14 ft Starcraft transom replacement

zul

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Aug 24, 2015
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The initial purpose of this boat, is a drag boat. Place gear into it and drag it with my 18 ft Sea Ray.

Stage 2: Replace transom
Stage 3: 15-20 hp

So, can I still use this as a drag boat if I tear the old transom out?

From the photos, I am wondering if this current transom is what I want to trace? As in, did the previous person put in an incorrect shape transom?

Any advise before I begin?
 

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zul

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Rotten particle board ...
 

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garbageguy

Lieutenant Commander
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Not sure what your question is.
Drag the boat with a torn-out transom? - no, replace it first. But, I don't think that's your question.
Use it as a drag boat (no racing) after properly replacing transom? Yes - why not?
 

zul

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With the photo of the inside of the transom, is the wood the correct shape? Seems like it could use a larger piece (going down toward the floor) that would make it more solid? Should I trace what I've got or create something larger?

Also, one L bracket instead of three? I've looked at scores of videos (14 ft V hulls) and it looks like they all have larger, beefier transom and some have three L brackets.

Overall, from the photos, is the current set up correct? Any missing pieces?

I'd like to use as a drag boat in May. Just worried if I tear out the old transom today, I'll get hung up and run into problems without being able to finish. I'm getting anxious to tear out the old. I want to see what I've got between those rotten boards. Just need to be patient, I guess. Or maybe put a temp piece of wood in there if I do get stuck before finishing the new one?
 

zul

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14 foot Tin Transom replacement

The bracket on top of the current transom measures 1.5inches.
The plywood at the depot measures .688 or .70 Do I need to add something to make up the difference?
And for sure, looks like everyone is gluing 2 ply pieces together to make their transom.
Can I bolt one piece outside and on second piece inside the transom (no glueing?)?
Do I need to glue or silicone each ply piece to the aluminimum?

THX!!
 

Woodonglass

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Dec 29, 2009
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Is there a reason you started a new thread about the same boat? Most transom replacements on a Tinny concist of two layers of 3/4" plywood Glued together and then re attached. Rivets, Stainless bolts and possible some PL adhesive.
I believe we're All a bit confused about your term DRAG Boat??? From the pics in your OTHER thread it appears someone tried a Cheap Fix for this boat. Some Tinnies do have external transom boards but IMHO this boat is NOT one of them. Do you want to do it RIGHT or just a quick fix? This Old Dumb Okie IS Confused!!
 
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GA_Boater

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Since WOG brought up the 1st thread, now there is a single thread with a new title.
 

zul

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Today, I purchased the plywood, and of course, home depot people have no idea what I am looking for and they do not use the terms MDO, ACX or CDX. The smartest person in lumber suggested a plywood sheet called APA and could tell me nothing about the wood other than it is exterior grade it has new technology against de-laminting. I reluctantly purchased the ply, it was only $28. Should I use this board or did I purchase the wrong thing? Google says that it is equal to CDX.

I am not sure if the current transom is the correct size and shape. This puts me at a stopping point. Can anyone comment if I should trace what is there and go for it? My goal is to fix the boat properly and not spend loads of money. It will eventually end up with a 15hp-20hp motor (hoping by early May), so I am trying to save $$ for that. If the transom replacement is too expensive, the motor purchase gets pushed to next year.

Drag Boat: Not drag racing. More like -- Tie a rope to the rear end of my Sea Ray and drag the 14 foot tinny loaded with 400 lbs of gear (gear placed into water tight bags and tethered/tied onto the tinny in case of it flipping). We boat camp on Lake Powell for 5-10 nights at a time. Currently, we can place 3-4 people into the Sea Ray plus camping gear/ice chest/spare gas. By doing this, the Sea Ray is very overloaded and places quite a strain on the motor and outdrive. I am hoping that dragging the 14 footer, I will not only reduce the strain on my Sea Ray but also increase passenger load into the Sea Ray up to 5 people. So, does dragging a boat like this take *some* pressure off of my Sea Ray? Or am I creating new problems and solving nothing?

In 2-3 months, I hope to have the money to strap an older 15-20 hp (adding yet another 100 lbs to my floating paradise). I will still be dragging the loaded tinny plus motor for approximately 40-50 miles to camp and another 40-50 miles back to lake exit.

