another wet transom

[OTTERLY COOL]

Hey Fellowship !!!

How Ya' Doin'?

Thanks for answering the other night.

I'm directing this to you since you seem to be pretty knowledgeable and helpful.

As I said the other night when I joined the board, I have a wet transom in my 23 I/O. It's not soaked but pretty damp. Strangely enough it's not that wet by the bell housing but there seems to be an "H" pattern of wetness formed by the outer edges with a bar across the middle of the entire transom - each leg of the H is about a foot wide.

One of the other fellows suggested that since I don't have 700 lbs. of outboards hanging off the back, it's probably no too critical. On the other hand, while I agree with his observation, I would like to fix the problem as well as possible without ripping off the transom (which in my case would obviously require taking the outdrive apart).

What are your ideas on the situation and how would you "fix" it without redoing the whole thing?

Thanks

[FELLOW-SHIP]

HA OTTERLY COOL
SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR DILEMMA ON WHAT TO DO. I ONLY KNOW TWO THINGS YOU CAN DO EITHER REPLACE THE TRANSOM OR DON’T AND HOPE IT’S NOT THAT BAD. I KNOW THAT SOUNDS LIKE A DUMP ANSWER BUT BOTTOM LINE THAT’S YOUR CHOICES. NOW LETS SEE IF I CAN HELP A LITTLE. I KNOW THERE ARE WATER SENSORS THAT SOME GUYS HAVE USED TO DETERMINE HOW MUCH WATER IS IN THERE. FOR ME I JUST REMOVED ALL THE THROUGH HULL FITTINGS AND ALL THE SCREWS IN THE TRANSOM AND POKED AROUND SOME. I DIDN’T LIKE WHAT I SAW SO I STARTED DRILLING ¼” HOLES IN SUSPICIOUS PLACES AND THEN I MADE MY DECISION SOME GUYS USE A MALLET AND TAP ON THE TRANSOM TO LISTEN TO HOW IT SOUNDS THIS METHOD DIDN’T HELE ME MUCH. BOTTOM LINE IS THIS IS A JUDGMENT CALL FOR ALL OLDER BOAT OWNERS “FOR ME” I DON’T KNOW IF ANY BOAT 15-20 YEARS OLD OR OLDER THAT I WOULD TRUST IT’S TRANSOM IS ANY GOOD. (UNLESS IT WAS A STRAIGHT INBOARD). I KNOW YOU GUYS UP NORTH WILL PULL YOUR BOATS IN THE WINTER AND PUT THEM IN STORAGE IF IT’S DRY MAYBE YOU WILL GET A LONGER TIME OUT OF A TRANSOM BUT FOR MOST OF US, WE DON’T REALLY KNOW WHAT THIS BOAT HAS GONE THROUGH FOR MOST OF ITS LIFE SO WE DON’T KNOW IF IT HAS BEEN LOOKED AFTER WELL OR NOT. WHEN I BOUGHT MY 1977 I PREDETERMINED BEFORE THE PURCHASE TO RE DO THE ENTIRE THING AND THAT’S WHAT I HAD TO END UP DOING. MAKING THE DECISION ON THE TRANSOM WAS A HARD ONE FOR ME, I KNEW IT WOULD TAKE ME 10 TO 15 DAYS OF HARD WORK TO FINISH IT AND I DID HESITATE FOR A LITTLE BUT THEN I REMINDED MYSELF OF THE ORIGINAL COMMITMENT TO THIS PROJECT AND THEN DID THE JOB. I HAVE GOT TO THE PLACE IN LIFE THAT BOATING/FISHING IS A LIFE STYLE AND I WOULD RATHER DO WORK ON THE BOAT THAT SIT IN FRONT OF A TV.
FELLOW-SHIP [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]

[JohnB]

When I was shopping for boats, I had a GRP electronic moisture meter. 90% of the boats that were over 4 years old, with a low cut transom, had moisture penetration in the transom. This was regardless of manufacture, seacraft, contender, etc. I looked at over 30 boats, and the majority of them where wet. Some showed no signs or problems, but the meter dosen't lie. Usually it was penetration around drains/scullpers, or in the case of alot of seacrafts, the screws that hold the aluminum trim around the transome let water in.

[Scott]

Hi Otterly ...... A Question

You said that the transom was redone in your other post to allow for a different out drive. How old is that work that the transoms wet again????

Or

Did they just replace around the opening for the out drive .... as you say that’s not as wet and in good shape.

I’m sure your thinking this already …but now is the time to do the transom if there is any doubt in your mind of its integrity…..Like I said before I’m also wrestling with this issue as the transom is sound (no excessive flexing, no cracks or crazing in the corners) BUT I KNOW ITS WET!!!!!!!! [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img]

[Roger Marshall]

Originally posted by OTTERLY COOL:
Hey Fellowship !!!

