New boat or just fix the transom?

[Sundance]

Look into Coosa composite board...from what I've heard it's good stuff.

I called about that today. cant seem to find a place to buy it?

Fisheries supply

[ballpark]

Me and my son used coosa board to replace his transom on Lund aluminum boat.   Easy to cut and install.  Toughest part was getting the old wood transom out in one piece to make a template from. 

[buckfvr]

For me it boils down to who will be in the boat and how often and where am I taking said boat........Big water, kids, wife, often = new (bigger) boat.

Buddies, lakes, now and then........fix.

[CoryTDF]

Me and my son used coosa board to replace his transom on Lund aluminum boat.   Easy to cut and install.  Toughest part was getting the old wood transom out in one piece to make a template from. 

Where did you get it? The only stuff i can find is over $500 and I just done see that penciling out.

[KFhunter]

At this point all you have is aluminium scrap metal in the shape of a boat, so you have nothing to loose by fixing it, and a lot to gain if you do. 

So fixing it is a no brainer, do it right, enlist help if you must. 

take the time to redo the flotation and floor, do some upgrades, re-upholster,  then run it or sell it for a bigger boat. 


Or sell for scrap, sell engine separately as near new.   

[Boss .300 winmag]

I'm surprised how little forward connection... low center, and side walls. I'd add one on each side of the motor after I was done if it was me, but I reckon as long as you bond extremely well at all points, then it looks pretty straightforward.

 

Pretty straight forward, you’ll have a little learning curve with fiberglass, or what ever compound you decide to use, but that doesn’t like rocket science.😉

[Encore 280]

I had the same thing happen on a 16' Olympic. Took the aluminum cap off the top of the transom and started digging away. When it got too far down then I got the chain saw out and went about getting the rest of the wood out without damaging any of the glass. When I was done with that there was a good inch and a half space where the wood had been. I taped cardboard on the outside of the transom and drew an outline then cut it out. I had a sheet of 3/4" mahogany plywood so I made 2 cutouts and glassed them together and slid them between the outside and inside transoms. I did test fits first to make sure everything was going to fit. When I was done the new transom was better than when it was new.

[j_h_nimrod]

Should be a pretty easy fix (as I see it from my recliner  )

In all seriousness, this is a fairly easy fix as long as there are no major aluminum corrosion issues hiding. I’ve worked on a number of Whalers, Lund’s, a few Starcrafts, and a few other miscellaneous boats over the years. I never did a full transom, but dealt with a few soft ones or ones with heavier than spec motors needing a little more beef. I would not desire to do a fiberglass boat transom, but the riveted aluminum wood transom don’t take much. As mentioned above, getting the old piece out for a template is likely going to be the most difficult part. I was told Lund used the same plywood as commercial concrete form boards because of manufactured thickness requiring no additional lamination of layers and a product with hard sealed faces and very high quality layup and materials. If this were my project that is what I would look into. For additional bonding and waterproofing I would clean the aluminum very well, lightly etch it and then immediately goop the crap out of it with 5200 (marine sealant/adhesive that is pretty ubiquitous if you are unfamiliar) and then put in your new transom piece and start putting it back together. Seal the new scuppers with 5200 inside the hole n around the flanges. Seal all your seams and fasteners that go through the aluminum into the wood. I would potentially leave off the inner skin (common place to retain moisture and accelerate future rot) and manufacture a new top cap and seal the crap out of it. Make a heavy duty washer plate out of 1/4” aluminum to place in the inside of the new transom For the for the engines transom bolts so the force of the bolts is better transferred.

You should be as good as new 

[CoryTDF]

Looks like either way it goes I am going to fix this boat up. If I get a new boat i'll fix this one up and sell it. So, i guess the question has been answered. Time to start working on the old boat. 

[Fl0und3rz]

[Special T]

Should be a pretty easy fix (as I see it from my recliner  )

In all seriousness, this is a fairly easy fix as long as there are no major aluminum corrosion issues hiding. I’ve worked on a number of Whalers, Lund’s, a few Starcrafts, and a few other miscellaneous boats over the years. I never did a full transom, but dealt with a few soft ones or ones with heavier than spec motors needing a little more beef. I would not desire to do a fiberglass boat transom, but the riveted aluminum wood transom don’t take much. As mentioned above, getting the old piece out for a template is likely going to be the most difficult part. I was told Lund used the same plywood as commercial concrete form boards because of manufactured thickness requiring no additional lamination of layers and a product with hard sealed faces and very high quality layup and materials. If this were my project that is what I would look into. For additional bonding and waterproofing I would clean the aluminum very well, lightly etch it and then immediately goop the crap out of it with 5200 (marine sealant/adhesive that is pretty ubiquitous if you are unfamiliar) and then put in your new transom piece and start putting it back together. Seal the new scuppers with 5200 inside the hole n around the flanges. Seal all your seams and fasteners that go through the aluminum into the wood. I would potentially leave off the inner skin (common place to retain moisture and accelerate future rot) and manufacture a new top cap and seal the crap out of it. Make a heavy duty washer plate out of 1/4” aluminum to place in the inside of the new transom For the for the engines transom bolts so the force of the bolts is better transferred.

You should be as good as new 

This would be the route I would go.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[kball4]

Me and my son used coosa board to replace his transom on Lund aluminum boat.   Easy to cut and install.  Toughest part was getting the old wood transom out in one piece to make a template from. 

Where did you get it? The only stuff i can find is over $500 and I just done see that penciling out.

Fisheries Supply in Seattle.