14' Duracraft transom replacement

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I have what I believe to be a aluminum 14'3" Duracraft jon boat with a rotten wood transom. The wood appears to be a solid piece of lumber, not sure if it has ever been replaced. It measures 48 x 12 x 1 1/4 thick. I'll post some pics tomorrow as it is dark now. I am thinking maybe poplar or cypress would be a good choice? I have read that 2 sheets of exterior plywood might be better? Have never done this before Thanks

Just enough light left for a pic

duracraft transom.JPG
 
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jbcurt00

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Re: 14' Duracraft transom replacement

A 5/8" & a 1/2" ply transom coated w/ several coats of epoxy should be plenty thick enough to make a 1 1/4" transom.

Cypress maybe, poplar DEFINITELY NOT....

Duracraft's can be a tad difficult to replace the transom on. The transom cap is welded on, and w/ both a transom knee brace & a lower 'shelf' at the bottom of the transom, it could be tough to maneuver the new wood into place......

More & better pix when you can.

Welcome to the iboats dry dock, tin division..
 
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Re: 14' Duracraft transom replacement

A 5/8" & a 1/2" ply transom coated w/ several coats of epoxy should be plenty thick enough to make a 1 1/4" transom.

Cypress maybe, poplar DEFINITELY NOT....

Duracraft's can be a tad difficult to replace the transom on. The transom cap is welded on, and w/ both a transom knee brace & a lower 'shelf' at the bottom of the transom, it could be tough to maneuver the new wood into place......

More & better pix when you can.

Welcome to the iboats dry dock, tin division..

Thanks for your response. You must have knowledge of Duracraft construction as your description of the transom cap, the knee brace and the lower shelf are spot on.

My plan ( so far) is to cut the knee brace in half and drill out the rivets holding the lower shelf brace. This will allow me to install the new wood (laminated exterior ply or solid cypress) I plan to use use aluminum round head bolts, nuts and flat washers sealed with 5200 to reattach the lower shelf, then fabricate an aluminum bolt thru cap bracket to reassemble the knee brace..
I have no confidence in my ability to install new rivets.
Maybe a solid piece of teak would work but it would be expensive. The consensus seems to be 2 sheets of exterior plywood laminated together, Why is this better than a solid piece of cypress or teak?
Thanks
 

jbcurt00

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Re: 14' Duracraft transom replacement

The cross layer laminations make the plywood stronger for a given thickness then dimensional lumber. The cross layers minimize expansion & contraction as well.

I could see most of the details in the photo you posted, but yes, I have access to a Duracraft built similarly.

Post up a better pix of the shelf's attachment, and the knee brace, there may be a solution that doesn't involve cutting the knee brace.

Don't be overly concerned about the riveting, it can be done, and done by you. Bolts will work, but unless you have a source for aluminum, I'd recommend stainless.

Stainless bolts online reasonably. But I find that my local ACE hardware & Tractor Supply stores are fairly competitive & although not 5min away, there's no shipping.
 
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Re: 14' Duracraft transom replacement

The cross layer laminations make the plywood stronger for a given thickness then dimensional lumber. The cross layers minimize expansion & contraction as well.

I could see most of the details in the photo you posted, but yes, I have access to a Duracraft built similarly.

Post up a better pix of the shelf's attachment, and the knee brace, there may be a solution that doesn't involve cutting the knee brace.

Don't be overly concerned about the riveting, it can be done, and done by you. Bolts will work, but unless you have a source for aluminum, I'd recommend stainless.

Stainless bolts online reasonably. But I find that my local ACE hardware & Tractor Supply stores are fairly competitive & although not 5min away, there's no shipping.

