flash) and take some pictures looking back up into that area. Here is a video I made doing this on our H170 recently so that I could assess the condition of the interior as we were making other repairs:

http://youtu.be/7FegO5UjVlI

Later we actually went a step farther and created a small "sled" for my iPhone with strings attached and ran it from the forward cup holder all the way to the stern to get a good look at the entire inside. Made me a bit nervous about losing my phone, but it worked great.