Chainsaw your Transom

[Woodonglass]

If you're contemplating doing a Seacast Pour In Transom repair, I think you'll find this quite informative. Some boats configurations lend themselves to this method better than others...

 

[kcassells]

Thanks Mike!

 

[Scott Danforth]

after going thru seacast once, its almost more work than firing up the tools of destruction and simply replacing the wood

 

[alldodge]

Nice vid,
I would remove the inner skin and get the wood out. Doesn't want to do that because of the stringers, but they to may be compromised. Oh well each to their own

 

[Woodonglass]

I agree that a Pour in Transom is NOT for every boat but...there are some like those with ALL glass stringers or I/O boats and some Bass Boats) that would be good candidates for this process. We've discussed this "Ad IInfinitum" here on the forum and thought this video did a good job of showing the process.

 

[Scott Danforth]

the problem I have with running a chain saw is the auto-oiler that is on most of them. tends to get a fair amount of bar&chain oil in the area you want clean to pour the seacast.

I used an electric chain saw with the oil system cleaned with brake cleaner and a new chain that I soaked in acetone to prevent getting oil in the area i was pouring seacast. the chain wore the bar out in a short time without the lubrication thank god electric chain saws are dirt cheap

 

[sphelps]

My first go around with seacast I did use a chain saw to get most all of the wood out . Still a little few chunks here and there left in the bottom . Kinda hard to get at them to do a good cleaning .. I thought about how much I paid for the stuff so in my reasoning I figured "what's a little more glassing on the inside " compared to not getting the absolute best bond possible to the skins .
So I ended up just cutting out the inside skin so I could grind it to fresh glass ... But I could see where in some cases not cutting the skin out would be an advantage ...If your not doing the stringers and the cap is really difficult to take off .This is the way I would do it ...

 

[boedekerj]

For what it's worth, when I re-did my transom/stringers, I used SeaCast and really dug the product. What made it (IMO) easier than a full gutting was: Make incisions from the top down on the stringers with a cutoff wheel, on both sides of the 3/4" glassed in stringer. (Not across the top of the stringer.) After I removed the "cover slit" of fiberglass, I drilled 3/8" holes every 6 inches in the wood to 4" down. Then poured in denatured alcohol in the holes, allowed it to absorb. Then took two bicycle hooks (the kind you use to hang bikes from your ceiling), screwed them down into some of the holes in the wood stringer, grabbed the hooks, rocked it back and forth, then pulled straight up, and out they came. In this way, I was able to remove the stringers, front to back, and completely retain the exact height of the stringers, and a the same time, create a perfect form for the seacast. For the transom, i chose a different path, but honestly wish I would have taken the chainsaw route. Done properly, you can have a 100% composite boat (below deck), without having to tear out, de-skin and re-skin anything. No custom wood cutting for stringers, or leveling. I spent about $350 (2x5 Gallon kits) and from my calculations, it saved me about $50 in wood, resin, brushes and cloth, and 3 weekends in work. (Admittedly, I'm not very fast at glassing.) To me, the $300 additional material cost was well worth the time saved, especially when factored into the fact that this boat, below deck at least, will never rot.

The owner, Sabine, is very knowledgeable. I would go as far as to say, she's can be downright pushy, but only because she wants your project come out 100%, and she really believes in the product. She really knows what she's talking about.

Now, if only the boat were worth what I put into it...
Happy Friday!!!

 

[Big Gee]

....Make incisions from the top down on the stringers with a cutoff wheel, on both sides of the 3/4" glassed in stringer. (Not across the top of the stringer.) After I removed the "cover slit" of fiberglass, I drilled 3/8" holes every 6 inches in the wood to 4" down. Then poured in denatured alcohol in the holes, allowed it to absorb. Then took two bicycle hooks (the kind you use to hang bikes from your ceiling), screwed them down into some of the holes in the wood stringer, grabbed the hooks, rocked it back and forth, then pulled straight up, and out they came. In this way, I was able to remove the stringers, front to back, and completely retain the exact height of the stringers....

Interesting, any photos of it?

 

[boedekerj]

I have some before and after, but the "during", no. Too busy, not enough hands and afraid to stop. Let me see if I can scare some up.

 

[boedekerj]

Here’s the pre-pour vid: https://youtu.be/b_9SXzXLiIY

 

[Big Gee]

Thanks for the link.

I think I'll try that on my next project depending on what it looks like when I open it up.

 

[sphelps]

boedekerj nice video . You were furtunate to have most of your stringer skins still usable .. I had to make all complete new ones on my last project . Here is a pre pour vid ..

 

[boedekerj]

Thanks sphelps! I wish I'd have watched your video before my pour. Those little clips are smart. (I ruined half a dozen squeeze clamps during the pour.) And good thinkin' on the packing tape covered foam! After being told by many that applying PVA (even to plywood) would be enough for a mold release (and deep down, not believing them) I found that packing tape is THE BEST as a release material. I had a couple of areas on my stringers that needed attention, so I created plywood molds, and sprayed them 4-5 times with PVA. It didn't work. The plywood soaked up all of the PVA and the fiberglass was adhered fairly well. Thankfully, I only did it to one test area, so unscrewing it was a fairly small tasl. So, I learned to love the packaging tape as a mold release rather than the PVA. On that note, if anyone wants to buy a big jug of PVA, let me know. I'll let it go cheap.

 

[sphelps]

An "ol okie" taught me the packing tape trick !
Among'st a ton of other trick !

 

[sphelps]

Seeing as this is a chainsaw thread .. I used one to get the last little bit of wood out of the bottoms of some stringers ..I did in 15 mins what would have taken a couple days with a grinder and chisel.

 

[cup of Joe]

just watching this makes me itch, Good job.

 

[dsiekman]

This may be a really stupid question, but let's say the deck was still solid but you found rot in the stringers during transom repair. If you wanted to get all of the wood out and were confident that the stringers could be "found" with the saw, could you cut a 3/4" wide strip through the floor and top of stringer, remove the wood, pour the seacast, then replace then grind and glass the deck?

 

[boedekerj]

IMO; The short answer is "Sure.". The follow on statement would probably be something to the effect of; this would be tvery unlikely where stringers/transom were rotted and the deck/foam were fine. MFG's did not glass the bottoms of the decks, only the tops. Generally speaking, gaps in the stringer tabbing/glass that leached from the cavities is what causes stringers to rot. This generally means that all areas of the cavity (floor, foam, etc) are already well on their way to being toast when the stringers are. It's more common (but still, not very) where the floor is rotten and the stringers/transom are ok. There are more seasoned vets here who probably have better insight, but this has been what my research has shown.

 

[dsiekman]

I am in the process of dealing with this situation which is why I posed the question. My deck is glassed on both sides (and pretty thin for that matter) and does not have any soft spots even though there is not much deck to speak of (lots of hatches, etc.). It does not appear to have any wood in it. The transom was wet and the stringers at the transom are gone. I am in the process of tearing out to replace both but didn't want to tear out a perfectly good deck. Might be time to start a new thread...