Confusing Answers to Stringer Repair or Replace

[xmos]

Got a 1984 Ebbtide Dyna Trak 150 with 75HP Chrysler Bass Boat. Got the boat from a seller that said boat had sat for about 1.5 - 2 years. Last it ran (registered July 2006) engine roared. Picked up the boat with the help of a Boat professional getting ready to start his own business (will never use again). Boat had potential but flooring was a bit soft.

So now the work. Removed the flooring and to my surprise, the plywood was sitting on top of the original fiberglass flooring and carpet. Both were rotted. Removed all the flooring and sucked out the water from the Bilge. Turns out there are 3 Stingers. Middle stringer is completly rotted from previous owner that had drilled some holes on top of the stringer and had cut into it. Other 2 stringers had some areas of rot where it was cut, but the boat foam and fiber glass casing still appear to be pretty good shape for on the stringer.

My dilemma:

1. John at http://www.jgreer.com has said that using #300 and #21 Epoxy is a good fix for rotted wood stringer. Basically add that mix to the wood and it should be much stronger then the original. provide a 1x4 sandwich support on the stringer if needed to add additional strength and incase the wood in fiberglass.

2. Rip out the stringer and replace it with wood incased fiber glass.

I don't want to compromise the integrity of the hull, but would also like an EZ fix then ripping out the whole stringer and removing the top of the boat. This might much more then I can handle. Any one has experience or Opinion to restore wood incassed stringer would be greatly appreciated.

 

[chrishayes]

Re: Confusing Answers to Stringer Repair or Replace

Bud I wish I could help but I think I have read almost every post in the history of Iboats in the last several months...lol and I have never heard of any other way of doing it than to rip em out and redo it with wood, composite wood, foam, pvc pipes cut in half down the middle and then fiberglass in one of about 3000 ways.

That sucks that you were taken by someone that was supposed to be a professional...I got a little taste of that myself with a very well done cover up job that once the carpet was removed left me standing there with my mouth hangin wide open. I hope you find the internal drive to do the repair yourself. Its a lot of fun but is hard dirty work.

Good luck.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Confusing Answers to Stringer Repair or Replace

There's no easy way to "fix" it, there may be some Bandaids that will let you use it a little longer, but they aren't really a fix.

Soaking rotten wood with epoxy will make stronger, but it won't stop the rot, the area just past the epoxy will start to rot long before a new piece of wood will.

 

[J. Mark]

Re: Confusing Answers to Stringer Repair or Replace

Let me offer you some encouragement

I started my restoration in October and my boat needed everything except exterior paint work as the gel coat was still pretty good above the water line.

Cutting the stringers and glassing them down was something I was dreading-I understood the concept and had worked with wood before, but still I figured it would take tons of time to get it done and I feared I wouldn't get it right.

Finally, I cut the stringers- a few minor adjustments and I was good to go. 2 12 foot stringers and the deck supports on the outer sides. Total time cutting them, routing the edges over and cutting limber holes for all of it was about 2-3 hours maximum.

Then I needed to glue them in and glass them down-I was still very uptight about the process. Once I started, they were glued in, braced in place and looking perfect in under 2 hours for all of them.

Glassing them down with epoxy-I am still tentative here, but things have been going well-I've researched and prepped and cleaned and prepped and cleaned again. Center stringers took about 4 hours to tab in and put down 3 layers of 10 oz cloth-it was a dirty job, but it came out great and is so clear you can't even see the cloth in pictures.

I needed a couple of bulkheads (okay I needed one but wanted to add two for additional floor support.) After everything else I got over my fear of how bad it was going to be. I fabricated better than original parts in about 15 minutes a piece.

Chasing down some wiring issues on my motor kept me out of the boat for days, I just didn't want to deal with it. It took less than an hour to use a meter, a wiring diagram and get the engine wiring right.

I'm long winded, but if you are still with me, hopefully you get my point.

It is much harder in your mind than in your hands. Just get to it and do it. If you screw up a piece of wood, so what?

You may not need to pull the cap depending on where the stringers stop and whether or not the area under the cap has rot. If only the aft section of the stringers are bad, some folks section them, add side braces to the joint and glass it all up.

Then again-pulling the top cap may not be as daunting a task as you think it is.

