transom repair question

[deltashoal]

Is it possible to do an acceptable transom repair by drying out the transom through the existing engine holes, etc. Removing wood particles and pouring in two-part epoxy(git-rot style) and thoroughly filling the cavity. Thanks for any help you can give.

[Mark]

All depends on your definition of "acceptable". I've heard of and seen quite a wide range of band-aid fixes when it comes to suspect transoms. You wouldn't be the first, nor the last, to opt for something other than a completely new transom. It boils down to what your standards dictate.

[ocuyler]

Deltashoal,

Welcome to ClassicSeaCraft. I agree with Mark. Most here are dedicated to restoring these boats and prefer to take the high road and do things right. This would equate to better than OEM quality in most cases.

The time you spend to do a "half-fast" job that will not be right will be better spent stepping up to doing it right.

[Blue]

Check out www.rotdoctor.com By the looks of it a ton can be accomplished using that stuff. I have played with it a bunch and went so far as to drill holes in my transom dry it out and saturate the ply then fill the holes in. Cool stuff works well as far as I can tell. It pushes the water out and makes it so the wood there will never rot. Look back through the questions asked on their web site and ask the doctor your self they are great about getting back to you. Early in the season like this I'd hate to delve into a big project. If you do replace it I would treat the new wood with CPES before putting it in the boat.

Good luck!

[Ikan Besar]

other routes that people have taken include bolting an aluminum plate of varying sizes to the outside of the transom, mounting a bracket on an already wet transom (actually promoted in some bracket company brochures), "drying" an already rotten transom and simply rebolting the engine on, only replacing the actual wet areas, etc.

As was mentioned above, many of the members on this site are trying to make their boats better than they even started out and therefore the idea of pouring in a chemical to mask the effects of wet/rot is something that isn't always seen as the preferable route to dealing with the problem. Will it work? maybe, maybe not. However, will YOU be happy with that solution? that is a question that only you can answer.

I will say that when the occasional boat gets listed for sale on here that claims to have a "professionally dried out transom", a number of us get a good chuckle out of that description [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

I don't know how old your boat is, but by definition, any "Potter" built SeaCraft has a transom that is 24 years old at the very least. While my '71's transom was not in that bad a shape, there comes a peace of mind knowing that a new one will very likely give me another 30 years of use....if I'm around to use it that long.

[deltashoal]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm the original owner of a '78 20' sf. The transom is pretty strong. Only flexes when the engine is fully tilted up and pulled down on. I'm just trying to get as much life as possible out of the original transom before the inevitable replacement.

[RS]

Any cracking in the fiberglass along the top of the transom or elsewhere? If not, you may be set for quite a while.

[warthog5]

Outstanding reply Ikan Besar. Very diplamatic. HeHe