Here are a few more pics
brace.JPG
knee brace 4 bolts at the top riveted at the bottom
lowershelf.JPG
lower shelf bolts at the top riveted at the bottom.
outside rivets.JPG
outside rivets lower shelf below water line.
duracraftplate.jpg
nameplate model number is unreadable
 

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Re: 14' Duracraft transom replacement

Here is the boat and trailer, paid $600 for everything has a 14hp commercial evinrude that runs like a clock.
Trailer needs some work which will be done when I replace the transom. Great boat for fishing in the Everglades
stable and draws very little water, no leaks at least not yet ( the rivets scare me if I have to disturb them)
duracraft14.jpg
 
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Re: 14' Duracraft transom replacement

Found the hull identification number which is DUR84172M81 I believe this is a Duracraft model 1436 vintage 1981.
If I remove the lower shelf ( drill out the rivets yuk..:( ) there may be enough room to slide the new wood behind the knee brace with the top bolts removed. The wood transom is 12" wide, there is a 2" space below the lower shelf to the floor which should be enough room to place the wood on the floor then slide it up behind the upper welded transom brace. I am just not sure if the wood will go behind the knee brace.
 
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Re: 14' Duracraft transom replacement

The more I look at this transom the more I believe it was changed at some point in time. The factory would not have done such a poor job
on the original wood. There is a gap of about 1" on each side of the wood. I am thinking they may have used regular lumber from Home Depot.
duragap.JPG
 

jbcurt00

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Re: 14' Duracraft transom replacement

Nope, don't be surprised that the transom is original.

It may not be, but it's equally as likely that for a 1981 jon boat type 14ft'r, Duracraft may have built it exactly as you see it.

The aluminum skin, in general, is typically thicker on welded Duracrafts then on similar riveted built boats. Particularly on the transom skin. Even a few thousandths can make a big difference.

Everything you're seeing & describing is nearly identical to a 1957 Duracraft runabout. It's transom wood isn't full height, 12"+/- (short 6-7" of reaching the bottom of the hull), doesn't extend all the way to the sides of the hull (1-1.5" short), knee brace thru bolted at the transom & riveted to the hull bottom.

he exception is it doesn't have the small lower shelf to hold the bottom of the transom plywood. It has a 1958 Johnson 'Fat Fifty' 50hp OB hanging on it w/ nearly zero deflection & the transom ply is VERY soft, 1 step up from complete mulch. That motor is extremely heavy, compared to a 1971 650 Merc 65hp motor that is also heavy, the FatFifty is HEAVY.....

If it were up to me, I'd probably consider removing the shelf & attempting to slip the new transom plywood into place behind the knee brace.

Before that I'd get everything else I intend to remove, removed: motor, electric trolling motor, etc, and confirm there are no leaks @seams, welds or rivets. Based on those results decide how you want to proceed on the interior: Do nothing, repaint, rehab, modify etc.

If there are leaks that may dictate how you proceed. And depending on that, decide to remove the shelf at the bottom of the transom or not.

Once a direction is chosen, you'll get all the help you'll need to put it back together, new rivets & all.
 
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Re: 14' Duracraft transom replacement

OK Thanks! I am retired so I have plenty of time to tinker with it. I'm in Fort Lauderdale which has a giant marine industry, plenty of exotic lumber yards and marine hardware stores. I may take a ride down to Shell Lumber in Miami which stocks teak, cypress and sapele in 12" widths. Since i only intend to run the 14 HP motor a single piece of marine lumber properly sealed should be more than adequate.
I'll holler if I need any more direction ( rivets...:(
Bill
 

jbcurt00

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Re: 14' Duracraft transom replacement

Don't fear the rivets, I recently took a 1/2" drill bit to the heads of 25 I was POSITIVE I didn't want to remove. No choice, I needed to remove a panel to clean out debris under a built in bench seat.

It was nerve racking, and made me lose sleep thinking about removing the 250-300 other rivets I need to.

But once I started, it wasn't as bad as I thought. And I got to spend 6hrs over 3 or 4 days looking thru the multitude of pop (closed end, blind) & solid rivets available trying to find as close as possible to original as I could find
 
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