Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

[special_kaye]

Okay folks, first off, I didn't do this but I'm going to make it right.

It appears I have a cast-in-place transom repair that has gone south. I knew what I had going in so it's no surprise to me but some folks might have not seen this.

The PO appears to have added a layer or two of some type of fiberglass in the splash well and about the same quality of work in the bilge.

This appears it'll be my next major project. I'm going to buy a new-to-me motor on Saturday and wouldn't want to use it for an anchor. So, I'll pick up the new motor but I won't hang it until I get this transom whipped back into shape.

I can't say for sure that miss-use and abuse didn't play a part in the damage done. I do know that this appears to be a cast-in-place repair. I do know that the PO's work ethics WERE NOT up to my standards. I do know that this motor was never supported while trailering and weighs in close to 500lbs. And I do know I'll fix it as best I can before hanging my new motor.

Feel free to chime in with your thoughts. I look forward to hearing all you have to say. Plus, I'm not sure I'm going to keep the set-back bracket. It's not a true jack plate, it's a set and forget type setback. Is it worth keeping?

 

[BaileysBoat]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

Love to see some pics.

I would keep the bracket for fine tuning the height. Going to be low otherwise.

 

[Mark42]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

Wow. That transom has failed big-time. Like you say, the repair is only as good as the quality of the PO work skils and work ethics.

After you get the old motor off, I would not be surprised to find that not all the old wood was removed, maybe the resin was not mixed properly. Anyway, you have a bit of a cleanup on your hands. Just hope the PO's work does not make for an even more difficult repair.

Take lots of picures to post. I can't recall a repair of a failed repair being documented on this forum before. This could be a first!

So what is your plan for repair? Plywood? Sea Cast? Or maybe a big old hunk of aluminum bolted to the outside will fix it .

Keep us posted!

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

Wow. I am very interested in keeping this documented.

Am I understanding that this may have been a cast in place repair??? are you talking about seacast or nidabond?

Yes please keep up with the photos.

 

[redfury]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

Boy, that wouldn't be a good deal if it were sea cast that was used originally. I think I'd have to chalk it up to improper repair, but then again..who knows right? I'd love to see a cross section of the material taken out to see what it was made out of. I'm wondering if the yokel that did this forgot to add the fiberglass hairs to it when he mixed the resin, or didn't thump the transom enough to remove any air bubbles. Man, that's just gotta suck to remove though if it has any inherent bond with the fiberglass skin. I'd think I might consider cutting it out from the outside and then reglassing the back of the boat for ease and completeness of old solid transom removal.

This is DEFINITELY a project to follow...take LOTS of pics and document this well, I think it will go a long way towards helping lurkers decide on a pourable transom or not.

 

[jcsercsa]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

MAn what size motor did they have hanging back there ??? That really does look bad, cant wait to see this one turn around , take a lot of pics for us . Can you get a few on the inside of the transom ??? John

 

[special_kaye]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

Thanks for the replies.
Yes, I'll probably keep the bracket. Honestly, it's a 25" motor but it looks too long compared to the transom. The bracket holds it, about 5 inches - imagine that, above the transom so the cav plate is about even with the keel.

I plan to take plenty of photos but often forget to picture the steps because I'm so wrapped up in doing instead of documenting. But, I'll try.

The motor hanging there is about an 86 Suzuki DT200. They weigh in at about 500 lbs. And yes, it is a monster. It's about as big as me.

I'm pretty sure it's a pour-in-place transom repair. I might be jumping the gun because I haven't ground it down to dust but

here you can see it's a smoothed over, grayish material that appears to have been mounded up between the transom skins. If you look at the last picture of the first four, you can see a yellowed, papery, POS repair which is just a piece of fiberglass laid into the splashwell over what is probably a crack where the splashwell meets the transom. As to what brand pour-in-place I have no clue but I do know that PO had some serious flaws in work ethics.

This is about the only picture I have of the aft bilge right now:

Yes, that is the "original" bilge pump wiring and how I found it. No, that is NOT what it looks like now. Off to the left, you can see some more of the crappy yellow "glass" work. The port side looks the same.

I was hoping to be able to hold off on the transom for a couple months but when I went out today, I gave the motor a good shake, I want to take it off but not ready yet, and I noticed that the cracks to each side of the motor mounts seem a bit bigger. A couple more shakes and I might just end up taking that monster motor off before I'm ready too.

Plans at this time:
remove aft part of cap
replace transom with laminated plywood
cut out cockpit floor
replace stringers and stiffen sole.

Bad thing is: I'll be working outside, alone, in SW Florida, at the start of rainy season, and I have 45 days to do it.

 

[lowkee]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

I'm guessing two things helped to cause that failure.. an unsupported trailered engine and the lack of a top cap on that transom. After your pour in transom goop you still need to cap it with many coats of glass (or a metal cap) for lateral support. The difference between an L-beam and a flat plate.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

You could rebuild the transom high enough to help with the shaft length of that motor since you are planning on the work. Then you can take the bracket off. I am sure the added height and setback added to the stress....it's pure physics. That's severe leverage there with a 200 that high.

 

[special_kaye]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

You could rebuild the transom high enough to help with the shaft length of that motor since you are planning on the work. Then you can take the bracket off. I am sure the added height and setback added to the stress....it's pure physics. That's severe leverage there with a 200 that high.

