need help on transom repair. 91 tracker guide v.14

[Philip_G]

I'll get some pics tomorrow, darkness crept up on me today.

I need to beef up my transom, but I don't know how to get into it. Basically as near as I can tell the cap is one big aluminum piece that is the whole back side of the transom, run up the back, folded over, and riveted to the outside of the transom.

I don't know if I can just drill out the rivets and fold it back and then over again without destroying it.

I also can't tell if there's even wood in it, I could swear it's hollow. The rivets are starting to pop along the top where it's been pinched in from motor clamps.

I'd like to beef it up a bit so I feel safe leaving my 15hp motor on the boat for transport.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: need help on transom repair. 91 tracker guide v.14

Yep there's "WOOD" in there. Or should I say WAS wood in there. It has probably ROTTED away and that is why the motor clamps are starting to deform the transom You will need to replace the transom to fix your boat properly. I'm NOT a Tin Boat guy but there's lots of em on here so I'm sure you'll get lots of help in a bit. Basically I believe you will need to drill out the rivets, remove the cap and remove all of the interior pieces that attach to the transom so you can remove it. Fabricate a new one using Ext Grade plywood encased in resin and fiberglass and then reinstall everything. That is the basic procedure. Not to hard but LOTS of work.

 

[Philip_G]

Re: need help on transom repair. 91 tracker guide v.14

I've read a few tin replacements and they always seem easy to get at, pop some rivets and pull the cap off. I guess I can drill the rivets and bend the cap back, but then I worry about cracking that bend or getting waves in it when I bend it back down.

Here are the promised pics.

first one of the outside by the corner brace, pretty normal looking from that angle.

Next is inside at the corner brace, see how the cap is part of the whole rear piece of the transom and it is bent over the top?

last are inside and outside at the center where the motor clamps showing basically the same thing.

 

[jmeny]

Re: need help on transom repair. 91 tracker guide v.14

I'm not an expert on this by any means but I just took my first transom out recently and it looked similar. It looks to me like you can just drill out the center of the rivets on your corner caps (3/16 bit should work) and the caps should pop right off with no bending required. Then you should be able to get a better look at how that aluminum strip is attached and how it holds in the actual wood. That piece should be fairly simple to take off but it's different than mine was so I can't be sure.

 

[Philip_G]

Re: need help on transom repair. 91 tracker guide v.14

I'm not an expert on this by any means but I just took my first transom out recently and it looked similar. It looks to me like you can just drill out the center of the rivets on your corner caps (3/16 bit should work) and the caps should pop right off with no bending required. Then you should be able to get a better look at how that aluminum strip is attached and how it holds in the actual wood. That piece should be fairly simple to take off but it's different than mine was so I can't be sure.

my confusion is in getting the cap off, the cap isn't just a cap, it's the inside of the transom folded over and riveted to the outside. I tried to label the picture to make it more clear, not sure I succeeded

I understand drilling the rivets and all, but I'm confused on how to actually get the "cap" off, since it really isn't just a cap.

 

[jmeny]

Re: need help on transom repair. 91 tracker guide v.14

Yeah sorry I was referring to those corner caps. I'm unsure how your actual transom cap is attached-when you remove the through-hull bolts and other hardware it might slide out, but it might also be alumawelded onto the boat itself, in which case I see your issue with bending back the top and bending it back again (that sounds like a bad idea to me also, but who am I).

Someone else might be able to chime in who's more familiar with this style of boat, but you could always start by taking off that hardware to see what happens-it'll need to come off anyways and you can always reattach it.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: need help on transom repair. 91 tracker guide v.14

What's this?

Is this the Outside? if so, then MAYBE you drill the rivets out and it appears that possibly the bottom inside is caulked?? Is that true??? if so what are the inside edes up the sides like? Maybe the whole interior aluminum skin is removable. Can you take some pics of the inside corners of the transom?

 

[Philip_G]

Re: need help on transom repair. 91 tracker guide v.14

yeah that's the outside. You're right, maybe the whole panel comes out, I'll look down at the inside bottom and see if it appears to be attached. Good idea, thanks

 

[ezmobee]

Re: need help on transom repair. 91 tracker guide v.14

Strange design. I guess if that panel doesn't come out, you'll have to cut the top of it, and then replace it with a more typical cap after you replace the wood. They sure did make and otherwise simple job hard didn't they!

