Seacast Review and tips Verified

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Gary H NC

Fleet Admiral
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Dec 1, 2005
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I thought i would give my opinions and tips on my recent repair job.

Tools i found useful,
1- die grinder
2-chainsaw (the bigger the better)
3-wood paddle drill bits( eats up rotten wood and helps the chainsaw blade)
4-a piece of flat steel about 4 foot long,bent a little at one end and sharpened.
5- big pry bar
6-1 1/2 inch brass wire brush wheel welded to a steel rod that fits in the drill
7-Large electric drill for mixing
8-Shop-vac

Ok, a run down on how the job went.This is how i would tell someone to go about it.

I started by cutting the cap off the transom with the grinder and a thin cutting wheel.Cutting down from the top so i keep the original height and shape.
Opened it up and could see the rotted mess!
Carefully not to drill to deep take the paddle bit and drill holes about 1 inch apart.
Then the fun begins! Fire up the chainsaw and go at it.Be careful!! You can hear if you hit fiberglass so listen.
Get all you can with the chainsaw then start cleaning out the chips with the vacuum. Now the tedious part begins.Take the flat steel bar and start peeling the wood away from the outer skin.The pry bar can help here too.
This is the worst part so plan on sore hands and skinned knuckles.
When all the wood is removed take the brass wire brush wheel on the drill and clean the inner walls.This is important to scuff all this up and get all the wood particles out.
Ok,all the wood is gone.Take acetone and wash it all down.

Now to get ready to pour.
Tape all holes shut with duct tape and tape them good.
Any thru hull drain tubes can be taped into the holes,(you will pull them back out after a couple hours of the cure time)
Tape anything shut you don't want the seacast to ooze out of.

Make sure the transom is square and in the correct shape.Put a straight edge on it and check everything. A rotted transom will sag back and will have a bend in the fiberglass so fix that before the pour!

Mix the Seacast per directions,Mix it very well!! Add the fiberglass shreds slowly to it or your drill won't be able to handle it.Mix,mix and mix some more. You have a good hour before it starts to set up.
Mix one bucket at a time!

I used a V shaped home made funnel about 2 foot wide i made from scrap wood.

Start pouring it in. Have a second person using a wood dowl and working the seacast down to the bottom.Have them also to keep tapping the outside with a rubber hammer to release air pockets.
When you get about 4 inches from the top take the woven roving and tuck it in one side then fill the rest of the way.Fold the roving over the top and tuck it into the seacast. This gives it way more strength at the stress points on the transom.

About 2 hours into the cure time you will notice this stuff is cooking about 175 degrees.

To do my risers i let the bottom setup a couple hours and cool down some.Then took pieces of wood and clamped them in place leaving just enough room at the top to get a plastic funnel in there.Take the wood dowl and push the Seacast thru the funnel to get it as full as possible.
Wait for it to start cooking then remove the wood before it cures.
The small area at the very top where it did not reach i used some Evercoat Tiger hair fiberglass filler.I also used it to fill any small voids along the top of the transom.It seemed to bond very well to the Seacast.

Let it cure a couple days. Any spills you can clean up with acetone.
Install any thru hull hardware or drains using 3M sealant.

The finished product.....:D

July07Boat001.jpg
 

KRS62

Cadet
Joined
May 29, 2007
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Re: Seacast Review and tips

Wow, looks great. I have a question for you. Was any of the inner or outer fiberglass skin removed? Sounds like you just removed the top and "dug out" all the rotted wood from the top. Does my question make sense?

Also, did you just take out the rotted wood or all of the wood? (Good wood too.)

KRS
 

Gary H NC

Fleet Admiral
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Dec 1, 2005
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8,972
Re: Seacast Review and tips

Thanks SBN!

KRS62, I just dug out the wood without disturbing the inner or outer skin.
It does say that the compound will bond to good dry wood. I do believe it is much better to remove all of the wood.
The Seacast is so much stronger than any wood.
I had about 4 inches left over in the bottom of a bucket.I let it harden then tried to destroy it. I beat it with a hammer and it did not make a dent.
Tried everything to break it with no luck..
I tested it and it does float and does not absorb water...I was impressed..
 

John the landlubber

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 13, 2005
Messages
146
Re: Seacast Review and tips

How could you tell whenn you had added enough glass particles to the mix? On the website it states that too little causes flexin and too much causes... erm I forgot what it causes but it wasn't good!
 

