transom question

[twistedparot]

when i climbed into my boat today i noticed something that concerns me. i keep my motor tilted all the way up and use the lower unit as a step. when i stepped onto it i noticed a little give in the transom. so i jumped up and down on it and it was definantly moving. total sway at the top of the transom was probably about an inch or so. maybe a little less. is this something to be concerned about? is thier a way to test my transom?

it would be just my luck for it to be shot. i am/was rolling paint in the morning and am planning on putting this thing together this week. i have purchased a lot of goodies for this thing in the past few months and thier is no cash left for an expensive transom repair.

boat is a 92 cuddy w/ johnson 175. tx in advance

[tsubaki]

Poke a rod or something down in the transom, even it you got to drill a hole. Good chance this is not an immediate needed repair. Just see how far you can shove something about 1/4'' round down into the assend. Drill several holes (if needed) to test all around.
Do it from the top not the sides, this way you can easily fill if the results aren't too negative.

[frayed_knot]

It seems they all need it eventually. There have been quite a few done recently in many different ways. You might get lucky and only have to clear out the top few inches to a foot and fill with seacast or something similar. You might get by for the season and just git er done in the winter. Keep us posted.

[macojoe]

I think you be fine for the season, But I would make it a winter project!!

Drill a few holes from the inside, say 1/4 inch, Start at top and go down a few inches till you find good wood, that will give you a idea were the rot starts and stops, Dirt is rot, black is wet, clean wood is good wood.

Fill holes with caluking after your done. Don't have to use 5200 or anything as its the inside and you will be fixing in the fall any way.

[twistedparot]

tx for the replys guys. so i guess that little bit of play aint normal? i will perform the test's you guys described in the morning. my son just turned 1 and i plan on taking him and his mom out just a couple hundred feet into the bay to watch 4th of july fireworks. so, i aint takin no chances as far as safety goes. tx again.

[randlemanboater]

I would think that with only an inch of flex that you would be fine for the season, maybe two if you keep the transom from soaking up more water.

[msbhammer]

For the quick fix, get a piece of angle iron "L shaped" , prime and paint it and bolt it on the transom. It should help on the flexing problem until your ready to do teh repair.

[spareparts]

haven't tried this my self, but one of the neatest quick fixes I've heard about was a guy I know took a big drill bit and drilled holes down from the top of the transom till he got into good wood, then took a dowel the same size as the hole, soaked the dowel in resin or epoxy and drove the dowel into the hole till it bottomed out, waited for the resin to cure, then cut the dowel off flush, he continued with this till most af the wood was replaced. the holes were drill at a slight angle from side to side, after going across the transom once, he came back form the other side with a reverse angle on the next row of holes. His point was" I'm replacing wood with wood". Not a bad idea, haven't tried it myself. I wonder if you would pick up a little strength by makeing the hole a little big, then putting some "Kitty Hair" in there before driveing the dowel in?

[macojoe]

I don't like that idea, first you never get all the old wood out, your going to drill the crap out of the inner liner, and have to glass it.

A better idea is what hammer said if its that bad. When I did my conversion I wanted lots of reinforcement on the inside.
My transom wasn't rotted at all, but I felt that the bracket should pull the hole transom not just small spots with a washer on each bolt. So I came up with this, Its as strong today as they day I putit in!

And if you do need to inforce it do something like this for the season. I uswed a piece of 3" X 1/2 flat stock, had a guy weld it the same as the bracket. This it during the install.

http://syncboard.com/albums/Boat-Tackle-Box/Picture_016.jpg

[twistedparot]

thanks for the input guys, again. whrn i bounce on it i dont here any crackling noises or anything like that. i think it'll be fine. i have been told by others that a little flex is normal, i just dont like to take any chances when it comes to safety! i fixxin to gort out there in a little while and drill some holes. i'll let y'all know what i find.tx again

[twistedparot]

drilled some holes in the top. took a philips screwdriver with about a 4" shaft (all i could find) and pushed it in. buried to the hilt with no resistance. so i drilled a couple holes from inside the boat and at about 2" down hit wet, not rotten wood. 4" down, same thing. 6" down, solid wood. i dont understand how i can go from the top 4" and hit nothing but, go from the side and hit wood at 2". unless the wood is just rotted worse in the middle. i only drilled in about an inch or so from the side. didnt wanna tear things worse than they already are. this sucks guys. i dont need this right now. i been thinkin bout selling this boat to make some bills round here. now i cant even do that.

