Thoughts on my flexing transom

[Destroyer]

That's a great engine. I have the same one. I love it. I would feel sad if your's ended up at the bottom. Reinforce it at the very least. (Big metal plates) But really, wet wood is never a good thing and flex is even worse. It may hold for the next ten years, or it may go tomorrow morning while fishing. Why take the chance?

I just scrapped (another) boat that I bought that had a transom that let go while the boat was being trailered home. Why the engine didn't wind up in the middle of Interstate 80 is beyond me. Still, that guys loss was my gain. I got an engine and tandem trailer for free after selling all the other things I stripped from the boat before scrapping it.

Two guys died last year in NJ when the transom on their boat let go and the boat sank. The moral of the story is don't let maintenance slip. If something needs repair DO IT!! Enough said.

[3 Squids]

I wouldn't let that go too long. Even reinforcement won't get you by forever and problem is that with a plate your transom will just keep rotting and rotting until it breaks loose. Not a good situation. I'd fix it.

[jvitiel]

I was afraid you guys would say that - but of course you are right. I'm still torn between a plate until I repower and just replacing the transom the right way this winter. I'm not sure that I want to tackle a transom rebuild myself though. I doubt I could do a decent job from the outside and doing it from the inside seems like more work and complexity than I want to get involved with. As much as I hate to not do it myself, I think I better look into having a pro do it. Does anyone know someone good in the NY/NJ/CT area?

[SkunkBoat]

I can't really tell from the video.
Are you sure that its not just the metal trim that is moving?.

With boat on trailer can you flex the transom by standing on the motor?

I would definitely at least have a Transom Saver on the top bolts on any 30 year old boat. That will keep the bolts from pulling thru.

[phatdaddy]

Take a look at skunks transom rebuild video. It's going to be my tutorial when my day comes

[jvitiel]

So I took Skunk's advice and put the motor up as far it would go and bounced with my full weight on the skeg. I'm no expert and as much as I want to remain in denial about this it looks pretty bad IMO. According to the ruler it only deflects around 1/16" of an inch but it still seems too flimsy for 200HP.

I looked at Skunk's excellent videos (thanks for the tip Phat) and I'm pretty sure I don't want to tackle that kind of a project outside over the winter. Again, if anyone knows of a pro transom guy local to the NY/NJ/Ct area please let me know. Baring that, I may go the plate route and hope it tides me over for a few years but no way can I just leave it as is.

Here are a couple vids of me jumping on it. Thoughts?

https://youtu.be/BmS3VGQKPQs

https://youtu.be/XXwN7eKPUi4

[bradford]

Yeah man, fix that, lol.

I would do the whole thing, not the plate. I'll bet if you drill it anywhere near where the engine mounts you'll pull out dirt, which is probably whats keeping the glass from cracking.

[bgreene]

Originally Posted by jvitiel

So I took Skunk's advice and put the motor up as far it would go and bounced with my full weight on the skeg. I'm no expert and as much as I want to remain in denial about this it looks pretty bad IMO. According to the ruler it only deflects around 1/16" of an inch but it still seems too flimsy for 200HP.

I looked at Skunk's excellent videos (thanks for the tip Phat) and I'm pretty sure I don't want to tackle that kind of a project outside over the winter. Again, if anyone knows of a pro transom guy local to the NY/NJ/Ct area please let me know. Baring that, I may go the plate route and hope it tides me over for a few years but no way can I just leave it as is.

Here are a couple vids of me jumping on it. Thoughts?

https://youtu.be/BmS3VGQKPQs

https://youtu.be/XXwN7eKPUi4

Call Eddie at J&B Boat, Westville, NJ.......he'll likely know several sources to get it done. Super good guy, straight shooter.