Agreed, and that was my thought. Because I'll have everything apart, I'm trying hard to figure out if there's anything I want to add, or change, structurally while I'm there.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

poor quality repair, for the weight it is holding. the jackplate also increases the stress doe to the set back. probably no transom saver either.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

What a bummer. I can't imagine how painful it's going to be to get all that goop out of there.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

WOW. I would get friendly with a sawzall and start over. I have done that before. I had a boat with a way-too-low transom cutout in the motor well area, plus it was rotten. I just cut everything out cleaned it up good and glassed it all in.

You have to raise the transom height too so it shouldn't be too big a deal.

 

[J. Mark]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

It might be wise to do a few core samples before you get underway. I suspect you don't have a full poured in transom. You may just have a yahoo that covered the rotted exposed edge with JB Weld or the like.

I feel for you having to work outside. My boat work gets scheduled around the rain as well and it has caused me more delay than I can keep up with. At least you can glass without the cold to contend with.

 

[wca_tim]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

I'm betting that is it. Seacast should be as close to bullet proof as it gets in terms of holding up. I played with some of the leftover whjen I did a transome with it 10 years ago. If the po didn't get the old wood out all the way across and get a good pour of the seacast in the entire void, it just won't be nealy as strong. When done right, it should be significantly stronger than even high grade marine plywood repairs (and a little heavier). I bet you find a very poor use of a good product... just my two cents

 

[J. Mark]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

Any updates?

 

[special_kaye]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

Any updates?

Yes, tons. But no time. I'll get the pictures on the web when I can. Right now, I'm sitting with a gutted transom. I believe the heavy lifting is done for the prep work but there is still a bunch of sanding to do.

The pour in place stuff only covered the top and a couple inches down in a couple places. So yes, whatever was used, was just slathered on top of the original wet plywood transom. Out of the entire transom, the largest piece to come out was about a foot long. I actually took a picture of it because by then, I was shocked to get a piece that big.

The original transom appears to have been 1.25 inches thick. I'll pick up some 3/4 inch marine plywood in the morning. My plan is to double that for 1.5 inches and then use a third piece in the center to bring the transom to about 2.25 with just wood. When it's all glassed up, should be pretty close to the 2.5 recommended. That's the plan anyway.

 

[special_kaye]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

All right, Fellas. And any ladies that happen to look. I've got some updated photos to post:

Most of the old transom is out in this photo. It's past now. All the old transom is out now but I forgot to take a picture.

I did pick up the marine grade plywood and was actually pretty disappointed at first. I was in a hurry with a borrowed truck and a friend helping, while both of us were supposed to be at work, so I just grabbed two sheets from the top of the stack. Well, getting in the truck, the top sheet (second down in stack) had a great big crappy repair right on the face. Went over two feet toward the center from one of the ends. Can't say I was to happy about that. Put that one back and started digging for something better. Went through 10 or 12 sheets before I found one that didn't have crappy repairs, voids, or missing footballs. Come on, voids? All the other damage? This is $80 a sheet marine grade plywood. And it has voids? I found two sheets without obvious flaws and took them home. Then got back to work.

(BTW, I did find a small void during a cut)

So I made a cardboard template:

And started cutting:

I used the template to make two full size cutouts, one from each sheet of ply, and then because of the way I did the cutting, I got 90% of another piece from the scrap:

Okay, Purists might yell about having to make the third layer full size. And I might. I can scab some wood right on top. But, the transom is now more than twice the thickness Answer Boats manufactured it with and that lasted at least 25 years. Honestly, I probably will not scab the top pieces on. I laid all three layers in place for the night and its HUGE compared to what was here and what I've seen on a few other boats. Can't remember if I mentioned it but I did buy another motor and I've got ZERO reservations about hanging it on the new transom when it's complete. It's so massive that I actually measured the hanger on the motor to make sure it would fit. Yes, it'll fit, with almost 1/2 inch to spare. Then I remembered that I was going to put the manual jackplate back on and didn't need to worry about that.

In no way does this picture do justice to just how massive this amount of wood is. That's 21 plies plus the outer skin. Haven't measured it but it's about 60lbs of wood. Hopefully, it's not to much for the boat.

Here's a parting shot for the night. I just placed all the pieces where they'll go and started cleaning up. Now, I'm off to order $300 worth of epoxy resin and glass.

 

[D.spencer]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

Nice work Kaye- I was just curious, are you not going to make the transom taller in an effort to eliminate the transom jack plate ( hence the reason being a long shaft motor ) ?. dang, gotta read these posts more carefully I see now where you said you bought a new motor to put on there- Dohh !

 

[special_kaye]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

Nice work Kaye- I was just curious, are you not going to make the transom taller in an effort to eliminate the transom jack plate ( hence the reason being a long shaft motor ) ?. dang, gotta read these posts more carefully I see now where you said you bought a new motor to put on there- Dohh !

S'okay. Nope, transom will stay the original height of 20 inches. The motor that was on her when purchased was a 25 inch shaft. PO added the jack plate but set it at the top of it's travel to accommodate the taller motor:

I've never used a jackplate or setback system so I have to trust what others on this great forum say and they say that I should keep the setback plate (it's a manual adjust) because it will improve handling and possibly fuel economy.

The original motor needs a fair amount of work so I found a very nice but comparable motor. Both are Suzuki's. Original is an '86 DT200 Extra Long shaft, the new-to-me one is a rebuilt '88 DT150 Super Six with a 20 inch shaft. Most of the parts are interchangeable so I have a built in parts bin. It's pretty common to hit an oyster bar or submerged log around here and that'll end the lower unit pretty quick. If not more. Now I have a spare of everything except the power head and the shaft housing. Thought I did pretty good with that.