 

[Philip_G]

Re: need help on transom repair. 91 tracker guide v.14

Strange design. I guess if that panel doesn't come out, you'll have to cut the top of it, and then replace it with a more typical cap after you replace the wood. They sure did make and otherwise simple job hard didn't they!

yeah, they also make the transom an oddball thickness, I think it's about 1-1/4", or about 1/4" too thin for my 15hp motor clamps to grab it before bottoming out. Well, it's a tracker, it's no lund that's for sure.

That's another idea I hadn't thought of, and might be the easiest of all really, just line the new cap holes up with the existing and rivet it all back together, anyone have thoughts where I can buy pre-bent cap material?

 

[idonthaveaname]

Re: need help on transom repair. 91 tracker guide v.14

Not meaning to send you somewhere else, but tin boats might be helpful. Here's their URL:

http://www.tinboats.net/forum/

One of my boats is a Bass Tracker and I will need to redo the transom as well so I am paying attention to yours. On Tin Boats there a guy that replaced his Tracker transom with some good pics. Enjoy and have fun!

IDHN

 

[ezmobee]

Re: need help on transom repair. 91 tracker guide v.14

anyone have thoughts where I can buy pre-bent cap material?

Lowes and HD have aluminum L-channel it varying sizes.

 

[Philip_G]

Re: need help on transom repair. 91 tracker guide v.14

Not meaning to send you somewhere else, but tin boats might be helpful. Here's their URL:

http://www.tinboats.net/forum/

One of my boats is a Bass Tracker and I will need to redo the transom as well so I am paying attention to yours. On Tin Boats there a guy that replaced his Tracker transom with some good pics. Enjoy and have fun!

IDHN

Couldn't really find exactly the same, I did find this-
http://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=14064

seems like most the tinboats guys have john or bassboats, the construction isn't the same on that thread. I'll start one over there maybe.

That site makes me want to redo my interior too

 

[idonthaveaname]

Re: need help on transom repair. 91 tracker guide v.14

That's the one I was thinking of.

 

[Philip_G]

Re: need help on transom repair. 91 tracker guide v.14

well, mystery solved a little bit.

I popped the corner cap off and there's definitely wood in the transom, and it's rotten as can be.

the downer is that inner piece that folds over the top is riveted through the hull on both sides and it goes about halfway down the transom and is riveted across the back, so what I think I'll do is cut it just about 1/8" or 1/4" below the bend on the inside, keeping the cap in piece, then I'll replace the wood, rivet that cap back on, and use a piece of angle aluminum as mentioned to cover the cut, and of course I'll seal it too. That's all I can think to do besides tell the wife this boat it broken and I need a bigger one

I guess I just didn't think to look for rivets through the sides and back the first time I tried to figure out how to get into it.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: need help on transom repair. 91 tracker guide v.14

Before you start cuttin, take some more pics and show me!!! Drillin out rivets and re-riveting is NOT a big issue. Let's see the inside and outside corners of your transom so we can determine the best method to attack this repair.

 

[Philip_G]

Re: need help on transom repair. 91 tracker guide v.14

Wilco! working tonight and will get some pics tomorrow

 

[Philip_G]

Re: need help on transom repair. 91 tracker guide v.14

As requested:

first pic is the inside corner showing the inside of the rivet, next is of the side showing the rivets through the inner transom plate, last, just the rivets along the back. The inner plate goes down to that line and then folds in. Really pretty poor construction IMO.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: need help on transom repair. 91 tracker guide v.14

Nope, actually, that is really pretty good construction. A solid aluminum inner skin is not all that bad. Pretty easy repair. Drill em out. Remove the Inner Plate. Remove the Old wood. Fabricate a New one. Use Stainless Steel bolts and 3M 5200 to put the bolts in and you're pretty much done. Looks pretty straight forward to me.

 

[Philip_G]

Re: need help on transom repair. 91 tracker guide v.14

I gotta be honest. To get to those lower rear rivets involves taking out some lockers a previous owner lodged in there and cutting the cap off and replacing with some channel from taco marine sounds like a LOT less hassle.