Sorry Moved to this forum.... Need Help

I was given a 1991(?) 1536 Duracraft with a highlander trailer yesterday. The floor/ribs between the back seat and 2nd seat are cracked or broken directly in the center of the boat. Someone weled a piece of angle in between the ribs, running front to back between the ribs.. The hull of the boat does not leak according to PO. It does not appear that a seat was removed and the floor of the boat is in relatively good shape.....

Couple of questions:

1) What caused the ribs to crack/break? (I'm thinking it beating against the roller may have done it, but havent been out to look at it this morning)

2) I was thinking(After reading here) that I could possibly take some 1/8thx1.25 aluminum angle, glue the heck outta it, and screw or rivet it to the ribs and then floor over it with a plywood deck. (The boat had a plyood floor with carpet in it)

3) I was also thinking of trying to find a sheet of 1/8th aluminum and screwing it down to the ribs?

4) Would this fix this problem?

All I have invested in this boat and trailer is the gas it took to go get it.
This boat wont have an outboard on it, just trolling motors.


Thanks for a GREAT resource..

Welding in some structural aluminum is the best choice for this kind of repair.

A .125 floor riveted in well would add huge amount of rigidity as you asked about. Problem is welding that its gonna crack again eventually, Old dirty aluminum doesn't weld well, and usually just cracks over time.