Gary H NC

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
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Re: Seacast Review and tips

The shredded glass they give you is about right.1 bag per bucket.It just gets very thick so mix it in slowly. I had one bag that had about two handfuls i did not use because it seemed to thick to add more.
Have 2 people to do the mixing so they can add the stuff while the drill is still running.
 

rost495

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 10, 2005
Messages
109
Re: Seacast Review and tips

I'll ditto everything said!!! Very easy to work with. It was the chainsaws that wore me out.... Lucky I had access to one with a 30 inch blade. But the 20 inch one managed a LOT of the work.

I also used a prybar and hammer at times and a homemade bar that we bent, and flattened on the anvil and shapened and then hardened like a long extension chisel.

My worst part was the transom had been fixed first, and the idiot that did taht used SS screws to screw the 2 pieces of ply together instead of just glassing.... hurt the chains a bit....

The shop vac works wonders!!

I cannot say how it works yet, its finally got a 200 HP hung on a jack plate, and it flexes none. It'll be a bay and offshore boat so it'll get abused. I'll report when I've used it for a year....

Jeff
 

croSSed

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jun 13, 2005
Messages
249
Re: Seacast Review and tips

How many gallons was each bucket you mixed? How many bucket did you end up using in this repair? How heavy was each bucket? Thank you.

TG
 

rost495

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 10, 2005
Messages
109
Re: Seacast Review and tips

Check out the seacast website.

As I recall each bucket was about 90% full after adding the fiber.

You have to calculate your cubic area to know how much to buy.

Weight, probably 35 ish pounds or so... per bucket.

Jeff
 

Gary H NC

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
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Re: Seacast Review and tips

I used 2 and 3/4 buckets and it is a pretty large transom.
It was about 32 to 35 pounds per bucket if i remember right.
Just measure width times height times 1.5....gets you pretty close to what you need.
1000 cubic inches per bucket..
 

kelley_mc

Cadet
Joined
Jun 28, 2007
Messages
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Re: Seacast Review and tips

Nice job Gary H NC! I am in the process of doing the same thing. Where did you get the c chanel that you capped your transom with?

Thanks!
Kelley
 

redfury

Commander
Joined
Jul 16, 2006
Messages
2,655
Re: Seacast Review and tips

I'm planning on going the seacast route, but the problem I'm facing is that there is no inner fiberglass wall. The condition my transom is in ( you can see the pictures in my link ) I could almost get away with CPES ( clear penetrating epoxy resin ) to beef up what I have already...I've drilled exploratory holes on the outside all the way to the drain plug and the wood is damp, but not rotten.

I just got the top off my boat and have stringers and a floor to do, so I've got time to plan this out. I'm certainly up to suggestions from anyone that's tackled a transom like mine.
 

Gary H NC

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Messages
8,972
Re: Seacast Review and tips

Nice job Gary H NC! I am in the process of doing the same thing. Where did you get the c chanel that you capped your transom with?

Thanks!
Kelley

I made the diamond plate cap out of some scrap we had at work.
Luckily i have the access to a metal sheer and brake..
 

Gary H NC

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Messages
8,972
Re: Seacast Review and tips

I'm planning on going the seacast route, but the problem I'm facing is that there is no inner fiberglass wall. The condition my transom is in ( you can see the pictures in my link ) I could almost get away with CPES ( clear penetrating epoxy resin ) to beef up what I have already...I've drilled exploratory holes on the outside all the way to the drain plug and the wood is damp, but not rotten.

I just got the top off my boat and have stringers and a floor to do, so I've got time to plan this out. I'm certainly up to suggestions from anyone that's tackled a transom like mine.

After going as far as you have now i would skip the CPES idea.
You could bolt in a temporary inner wall of plywood and do the Seacast transom.
Or go back with new plywood and resin.

Doing a great job! Keep up the good work!!;)
 

tashasdaddy

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Nov 11, 2005
Messages
51,019
Re: Seacast Review and tips

Please Don't Ask Your Questions Here. Ask Them In The Forum. This Is Suppose To Be For Information, Not Questions.
 

jddenham

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Aug 8, 2006
Messages
393
Re: Seacast Review and tips

Not a lot of distributors for Seacast, and none in the Pacific Northwest. I talked my buddy into carrying it in his store and by mail order at 'the4x4store' dot com if anyone in the Pacific northwest wants to save a little on shipping.

I hope this isn't considered a solicitation since it is a product iboats does not carry.
 

tashasdaddy

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Nov 11, 2005
Messages
51,019
Re: Seacast Review and tips

i found this tool invaluable.
 

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