It all sounds crazy, I know.
 

froggy1150

Senior Chief Petty Officer
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Nov 3, 2017
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796
Don't know if this is a good idea to help but..... on your tow strap run a piece of 4 or 6 conductor wire to a battery with a relay to operate a electric trolling motor. 2 wires to charge battery from your boat. When more for a relay to turn on motor remotely and 2 more for future use.... that way the weight is off your boat and your "trailer" will help push itself ..... just a concept.... who knows if it would work for real but it works in my little engineering peanut.:D
 

zul

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Wondering if I should use the APA (CDX?) or return it?
 

GA_Boater

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Don't know if this is a good idea to help but..... on your tow strap run a piece of 4 or 6 conductor wire to a battery with a relay to operate a electric trolling motor. 2 wires to charge battery from your boat. When more for a relay to turn on motor remotely and 2 more for future use.... that way the weight is off your boat and your "trailer" will help push itself ..... just a concept.... who knows if it would work for real but it works in my little engineering peanut.:D

Not a good idea. The TM can't be steered, so it will be essing behind the big boat when the big boat is turning. And TM speed can't be controlled, so get used to the little boat whacking the big boat.
 

froggy1150

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I was picturing the lead boat doing slightly faster than the trailing boat. But not sure if for it to be efficient if they would have to be at identical speeds. If the tm was slightly slower would it introduce drag instead of thrust. And I only envisioned a straight line. Not turning...... was just a wild thought
 

kcassells

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The wood is stamped acx, bcx, cdx etc, YOU need to look… yup hdeblow typically blowS when you need an answer.
So cdx menas more voids. If you use it then on the cut sides fill the visual voids and roll all the edges with your glue of choice. EEEppxxyyy or poly wanna cracker. It's one or the other. don't mix.
As far as wetting out the surfaces no matter what wood you buy the glue only goes thru the first layer for protection.
I've bought cdx when hdblow was short. it'll work.
If you want to spend $$$$ then go for it.
 

zul

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Aug 24, 2015
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Tear down went really well, only a few stubborn bolts. Cut the CDX ply and bolted the 3/4 ply on yesterday. I used the existing rotten transom to trace. Before cutting, I matched the outside design to the outside design so that every bolt would be captured by both inside and outside wood cutouts. Loaded it up with stainless steel and it is super stout. I've already got some good confidence in this project. Progress people!! :)

Top cap -- Looks like I won't be able to use the existing metal top cap unless I get a belt sander. My wood cut lines up with the aluminum transom pretty well but there are some small imperfections in the wood and aluminum that is causing problems with the old top cap (holes won't line up).

Seal the ply -- I've got a bottle of Titebond III waterproof glue. I read a suggestion to use 50% water and 50% Titebond III. Use like paint on all surfaces and several coats on the edges. Should I do this with straight Titebond III or water down? The purpose of adding water was to help fill the holes, gaps and voids in ply ('m using CDX which is low grade exterior end ply wood).

After glue coating, I've got a 2 part epoxy resin. Just wanting to make sure the glue won't mess up the epoxy resin coat??

I'm still dealing with the corner caps. Each cap has 2 strong corners with original rivets. The third connecting corner has been drilled like swiss cheese and bent outta whack. Trying to find a way to get that 3rd corner connected and strong??

I'll put up some pics soon ...
 
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zul

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[No message]
 

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Woodonglass

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DO NOT seal the plywood with watered down glue. Just use the epoxy for EVERYTHING!!! Pay close attention to the edges. Use Thickened Epoxy (you can use fine sawdust to thicken it) and fill EVERY void in the edges and on the flat surfaces. Every One!!!! Then apply 2-3 more coats of epoxy and possibly a layer of 6oz fabric. NO CSM.
 

italianstal27

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Feb 18, 2017
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you need to remove that plywood and seal EVERY surface... to thicken your epoxy we had our best luck with fumed silica. Also, listen to WOG advice, he never steered us wrong.
 

RufCut

Cadet
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May 7, 2019
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8
Your transom area looks much like my Arkansas Traveler. I have the corner caps but also the tin of the transom folds into the boat and over the transom wood. The interior transom is 1" thick and a pad is attached externally to fill it out to 1.5" for the motor mounts. This may be why your corner pieces don't fit right. Just how it looks to me...
 

zul

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Aug 24, 2015
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Thanks RufCut I may just re-do my transom to those specs. There's a few things that are not quite perfect. Even though it is a short shaft transom and I have a short shaft Evinrude, the shaft is 2-3 inches too long. So if I build up the transom I can make it match. Then these corner caps might attach properly.
 
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