About every two years I have to pull a major raft maintenance and repair program. I use this raft for guiding and such about 50 days a year and those days are not the easy floats by any means. I show a quick run through of the cheapest way to keep it alive and safe for operation.

Foam on the fame: Basically its for longevity of the raft itself and for comfort of use, it also helps when carrying lots of rods and such.

Inspections of framework: Looking for cracks and replace rivets and connections.

Boat clean up and inspection: Floor deflation a few times a season to remove lost items and possible deflating materials. A good dousing of cleaner and 303 protectant.

Some pretty bad stuff in the crack of the floor , like a black hole everything gets sucked in at one point or another…
Customizing: This time I added carpet to the stand up floors and riveted them into place, repaired the stand up joints and did a pretty good paint job on all…

A good raft frame needs to flex between the rowers frame section and the stand ups, a simple hose clamp works great. A loop of rope around the front stand and out the raft for cranking onto the trailer. One of many, my own adaptions the bungee guards, they only last a few months but easily replaced and cheap.
Foam work and re assembly: Good quality foam and gorilla tape, new straps, and bungees for tie downs.

When I set up my rafts I like a 8 point harness, 4 at 90 degrees and two at 45 degrees and two at the ends. The 45 deg. very important if you want to anchor the raft and not move the frame around.
The project always takes me too long because I am a perfectionist but the end results are better than before and my rafts seem to last a good long time. Usually I find one that I want more before they wear out.

Thanks for subscribing, Jeff

Next is the trailer lights , them dam mice in the country pay hell on the wires.