How Ya' Doin'?

Thanks for answering the other night.

I'm directing this to you since you seem to be pretty knowledgeable and helpful.

As I said the other night when I joined the board, I have a wet transom in my 23 I/O. It's not soaked but pretty damp. Strangely enough it's not that wet by the bell housing but there seems to be an "H" pattern of wetness formed by the outer edges with a bar across the middle of the entire transom - each leg of the H is about a foot wide.

One of the other fellows suggested that since I don't have 700 lbs. of outboards hanging off the back, it's probably no too critical. On the other hand, while I agree with his observation, I would like to fix the problem as well as possible without ripping off the transom (which in my case would obviously require taking the outdrive apart).

What are your ideas on the situation and how would you "fix" it without redoing the whole thing?

Thanks

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">

[Roger Marshall]

Originally posted by OTTERLY COOL:
Hey Fellowship !!!

How Ya' Doin'?

Thanks for answering the other night.

I'm directing this to you since you seem to be pretty knowledgeable and helpful.

As I said the other night when I joined the board, I have a wet transom in my 23 I/O. It's not soaked but pretty damp. Strangely enough it's not that wet by the bell housing but there seems to be an "H" pattern of wetness formed by the outer edges with a bar across the middle of the entire transom - each leg of the H is about a foot wide.

One of the other fellows suggested that since I don't have 700 lbs. of outboards hanging off the back, it's probably no too critical. On the other hand, while I agree with his observation, I would like to fix the problem as well as possible without ripping off the transom (which in my case would obviously require taking the outdrive apart).

What are your ideas on the situation and how would you "fix" it without redoing the whole thing?

Thanks

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Hi:
I bought a Seacraft that had been sitting on land for 8 years and found that the transom was in pretty rough shape. Water had gotten into it, but the underlying wood was pretty dry. I removed the aluminum strip, ground he rough spots back and then poured an epoxy (I used Epiglass because it is the runniest of the epoxies) into the warped plywood. After the Epiglass had had time to penetrate the wood, I clamped weverything down tight, both fore and aft and vertically until epoxy oozed out from the joints. When the whole mixt had cured it was ground back and a couple of small holes drilled to see how far the epoxy had penetrated. I then made a thick mix of epoxy and buttered over the holes, the transom sides and top. When the whole thing cured it was ground back smooth and looks ok. If seems to work, but we are installing the engine in a day or two, so we'll have more holes to see how far the epoxy penetrated.

[Trayder]

If you know your transom has water in it there and rot has begun really is only one way sure way to fix it, and that is to replace the whole thing.

Replacing the transom is a real burden if you are not doing a full restoration. One must remove the outboards/outdrives, hardware and then refinish the entire repair.

If you are doing an full restoration save yourself the worry and pain in the future, Replace the Transom. It is not a difficult job, compared to other parts of the restoration process, and when hanging that new outboard, you will have the peace of mind that the transom is solid.

If you plan on installing an outboard bracket, Bill Potter has mentioned before that transom replacement is not critical if the transom is "wet" not rotten but "wet". This is because the bracket spreads the load across the entire transom.

Transom rot is not limiited to boats that have been kept in the water their entire life. Many hulls that have been on land for 15+ years have dry rotted transoms, rain water seeps in from all angles.

Good luck gentlemen. I can assure you that replacing the transom is not the end of the world and can be done efficiently both time and cost wise.

[FELLOW-SHIP]

HA TECH EDITOR
I JUST READ TRAYDER’S POST AND REALLY COULDN’T SAY IT ANY BETTER THAN HE DID. I DON’T KNOW OF ANY GOOD WAY TO FIX A TRANSOM OTHER THAT TO FIX THE TRANSOM BY RE DOING IT. THE ONLY QUESTION IN MY MIND IS WHICH MATERIALS TO DO IT WITH WOOD VERSES THE NEW COMPOSITE MATERIAL OR EPOXY VERSED POLYESTER RESIN AND COMING IN FROM THE INSIDE OR THE OUTSIDE TO DO THE WORK. THERE IS NO MAGIC OR EASY WAY. AS TRAYDER SAID IT REALLY ISN’T SPACE SCIENCE STUFF HERE OR THAT HARD TO DO, IT IS TIME CONCUSSING TO DO IT CORRECTLY. JUST BITE THE BULLET AND THINK IT THROUGH AND DO IT. HOPE THAT HELPS YOU GOOD LUCK AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS JUST ASK. OH YOU CAN SEE SOME PICTURES OF MY TRANSOM UNDER 23’S KEN MCGOVERN I SENT A BUNCH OF PICTURES TO TRAYDER ON THE FINISHED PROJECT THE OTHER DAY AND WHEN HE HAS SOME TIME I’M SURE HE WILL POST THEM.
FELLOW-SHIP [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]