21' Bayliner Transom Rebuild

[Schtoopid]

What are your thoughts on cutting out the outside of the transom/hull instead of the inside?
I don't really want to lift the cap and floor in order to repair this transom. Can I go from the outside in?

 

[mjf55]

You can do as you are thinking, there is a post here somewhere on how to do it, but the conventional wisdom is that if the transom is rotted , then the stringers / floor are also rotten and you will need to repair from the inside.
If I find the post, I'll update this.

 

[alldodge]

That's a No, no :nono:

Do not cut the outer skin, putting in back together correctly will be a real chore, and also you have to glass the transom into the hull and stringers.

 

[gm280]

I would agree with the two above opinions. Yes, it can be done, but it really doesn't make for an easier job. In fact it can be way more effort to make it look good again. Blending the outside transom is a lot harder to do then tabbing the inside to the sides. And like mjf55 stated, you probably have stringers and floor rot as well. JMHO

 

[DeepBlue2010]

I second the NO vote. Can it be done?! Technically yes. Is it worth the efforts, hell no.

it will impose a significant structural weakening to your hull. The correct repair for it will be much more work than removing the cap. The added cosmetic repair effort by itself is too much work. More over, it would really really hurt when you find out that your stringers are also gone and you need to open her up from inside anyway.

 

[Woodonglass]

Some boats, depending on their structural makeup, lend themselves much easier to the "Outside/In" approach. What kind of boat are we talking about?

If you do it correctly the repair will be as strong as the original but...I Highly suspect, as others have stated, that if your transom is toast then the deck, stringers, and possible bulkheads have issues too.

 

[tpenfield]

You see an outside/in approach over on the THT forum with the center console boats, but as stated, if you have stringer issues it is not worth it. Also, you will need to have outstanding fiberglassing skills in order to make the boat whole again and avoid the seams from cracking, etc.

 

[Schtoopid]

Ok, good answers, thanks.

So, I got yelled it in my other thread for starting 2 threads.. Didn't realize I could only have one.

I've had 2 boats, both with wet-sawdust where the plywood is supposed to be.
Yet everywhere that there is real wood, its solid (even if soaked)

Why don't I use 2x12's for the transom instead of plywood?

 

[Woodonglass]

Sorry you took the advice as being yelled at. The reason that the forum suggests that you keep all of your posts in one thread concerning that project is that is helps You get the best advice possible. If you haven't read the Forum's Rules and Guidelines I highly recommend it. Plywood is MUCH stronger than individual pieces of lumber and the transom IS one of the most critical Structural Elements of your boat. Alll of us that are responding to you based on many,many years of Experience. The advice given to everyone here is based on those years of experience. If 2x lumber was the way to go we would advice you as such.

Any wood that has become water saturated will eventually rot and should be replaced. If the wood is encapsulated correctly and maintained properly it should never get wet. The mfgs are concerned with production speed and at times this makes the quality of the construction, suspect at best. If you follow the advice of the members on this forum, and take care with your repairs your boat WILL be better than when it came off the factory line.

 

[gm280]

Ok, good answers, thanks.

So, I got yelled it in my other thread for starting 2 threads.. Didn't realize I could only have one.

I've had 2 boats, both with wet-sawdust where the plywood is supposed to be.
Yet everywhere that there is real wood, its solid (even if soaked)

Why don't I use 2x12's for the transom instead of plywood?

NO, NO :nono: NO.

X ? anything will not offer better support regardless how you try to use them. WHY? because you have to attach them to each other and there is no way to do that and come close to a solid structure of plywood. When you use plywood, there are many plies that are going different directions to offer superior support for the size and weight of the plywood. And the usual way folks glue up at least two 3/4" plywood plates together, it allows even more cross section plies of support. I can tell you, you will be amazed at how solid two pieces of 3/4" plywood will be when you make yours. Solid as a rock doesn't even come close to explaining how solid it will be...honestly.

2 x ? structures can't be assembled to be a solid plate. That is because the wood would only have one direction of strength. If you have to use splints, dados, machined laps joints or whatever in between the 2 x ? wood to join them, then you have to do a lot more work and still not arrive at the strength of plywood. JMHO

 

[Schtoopid]

WoG - Yeah, I was joking about the being yelled at.. shoulda had a smiley face at the end.
As always, I appreciate the advice. And yes, I'm beginning to see how **** poor job factories do on boats. I thought it was just cars

gm280 - I'm really liking the Seacast stuff, but its hard to source here in canada, and damned expensive. Just tired of rotton everything.

 

[Schtoopid]

Can our all-powerful mod change the topic of this thread to 21' bayliner transom rebuild
Thx.

 

[GA_Boater]

Post Flagged and Done. Thanks, mjf55!