my aluminum boat has a rotted transom need help???

[94 splash]

I have a 19ft blue fin aluminum boat i had just bought a few weeks ago..... but the transom is gettin pretty much rotted i would haft to say... i want to replace it but i dont kno the first place to start.. so thats were i could use some help and pointers.. now the person i bought it from made the homemade bracket that attached to the transom for support.. was wondering if with this bracket it would still be ok to take it out for the rest of the summer??? ill put some pics so maby that would help .... thanks

 

[scrobo]

Re: my aluminum boat has a rotted transom need help???

Hi Splash and welcome.

Personally, I would start here.

http://transomrepair.com/zk/index.shtml

I bought a boat with a rotten transom and looked everywhere for help. And iBoats was good for it. But I ended up stumbling across this site for do it yourself transom repair. And boy does it work. I backed into a log hard enough to kill the motor. Transom didn't even budge. No cracks or anything.

They sell a great product that is easy to use and saves alot of money. It was going to cost me $2000+ to fix mine at a marina. They're product was under $500 and will never rot again!

Read through thier forums and check it all out. It's pretty amazing. but smells when you make it up

 

[burroak]

Re: my aluminum boat has a rotted transom need help???

Yours is typical of most aluminum boats. It is a straight forward fix. Remove the transom cap (be careful and save it; you'll re-apply it) and all of the screws and bolts that hold the wood insert to the aluminum hull. Do that carefully because you want to use it as a pattern. For my 18' Starcraft project, I used a plywood lam-beam from a building center. It was 1 1/2" thick and had glue as good or better than marine plywood (big bucks and more labor). The improvement, IMO, that I made was to clad the boat side of the transom with aluminum coil stock, which makes it very resistant to water that gets in the motor well. The seam between the transom and the motorwell sheet metal was filled with automotive seam sealer(it's paintable). Coat all wood surfaces with epoxy resin, paying particular attention to the edges(several coats on these).

Take pictures before you remove anything; the photos are great resources for reassembling.

 

[larky]

Re: my aluminum boat has a rotted transom need help???

i replced my transom this past winter and did the same kind of thing as burroak. i went to lowes and bought a 4 x 8 sheet of 3/4 birch plywood and used my old transom as a guide. also at lowes they sell an epoxy that is two part and comes in one litter sized bottles, something like $30. the first coat i thined my mixed epoxy with rubbing alcohol so it could soak in good. one thing i learned from this site is to never use pressure treated wood on aluminum, i guess galvonic corrosion occurs, or something like that

again not that hard to fix and boy does it feel good to know its new
good luck

 

[94 splash]

Re: my aluminum boat has a rotted transom need help???

ok thanks do you think it would be ok till winter

 

[burroak]

Re: my aluminum boat has a rotted transom need help???

ok thanks do you think it would be ok till winter

Lock the motor in the up position and give the lower unit a good heave upward and watch the transom/motor mounting area. If it flexes, let your judgment be your guide.

When you have the motor in its down running position, stand on the cavitation plates and hop a little bit. Have some one observe the movement, if any, use your common sense. It might be better if you get a good sized buddy to bounce the motor since you will be in the boat if and when anything happens.

No matter what you find, all bets are off if you hit something solidly at WOT.

 

[jddenham]

Re: my aluminum boat has a rotted transom need help???

Based on the fact that you recently bought the boat, and the obvious signs that the previous owner tried to band-aid the problem, I would be upset at the seller. He clearly should have disclosed the condition of the transom. I would contact him/her and ask for some $$ toward repairs. The worst he could say is no.

Or did he/she tell you about it? Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions!

 

[94 splash]

Re: my aluminum boat has a rotted transom need help???

No he didn't say anything about it and i couldn't even get a hold of him to get the trailer registration so i would think that out of the question.... but when you jump on the motor the back dose flex but the motor doesn't move at all idk i mite take it to a small lake and test it out instead of lake st. clair

 

[burroak]

Re: my aluminum boat has a rotted transom need help???

Based on the fact that you recently bought the boat, and the obvious signs that the previous owner tried to band-aid the problem, I would be upset at the seller. He clearly should have disclosed the condition of the transom. I would contact him/her and ask for some $$ toward repairs. The worst he could say is no.

Or did he/she tell you about it? Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions!

I think going back on the seller is a loser. The transom damage was out there for all to see. I would think that the purchase price reflected the condition of the transom. No matter. It's a done deal and the replacement is a 2 on a scale of 5 in the handyman's repair guide.

There is great satisfaction in doing repair work on your boat and knowing that you now have a solid base for your motor -- one less thing to worry about.

 

[burroak]

Re: my aluminum boat has a rotted transom need help???

...but when you jump on the motor the back dose flex..

That's the part to be concerned about. If the transom fails, it will compromise the hull and spring a leak at a minimum. IMO, no test, unless it's WOT out of the hole, will answer the reliability question and on a lake is not where I want that failure to take place.

 

[94 splash]

Re: my aluminum boat has a rotted transom need help???

i didn't realize that it was that bad until i was checking it out i got the boat and the trailer for 1500 so it wasn't to bad for a 19footer and the motor started in the 2 crank so

 

[burroak]

Re: my aluminum boat has a rotted transom need help???

i didn't realize that it was that bad until i was checking it out i got the boat and the trailer for 1500 so it wasn't to bad for a 19footer and the motor started in the 2 crank so

If the boat is the one in the avatar, you're OK. It just may not be the steal like everyone else talks about on iboats. You'll probably have $100-150 in the transom replacement and a couple of days of intermittent work invested, but the satisfaction of having a new transom and it done right is........like the credit card ad says,"priceless."

Whenever you do the job, search "transom replacement" on iboats forums or just start a new thread. When posting, you'll get more and better advice if you attach pictures of the areas that you have questions on.

 

[nimmor]

Re: my aluminum boat has a rotted transom need help???

I have never worked on a fiberglass transom but have done several aluminium ones and they are pretty easy to do. One little hint, do it right the first time. Several years ago I bought a used boat and sunk a lot of time and money into it. When I got to the transom I was low on cash so I used some plywood left over from another project and rebuilt it. I did not use any sealant on the wood. It held fine through the rest of the year. By next summer it was showing signs of wear and had to be redone again. So like I said do it right the first time and you should have many years of worry free service out of it. I can't remember if it was mentioned in any previous post but I also put waterproof sealant on the bolts as I install them.

 

[burroak]

Re: my aluminum boat has a rotted transom need help???

I have never worked on a fiberglass transom but have done several aluminium ones and they are pretty easy to do. One little hint, do it right the first time. Several years ago I bought a used boat and sunk a lot of time and money into it. When I got to the transom I was low on cash so I used some plywood left over from another project and rebuilt it. I did not use any sealant on the wood. It held fine through the rest of the year. By next summer it was showing signs of wear and had to be redone again. So like I said do it right the first time and you should have many years of worry free service out of it. I can't remember if it was mentioned in any previous post but I also put waterproof sealant on the bolts as I install them.

It didn't take nearly as long the second time, eh?

 

[scrobo]

Re: my aluminum boat has a rotted transom need help???

I did not use any sealant on the wood. It held fine through the rest of the year. By next summer it was showing signs of wear and had to be redone again. So like I said do it right the first time and you should have many years of worry free service out of it. I can't remember if it was mentioned in any previous post but I also put waterproof sealant on the bolts as I install them.

The reason I like the seacast.

No rot. Waterproof. Composite material. and 3x stronger than marine plywood. and if done correctly the first time should never need to be replaced again. Well.. unless you're crazy and go slamming into things.