Read a lot here, but don't get overly critical of yourself before you do the work-you can do work as good or better than many factories turn out if you really want to take the time to learn the options, choose what is right for you, and then do it to the best of your ability. Be painstaking in how you do things, but realize that you have some room for tolerances or error that will not affect the outcome.

Nothing in a boat is straight or square-learn to use a scribe for fitting decks, stringers interior panels etc. It is so easy a 9 year old can do it-in fact I let my son scribe part of my deck and cut it to the line he drew while I supervised. He put it in place the next day and was so proud of himself. (I did test fit it after he went to bed and made a minor adjustment-but it was really fairly minor)

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Confusing Answers to Stringer Repair or Replace

Welcome to iboats xmos..

First off its an outboard ( I assume ) ..then worry about your transom first.

Your stringers .. If they are fine..then leave fine alone.. you can if you wish to mod them by laying up some mat and woving..

The biggest thing is to make sure your 75 wont come flying over your head ( or kids heads ).

Stringers are for "energy transfer " throughout the hull.. they can be made of foam or wood with outside fiberglass. The glass is your stringer m8.. if you have rot inside a glassed stringer system that never ment for the wood or foam to be the stringer itself.. you still have your stringer.. As long as the "fiberglass" is made to be your super-structure.

The only thing you have to worry about is freezing and popping your tabs of your stringer system..

YD.

 

[xmos]

Re: Confusing Answers to Stringer Repair or Replace

So far the response has helped. The Transom is in excellent condition. Tuff and sturdy. Basically the majority of the stringer is currently exposed once i removed the flooring (80% exposed). One other thought that I had is:

Sand down the top of the stringer, leaving the stringer fiber side support in place (Fiberglass still intact). Clean out the rotted wood and fill the stringer hole with Epoxy or Seacast? pourable mix. Would this be just as strong as wood? I will then re-foam the areas that is needed between the stringers.

 

[Bedrest2]

Re: Confusing Answers to Stringer Repair or Replace

xmos, welcome.

There is a boat repair shop around my area that does exactly what you said.
They grind off the top of stringer and pour with seacast.

They are in Bay City, Michigan and have a website.(Hope I'm not breaking any
rules by posting this)

I also repaired my boat, 1985 Bliner, wasn't really that bad and learned how to
work with fiberglass. (the itching kinda sucks)

 

[jonesg]

Re: Confusing Answers to Stringer Repair or Replace

You can seacast the stringers, its a good fix, not cheap but...

but how do you know your transom is good,
you haven't written anything that would convince me.
Banging on it doesn't do much but make noise.
Mine sounded solid until I drilled holes to mount a bracket, water poured out.
I cut the top off and the wood inside was like soil. Black mush.

 

[xmos]

Re: Confusing Answers to Stringer Repair or Replace

Commander Jones - you maybe right. I will have to recheck the Transom. Will go back and bang it and drill a few holes to see if its dry. I now understand why you asked after reading the other post. If the stringers are rotted, there is a good chance the Transom will be rotted. From testing the boat with the floor out, only the middle stringer appears to be rotted. The other two are rotted in some areas towards the bow. The middle stringer does not meet up with the Transom. It stops about 1 feet from the Transom, where the little pool start for collecting water for the pump. The Fiberglass in this area feels some what solid. But I will recheck.

I think using Epoxy or Sea Cast on the stringers after sanding off the top layer of the fiberglass casing appears to be a good plan. Then Fill the cavity, seal it with fiberglass and refill boat foam as needed in area that have been removed.

Anyone familiar with removing the Cap or have instructions? How hard would it be to do that on this bass boat? 1984 Ebbtide Dyna Trak 150 (15 foot).

 

[xmos]

Re: Confusing Answers to Stringer Repair or Replace

Couple more pics. Unfortunately I did not get any with the stringer. Will do that on next posting.

 

[PiratePast40]

Re: Confusing Answers to Stringer Repair or Replace

xmos,
I've heard quite a few people talk about removing only the rotted portions and then sistering up to the stringers or splicing in a new piece. I've seen a repair where someone notched the stringers and put in a crosspiece to tie them together - like a rib. Apparently, that's acceptable to some people. I'm under the impression that's a temporary repair and the time for it to last is dependant on how well the rot was removed and if it's still active.

Just wanted you to know that some shops will do the work that way if you want to avoid the cost of a total hull restoration.