odd wood rot

I'll try and get some pictures up tomorrow, but on my 85 Dynatrak, I have some wood rot in a couple strange places. When I bought the boat, there was a decent crack at the base of the transom, right at the bottom of the boat. Expecting a rotted transom, I drilled some pilot holes, and they all came back dry. I dropped the motor straight up and down and stood on the motor, and no flex was noted and no cracks appeared. I'm going to clean up the cracked portion (once I get the stern off the trailer so I can access the bottom of the crack) and either re-fiberglass or epoxy it, depending on how bad it looks. My real issue is that in the box (sorry, I don't know what it's called...its where the batteries, gas tank, oil tank... are located), there is quite a bit of rot under the battery on the starboard side. What are the chances this is simply floor rot, and the rot doesn't extend into the stringers. The floor under the battery covers on the port side looks fine. I've drilled multiple holes in the deck throughout the boat to double check the solidity of the wood and this one place is the only place I've found rot.

What should my next steps be (other than getting pictures posted)? Should I cut out the floor under the starboard battery and replace it? I've seen epoxy that is advertised as a solution to rotted wood. Would this work? I don't want the rot to spread, but also don't want to tear up my entire deck and transom if a simple fix is all that's needed.

Re: odd wood rot

AS you say pics will tell the story. I would suggest you cut a hole large enough to see down into the stringer area and see if there is water and or rot. Set your scroll saw at an angle when you cut the whole and you will be able to use it to plug the hole and fiberglass it in if in fact you do not find any damage. Based on your description i suspect you will find that you have something going on below decks. Maybe not but you need to get a hole big enough to see. 8" hole so do the trick.

Good Luck and keep us posted

Re: odd wood rot

fishingcowboy said:

I'll try and get some pictures up tomorrow, but on my 85 Dynatrak, I have some wood rot in a couple strange places. When I bought the boat, there was a decent crack at the base of the transom, right at the bottom of the boat. Expecting a rotted transom, I drilled some pilot holes, and they all came back dry. I dropped the motor straight up and down and stood on the motor, and no flex was noted and no cracks appeared. I'm going to clean up the cracked portion (once I get the stern off the trailer so I can access the bottom of the crack) and either re-fiberglass or epoxy it, depending on how bad it looks. My real issue is that in the box (sorry, I don't know what it's called...its where the batteries, gas tank, oil tank... are located), there is quite a bit of rot under the battery on the starboard side. What are the chances this is simply floor rot, and the rot doesn't extend into the stringers. The floor under the battery covers on the port side looks fine. I've drilled multiple holes in the deck throughout the boat to double check the solidity of the wood and this one place is the only place I've found rot.

What should my next steps be (other than getting pictures posted)? Should I cut out the floor under the starboard battery and replace it? I've seen epoxy that is advertised as a solution to rotted wood. Would this work? I don't want the rot to spread, but also don't want to tear up my entire deck and transom if a simple fix is all that's needed.

Click to expand...

Typically rot starts in stringers, it shows up finally in the deck.
With a crack in the transom , I'd say its in need of work.
Git-rot is not usefull in this situation.
Bouncing on the outboard doesn't prove much compared to drilling into the transom and inspecting the drill chips, then you'd really know.

Re: odd wood rot

Well, as I'm sure is quite common on this board, upon further inspection, I have a much, MUCH bigger problem than I originally thought. I'm going to try and post these pics, so please be patient with me if it takes me some time...

Floor beneath the starboard battery after some initial prodding...


Floor after a little more prodding...


With less zoom to give you an idea of location...


Now, the only bit of somewhat good news is that I drilled holes in the transom to test it, and what came out was light brown and dry (somehow) so I don't think it's spread to the transom. There is a crack that's hard to see in this picture , but it's right where the boat is sitting on the bunk on the right hand side of the boat (above the bumper sticker on the trailer). Due to the lack of transom damage, if I repair this crack, and place some plywood down for the batteries to sit on, do you all think this boat can make it through this season? I'll be slowly working on projects on this boat through the summer, and will most likely tear down and replace the stringers/deck, and maybe transom next winter, but I'd love to be able to take her out this year. BUT...I also want her to make it home and not end up on the bottom of a lake somewhere because I decided to take a chance. Let me know what you all think. I have a feeling this is going to quickly become my most visited site as I'm going to need a ton of help on this. Thanks guys, the advice is much appreciated!!

Re: odd wood rot

Oh, and my ignorance is going to shine through here, but I may have been improper in my saying the crack was in the transom. Please claify if I'm confused here. I originally thought that the entire back piece where the motor was attached was the transom. After further inspection of this boat, and viewing some other posts about transom replacements, I'm beginning to think that the transom is just the portion where the motor is attached. On this boat, it appears that there is thick plywood coated in fiberglass for only about a 2-3 ft section in the middle in between the trailer tie downs (where the motor actually mounts), and then the rest is thinner wood and fiberglass. Boat lingo is a new language for me, so I don't really know how to describe this any better. The crack is on the thinner portion where there doesn't seem to be any structural support by the motor.

Re: odd wood rot

Yeh its hard to orientate the pics, is that the fuel tank touching the oil tank?

As long as you don't plan water skiing you can keep an eye on it and get another yr out of it, be wary of the trailer bunks making the cracks worse. There might not be anything you can do about it until the glass is re-done from the inside.

It needs re-doing but you decide when, on my boat the stress from trailering made the transom worse until the splashwell started to crack open, so that was that.

When you drill the transom, do you see brown firm wood chips or brown dust?

I only got 3 trips on the ocean with mine but that wet my appetite to get it done and get back on the water again, I used seacast for the transom but I'd use ply without regret too.

You might want to check your oil tank for water too.

Re: odd wood rot

YOur transom is the entire "Rear End" of the boat from top to bottom. Shake the motor up and down and see how much flex you get in the transom. If it is not more than 1/8 of an inch then you are probably ok for the season. For the crack, try and v-groove it out as best you can, clean it out with some acetone and use some marine tex paste to fill it.

Seal up the inside as best you can.

Good Luck