An old aluminum fishing hull will outlast three trucks if you leave it parked long enough. A widow in El Centro called us to haul away her late husband’s 16 ft sea-foam green Alumacraft Lunker 165. The boat sat on a flat-tire trailer in an apartment complex parking lot. The sun had oxidized the paint down to bare gray metal, but the riveted hull remained solid.
The main issue was a fuel tank still half full of old, varnish-smelling gas. We hooked up a manual fluid transfer pump to drain the tank into approved transport cans before touching the boat. Old fuel leaks easily when you tilt a hull on a ramp, and parking lot pavement soaks it up fast. Once the hazardous materials were safe, we winched the boat and trailer together onto our flatbed, secured the straps, and swept the stall clean.
We took the hull to a metal recycling yard where the aluminum was sold for scrap metal, and our crew saved the functional hardware. Our price sheet lists boats under 20 feet at about $75 a foot. Call 833-658-4847 if you need boat removal in El Centro or anywhere in Imperial County.
In our experience, the dry sun in southern California breaks down boat seats, tires, and gelcoat long before the metal gives out. We always drain all fuel and crankcase oil into sealed drums and pull the battery before taking any vessel for metal salvage. When a clear title exists, we collect it at the job site; if the paperwork is missing, we sign a release of liability so the craft is removed from your name.
The job at a glance
| Boat | 16 ft Alumacraft Lunker 165 aluminum fishing boat |
|---|---|
| Where it sat | Apartment complex parking lot |
| Coverage area | Imperial County |
| Outcome | Aluminum sold for scrap metal, fittings saved |
This post describes a typical job in Imperial County as an illustration, not a real customer record. The pictures are illustrative too.
Questions from the phone this week
How to get rid of a bad boat?
Call our crew to haul it away. We load the vessel from your property, haul it to an approved disposal facility, and handle all the prep work. We drain fluids, remove batteries, and recycle aluminum or steel hulls to make sure the vessel is scrapped correctly.
What if my boat is on a trailer?
We can tow the trailer directly or winch both the craft and trailer onto our flatbed truck. If the trailer tires are dry-rotted or missing, our crew brings ramps and heavy winches to load everything without needing the trailer to roll cleanly on its own.
Junk boat removal across Imperial County
Crews cover Imperial County: Calexico, Brawley, Imperial and Calipatria. Early summer heat pushes property managers to clean up sun-damaged craft left in shared parking spaces. Owners in this region often ask us to clear out old aluminum fishing vessels before tires blow out or fuel tanks leak on hot asphalt.
Have a boat like this in El Centro? Call 833-658-4847 or send a few photos, and we will tell you what it takes.
