Got the Boat Trailer Fender fixed and reinstalled. Reloaded the boat with the fishing supplies and am ready to hit a lake again. But have to figure out if the leaking boat is from the live well or a crack or broken rivet some where on the boat. The hard part is repaired.

Took the fender and the fender bracket to B&H in Chandler, IN and he fixed it up really nice for just $20 cash. Another auto body repair shop wanted to charge me $70 to do the same thing but they did send me to B&H instead so that was nice of them to give me the tip on where to take it for repairs cheaper.

I was going to order a new spindle with all new bearings, races and a new rear seal but they wanted 45 bucks for this part and I can repack my old bearing and replace the rear seal a lot cheaper than that.

However I didn't punch out the old races in the old hub. I forgot that they were still stuck in the hub until after I found the new races in the new package that the new bearings came in. So I have a new rear seal, two old races still in the hub and two new bearings packed with new grease. I am hoping that this will be ok. The old bearings were in really good shape and I probably should have just cleaned them up and repacked them with grease and reinstalled them. The bearing buddies have been doing a great job for the last 30 years.

I reinistalled the old spare tire on the starboard side and still have the tire with the damaged wheel. The three tires are still good and I have two good old wheels. I could just buy a new wheel and have one of the tires put on it and mount that on the starboard side and that way I'll have three tires again. But two of these will have 30 year old metal wheels that could break like the one did. So I also have thought of using three brand new wheel/tires that are a slightly smaller size. 5.3 are the old ones and 4.80 for the three new ones. All of them are 12" 4" by 4 holes so I have to decide which way to go. Keep the three new smaller tires and wheels and go with them OR buy a new wheel and keep the three old tires.

One way is less expensive and I'd like to save some money but it could lead to another big mess if another wheel falls apart. So I am leaning on just going with the three brand new smaller wheels/tires and know that they are going to last for a long time. Even though they are about 1" or 2" shorter in total diameter they are new and strong. I just don't feel safe with those old tires after one of them just fell apart.

I just hate having to throw away three tires and two old wheels.

Where does one get rid of old tires/wheels these days. Does it cost a lot to dispose of old trailer tires?

Also anyone know any good aluminum welders who will take VISA credit cards for payment?

I was using AAA welding out of Newburgh but he won't take Visa. But he can travel to my house if necessary. I use to take the boat to Powers Welding in Evansville and they did a good job. But the best place I found was on the East Side of Evansville but now I can't remember where it's at or the name of the place anymore. They had a guy that welded up a few of the holes in my aluminum bass boat and he did a really good job. Nice and neat and clean weld over the hole where the rivet head use to be. I can't replace the rivets unless I dismantle the flooring and the side walls which would be a really big job. It's easier to just put some JB weld over the hole where the rivet head use to be. But a crack in the edge or seam needs to be welded. I would not trust JB weld on a crack that's 1/8" wide and about 3" long. Even a 2" long crack would still need welding IMHO.

It sure takes a lot of time and money to keep an older boat going. But I have my old boat setup the way I like it and don't have the money to buy a brand new bigger boat right now.