soft transom

I have a 1987 mark twain 175br and took it to the shop and he said my transom is shot. Pretty frustrating because I just bought the boat. He told that it might make it through the season. Is there anyway to fix this without removing the engine? Is it safe to take this thing on the lake?

Re: soft transom

benjjordan said:

I have a 1987 mark twain 175br and took it to the shop and he said my transom is shot. Pretty frustrating because I just bought the boat. He told that it might make it through the season. Is there anyway to fix this without removing the engine? Is it safe to take this thing on the lake?

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I am by no means an expert, but a soft transom is nothing to mess around with. I have heard stories of the transom ripping off the back, and promptly sinking the entire boat.

How soft is it anyways? Push down on the cavitation plate, any flexing? I would also drill some test holes in the transom to see if it really is shot.... and howbad the damage is.

Re: soft transom

i just redid my transom with a stuff called nida bond. if you have some mechanical inclination it's not hard to do just takes some time. look at some of the posts here of people who have used it or seacast. i went with the nidabond cause it's half the price and it flows easier.

Re: soft transom

benjjordan said:

I have a 1987 mark twain 175br and took it to the shop and he said my transom is shot. Pretty frustrating because I just bought the boat. He told that it might make it through the season. Is there anyway to fix this without removing the engine? Is it safe to take this thing on the lake?

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If the transom needs replaced, you'll need to remove the engine. I'm taking from your wording that its an I/O. the drive goes thru the transom so that obviously would need removed. And the engine would be in the way. The best way to replace the transom is to take the boat cap off. There are a ton of threads on here relating to transom replacements. Read some of those and you'll get a better idea what sorta job you got. Not for the faint of heart but not impossible with some will power!

As far as safety goes...that depends totally on how "shot" the transom is. If its just slightly soft in some places...it may be ok to use the rest of the season. If it is shot as in - mostly rotten; park it in the shop and start working - or find another boat. Don't risk the safety of you and your passengers.

Best of luck!

Re: soft transom

benjjordan said:

I have a 1987 mark twain 175br and took it to the shop and he said my transom is shot. Pretty frustrating because I just bought the boat. He told that it might make it through the season. Is there anyway to fix this without removing the engine? Is it safe to take this thing on the lake?

Click to expand...

If the shop said it's shot, then it's probably shot. The "might" would be too much of a liability for me to jeopardize the safety of others.