Sea Cast Transom, start to finish...

[Airslot]

This is from another site I frequent. *Thought you boys would like...


Seacast Transom Repair Story and Pics

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Here are the pictures I promised:

Here is a shot of the transom once the motor was removed.



You can see all the holes in the transom, some had been sealed, some had not.



Here is a close-up of where the engine was literally sinking INTO the rotten transom



Seacast says use a chain saw, so I touched it to the top of the transom. Sunk right in.



Using the chain saw really was as easy as Seacast said it would be. The rotten wood came out just like mulch. Notice the soft brown shreds all around. Because the wood was soft, it was easy to shave right up against the glass. I finished the wood removal with a chisel mounted to a piece of 1x2 maple, and then used a shop vac with a piece of 3/4" hose on it to get everything clean as a whistle inside.





Then I used a grinder and glass tape to close the holes, damaged areas and giant scuppers. Then I poured the Seacast. (sorry, no pics- I had my hands full, and I didn’t want to mess anything up)

Pouring the Seacast was almost a non-event. You mix it up as directed, and pour it in. I used a stick to push it around and then thumped it with a rubber mallet to release any trapped air bubbles. I laid a piece of glass tape across the top, and three hours later, I had a VERY solid transom! I couldn’t be happier!

The patch work I did to the skin of the transom needed to be cleaned up, so I mixed powdered glass into some resin and skimmed it flat. Very easy, if you’ve ever done any drywall work. Sand it and do it again, and she was ready for spraying gel coat:



Here is a picture of the transom after spraying. Sorry about the haze, the camera had been in A/C, and I grabbed it for the pic, and it was 100 degrees outside, hence the condensation.



And that’s pretty much it. Seacast really lived up to it’s claims. I already knew this from others on this board, but I’m glad it proved true for me, too. I'm confident that this transom is stronger that it has ever been before, including when it was brand new.

In summary... It took me 5-6 hours to get the transom cleaned out over several afternoons, less than 1 hour to tape the holes shut, 1 hour to pour the Seacast, about 4 hours over a couple of days to skim out the repairs and about 3 hours to spray the gel coat. I will buff and wax the new gel coat, (about 2 hours) and put the motor back on. (about 1 hour)

So the total investment for replacing my rotten transom is $497 in materials and 17-18 hours of my time in the evenings. It would have been a LOT LESS, had the damage to the fiberglass not occurred, probably more like 10 hours.

Hopefully, I’ll finally be back on the water by next week.

-TH

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[reelapeelin]

Just one question, Slotster...when runnin' the chainsaw down to the bottom of the transom, what's to keep the saw from goin' on thru the hull??...wouldn't take much...I've thought of usin' Seacast and just wonderin' how ya know where to stop the saw ??? ...

[Airslot]

Chain saw go through rotted, or good, wood like knife through butter. Chainsaw bounce when hit good glass... ;)

[msbhammer]

I'm close to that amount right now with all the West System and wood. I believe in Seacast, but I was raising the transom from 20 to 25", and seacast MUST be used as a filler and have something to bond to...and I wasnt sure on how to raise the transom using a temp skin.

[THEFERMANATOR]

Originally Posted by Airslot

Chain saw go through rotted, or good, wood like knife through butter. *Chainsaw bounce when hit good glass... ;)

Chain on chainsaw also dull very quickly when cutting glass. I used a chainsaw once to cut up an old boat, made a HUGE mess. And covered me in glass and splinters, but it was FUN! ;D

[macojoe]

Well I am glad he is happy!!

But and there is always a but!!

What about the claim that Seacast will not bond to wood??

How did he get all the wood from the bottom?? Chain saw did not get that out!!

Fixed cracked transom with resin and glass powder?? That thing needed to be glassed with cloth to make for a strong repair!

Good repare if he is selling and wanted to pass it off to someone else! :o

But Hammer you doing a better job IMO!

[Airslot]

I'm not condoning sea-cast....just thought that the thread would be enjoyed here for discussion. The guy who owns that particular boat is keeping it to fish in the Chesapeake Bay. He is a master-craftsman along the lines of out very own Lumberslinger. I myself prefer a wood transom.

[macojoe]

No its a good discussion!! as all these questions have been asked more then once!

Well lets see if he posts more over time?

[spareparts]

i spoke with Jim Porta( the guy who sells the porta bracket) several years ago( 12 ?). He had been doing the same thing using floor sweepings, cabosil, saw dust, gound glass fibers and what ever else he could find laying around, for many years before seacast came out. He had good luck repairing transoms this way, he showed me a pic of an offshore racer that he replaced the transom using this method, it had twin, 2.4 Bridge Port Mercs, hanging on porta brackets, bolted to the repaired transom, with no probelms. Jim had cautioned me about using too much resin and not enough filler, it would become brittle and crack, he had his own recipe of mix.

[Airslot]

I'm wondering if you could do the center 1/3 of a transom this way? Many times the center is the only part that is gone completely...