Need help on healing transom

[esoxesox]

Hello Boys,

I finally got around to getting my engine hauled off and tackled the transom tonight. To make a long and painful story short, I hired a guy to rebuild my transom (sadly before I discovered this site). He did a complete hack job and I am not feeling too compelled to take it back to him for a second time. Last year small cracks developed in the transom. I noticed them while on a 10 day trip into Canada so all I could do at the time was spread some 5200 on it and let it go. When I got home I pulled some off and noticed that there was no glass on the transom cap, just epoxy. I have it sanded down to wood right now. It is still strong and is not delaminated at all. It does feel damp to the touch in one small area near the starboard corner. I am standing by with supplies in one hand, wallet in my pocket and a hand in the cooler grabbing for another bottle. What do you guys recommend here? I'd like to get her done up this weekend so I can be on the water next week. Is that too agressive?


Thanks,

Scot

[FELLOW-SHIP]

Ha Scott
Sorry to hear that you have some problems with the transom. It’s hard to say if you have much of a problem there or not. I would definitely put one or two layers of glass over the top of the wood then one or two coats of epoxy I also put a piece of 90 o angled aluminum over that top of that to help keep the water off. As for the cracks if they are small ones you can grind them out add some fiberglass mat and then epoxy over that. The real tuff questions is the condition of the inside of the transom. If the transom was done just a few years ago even if there is water inside there the transom should last you for quite a while it takes many years for wood to really rot and mess you up. Most guys would say to remove some of the hardware to see if water starts running out the holes. It sounds like you already removed the motor did any water come out? If so you should remove some of the lower drainage hardware and let the transom drain and dry out. Another major question to ask is what caused those cracks in the first place? Is the transom bending or flexing when you accelerate? Maybe there wasn’t enough glass buildup when the transom was done, maybe the resin didn’t stick to the wood in those arrears, maybe, maybe, maybe??? If it is real bad you might need to remove some of the outer skin of the boat where those cracks exist and re build the outer skin. Possibly some pictures would help or ask someone you trust to look at the boat and give you their thoughts. Good luck
FellowShip [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[esoxesox]

Thanks for the note. I have some 10 minute old pics of the transom but I'm not sure how to post them. I don't have a URL that I can list. I'll look through the archives here and see if I can figure it out. Answers to your questions...

The Cracks - The cracks were just the epoxy cracking under stress from the engine on the transom. The stuff is REALLY brittle and I think the smallest amount of flex would cause it to crack. They all ran parallel to the grain of the plywood. All the cracks are gone now since I have the epoxy sanded off and am down to the wood.

The Transom - It was done two years ago. The wood is not delaminated at all, the epoxy/glass layers between the sheets are intact and seem solid too. No water ran out of the holes when I pulled the engine or when I pulled the transducer screws down low. I wouldn't even describe the wood on the top as wet as much as damp (if that makes any sense at all). I know how wet it was before it was rebuilt and it isn't close to that.

The Plan (for now) - I spoke with a couple of boat yards up here and they were pretty helpful, aside from not knowing what a Seacraft is [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img] . I have a supply of 105/205 and a bunch of 6 oz cloth. I'm going to let it dry up a bit more and then lay the stuff down.

I'll hold off a bit to see if I can figure out a way to get pics on the board.

Thanks again for your response. I wish some of y'all lived up here near the freshwater sea. It's lonely up here being the only CC on the water.


Scot