New transom wood - how to hold in place

[Finster]

What I did was to take two 2x4's run them accross the outside of the transom, drill hole's through both and bolt it tight. And lots of C clamps along the top.

[abl1111]

Uh huh. Chris, what did you use as transom material. I have a fiberglass guy helping me who says, ( and I quote ) " if it's done right w/ (2) 3/4" pcs of ply - it will last forever "

I kind of agree w/ him. We are palnning on using polyester for the entire project - even the ply edges.

What d'you guys think ?

[Finster]

Alan, I used 2 3/4 marine grade plywood and epoxy. Most pro's seem to use polyester and I am not sure why? Maybe price. I've worked with both and like the epoxy better.....what ever.

I've sent you pic's several times, you ever get'em?

[Ed]

abl111-

Your fiberglass buddy is right. Most of the pros do use polyester resin (unless the boat is made out of vineylester resin- you basically need to match the hatch, so to speak) and two layers of 3/4 inch marine ply. I would steer away from the AC plywood.

As far as epoxy is concerned, I am not so sure it its lack of use amongs the pros has to do with price.....I think it might have to do with the cure time, mixing ratio sensitivity and the fact that most boats are made out of polyester resin.

Don't get me wrong, I think epoxy is a great product especially for guys like us. I just used some penetrating epoxy to seal up some exposed wood around some thru-hulls in my transom.

Good luck

[jw]

I redid my transom and used two 3/4 inch composite boards, too much involved to put plywood back. I also used the glue and screw method, except i just screwed in screws avery 2 inches. Have the outside faired resonably, just shot some awlgrip and see that i have some more sanding to do.
I have some pics if you want them.
JW

[SECF3114M73J]

The way I understand it,polyester is used to match the composition of the cloth/mat.The cloth wets out more completely with the poly resin.

[PipeDreamsMarine]

I did mine from the outside in but I used 1/2 ply that I resin coated then screwed in place with a layer of 1.5oz mat in between each piece of ply, puddying in the corners and voids. I did this 3 times with a final layer of 10/24 on the outside. This hole thing gave me 2 1/4 thick, just the right size for the shoes on the newer outboards. I used polyester resin and polyester putty . Working times are better with the resin and I allways have it on hand in the shop. Plus it seems to work better when you gelcoat the finished project