Trojan Boat Forum

I have an older f25 and I need to seal my 2 side windows. Can I just use regular caulking that is sold at Home Depot or Lowes?
West Marine brand caulking is about 14.00 a tube. Home Depot is about 5.00.

As to prevent cracking and yellowing, the best caulking will be some type of polysufide that has UV protection. You could use a 3m silicone, but it doesn't have any adhesive quality. I think the only polysulfide caulking available now is Life Caulk. 3M use to have the 101, but I don't think it is produced any longer. 3M now produces a 4000UV caulk that I believe was a replacement, but it is a polyurethane with a higher adhesive quality. It may be fine, but usually the more adhesive the caulk, the less flex it has.

Welcome back Larry
haven't seen you on here in a while, hope everything is ok and that your health is better.
Hope your enjoying the summer and your boat is getting a lot of use.
Glad to see you again

Yeah, Larry, we miss your posts.

Welcome back , You could use the home store stuff ,I assume your talking about silicone ? I don't think it would do as well long term , would I use it myself ? No , but it may work for you .

I would use 3M 4000uv. Perfect for areas that require caulk where sunlight is envolved.

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/e ... 8HT14PGTgl

I do use the 4000 my self good stuff

Thanks for all the replys. It does appear there is a difference so I'm going with the 3M 4000UV.

My dad has sold the boat to me and I'm just using his ID on here.
He told me that you guys are one of the best sources of knowldege on Trojans and your a great group of guys to boot.

I hope to be on here quite a bit given all the things I want to do get old girl into the best shape I can.

Thanks again

Welcome Larry. Nice to see you guys kept the boat in the family. You may want to take a look at some previous posts about removing and resealing the side windows if your caulking doesn't work. Over time the seals between the frames and the boat start to fail and that may be where your water is coming from. Another area to take a look at is above the cabin. The handrails that run along the top and sides of the cabin and hardtop are usually NOT sealed, at least that was the case with my F26. I was getting water in from where I thought was the side windows only to find that it was leaking down into the cabin via the handrail mounts. This being the case you can back off the screws in each mount JUST ENOUGH to get some caulk under them, and around the screw hole. Back off too far and you lose the nut holding the screw in place. Once you back them off use a 3 oz tube of silicone (because it really does work best for this). Buy it at Lowes - all silicone is the same, trust me, I used to make and market the stuff - and save some $$. After that let it set uo for about 30-60 minutes and then tighten just enought to squeeze down on the silicone. After 24 hours tighten down the screws. You could do this even if you caulk around the side windows. I did the above 10 years ago and have had no problems with water getting in the side of the cabin.

larglo wrote:Thanks for all the replys. It does appear there is a difference so I'm going with the 3M 4000UV.

My dad has sold the boat to me and I'm just using his ID on here.
He told me that you guys are one of the best sources of knowldege on Trojans and your a great group of guys to boot.

I hope to be on here quite a bit given all the things I want to do get old girl into the best shape I can.

Thanks again

So, is your name also Larry?
Please enlighten us with a little info on yourself if you don't mind.
Also, How is your Dad? We are all concerned, especially after he mentioned in past posts that his health was not so great.
You really should open up your own account. Confusion will set in for others that may not see this thread and not know it is not Larry they are chatting with.

How's your dad doing ?

Dads doing pretty good. He put a lot of work in the boat but it need much more and he sold it to me. He's been my dad for 48 years and I rented a pontoon for a day about 5 years ago and fell in love with boats. We went together and bought a 24 ft pontoon and that started the ball rolling. The Trojan is a whole different class of boat though and I'm just now getting the hang of getting her docked.
I sign up for my own account here on the forum this weekend but I wanted to establish the relationship and the caulking was kind of an immediate cause for concern.
Thanks for all the responses and dad says hi and he doing real good. I have taken him and my mom out on it a couple of times this summer.
He still stays involved with her and I'm the new labor force.
Thanks again guys and dad sends his best.