Rotten wood inside the transom of my Fiberglass boat

[tdunlow07]

I recently bought a 1985 Procraft 1750v Fish and Ski with a Johnson 150. Today I spent a better portion of the day cleaning/rebuilding the carburetors and replacing some fuel line hoses on my outboard. While doing this I noticed the plastic drain tubes in the back of the splash well looked to be in rough shape. I removed one of them so I could try to pick up a replacement and noticed that the wood inside the transom was really soft/wet/was easily pushed away when I stuck my finger inside. Is this something I should be concerned with? And if so how much of a job is it to replace the wood inside or fill it with some kind of composite?

 

[marksa1458]

Re: Rotten wood inside the transom of my Fiberglass boat

Yes, you should definitely be concerned. Most likely the transom is completely rotted and this rot may have moved into the stringers as well. Very common for a 30 year old boat. For the transom it is probably fairly complex and depending on the boats construction you may have to pull the cap off to fully get to it. Definitely a doable job, I have done two.

You should to a complete inspection to determine the full extent of the rot in the whole boat and make your decisions from there. I would expect the rot has crept into the stringers/foam - conduct a full inspection.

Good luck, lots of great advice here.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Rotten wood inside the transom of my Fiberglass boat

Welcome it iBoats!

Sorry to hear about the wet mushy transom. It could be isolated to the lower section around the drain tube. If so you can prolly get by for a season or two but eventually it will need to be removed and replaced. For now I'd recommend drilling some exploratory holes 3-4 inches above the drain hole and out to the side about 1" deep and check the shavings. If they're dark and wet as well then you have a problem. Next you should raise the motor and have someone bounce up and down on it while you check the transom for flex. If it flexes, even just a bit, I'm afraid, for safety reasons, you need to replace it sooner than later. There's plenty of threads here on the forum that will show you everything you'll need to know on how to do it.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: Rotten wood inside the transom of my Fiberglass boat

I think the rot was at the splashwell drain, not the bilge drain. So I don't think you've got a season left on this transom

Pix when you get a chance. From inside looking into the splashwell, the exterior transom & if possible, below the splashwell.