[Stinky_Hooker]

The reason is the wood does rot in the middle worse.

Chill bro, its not the end of the world. Caulk her up, run it this year and as I told you last night bring her over for a winter project after the first of the year. We will get that transom straight in no time. 8)

[macojoe]

There you go!! Use it and stink fix you right up in the winter!!

Do you have that stupid alum cap?? Thats were the water has been getting in, and rotted from the top down.

Stink get rid of it like you did yours!

[THEFERMANATOR]

There is another temporary fix you can do pretty easily. Leave those holes you drilled open to vent for a few days and go and get a product called "git rot". You can use that to help strengthen it up for a temporary fix to get you through the season with a little more peace of mind.

http://www.boatersworld.com/product/377540307.htm?bct=t13037503%3Bcimaintenance-boat%3Bciepoxy-fiberglass%3Bciadditives-thinners

[twistedparot]

kinda scared to run it now. i hit solid wood at 6" from the side but, if it rots worse in the middle....

and yes, it has a cap but, its a plastic one. not aluminum. got a few cracks in it. also, one of the engine mounting bolts seems a little loose. plus, this machine went under water in katrina! i dont know. i got a bud that used to be a dam good boat mechanic before he had a stroke last year. he said he will come over and look. but, being paralized on the entire left side of his body.... i know he wants to feel like he can still do some things, and thats cool but, realy.....

thanks guys. i know what i gotta do. just dont know how. but, after katrina i adopted a new motto. fix it first, complain about it later.

[macojoe]

well another thing you can do for now is take the motor off, get rid of the plastic cap, dig out the roted wood, drill holes in the good wood below, and add dowles, then add a new 2 X to the holes you will drill into that to match the ones you put in the transom. resin it all in, and you will be fine till winter!

The reason the top bolts are lose is that there is no wood there anymore.

[Stinky_Hooker]

I just got off the phone with him. He is slighty encouraged I think. We will see. ;)

[twistedparot]

ur messin with my mind aint ya? i'm not crazy! you moved it.

right?

[macojoe]

fix it up and fish!! No time for surgery!! There are fish to catch!! ;)

[Blue_Runner]

Twisted this might help some, wish I had pix but I don't.

When I had my '72 V20 I had to have the transom done because the idiot that repaired the transom before I got it repaired it from the outside (that's not the idiot part) but did not bond the skin back to the new wood so there was a gap between the glass and the wood. *As you'd imagine the torque of the motor caused a crack to form. *Well when he opened it up all the wood was good - no rot at all, but along the top, bottom and sides the previous fool had left big gaps. *When my man fixed it he "glued and screwed" the skin back on but not before filling all the gaps on the top and bottom.

Maybe you have some gaps too which is why your screwdrive bottomed out so easily? * BTW I had about a half inch of flex in mine too.

Repair cost me $800 but I could have done it my self with a grinder if I was willing to eat a bunch of fiberglass dust *;D

I think you're fine til winter. Just take it easy and keep an eye on it. The ol Stinkmiester will have you dialed in in no time for a small fraction of what I paid ;)

[tsubaki]

Besides if the transom does give way the motor probably won't go to the bottom cause the steering and battery cables will hold it to the boat, oh and your boat does have floatation anyway. ;D
Just kidding, you'll be fine. The amount of wood that was not there on mine, the mold was plenty strong.

[mauryc]

Twisted, where are you located?

[twistedparot]

gulfport, ms

[Skools Out]

is that an i/o? if so it's not holding a ton of weight so run her hard and wet. ;D

[msbhammer]

Post some Pics. of what ya got Twist. ;)

[twistedparot]

SKOOLZ, its a johnson 175. the same one you helped me (tx again) out with last year.

and sry guys, my wife has the camera w/ her in chicago, so thier wont be any 'action shots' but, i should be able to manage a few b4 & afters.

and hopefully, when i finaly get her wet, no pics of my motor passing the boat!

[Warner_Foster]

If you find that the interior wood in the transom is wet pour undiluted antifreeze on the wood let it soak in pour some more until the wood will not absorb any more . Antifreeze will kill the wood cancer for a while. Antifreeze will absorb the water epoxy won't. Once the antifreeze dries in the wood epoxy will stick to it. Strange but true; antifreeze will control athletes foot, it is not a cure.